Urban ranching: A socialist commune’s response to Venezuela’s crisis

Cattle graze in the backyard of a house occupied by Aprcuana commune in Caracas. By Marco Bello.

A socialist commune has drawn the ire of its neighbors in a wealthy area of Caracas with an unusual response to the hyperinflation and food shortages afflicting Venezuela: turning its backyard into an urban cattle pasture.

By Corina Pons
Rueters
Nov 16, 2018

Excerpt:

The leaders of the Apacuana commune, devotees of socialist President Nicolas Maduro, drove six hours to purchase 11 450-kilo (992-lb) cows. They set them to graze behind their 2,000-square meter (21,528 square-foot) home, donated by the state-owned telecommunications company two years ago.

The government began transferring billions of dollars to a network of more than 70,000 such community groups under the administration of late President Hugo Chavez, who supported the communes as an alternative to a capitalist economic model. Maduro has called communes “the epicenter of solidarity.”

Leaders of the commune, who also grow fruits and vegetables, say the arrangement is simply a way to get cheaper meat. They do not graze the cattle for long, and have already slaughtered several inside their home.

With Venezuela’s oil-reliant economy in a fifth year of recession and inflation nearing 1 million percent, securing staple goods is a daily struggle for many.

Just 40 percent of families can afford beef and nearly two-thirds of the population reported losing weight last year, by 11 kilos (24 lb) on average, according to a study by three universities.

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