Agreed and nice overview btw of the food situation. The main woes started because of the draconian laws I mentioned and plain ugly politics. Since the majority of the private sector was against Chavez policies, they were deemed "the enemy" and that is when the whole import lots of food movement started. That food was sold with subsidies in newly created govt stores as a way to bypass the "big bad" expensive private sector. It must be noted that the private sector also ended up trying to boycott the food supply by hoarding products to make prices go up, which is part of what lead to the whole movement.
But long story short, it is the typical situation of two sides fighting instead of reaching an agreement and compromise. The major blow to the industry came in the nationalization of an agricultural products supplier called Agroisleña, which ended up affecting farmers because the new structure that replaced it, was as effective as the Virginia DMV :).
In summary, trying to impose socialism in the economy will always be a big fail.
But long story short, it is the typical situation of two sides fighting instead of reaching an agreement and compromise. The major blow to the industry came in the nationalization of an agricultural products supplier called Agroisleña, which ended up affecting farmers because the new structure that replaced it, was as effective as the Virginia DMV :).
In summary, trying to impose socialism in the economy will always be a big fail.