Posts from — November 2008

And you thought you were mad to discover you were low on beans.  Recent coffee shortages in Venezuela may cost politicians allied with President Hugo Chavez to lose key positions:

“Venezuelans go to the polls on November 23 to elect state governors and city mayors in a test of support for leftist Chavez a year after he lost his first national vote since winning power in 1998.

Venezuela last year struggled with widespread shortages of staples such as milk and beef, which pollsters say contributed to Chavez’s defeat in a December referendum that would have let him stay in office as long as he kept winning elections.

The government largely eliminated shortages earlier this year. But in recent weeks, shoppers have been unable to find coffee in stores, though cafes still serve it and street vendors are selling it at about twice the regulated price.”

Coffee is the world’s secondmost heavily-traded commodity besides oil, and the lifeblood of many second- and third-world nations.  When the commercial coffee infrastructure falls apart in these places, it can have wide-reaching impacts not just at the day-to-day level but at business and government levels.

Read the full story here.