First, President Hugo Chavez announced that he had ordered troops to intervene in the country's rice production.
He accused rice producers of evading a law on controlled prices.
"They are making a mockery of the Venezuelan people," said Mr Chavez.
He said companies were refusing to produce sufficient quantities of standard white rice - which is subject to price regulations - and were producing flavoured varieties instead to avoid government controls.
'No such law'
Polar foods, one of those involved, said there was no law which obliged them to produce a certain quantity of basic white rice.
Within the day there was such a law. The government introduced quotas on 12 basic foods, including rice.
Thursday, March 12, 2009
God help Venezuela
Ever since Valley Forge, when George Washington put controls on the price of meat and found that the supply disappeared, politicians have had a hard time understanding why they markets react so negatively to government regulation. President Chavez is repeating George's mistake:
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