This week: Shortages prevent Venezuelans from buying basic foodstuffs, from milk to flour to cooking oil. Foreign direct investment plummets The widespread shortages caused by Maduro’s socialist policies have now choked off the supply of a new household item: toilet paper; To address rampant crime, Maduro sends Venezuela’s military into high-violence areas. Analysts worry that Venezuela, entirely dependent on oil revenues, may turn into a failed state when oil prices inevitably drop. Desperate for a scapegoat on which to blame Venezuela’s economic woes, Maduro accuses Venezuela’s largest food company, Polar, of hoarding.  Polar’s CEO convincingly rebuts these allegations and offers advice on how the government might work with the private sector to combat shortages. A conciliatory Maduro begins to show signs of extending an olive branch to the private sector.

Eclac reports 15% drop in foreign investment in Venezuela in 2012, El Universal

Foreign investment in Venezuela fell 15% in 2012, said the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (Eclac) of the United Nations in its report “Foreign Direct Investment in Latin America,” released on Tuesday. The regional agency report highlighted that in 2012, Venezuela received USD 3.21 billion versus 3.77 billion a year earlier. In this way, Ecuador joined Venezuela, Nicaragua, Mexico, Bahamas, Granada, Saint Kitts and Saint Lucia as the only countries in the region where foreign investment has dropped. Thanks to the positive performance of other countries, on average, Latin America and the Caribbean in 2012 hit a new record amount of direct foreign investment of  USD 173.36 billion (6.7% higher than in 2011), despite the external context of declining capital flows, Eclac reported in a press release.

How food shortages are dividing Venezuela, BBC News

Some 30 people are queuing outside a state-run supermarket in the 23 de Enero neighbourhood in Caracas. A woman walks out with a bag in her hands. “There is milk!” she says enthusiastically, much to the delight of the other customers. Milk is one of the products that are not easily available in Venezuela. Others include toilet paper, sugar, cooking oil and the cornflour used to make arepas, Venezuela’s national dish. According to data from Venezuela’s Central Bank, the scarcity index rose to 21% last month, the highest since the bank started tracking the measure in 2009. This means that out of 100 goods, 21 are not available.

Roiled over rolls: No toilet paper has Venezuelans fuming, USA Today

Gil, a 43-year-old Venezuelan housewife, spent two days looking for toilet paper in this city of 150,000 in the central state of Aragua. She found paper towels and napkins but no toilet paper. Gil, a 43-year-old Venezuelan housewife, spent two days looking for toilet paper in this city of 150,000 in the central state of Aragua. She found paper towels and napkins but no toilet paper.”Call me a counterrevolutionary but there are certain things that are essential and toilet paper is one of them,” she says, staring at the bare shelves where toilet tissue used to be stocked at the Morichal supermarket, one of the city’s largest. “What do they expect us to use? Banana leaves?”

Venezuela’s military enters high-crime slums, Miami Herald

Stern-looking soldiers clutching assault rifles wave down the beat-up Chevy Caprice entering this sprawling slum on the outskirts of Caracas. Flashlights in his face, the driver steps out and places his hands on the roof while the soldiers frisk him for drugs and weapons. He’s clean, and a hand gesture from the commanding officer sends him off into the maze of ramshackle homes that is Petare, one of the most dangerous parts of Venezuela’s notoriously crime-infested capital.

The People of Venezuela Are in Dire Need of Toilet Paper, New York

The AP brings us news that Venezuela is having a serious humanitarian crisis, one with which anyone who’s ever made a frantic late-night run to the corner bodega can sympathize. Namely, the entire country is running out of toilet paper. Venezuela’s socialist government has promised to import 50 million rolls of toilet paper (or maybe 25 million double-rolls?) and 760,000 pounds of food to make sure all citizens can eat and poop in comfort once more. “The revolution will bring the country the equivalent of 50 million rolls of toilet paper,” the country’s commerce minister said. “We are going to

Venezuela remains mired in a political and economic crisis that shows no signs of letting up. But while street protests, soaring inflation, scarcity, and skyrocketing crime are massive headaches, the government can count on still-high oil prices to soothe the pain a bit. The question that begs asking is: How will Venezuela maintain stability if oil prices drop?

Venezuelan food firm tells Maduro government to boost output, Reuters

Venezuela’s top food producer, Empresas Polar, on Monday challenged the country’s socialist government to boost output of basic staples and ease nagging product shortages, rejecting accusations it is hoarding products to destabilize the economy. Food supplies have become increasingly unsteady since late last year. Shoppers struggle to find corn, wheat flour and basic medicines – a constant complaint that could become a political liability for President Nicolas Maduro. The president over the weekend said Polar, which makes products from beer to detergent, was intentionally cutting output to leave supermarket shelves bare and weaken his government through “economic war.” Polar President Lorenzo Mendoza, in a combative press conference, said the product shortages have been partly spurred by inefficiency of state-run companies nationalized during the 14-year-rule of late socialist leader Hugo Chavez.

Caracas Offers Peace to Private Sector, Wall Street Journal

New President Nicolás Maduro, trying to shore up Venezuela’s economy amid growing shortages of everything from corn flour to toilet paper, has extended an olive branch to the country’s private sector, in particular the country’s largest food maker. It is a surprising turnaround given the antics of his predecessor, the late populist Hugo Chávez, who regularly threatened to nationalize the food maker, Empresas Polar SA, and accused it of hoarding products in order to sabotage his self-styled revolution.