Gallup shows Venezuelans are starving while FAO supports the regime

Venezuelans are struggling while FAO gives the government unqualified support

This recent Gallup survey shows the tragic situation of food availability in Venezuela. The article is self-explanatory and shows how Venezuelans are struggling to survive in a country where food and medicines have largely disappeared from the shelves of markets and drug stores. While this tragedy unfolds, the FAO Office in Venezuela continues to laud and support the work of the corrupt and inept regime, as my recent letter to the FAO headquarters in Rome (see my blog below) shows. My letter has not been answered or even acknowledged by the bureaucratic organization. I just sent them a reminder (see previous blog entry).

Here is the Gallup report ( NOTE: The graphs could not be shown in my blog but they can be seen here)

http://www.gallup.com/poll/191474/life-ratings-plummet-venezuela-thriving-year-low.aspx?g_source=World&g_medium=newsfeed&g_campaign=tiles

Plummet in Venezuela, Thriving at 10-Year Low

by Johanna Godoy and Justin McCarthy

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

·        Nearly half of residents struggled to afford food in past year

·        Majority find it difficult to get by on current household income

·        Satisfaction with standard of living also at 10-year low

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Twenty-nine percent of Venezuelans rated their lives positively enough to be considered "thriving" in 2015 -- the lowest figure in the 10 years Gallup has been tracking this measure -- and about twice as many (61%) are "struggling." These numbers were almost flipped in 2010 when Venezuela led the region in thriving. These are just two of several measures that illustrate how Venezuelans' lives have been turned upside down as their country teeters on the brink of collapse.

For the past decade, Gallup has asked residents of Latin American countries and the rest of the world to evaluate their lives on the Cantril Self-Anchoring Striving Scale, where "0" represents the worst possible life, and "10" represents the best possible life. Gallup classifies people as "thriving" if they rate their current lives a 7 or higher and their lives in five years an 8 or higher, and "suffering" if they rate both their current and future life situations a 4 or lower. Those in the middle are "struggling."