AMERICA/VENEZUELA - Shops are empty: Cardinal Urosa calls on the government to act quickly and urges to remain calm

Caracas (Agenzia Fides) - Cardinal Archbishop of Caracas, Jorge Urosa Savino, urged Venezuelans to remain calm before the critical situation they are experiencing regarding the lack of food, and urged the government to solve the problem in the shortest time possible. After Mass, on 11 January, the Cardinal stressed that the government must ensure the supply of food for all Venezuelans and to pay attention to the alarm bell caused by the long queues in supermarkets and shops, which have multiplied since the early days of this year, 2015. "I ask people to stay calm, but the government has to realize that the situation must be resolved as soon as possible", said the Cardinal to reporters and the Catholic community.
The note sent to Fides reports the call to humility highlighted by Cardinal Urosa to the government: "You have to have the humility to recognize the Country's problems. Venezuela has many problems, it is necessary to recognize and seek the solution to these problems".
Food shortage is so serious that this weekend the government deployed police in supermarkets where unfortunately some were the scene of clashes. Despite the long queues since the beginning of 2015, the government has always denied the authenticity of the photographs of these queues that have flooded social networks, arguing that it is a campaign of manipulation to damage their image. (CE) (Agenzia Fides 12/01/2015)