CARACAS, (Reuters) – Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is launching a plan to make a traditional Christmas dish available at rock-bottom prices in his latest populist move ahead of an election next year.
From today, state-subsidized stores will offer the ingredients for an “hallaca”, a mix of beef, pork, chicken, capers, raisins and olives wrapped in cornmeal dough and boiled in plantain leaves, for just 5 bolivars ($1.10), he said.
“Don’t miss it! The Bolivarian hallaca will go for 5 bolivars … a tremendous hallaca. They are not going to be ‘little opposition’ hallacas,” Chavez said late on Thursday.
The socialist leader, who is recovering from cancer, will seek another six-year term in next October’s election. The opposition sees it as their best chance to end his nearly 13 years in power.
In similar populist moves, Chavez has opened “socialist arepera” shops that sell subsidized versions of the country’s beloved arepas — cornmeal flatbreads usually filled with cheese or meat — for less than a third of their usual price.
Critics say such initiatives are gimmicks used to mask deep economic problems, including one of the highest inflation rates in the world. Many asked how the government could sell hallacas at 5 bolivars, when they cost at least 20 bolivars or more.
