Venezuelans, struggling with desperate propane shortages, are resorting to burning tree branches and pieces of furniture in their kitchen stoves, further straining the nation’s economy that is already burdened by runaway inflation.
Three weeks after an explosion at a processing plant disrupted supplies of the fuel most Venezuelans use for cooking, there is still no government timeline for restoring propane sales.
The shortage has gotten so bad that residents of Caracas and other areas are turning to charcoal or electric grills to prepare meals. Local governments are rationing propane, and social media sites are filled with images of days-long lines of people waiting to refill containers.
In the Petare neighborhood, in Caracas, a large and impoverished neighborhood, residents boil pots of water over firewood to cook their meals. hallacasa traditional holiday meal featuring beef, pork and chicken wrapped in banana leaves. In some cases, they add packaging, plastic foam and other discards to fuel the fire.
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Even for those who are not required to improvise cooking fuel, smoke from neighbors can be bothersome and dangerous. Residential air pollution from burning fuels like wood kills more than 3 million people a year worldwide, and the burden falls disproportionately on women and children, according to the World Health Organization.
“I myself am building a small stove with bricks to cook with charcoal,” said Elena Guzman, who lives in Palo Negro, in the state of Aragua, 100 km from the capital Caracas. “I lent my gas cylinder to my mother, and she has already used it all.”
The shortage comes four years after Venezuela’s military temporarily took control of propane distribution and rationed deliveries after a processing plant caught fire and disrupted the fuel’s supply.
The recent problems began on November 11, following an explosion at a natural gas complex in the state of Monagas. The facility is responsible for separating gas byproducts from crude oil and then sending them to a larger complex where the propane is processed before being sent to distribution centers. Although workers were able to restore natural gas production at the plant, propane production remains hampered.
As of Nov. 30, Venezuelan propane production was still about 70% below pre-explosion levels, according to data seen by Bloomberg. The country’s Information Ministry and state oil company, Petroleos de Venezuela, or PDVSA, declined to comment. The use of firewood and other alternatives to propane is more common in areas outside Caracas, where energy supplies are more fragile.
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“Local distributors told me to ration what I have because they said PDVSA is rationing and they don’t know when the gas truck will arrive,” said Juana Rodríguez, who lives in La Guaira, near Caracas. He has been without fuel for over two weeks.
The government attributed the explosion to “terrorist attacks” by “extremists” who targeted “the heart of the country’s natural gas system.” At least 11 people were arrested, Vice President Delcy Rodríguez said a week after the disaster.
Now, authorities in states such as Anzoátegui, Táchira, Barinas and Nueva Esparta are rationing supplies and restricting sales. The difficulty of finding fuel is a difficulty that comes on top of a 16.6% increase in overall consumer prices in the first 10 months of this year.
