Venezuela proposes fingerprinting grocery shoppers

[Zorro]

Source: AP

Venezuelans could soon have to scan their fingerprints to buy bread.

President Nicolas Maduro says a mandatory fingerprinting system is being implemented at grocery stores to combat food shortages by keeping people from buying too much of a single item. He calls it an "anti-fraud system" like the fingerprint scan the country uses for voting.

In announcing the plan late Wednesday, Maduro did not say when the system would take effect, but other administration officials suggested it could be in place by December or January.

The move was met with skepticism. Critics said the new system is tantamount to rationing and constitutes a breach of privacy. Others simply wondered if anything short of a systemic overhaul of the economy could help the socialist South American country's chronically bare shelves.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/venezuela-proposes-fingerprinting-shoppers-191605930.html

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What a doubleplusgood idea...

[Duval]

1. Outrageous! n/t

[Iamthetruth]

2. Such an open and free government

I bet they love this.

[Earth_First]

3. Tomorrow Rand Paul outlines this very idea for welfare recipients... n/t

[Renew Deal]

4. If Maduro does this he is an embarrassment to humanity.

[shenmue]

5. Huh?

Not good.

[Judi Lynn]

6. More factual article: Venezuela to create fingerprinting system to limit food smuggling

Venezuela to create fingerprinting system to limit food smuggling
CARACAS Thu Aug 21, 2014 10:01am EDT


Aug 21 (Reuters) - Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro ordered the creation of a fingerprinting system in stores that sell food to limit smuggling of subsidized staple products to neighboring countries.

The system, announced late on Wednesday, is meant to ease chronic shortages of consumer products ranging from cooking oil to toilet paper by preventing shoppers from buying large quantities of the same goods.

&quot We will) create a biometric system ... in all distribution and retail systems, public and private," Maduro said during a televised broadcast in which he also created several anti-contraband commissions.

He did not say if the system would be set up in the entire country or only in border states.

Price controls and heavy subsidies allow Venezuelans to buy groceries, drive them across the border to Colombia, and resell them for a handsome profit. They have also created black markets within Venezuela in which informal vendors resell scarce products at a steep markup.

~snip~
Maduro says product shortages, which create long lines and at times leave store shelves bare, are driven by smuggling that diverts at least 40 percent of food and medicine to other countries.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/08/21/venezuela-food-idUSL2N0QR0QG20140821?rpc=401&feedType=RSS&feedName=rbssConsumerGoodsAndRetailNews&rpc=401

[Psephos]

7. Fingerprints to buy food. What else needs to be said? n/t

[blkmusclmachine]

8. Some may intone the Mark of the Beast. And I would agree with them.

We're watching you

Everybody you know,
And everything you do,
And everything you say,
And everywhere you go ...

We Will Know

[blkmusclmachine]

9. http://b-i.forbesimg.com/kashmirhill/files/2013/12/octopus-rocket-copy.jpg

"Nothing is beyond our reach"

[Psephos]

11. The logo that says it all.

Scary as it gets.

[joshcryer]

12. Haha, food smuggling. Venezuela has gas smuggling.

Not food smuggling. The shortages are due to lack of supply because of abhorrent price controls.

[Yo_Mama]

21. Yes, it does have food smuggling.

Subsidized goods are taken across the border to Columbia and there sold for a large profit.

[joshcryer]

23. Gas is a much higher bang for buck.

And it's easy to smuggle, too. Just fill your tank up and drive over the border. Plenty of Colombian dealers siphon it off, and you make 100x of what you spent.

[Snow Leopard]

13. Do you really believe that?

Think of the logistics. 40%. Sounds very suspicious to me.

[Tarheel_Dem]

17. And your article differs how?

Bottom line is fingerprinting in order to buy and sell goods. WTF? It amazes me how you go to great lengths to rationalize and justify anything done by this region's leaders, while excoriating the US at every turn.

[Bacchus4.0]

10. nothing more to be said really n/t

[Judi Lynn]

14. Venezuela to introduce new biometric card in bid to target food smuggling

Venezuela to introduce new biometric card in bid to target food smuggling

Fingerprint scanning to be used to fight food shortages made worse by hoarding and smuggling to neighbouring countries

Virginia López in Caracas
The Guardian, Thursday 21 August 2014 14.02 EDT

Venezuela's president, Nicolás Maduro, plans to introduce a compulsory "biometric card" designed to limit individuals' food purchases using a fingerprint scanner. The move, announced on Wednesday, is part of the government's latest effort to fight the oil-rich nation's chronic food shortages, which it claims result from hoarding by speculators, who resell goods at a profit, and from smuggling into neighbouring countries.

This will be the second time the government has introduced a fingerprint-based system to track and limit food purchases. Earlier this year, Venezuelans were encouraged to sign up voluntarily for a similar system to be used in government-run shops, promising to end scarcity of basic food stuffs and ease the queues outside grocery stores. But this Secure Supply Card failed to survive beyond the trial phase.

"We are creating a biometric system … to function in all distribution and retail systems, public and private," Maduro said in a televised address on Wednesday. "This will be – like the fingerprint scan we use in our electoral system – a perfect anti-fraud system." He gave no further details about how the system will work or when it will come into effect.

According to government sources, more than 40% of goods purchased in Venezuela – including medicines and basic food stuff – are smuggled out of the country. Price controls and heavy subsidies mean goods purchased in Venezuela can often fetch close to four times their original price if taken to neighbouring countries. Additionally, goods sold across the western border in Colombia mean extra earnings for Venezuelans who upon returning can trade Colombian pesos at the black market rate for a profit.

More:
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/aug/21/biometric-venezuela-food-shortages-smuggling-fingerprints

[Bacchus4.0]

18. This proposal would be mandatory and apply to private markets

http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/venezuela-proposes-fingerprinting-shoppers-25073950

President Nicolas Maduro says a mandatory fingerprinting system is being implemented at grocery stores to combat food shortages by keeping people from buying too much of a single item. He calls it an "anti-fraud system" like the fingerprint scan the country uses for voting.

In announcing the plan late Wednesday, Maduro did not say when the system would take effect, but other administration officials suggested it could be in place by December or January.

The move was met with skepticism. Critics said the new system is tantamount to rationing and constitutes a breach of privacy. Others simply wondered if anything short of a systemic overhaul of the economy could help the socialist South American country's chronically bare shelves.

[RandiFan1290]

15. Yeeehaaw! Let's bomb 'em y'all!!!

Bomb their ass and take their gas*!!!




*

[dipsydoodle]

16. not tantamount to rationing

prevents hoarding.

[EX500rider]

19. "not tantamount to rationing" wrong

More like : exactly like rationing

If they want your fingerprints to make sure you don't buy "too much" of something, then that something is rationed.

[Nye Bevan]

20. But it's still a socialist paradise there.

Or so I've been told.

[Archae]

22. Speaks volumes about "well" pure socialism works.

In other words, it doesn't.