The economic situation under socialist policies in Venezuela continues to deteriorate, with scores of citizens in the cash-strapped South American country being forced to live off food they find in dumpsters.

As reported by Breitbart News, a recent study proves that the country is now on the brink of famine, with an astounding 15 percent of citizens saying they are only able to feed themselves with “food waste discarded by commercial establishments.” They’re dumpster diving, in other words.

Meanwhile, the study found that nearly half of Venezuelans said they have had to take off work just to look for food.

The study, which was conducted by More Consulting and then published in the Spanish-language Diario de las Americas, lays bare the reality of President Nicolas Maduro’s administration and the socialist policies he continued after they were begun under the late Hugo Chavez: A worsening food and medicine shortage that is forcing most Venezuelans to waiting for as long as eight hours in supermarket lines, only to find that there is nothing left to buy once they get inside.

The study also found that three of four Venezuelans, or roughly 72 percent, were not able to eat an optimal diet of breakfast, lunch and dinner, while nearly 25 percent said they rarely consume protein, which is necessary for several bodily functions including metabolism, maintaining cell growth and sustaining our immune systems. Instead, they have been living largely off local tubars such as yuca and malanga, as well as some fruits.

More than half (52.3 percent) purchase the bulk of their food from the black market from private individuals who have managed to find ways around the government’s poor logistics system and have stocked a surplus of items.

The survey found a higher percentage – 53.9 percent – of Venezuelans said they had gone to bed hungry, while some 48 percent said they had to take off work to go scrounge something to eat.

These latest figures are in line with those found in previous surveys this year and come after a the Venezuelan National Assembly declared a “nutritional emergency” in February. In June, a poll by Simon Bolivar University found that almost 90 percent of Venezuelans did not have enough money to buy food for three full meals a day. The New York Times estimated that there were an average of 50 violent incidents involving food delivery trucks, supermarkets and other sources of food within a two-week period.

Maduro’s response, when he isn’t blaming his socialist policies on some U.S.-oriented conspiracy, has been to joke about the current state of starvation regarding his own people. Unlike Americans, who have the means and opportunity to build up some food security, it looks as though more Venezuelans will continue to have to dumpster dive just to find something to eat.

Sources:

Breitbart.com

NaturalNews.com

DiarioLasAmericas.com

NYTimes.com