Venezuelan Beer Shortage Leaves Drinkers Out in the Cold

Few things are more devastating than an empty beer fridge, and the collective fridge of Venezuela is getting dangerously close. 

Due to a barley shortage, Empresas Polar, a company which makes 80% of the country's beer along with many other types of food, was forced to shutter all of its breweries in April. The reasons for the shortage are myriad, though restrictive foreign currency laws along with the country’s reliance on its oil industry over agriculture are central to the problem. 

While it should be noted that this concern pales in comparison to the overall food crisis the country is facing, the beer shortage has struck a chord with citizens on principle, with many expressing outrage. Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro has attempted to deflect the anger with claims that Polar is deliberately halting production to disrupt the Venezuelan economy, though the government controls all imports and exports.

Empresas Polar's executive president Lorenzo Mendoza responded: "We have been discussing how to reactivate our production of beer and malt and finally we found a temporary solution that will allow us to produce until the end of 2016."

The temporary solution came in the form of a $35 million loan from Spanish bank BBVA, though there's still no long-term solution in sight.