[News] Venezuelan Opposition Attacks Black-Led, Pro-Revolution Bakery

[Anti-Imperialist News]

http://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Venezuelan-Opposition-Attacks-Black-Led-Pro-Revolution-Bakery-20170323-0024.html 



  Venezuelan Opposition Attacks Black-Led, Pro-Revolution Bakery

March 23, 2017

Right-wing Venezuelan opposition supporters attacked workers at La Minka 
bakery in Caracas Tuesday, shoving them while shouting racial slurs, 
independent media outlet Efecto Cocuyo reported.

“I'm not a racist, but those Blacks with their bare feet and dirty 
hands, I'm not eating it (the bread),” one opposition protester said, 
according to Venezuela Analysis.

The assailants, who have suspected ties to opposition parties First 
Justice and Popular Will, were protesting the bakery’s new owners. La 
Minka, formerly named Mansion Bakery, is now run by a 
predominantly-Black workers’ collective supportive of the Bolivarian 
Revolution.

The workers, with help from the socialist government, took over the 
bakery last week after its previous owners were sanctioned for breaking 
food production laws. They not only violated health codes — they also 
intentionally hoarded products and raised prices by more than 400 
percent for personal gain.

Now, La Minka is serving low-cost, government-subsidized products that 
are accessible to Caracas’ working class community. For Venezuela’s 
right-wing opposition, however, La Minka’s new products are not good 
enough for them.

“I always bought bread here early. It was tasty. Now they tell me that I 
can not buy them like that here anymore. I must look for it somewhere 
else,” a local opposition protester who did not give her name told 
Efecto Cocuyo after the scuffle.

Despite the attack, La Minka workers are continuing to serve their 
community. The grassroots-run bakery is producing more than 5,600 
baguettes daily, distributing low-cost bread to about 11 food 
collectives in the area.

“We're not taking anything from anybody, we're just doing justice,” 
Caracas government official Carolina Cestari, told reporters at a press 
conference Wednesday.

The bakery is named after La Minka collective, a grassroots community 
organization that works alongside the Bolivarian Revolution to provide 
resources for Venezuela’s underserved communities. “Minka” is a Quechua 
term that represents “communal work for the greater good.”

Bread is a basic consumer good according to the Venezuelan government. 
In accordance with the country’s laws, bread must be sold at 
government-stipulated fair prices intended to guarantee consumer access 
for the majority of people.

Last week, the Venezuelan government took over two bakeries for failing 
to comply with these price controls.

-- 
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