If you need to go to the bathroom in Venezuela, it's highly recommended that you bring your own toilet paper, that is, if you can find any. The country is currently suffering from a government-induced toilet paper shortage, according to The Atlantic.
The citizens have become so upset that it's causing political consequences so dire to the government that they've promised to import 50 million rolls to appease shoppers' anxiety.
Venezuela is a country that's wealthy by the standards of the developing world, but doesn't suffer from a large amount of "first world problems," as the Internet and media call them in books and memes. They have been suffering chronic shortages of many basic goods, from groceries to asthma inhalers. This has caused shoppers to line up for basic goods, like flour, as well as a black market trade in staple goods.
The country's government blames political enemies.
The toilet paper crisis was the result of "excessive demand" caused by "a media campaign that has been generated to disrupt the country," said Alejandro Fleming, the Commerce Secretary, according to the Associated Press.
In 2003, then President Hugo Chavez forced currency controls in place to prevent money from leaving the country while the government seized land and corporate assets. The result of that action buying imported goods is difficult. Price caps put into place to make staple goods affordable to poor people have driven prices so low that the sale of many products doesn't even cover the costs of production.
As a result, companies haven't been producing toilet paper because it isn't profitable.
"The revolution will bring the country the equivalent of 50 million rolls of toilet paper," Fleming said to a Venezuelan state news agency.
The Venezuelan central bank has created a scarcity index that is hovering near a four-year peak. Moving to a free-market economy would likely solve many of these problems for Venezuela, a country that is rich in natural resources.
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