German Martinez, 50, poses for a picture at the Mother Teresa of Calcutta eating center in Caracas April 8, 2014. German lives with his brother and used to be a construction worker. He has been eating at the center for over two years, because he is hungry. The center, located in a back-street of Caracas, is frequented by the unemployed and homeless, as well as those who work but are unable to make ends meet. Shortages of basic products have become the norm in Venezuela over the last year and workers at soup kitchens face an increasingly difficult task of finding staple foods they need to provide a free hot daily meal. Opponents of Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro’s government say the queues are a national embarrassment and symbol of failed socialist economics similar to the old Soviet Union. But officials say businessmen are deliberately hoarding products as part of an “economic war” against Maduro. Picture taken April 8, 2014. REUTERS/Carlos Garcia Rawlins (VENEZUELA – Tags: POLITICS SOCIETY FOOD)
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