In the butchers of Venezuela state Zulia, frozen iguanas are shown in the counters for human consumption. The shortage of meat has lead Venezuelans to add this protected species into their menu, not to mention that the criminal inflation they are going through has skyrocketed the prices of bovine products, and one kilogram of meat can cost up to 41,000 bolivares, that is nearly $4,000 US dollars.
Those who can’t afford to pay for a frozen iguana, leave their house early so they can hunt it. The animal is boiled and its broth can be used for soup. These reptiles along with pigeons and other small birds have become the source of protein for many Zulians.
Quienes no pueden comprarlas congeladas, las cazan, las iguanas es hoy a los zulianos lo que a los margariteños es la sardina. Asi estamos, como en el siglo 19, cazando lo que se comera en el dia. Me gustaria regalarle al tipo un consome de iguana para que lo guarde en la gaveta pic.twitter.com/q4NH1dvPQ0
— Lenin Danieri D (@LDanieri) November 23, 2017
“Those who can’t afford to buy them frozen, hunt them, iguanas today are to Zulians what sardines are to Margaritians. This is our condition now, like if it was the XIX century, hunting what will be consumed on the day,” wrote Venezuelan journalist Lenin Danieri on his Twitter account.
The rising famine in the South American country has also lead the more vulnerable inhabitants to eat cats and dogs, a video of a homeless woman skinning a cat and eating it by the side of the road became viral a couple of months ago, the man who recorded the video claimed that he did it to show the whole world the precarious conditions of Venezuela and that the politicians in the country do not care about the inhuman conditions that the citizens have to endure on their day to day.
Venezuelan women have also been forced to seel their hair in order to reach ends meet. Each hair donation can leave them with around $21 US dollars, which is a good deal from the minimum $6 monthly income an average Venezuelan can aspire to.
“I thought, ‘Whatever God wants. I’m going to cut my hair.’ I had it very long and I said, ‘I’m going to sell it,’” Crismary Gonzalez, a Venezuelan woman who has already sold her hair twice, told the London News Agency. “My children come first, then my hair. Hair grows back.”
Since Colombia opened its borders to Venezuela, many people have traveled to the country looking for informal jobs that can help them provide some type of livelihood to their families, at the moment, Colombia seems to be the best shot for many Venezuelans to escape the famine their country is drowning in.
Crisis en Venezuela lleva a las personas a comer iguanas https://t.co/EUYvkcmApJ pic.twitter.com/726Lbewfid
— Kienyke (@kienyke) November 26, 2017
Article inspired by El Espectador // Ante la crisis, en Venezuela se come iguana