Chavez buys weapons, venezuelans go hungry

This article is from Petroleum World:

1. Undernourishment has grown from 15% in 1997 to 18% in 2003.
2. In 1997 3.4 million Venezuelans were undernourished. In 2003 this figure had increased to 4.5 million.
3. Dietary consumption in kilocalories per person per day was 2380 in 1997, decreasing to 2350 in 2003.
4. Food exports in 1997 were 138 as compared to the base of 100 in 1990. In 2003 exports of food had fallen to 63 on the same basis, while imports had greatly increased.

In other words availability of food for the Venezuelan population has decreased significantly, in spite of a government program called Mercal, which provides subsidized or even free food to certain segments of the population...

This is the legacy of Socialism, something which the fall of the old Soviet Empire failed to teach many.