Cuba, Venezuela, and the Eternal Shortage of Toilet Paper

Cuba, Venezuela, and the Eternal Shortage of Toilet Paper
By DAVID BOAZ SHARE

Marketplace Radio takes a look at the challenge of filming movies and
television shows in Cuba, focusing specifically on Showtime's "House of
Lies" starring Don Cheadle. The episode is titled "No es facil" – "It's
not easy." The title appears to be a description of doing business in
Cuba, and also of filming a show about doing business in Cuba. As
Marketplace's Adrienne Hill and show creator Matthew Carnahan explain:

Camera equipment was shipped from Germany because it couldn't be sent
directly from the U.S. Even basic supplies – "there's not hammers and
toilet paper, and things that people need."

Journalists have stopped reporting on the privations of socialism in
Cuba. But Hugo Chavez was a great admirer of Fidel Castro and the
society he built, and he wanted to give Venezuelans the same thing. And
of course he did:

Venezuela's product shortages have become so severe that some hotels in
that country are asking guests to bring their own toilet paper and soap,
a local tourism industry spokesman said on Wednesday….
Rest well, Comandantes Castro and Chavez, while your people dream of
toilet paper. And hammers. And soap.

Source: Cuba, Venezuela, and the Eternal Shortage of Toilet Paper | Cato
@ Liberty -
http://www.cato.org/blog/cuba-venezuela-eternal-shortage-toilet-paper