Ice cream shop closure symbol of Venezuela’s crisis

Venezuela's Tourism Ministry denied on Monday that a famous ice-cream store had closed due to lack of milk, the latest quirky twist in the bitter national debate over who is to blame for the nation's economic problems. "It's false," the ministry tweeted after the Coromoto shop, which holds a Guinness world record for its 863 different flavors, announced it was closed over the Christmas holiday because of a milk shortage. An article on the ministry's website said Coromoto's Portuguese owner was on holiday in his homeland while other ice-cream parlors in Venezuela's western city of Merida, where the shop is located, were finding enough milk to function normally. Although it is a small controversy, the ice-cream affair underlines how the country's polarized politics have seeped into many areas of Venezuelan life. Opponents seized on the Coromoto announcement as a telling symbol of what they view as President Nicolas Maduro's economic failure. He says foes, egged on by the United States and foreign media, exaggerate and make up problems. Venezuelans have been suffering from shortages all year amid an economic slowdown, the highest inflation in the Americas and restrictions on foreign currency for businesses. The recent plunge in the price of oil has exacerbated Venezuela's economic problems.