NewsTracker Answers for week of Sep. 12, 2016

Q: As the country’s economic crisis deepens, food shortages and rising poverty are forcing once-middle-class Venezuelans to do the unthinkable and let their pets starve, or abandon them in the streets. Where is Venezuela?

Circle the area on this map

Q: No figures are available, but shelters in the nation’s capital have been overwhelmed and are struggling to feed abandoned animals. What is the capital of Venezuela?

A. Asuncion

B. Bogota

C. Caracas

D. Dominica

C. In Caracas, the nation’s capital and largest city, it has become common to see purebred dogs rummaging in the trash or lying outdoors, filthy and gaunt, in posh neighborhoods. Zoo workers in Caracas say they do not have enough food for large mammals like tigers and tapirs.

Q: Pet owners say the price of dog food has more than doubled in recent months to $2 a pound, more than a day’s pay for those earning the minimum wage. Venezuela’s economy is suffering from . . .

A. Rampant inflation

B. Deep recession

C. Falling production

D. All of the above

D. Inflation is expected to hit 480% this year and top 1,640% in 2017, according to the International Monetary Fund. The nation’s gross domestic product fell 5.7% last year and is expected to drop another 8% this year. Strict government controls on prices, profits and currency have forced many local and foreign businesses to shut down in Venezuela.

Q: Even police are rationing food in order to feed their sniffer dogs. What has been the major source of income for Venezuela’s government?

A. Agriculture

B. Oil production

C. Gold mining

D. Drug trade

B. Venezuela has some of the world's largest proven oil deposits,. The socialist government poured billions of dollars of Venezuela's oil wealth into social programs before oil prices plummeted. While other big oil exporting nations have suffered from the price drop, they have not suffered the major shortages of basic goods and soaring prices that are plaguing Venezuela.

Q: Venezuela’s government leaders routinely blame the United States for their problems, which also has led to tensions with U.S. allies like Venezuela’s western neighbor . . .

A. Colombia

B. Ecuador

C. Guyana

D. Peru

A. Venezuela closed its border with Colombia for a time last year to try to control smuggling. Smugglers were purchasing goods heavily subsidized under Venezuelan price controls to resell in Colombia. Recently, Venezuelans have been going to Colombia to buy the basic goods they can’t find in their own country.