--- description: The measure is meant to end food shortages title: Venezuela Introduces Mandatory Fingerprinting at Groceries image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9a02e5331f529601/6986a08335ba6f2464c03823/venezuela-grocery-finger-print.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Venezuela](/tag/venezuela/) ## Venezuela Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Venezuelan President Announces Mandatory Fingerprinting at Grocery Stores  by [Eliana Dockterman](/author/eliana-dockterman/)  ## Eliana Dockterman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Correspondent Aug 22, 2014 12:15 AM CUT  People stand at the checkout line at a supermarket in Caracas on Aug. 21, 2014. People stand at the checkout line at a supermarket in Caracas on Aug. 21, 2014.Carlos Garcia Rawlins—Reuters  by [Eliana Dockterman](/author/eliana-dockterman/)  ## Eliana Dockterman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Correspondent Aug 22, 2014 12:15 AM CUT Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro announced Wednesday that the country will introduce a mandatory fingerprinting system in supermarkets. He asserted that the plan will keep people from buying too much of any single item. The president did not say when the measure would go into effect, the Associated Press [reports](http://bigstory.ap.org/article/venezuela-proposes-fingerprinting-shoppers "undefined"). The Socialist Venezuelan government has struggled with food shortages for over a year. Basic cooking items like oil and flour are scarce. The administration says that the shortages are a result of companies speculating and people smuggling food out of the country. Critics argue that the new system—which was tried on a voluntary basis in government-run grocery stores this spring—is equivalent to rationing food. \[[_AP_](http://bigstory.ap.org/article/venezuela-proposes-fingerprinting-shoppers "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3156299/venezuelan-president-announces-mandatory-fingerprinting-at-grocery-stores/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3156299/venezuelan-president-announces-mandatory-fingerprinting-at-grocery-stores/"},"headline":"Venezuelan President Announces Mandatory Fingerprinting at Grocery Stores","datePublished":"2014-08-22T00:15:03.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T09:48:10.514Z","description":"The measure is meant to end food shortages","url":"https://time.com/3156299/venezuelan-president-announces-mandatory-fingerprinting-at-grocery-stores/","keywords":["Venezuela"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9a02e5331f529601/6986a08335ba6f2464c03823/venezuela-grocery-finger-print.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Eliana Dockterman","jobTitle":"Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/eliana-dockterman/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9a02e5331f529601/6986a08335ba6f2464c03823/venezuela-grocery-finger-print.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"People stand at the checkout line at a supermarket in Caracas","caption":"People stand at the checkout line at a supermarket in Caracas","creditText":"Carlos Garcia Rawlins—Reuters","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/venezuela/","name":"Venezuela"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3156299/venezuelan-president-announces-mandatory-fingerprinting-at-grocery-stores/","name":"Venezuelan President Announces Mandatory Fingerprinting at Grocery Stores"}}]}] ```