Bolivia: Blame exportation and smuggling for expensive meat

The Vice Minister of Consumer Defense, Jorge Silva, indicated that the increase in the price of beef is due to the prioritization of exports to other countries and also because smugglers offer a better price. In the markets, the price of a kilogram of prime beef fluctuates between Bs 70 and Bs 75, while the second-grade beef costs Bs 10 less. According to Silva, ranchers are betting on selling their meat to the highest bidder, which are the exporters or the smugglers who take it to neighboring countries where they pay much better. These two actors, exporters and smugglers, are offering a higher price, above the fair price that should be delivered in the domestic market. "The rancher says I will sell my cattle to the best bidder, which is the exporter or the smuggler, and they are taking the product out of the country and leaving it in the country at an almost international price," asserted the Vice Minister. That is why the price of beef does not drop, just as it happened with ...