Venezuela: A life waiting in line
As Venezuela's lines have grown longer and more dangerous amid the staggering economic crisis, they have become not only the stage for everyday life, but a backdrop to death.
In this photo, Irama Carrero is aided by fellow shoppers after fainting in a food line outside a grocery store, in the afternoon in Caracas, Venezuela, May 5, 2016. Carrero, who said she hadn't eaten that day, had spent hours staring blankly ahead in the line for the elderly when her gaze suddenly became more fixed. She tilted backward and no one broke her fall. Her head smacked the concrete and when she came to she started vomiting.
Waiting in Line in Venezuela
Madeley Vasquez, 16, breast feeds her one-year-old son Joangel as she waits line outside a supermarket to buy in Caracas, May 3, 2016.
Vasquez once had to run down the block to avoid getting caught up in a knife fight that broke out when a woman was accused of cutting the line.
Waiting in Line in Venezuela
A woman kicks the shield of a National Guard soldier as other demonstrators push during a food protest a few blocks from Miraflores presidential palace in Caracas, June 2, 2016.
Clashes broke out after people waiting for hours at a nearby grocery store learned a food supply truck was turned away. The shoppers got as close to the presidential palace as they could, and were joined by other demonstrators.
Waiting in Line in Venezuela
Eder Noriega, 25, teaches numbers to his 3-year-old son Santiago as they wait in line to buy food outside a supermarket in Caracas, July 4, 2016.
As lines in this South American country grow longer they have become a stage for everyday life.
Waiting in Line in Venezuela
A man rests in his car while in line outside the Duncan car battery store in Caracas, Aug. 6, 2015.
The number of batteries for sale is limited and changes daily while customers, some who are turned away, must bring their cars with them.
Waiting in Line in Venezuela
Sixteen-year-old Madeley Vasquez stands with her one-year-old son Joangel outside a supermarket as she waits to buy food in Caracas, May 3, 2016.
Joangel was still experimenting with tentative steps when it came time for his mother to buy her two bags of rice and two packets of toilet paper.
Waiting in Line in Venezuela
People show their national ID cards as they wait in line outside a supermarket to buy food in Caracas, May 3, 2016.
All Venezuelans, including children, are assigned two shopping days a week based on their state ID number. Some use fake IDs to score extra shopping days.
Waiting in Line in Venezuela
A woman sleeps as she sits on the stool she brought with her, as she waits in line outside a supermarket to buy food in Caracas, July 8, 2016.
All shoppers are limited to two units of whatever is on offer.
Waiting in Line in Venezuela
People wait in line to buy food outside a supermarket in Caracas, May 3, 2016.
Prices have been driven impossibly high by scarcity, hoarding and black market resellers, forcing Venezuelans to line up again and again for subsidized goods, not always knowing what they'll get when they finally reach the front.
Waiting in Line in Venezuela
A man waiting in line at a grocery store argues with a Bolivarian National Police officer as he and others wait for food to arrive to the store in Caracas, June 8, 2016.
"As the economy breaks down, life is telescoping to be just lines," said Datanalisis president Luis Vicente Leon. "You have masses of people in the streets competing for scarce goods. You're inevitably going to get conflict, fights, tricks, you name it."
Waiting in Line in Venezuela
People wait in line outside a supermarket to buy food in Caracas, May 3, 2016.
The country's vast oil wealth once fueled a bustling economy, but years of government mismanagement ground much of the nation's production to a halt, and the country grew dependent on imports.
Waiting in Line in Venezuela
Sixteen-year-old Madeley Vasquez holds her one-year-old son Joangel as her mother Sorena carries a box of food out of the supermarket in Caracas May 3, 2016, after spending over eight hours in line to buy one box of food.
Sorena quit her job cleaning houses so she could spend more time waiting with her grandson and daughter to buy food.