Fury in Venezuela as President gives $10million to fund BASEBALL as the country starves

  • The money is being used to subsidise the transfer of players and buy equipment
  • Venezuela is suffering a deep economic and political crisis
  • Many Venezuelans are struggling to feed their families amid hyperinflation
  • The IMF forecasts inflation will reach 720 percent this year

Baseball-mad Venezuelans are bitterly divided over a government decision to pump millions into the game while basic food and medicines are in short supply in the crisis-rocked South American country.

President Nicolas Maduro is making $10million available to the Venezuelan Professional Baseball League (LVBP) as the season gets set to open next week.

The money is being used to subsidize the transfer of players and buy equipment ahead of the start of the popular eight-team national league.

The move has angered many fans who believe the money should go to help alleviate shortages caused by the deep economic and political crisis after months of protests cost at least 125 lives.

Scroll down for video 

Baseball-mad Venezuelans are bitterly divided over a government decision to pump millions into the game while basic food and medicines are in short supply

Baseball-mad Venezuelans are bitterly divided over a government decision to pump millions into the game while basic food and medicines are in short supply

A man forages for scraps of food at the Redoma de Petare market in the Sucre district of Caracus

A man forages for scraps of food at the Redoma de Petare market in the Sucre district of Caracus

'They should instead opt to buy medicines, food, things we don't have. The fact that the government is giving money to the league is absurd,' said Javier Hernandez, 45, at a fan shop in the capital dedicated to the Caracas Lions.

Others, like Leonardo Perez, 39, think that even a hint of normal life is badly needed in Venezuela, where baseball is the most popular sport.

'Despite so much crisis, I think we also need recreation, and baseball runs in the veins of Venezuelans,' said Perez, after buying tickets to a Lions game at the same shop. 

A demonstrator picks up a tear gas canister during clashes with security forces at a protest against President Nicolas Maduro in Caracas on 6 April 2017

A demonstrator picks up a tear gas canister during clashes with security forces at a protest against President Nicolas Maduro in Caracas on 6 April 2017

A Bolivarian National Guard officer fires teargas during a clash with protesters in Caracas on 6 April 2017

A Bolivarian National Guard officer fires teargas during a clash with protesters in Caracas on 6 April 2017

The debate was being played out as Caracas Lions players practiced on their lush green pitch at the Universitario Stadium, the air filled with the thock of wood on leather as batters honed their skills.

Hernandez, one of the fans in the shop, thinks the League 'should be suspended' - an idea supported by baseball figures such as Alfredo Pedrique, a manager with Major League experience.

'We should be conscious. We should have no baseball. For human reasons, for the children who are dying for lack of food and medicines,' Pedrique, who coached the Lions last year, told local radio.

However Leonardo, with his tickets in hand, stressed that 'you need to disconnect once in a while,' from so many problems.

Venezuela's deep economic and political crisis has prompted months of protests and cost at least 125 lives

Venezuela's deep economic and political crisis has prompted months of protests and cost at least 125 lives

Strict exchange controls are in place in cash-strapped Venezuela as foreign reserves have trickled away in a country that has been in economic freefall under Maduro's rule.

Most Venezuelans are subject to an official exchange rate of 3,345 bolivars to the dollar as they struggle to feed their families. But dollars are hard to come by.

Many have to resort to the abyss of the black market, where dollars are available for 28,000 bolivars to the dollar.

The government rate given to the baseball league is 10 bolivars to the dollar, the same preferential rate as for food and medicine importers. 

League officials consider that the championship would not survive without the subvention, because it allows teams to pay foreign players and import balls, uniforms and even teams' medical supplies.

Tens of thousands of opponents of President Nicolas Maduro have taken to the streets as Venezuela has descended into economic freefall

Tens of thousands of opponents of President Nicolas Maduro have taken to the streets as Venezuela has descended into economic freefall

Without the government preferential rates, the private sector has to import products and supplies on the black market, lifting inflation into the stratosphere. 

The IMF forecasts inflation will reach 720 percent this year.

One option would be for the league to buy on the black market, but officials say costs would skyrocket and the league would not be profitable.

Food shortages have meant that staples such as bread are in limited supply and beyond the affordability of a many normal Venezuelans

Food shortages have meant that staples such as bread are in limited supply and beyond the affordability of a many normal Venezuelans

'It would be very difficult,' said Juan Jose Avila, who took over as president of the LVBP in February, with a mission to keep alive a league competition which has been running since 1946.

'Who is going to sell me bats and balls in bolivars?' asked Avila.

Cancelling the League would cost around 6,000 direct and indirect jobs, according to LVBP officials.

'We have around 100 employees, between fixed and temporary positions, and there are many Venezuelans in sectors like transport, hotels, communications and services who owe a great deal of their annual income to baseball,' said Luis Avila, chairman of the Lions, Venezuela's most successful team.

That makes baseball 'the most important sports activity in the country.' 

The comments below have not been moderated.

The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline.

We are no longer accepting comments on this article.