RSS 2.0 FeedChavez Bans Booze For Easter
by Brad WarbianySadly, this is not an April Fool’s joke.
For beer and whisky-loving Venezuelans, Easter this year won’t be an alcohol-soaked drinking fest.
President Hugo Chavez has imposed a ban on alcohol sales during Holy Week in an attempt to reduce accidents and crimes, prompting a run on liquor stores.
The decree prohibits alcohol sales on Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter Sunday next week.
A more limited ban, restricting sales to between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m., including at restaurants and bars, went into effect Friday and will last through April 9.
The sudden, unprecedented measure confused many Venezuelans who raced to stash up before Friday, thinking that would be their last chance to buy for more than a week.
Yeah, because forcing people to endure their families on a major holiday without a little social lubricant won’t cause crimes!
As much as I’d love to use this as a reason to browbeat Chavez, I could just as easily see the Governor of my own state, Georgia, doing the exact same thing.
I lived in Costa Rica and for years any establishment which sold booze was “taped” up on the exterior and shut down for Holy Week. Non religious folks would stock up before this time period and stay home or go to the beach.
Not sure if it’s done this way anymore, but I have a suspicion that more Latin American countries than Venezuela restrict alcohol sales during Holy Week. I vaguely recall people saying that this was the case in Mexico and that the beach resorts were the only ones allowed to sell alcohol.
Comment by Non — April 1, 2007 @ 1:40 pm