When the situation worsens, when there is a real need, picaresque emerges more naturally, with the approval of the majority or, at least, without discomfort. In his writing of German ideology, Marx and Engels affirmed that socialism needs a great development of the productive force, since without such development would generalize the lack and, with poverty, would resume the struggle for the indispensable, returning to the previous dirt.

The fall in the price of oil, the lack of a clear economic strategy, internal errors and, in particular, the hybrid war of imperialism, have led the Venezuelan economy to a critical situation that strikes the daily lives of the majority of Venezuelans. In this context, some practices have been intensified. However, it is necessary to distinguish that many people, beyond their ideology, use irregular practices (solve) and take advantage of the needs of others to do business. And in this latter type we have to place the bump, the appropriation of products destined for the population, the en route catch, to sell them to the same recipient or to an external population at much higher prices. Bachaqueo is not new but has grown much with the economic crisis of recent years and has become a real cancer.

Bachaqueo, in addition to stealing products from its neighbours, is also a theft of the State. In fact, bachaqueros sell these State-subsidised products for access to all sectors at a much higher price, obtaining a great profit on behalf of the State and at the cost of supplying the population.

The clearest examples of Bachaqueo are the Local Production Committees (CLAP), where the products disappear at the dark points of the distribution chain that reaches the neighborhoods. These products can then appear on the street stands for free sale or in the towns of Colombia (always at much higher prices). This dysfunction is severe, in addition to in the womb, in the courage of the general population and especially those who are aligned with the transformative process. It is hard to see that through the CLAP there is no milk powder in the district of 23 January and, a few streets, in the district of Catia, the CLAP sells milk powder at a free price. In addition to CLAP products, the prices of foodstuffs sold in stores and other commodities such as those related to hygiene are very high. Some know how to take advantage of the law of supply demands, even at the expense of the people’s suffering.

Based on the country's basic needs, drugs could not be released from this practice. They are, in fact, another priority objective of the bachailing. In this case, moreover, pharmacies have also had a great responsibility, as many have speculated on the products, regardless of whether or not there is a shortage of them. Storing the drugs and other products in the pharmacy stores and bringing them to the shelves gradually, representing the deficiency and increasing prices, has been a common practice. And we've been overwhelmed by the images of those empty shelving to explain from the mass media how bad they are in Venezuela ...

But, in addition to food and medicine, the product that moves the most money in this evil practice is fuel. Gasoline in Venezuela is almost free, but in Colombia it sells a liter in one or several dollars, becoming a round business. Cross-border roads are varied, cross-country roads (trotters), conventional asphalted roads (nowadays some closed and the rest much more controlled) and coastal roads through motorized boats. Besides enriching the mafia structures, there are many families that live from these smuggling practices. Some use the term “labor smuggling”, understanding this practice as normal.

The Government and the structure of the State are well aware of the practices of dumping, but it is not easy to deal with the problem. The Government has inspectors who go to the points of sale where the prices of food or drugs are being studied, or who go up to ask travellers how much the ticket has cost them in public transport. This has hindered speculation, but it has not solved the problem in any way. In the case of fuels, in areas close to Colombia, the volume that can be purchased is limited for each car, in order to avoid crossing the border, collapse the tank and refill it. The most graphic image of this measure is the car queues of the gas stations of Barinas and Apure.

It is more difficult than to control the prices and quantities of consumer goods to try to control those who receive bribes in the poaching chain. In fact, several police and military (and not only those who are in numerous roadblocks) accept the money for letting the goods pass. In some cases, when organized criminal trafficking groups are involved, direct threats to the agent or his family can be made from the mere offering of money. What is not achieved with the economic offer can be the subject of a death threat. In the grass-roots sectors, aware that these practices weaken the process, the Government is called upon to maintain a firm attitude towards ending all these mafia practices. It is not easy, however, to put an end to this scourge that strikes the people and the economy of Venezuela. Nor is it easy to know to what extent the Government itself is incapable of moving parts in the police and military structures of the State.

In any case, and far from the borders with other States, such as Caracas itself, it should not be so difficult to control what goes out, what goes through each point of the chain and what comes to each neighborhood, every street and every family. In theory, because in practice, along with the culture of corruption, there is a culture of chaos quite wrong in Venezuela (although in Latin America it is not only that of Venezuelans). It's the somewhat surreal chaos that Venezuelans know how to channel.

The persistence of all these practices so openly accentuates the problems of scarcity, but perhaps the most damaging effect is on the credibility of the process and of the Government itself. In fact, many Chavistas are defending the process, working, persevering in the scarcity and seeing, at the same time, how others are enriched with this type of practice and with total impunity. The lack of more effective control and punishment measures from the Government, when messages are heard in the name of Chavism against the imperialist attack and against surrender, causes great social distress in the process. As one revolutionary member said, “they are riding on our mistakes,” imagining that capitalists and empires are taking advantage of these internal weaknesses and defects. In addition to doing business, bachaqueo has other functions: to increase the suffering and demoralization of the people and to weaken the adherence to the process.