Economic fallout from virus felt in gas lines in Venezuela

Nicolas Maduro's government on Monday banned gasoline sales in two states as part of a broader lock-down to stem panic buying by Venezuelans accustomed to hoarding basic goods whenever there's a hint of turmoil.

But his orders, which explicitly prohibit lines outside gas stations, were largely ignored in the western city of San Cristobal. At one gas station, tensions boiled over as motorists, some of whom had been stranded four days waiting to fill up, vowed to stay put until sales resumed.

"What am I going to do at home in quarantine?" said a visibly irritated Pasto Arevalo, a 60-year-old tax driver. "I don't have any food at home. If I don't work, I can't eat. Who's going bring me a kilogram of rice?"
"It's beyond a perfect storm," said Francisco Monaldi, a Venezuelan oil expert at Rice University in Houston. "Everything is moving in the wrong direction."