A cargo routed through Guaranao has intensified allegations of selective import privileges and pressure on domestic farmers.
PUNTO FIJO, VENEZUELA
A vessel carrying 30,000 metric tonnes of food has docked at Guaranao port on Venezuela’s Paraguaná Peninsula. The cargo reportedly consists of 15,000 tonnes of paddy rice and an equal quantity of refined sugar. Agricultural-sector sources questioned why the shipment used Guaranao instead of Puerto Cabello, where comparable imports are normally handled.
Those sources allege that the alternative route increases transportation costs while reducing public scrutiny. They identify MICEVEN C.A., owner of the Kaly rice and flour brands, as the principal beneficiary. The company, controlled by businessman Fei Luo, operates a processing plant in Araure, Portuguesa state. Neither MICEVEN nor Venezuelan authorities were quoted providing a response to the allegations.
The rice would allow the company to continue processing imported grain, while the refined sugar could be packaged and sold without further industrial transformation. Sector representatives also claimed that the cargo originated in Guyana even though its documentation listed Brazil. That reported discrepancy has not been independently established, and the available account does not identify the vessel carrying the latest shipment.
The operation arrives during a severe commercial crisis for Venezuelan rice growers. Fedeagro says more than 300,000 tonnes of imported rice have entered the country during 2026, exceeding the approximately 200,000 tonnes producers estimated were necessary to supplement domestic consumption. Imports arriving during the national harvest have reportedly occupied storage capacity and reduced demand for Venezuelan grain.
Farmers say the price paid to local producers fell from $0.40 to $0.30 per kilogram, a decline of 25 percent. They estimate that producing a tonne of rice domestically costs between $600 and $630, while imported grain enters at between $270 and $380 with exemptions from value-added tax and customs duties. These differences make direct competition extremely difficult and could lead growers to reduce future planting.
Previous investigations described shipments involving offshore traders, changes to customs records and importers linked by sector sources to politically connected networks. Those earlier operations provide context but do not by themselves prove wrongdoing in the Guaranao shipment. The central unresolved questions concern who authorised the port change, whether the declared origin is accurate and which companies received tax and import advantages. Without transparent documentation and official explanations, a food-supply decision will continue to be interpreted as evidence of preferential access.
Hechos que no se doblan. / Facts that do not bend.