Earlier this year, a survey found that food shortages in Venezuela led three-quarters of the population to lose an average of 19 pounds in 2016. They call it the “Maduro Diet” after intensely unpopular president Nicolas Maduro.
Ironically, Maduro appears to be the only one not on the diet. And this week he inadvertently reminded the world of that when he was caught on camera sneaking an empanada bite at the end of a live TV broadcast. Video of the surreptitious snack has gone viral.
Just this week, an aide group in Venezuela warned that more than a quarter million children could die from malnutrition as the country’s economic crisis spirals.
Maduro, meanwhile, has gotten so corpulent, an opposition leader joked earlier this year, “he hardly fits in the TV screen any more.”
