In July, President Nicolas Maduro smiled as he sealed a multimillion-dollar food import deal with his Uruguayan counterpart designed to combat shortages ahead of Venezuela's legislative elections.
But instead of paying the $267 million as agreed, Maduro's government deposited in November under a fifth of that amount, according to Uruguay's government.
That put a brake on the shipments to Venezuela.
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Yet five sources who work in Venezuela's two main ports say total imports are in fact down about 60 percent from last year.
Maduro says Venezuela has lost more than 60 percent of the hard currency it enjoyed in 2014 due to the oil crash. Those losses have punctured the tried-and-tested election strategy of supplying cheap goods to its largely poor voting base.
Anger is mounting over worsening shortages, now Venezuelans' No. 1 worry according to polls, and threatens to erode Maduro's support among the poor, who spend hours in line for scarce products.
