Los precios de los productos agroalimentarios en Venezuela. Modelos de formación y reformas institucionales durante el periodo 1990-2010

From a historical perspective, this paper discusses models for determining the prices of agro-food goods at Venezuela and their consequences. If the formation of real prices of agricultural raw materials and food away from forecasts of perfect markets due to the nature of agro-food markets and agricultural policies, as in other countries of the world, the Venezuelan case there be added the effects of the oil boom and political reforms that have been made since the arrival of President Hugo Chavez to power in February 1999. For the purposes of this article the analysis considers two stages: first of all, the previous to the new National Constitution of 1999 and, in particularly, to the 2002 "Coup d'Etat"; and, secondly, for the events since then to the present day, period in which the Government has been introducing gradual but clear change towards a model of Socialist orientation of the functioning of the economy, including agro-food markets. As a result, it has been a move away from free markets and a remarkable increasing of the degree of intervention of the Government in the food chain, notably in retail prices and food distribution. Main results of this process allow advance that Venezuela has moved away from the food production and food security objectives as a priority from the Government itself. Key words: price formation, socialist reforms, price control, agricultural policies, Venezuela Desde una perspectiva historica, este articulo analiza los modelos de determinacion de los precios de los bienes agroalimentarios en Venezuela y sus consecuencias. Si, como ocurre en otros paises del mundo, la formacion real de los precios de las materias primas agricolas y los alimentos se aparta de las previsiones de los mercados perfectos por la naturaleza misma de los mercados agroalimentarios y las politicas agrarias, en el caso venezolano hay que anadir los efectos derivados del boom petrolero y las reformas politicas que se han realizado desde la llegada del presidente Hugo Chavez al poder en febrero de 1999. A los efectos del analisis considera dos etapas: en primer lugar, la anterior a la nueva Constitucion Nacional de 1999 y, en particular, al Golpe de Estado de 2002; y, en segundo lugar, la correspondiente a los hechos acaecidos desde entonces hasta 2012, periodo en el que el gobierno ha ido introduciendo cambios graduales pero inequivocos hacia un modelo de orientacion socialista del funcionamiento de la economia -incluidos los mercados agroalimentarios