Alva Review-Courier -

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — A small army of red-shirted workers mop the linoleum floors as their supervisors, sitting under a giant portrait of Hugo Chavez, look on. By the meltdown standards of Venezuela's economy, the shelves around the workers at the state-run Bicentenario supermarket in eastern Caracas are brimming with staples like rice and pasta.

What's missing are the shoppers: They've been scared off by prices that double every few weeks while wages in the crisis-wracked nation remain stagnant.

"I don't even look at my paycheck anymore because it just gets me depressed," said Norma Pena,...