(TRUNEWS) People in Venezuela now have to use their fingerprints to get food.

The move to biometric scanners has become a reality, even though the effort began a few years ago by President Nicholas Maduro. It is called the “Fingerprints for Food” program by the socialist government, as reported by the Miami Herald. With it, people can only get minimal goods, medicine and supplies from the state-owned grocery stores.

Maduro said fingerprinting was necessary to prevent hoarding and to keep price-controlled food from being resold for profit.

Consumers must also show ID.

For years,  Venezuela has been short on food, which has been made worse from the global oil glut, since they depend heavily on oil revenue, along with other socialist, Latin American countries.

“All these governments — Brazil, Argentina, Bolivia, Ecuador or Venezuela — were still wholly dependent on the sale of commodities. So the Drop in commodity prices really has exposed the vulnerability of many of the leftist governments,” said Tinker Salas, a Professor of Latin American History at Pomona College in a Sputnik interview.

Inflation has skyrocketed. Al Jazeera has cited price controls, a lack of U.S. dollars, supply chain problems and food being moved to Colombia to be sold for more money as the main contributors to the problem.

Citizens were persuaded into signing up for the program after the government promised discounts and prizes.

The food lines are so bad, people often line up overnight and sleep there. Soldiers are stationed outside stores.

One woman told the Wall Street Journal she got in a line at 3 a.m. and left empty-handed at noon.

People have hit the streets in protest.  Venezuelan troops have responded, but the government is blaming the U.S.  The Daily Caller has reported Caracas has warned that the U.S. could invade.

In March 2015, President Obama issued an executive order stating the Venezuelan government was a national security threat and issued sanctions.

Last week, TRUNEWS reported on a possible government coup.

Revelation 13:17 (KJV) 

“And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name”.