Dakazo

Dakazo refers to a set of actions taken by the Venezuelan government forcing consumer electronic retail stores, with Daka being the most prominent, to sell products at much lower prices on 8 November 2013, weeks before municipal elections. The forced Daka price changes helped Venezuela's ruling party, PSUV, win in some of the municipal elections, though the massive sale of goods caused further shortages in the months following the initiative.

Etymology

The word Dakazo is the name of the retail store, Daka, plus the -azo suffix, which denotes a violent knock. Its translation could therefore be "the Daka smash". (see Spanish nouns: Other suffixes.)

Following the initial event in 2013, similar occurrences of forced price cuts upon Venezuelan retail stores by the Venezuelan government were referred to as Dakazos due to the similarity of the situations.

Background

In 2013, Venezuela was facing multiple economic difficulties including shortages, high inflation and a depreciating currency. Currency controls implemented by the Venezuelan government made it difficult for importers forcing them to adopt a black market currency exchange rate with higher prices and created corruption among sellers and government officials.

Government occupation of Daka

Weeks before municipal elections and a month before Christmas, President Nicolás Maduro, who faced a possible presidential referendum if his party did not win in the elections and had lost popularity among Venezuelans in the preceding months, forced Daka to sell its products at severely lowered prices on 8 November 2013. In a speech, President Maduro criticized capitalism and claimed that Daka had raised prices on goods over 1000%. Troops were ordered to take control of the five Daka retail stores in Venezuela and enforce lowered prices, though at some stores, pro-government groups called colectivos arrived before authorities and forced Daka employees to sell goods at lower prices as well.