There’s a new shortage in Venezuela, and this time instead of toilet paper or bread, it’s another kind of staple – breast implants.
There’s a new shortage in Venezuela, and this time instead of toilet paper or bread, it’s another kind of staple – breast implants.
While that may not sound like a cause for much concern, breast augmentation surgeries there are a significant aspect of the culture.
Explained one woman, “It is like a rite of passage. It’s our version of a Bat Mitzvah.”
The Society of Aesthetic Plastic surgery reported that last year there were 85 thousand breast augmentation surgeries performed in Venezuela.
Worldwide, that number is only exceeded by countries with much larger overall populations, including the United States, Brazil, and Germany.
Underlying the popularity of the procedure is a national obsession with a certain type of beauty.
Venezuela has by far the greatest number of international pageant winners, and the pursuit of that brand of perfection has resulted in some trying to circumvent the shortage.
Many individuals have taken to the Internet to get the implants and have ended up with black market goods of substandard quality and questionable levels of sterilization.
The other option is to procure the implants directly from the manufacturers at a cost that can exceed Venezuela’s annual minimum wage.
