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CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuela's largest brewer said it shut down beer production Friday at the last of its four factories due to a shortage of imported supplies.
Cerveceria Polar, which announced the closing of its factory in Carabobo state in an email, had warned earlier that it had enough supplies only to continue production through the end of April.
Polar makes more than 70 percent of Venezuela's beer and is a unit of the country's biggest company, Empresas Polar. The company has fallen on hard times as low oil prices have led the government to tight-fist scarce dollars needed to import food and other products.
Venezuela's socialist government did not comment on the brewery shutdown. But in the past it has accused Polar's owner of trying to destabilize the country by exacerbating shortages.
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