Venezuela's Oldest Newspaper Forced to Stop Printing Due to Paper Shortages

LARA, VENEZUELA—September 12, 2014—The regional daily El Impulso, Venezuela's oldest newspaper, will halt publishing next week due to a paper shortage, reported Reuters.

"As of Monday the 15th, and for a time we anxiously hope will be as short as possible, the mouthpiece of the people of Lara state will cease to accompany their morning coffee," El Impulso's editorial board wrote on Wednesday.

The 110-year-old privately-owned newspaper said that the obstacles it had to face in getting paper represent just one link in a difficult chain of adversities inherent to the country's serious economic situation.

According to Reuters, contributing to the paper shortage is the lack of U.S. dollars caused by strict currency controls, import delays and red tape. Other small regional Venezuelan publications had to fold due to the lack of paper, while some dailies had to cut back on their pages.