. >> i'm kath turner, five years ago the venezuelan mining sector was booming. today they say the government abandoned them. the industry is dying. the industry is dying. >> challenges faced by india's the performance review. the industry is dying. >> challenges faced by india's that corporate trial by fire when every slacker gets his due. and yet, there's someone around the office who hasn't had a performance review in a while. someone whose poor performance is slowing down the entire organization. i'm looking at you phone company dsl. check your speed. see how fast your internet can be. switch now and add voice and tv for $34.90. comcast business built for business. industries. >>> you're watching al jazeera. a reminder of the top stories. u.s. president obama told congress he could launch air strikes in iraq without the approval of lawmakers. no decision has been made. fighting continues in beijing and tela far. >>> ukraine's president is outlying plans to a unilateral ceasefire, allowing pro-russian separatists to lay down weapons and leave the country. >>>

kath turner reports from caracas. the line outside the supermarket starts at 8am. no one knows what the food truck will bring. it's a lottery. sometimes i come for rice or oil, but i can't get it. if the supermarket doesn't bring what we need, we go back with nothing. >> reporter: after a 2.5 hour rate, and 100 in the queue, the truck arrives. it's a big one with flour, sugar, butter and chicken. supplies are rationed. each person can buy up to two of each product. >> over the past year the lines are getting longer. the food shortages are critical. the government must solve the situation and listen to us. people are furious. >> according to the index, venezuelan is the most miserable country in the world. other statistics are depressing. the food and agricultural organisation says the price of food is higher than 18 other countries in the region. in the second quarter of 2013, more than 17,000 venezuelans slid into the extreme, taking the total to 2.8 million. >> this is one of the poorest neighbourhoods in caracas. there are more than 100 slums like this. millions

kath turner reports from a small fining town in bola va. >> this is what gold mining looked like in 2009, a multibillion industry. thousands of employees working at extraction and processing sites producing 1200 tops of gold a year. this is what it looks like in 2014, an industry on its knees, plants idol, producing one tonne of gold. >> translation: this industry drives the economy. without this money, people will die. every day there's another abandoned plant and mine. >> reporter: the only activity we found as outside the mine. a handful of former government employees panning for gold from excess materials dripping out of a pipeline. >> translation: i have been here since 1988. five years ago. it was very different. it was paradise. there were many jobs. it ha deteriorated 100%. >> reporter: in 2011 former president hugo chavez nationalized the industry, taking control of every gold-producing mine. the government used to run season mines. nine have been shut down. there are two open, both running at 30%. our request to film in the mind and an interview were rejected. this man has been