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"It's false," the ministry tweeted after the Coromoto shop,
which holds a Guinness world record for its 863 different
flavors, announced it was closed over the Christmas holiday
because of a milk shortage.
An article on the ministry's website said Coromoto's Portuguese
owner was on holiday in his homeland while other ice-cream
parlors in Venezuela's western city of Merida, where the shop is
located, were finding enough milk to function normally.
"Manuel da Silva is an opposition supporter, with every right to
be so, except that he's telling a lie and his action was
planned, through the media, as part of the low-intensity war
against the present government," the article said.
Although it is a small controversy, the ice-cream affair
underlines how the country's polarized politics have seeped into
many areas of Venezuelan life.
Opponents seized on the Coromoto announcement as a telling
symbol of what they view as President Nicolas Maduro's economic
failure. He says foes, egged on by the United States and foreign
media, exaggerate and make up problems.
Da Silva could not be reached for comment.
Venezuelans have been suffering from shortages all year amid an
economic slowdown, the highest inflation in the Americas and
restrictions on foreign currency for businesses.
Opposition leaders say 15 years of socialist policies, which
began under Maduro's predecessor, Hugo Chavez, are to blame,
while the government says its foes are undermining the economy
with sabotage and speculation.
The recent plunge in the price of oil, which accounts for 96
percent of the country's foreign currency revenues, has
exacerbated Venezuela's economic problems.
(Writing by Andrew Cawthorne. Editing by Andre Grenon)
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