Venezuelan pharmacy says managers freed pending trial

Pharmacy chain Farmatodo said on Saturday two of its managers have been freed from jail pending trial on charges in an emblematic case of what President Nicolas Maduro calls Venezuela’s “economic war.” Farmatodo Executive President Pedro Angarita and Operations Vice President Agustin Alvarez were detained last month and face charges of “boycott” and “economic destabilization” for allegedly exacerbating shopping lines. Maduro’s critics say Venezuela’s economic troubles are the product of 15 years of hardline socialism, especially nationalizations and currency controls that leave importers struggling for dollars. Venezuela’s oil-dependent economy shrank 2.8 percent and had inflation of 68 percent last year, the worst performance in Latin America.