Food prices 'massacre' of world's poor, says Chavez

Caracas: Soaring food prices are a "massacre" of the world's poor and are creating a global nutritional crisis, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said.

His comments on Tuesday came hours after the United Nations' World Food Program called more expensive food a "silent tsunami" that threatens to plunge more than 100 million people on every continent into hunger.

"It is a true massacre what is happening in the world," Chavez said in a televised speech. "The problem is not the production of food ... it is the economic, social and political model of the world. The capitalist model is in crisis."

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon warned earlier this week that high food prices could wipe out progress in reducing poverty and hurt global economic growth.