Conditions in socialist Venezuela are so diabolical that people are forced to eat cats in the street.

A stomach-churning video shows a homeless woman sitting on the roadside with her possessions around her and a dead domestic cat in front of her.

She painstakingly skins the cat and then slices off pieces of its body before popping them in her mouth.

A stomach-churning video shows a homeless woman sitting on the roadside with her possessions around her and a dead domestic cat in front of her

She painstakingly skins the cat and then slices off pieces of its body before popping them in her mouth

The woman at first seems angry that she is being filmed but as a shocked crowd gathers around her, she ignores them and carries on eating.

The video filmed in Rio Chico has gone viral on social media.

Viewers have blamed the socialist government for leaving people penniless and hungry with price controls, soaring inflation and shortages of basic essentials.

One singled out local MP Hector Rodriguez, a favourite minister of Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro.

The woman at first seems angry that she is being filmed but as a shocked crowd gathers around her, she ignores them and carries on eating

Viewers have blamed the socialist government for leaving people penniless and hungry with price controls, soaring inflation and shortages of basic essentials

A passerby in the video said: 'While you eat that, Hector Rodriguez eats at Eurobuilding.'

The Eurobuilding is part of a chain of exclusive hotels around Venezuela where guests can dine on the finest world cuisine.

Venezuela has been undergoing a severe economic crisis since 2014, when international prices fell for crude oil, the source of 96 per cent of its income.

The debacle led to sharp shortages of food and medicines, causing unrest and protests that have left 125 dead.