They may be suffering drought, famine and tyranny; they may be constantly on the verge of war with their far more numerous neighbours, the Ethiopians; but the people of Eritrea only seem to care about one thing. Their country has run out of sugar. Nobody knows how it happened. (There is no free press in Eritrea, so no one knows much for sure.) One theory is that the government,  aiming to prevent sugar wholesalers from making a profit, introduced so much new red tape that they stopped importing the stuff. Prices tripled. Rationing was introduced. Soon sugar became unobtainable at any price. Eritreans are used to hardship, but this has made life intolerable.

_{The Economist February 21st 2004}

Which of the following is not mentioned, either explicitly or implicitly, in the text?