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Story Publication logo November 16, 2006

Venezuela: The "Have Nots"

Country:

Venezuela
Author:
1
English

Project

Venezuela's Hugo Chavez: Despot, or Democrat?

Andrew Cutraro and Guy Taylor uncloak the cult of personality surrounding the Bolivarian movement of...

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Nov. 6, 2006-- A shack in the notorious 23 January slums stands against the Caracas skyline. Venezuela is a study in dramatic class division. More than half of the country live below the poverty line.
Nov. 15, 2006-- A poster of President Hugo Chavez hangs on a squatter shack in the rural town of Montleban where dozens of families are protesting on private land in a demand for government housing assistance.
Nov. 15, 2006-- Children pose in the bedroom of their squatter shack in the rural town of Montleban where dozens of families are protesting on private land in a demand for government housing assistance.
Nov. 21, 2006-- A couple dance as spirits are poured outside a liquor store in the Caracas slum of La Vega. More than half of the country's citizens live below the poverty line.
Nov. 21, 2006-- Teenage girls hang out on the trunk of a car in the caracas slum of La Vega. More than half of the country's citizens live below the poverty line.
Nov. 15, 2006-- Children in a squatter camp in Montalban play in a makeshift classroom. Dozens of families have built shacks on private land in the rural town near Valencia to demand public housing support.
Nov. 12, 2006--Evening light falls across a street scene in Valencia, the country's third largest city. Population explosions and migration to urban centers over the last half century have created massive social challenges for the government.
Nov. 15, 2006-- A laborer harvests sugar cane on a private farm near San Felipe, Venezuela. Paid by the load, he makes an less than 20 dollars per day.
Nov. 15, 2006-- A woman folds clean laundry outside a squatter shack in the rural town of Montleban where dozens of families are protesting on private land in a demand for government housing assistance.
Nov. 15, 2006-- Signs of the approaching holiday adorn a wall inside a squatter shack in the rural town of Montleban where dozens of families are protesting on private land in a demand for government housing assistance.
Nov. 15, 2006--A young girl poses in her squatter camp after torrential rains flooded the area in Montalban. Dozens of families have built shacks on private land in the rural town near Valencia to demand public housing support.

The skycrapers of Caracas bespeak a proudly confident country reaping the rewards of one of the world's great pools of oil. The shacks within sight of the sleek glass towers, the vast new urban slums and isolated villages untouched by modern conveniences all tell another story -- of the 50 percent of Venezuelans who live below the poverty line.

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