What happened to Venezuela, which was once rich with a vast wealth of oil but is now poverty-stricken while the citizens just try to get by every single day?
A generation ago, Venezuela’s capital was one of Latin America’s most thriving, glamorous cities; an oil-fuelled, tree-lined cauldron of culture that guidebooks hailed as a mecca for foodies, night owls and art fans.
In 1998, as the setting for his election celebrations, Chávez chose the balcony of the Teresa Carreño, a spectacular, brutalist style cultural centre. “Venezuela is reborn,” Chávez declared.
Twenty years after that upbeat address, an economic cataclysm experts blame on ill-conceived socialist policies, staggering corruption and the post-2014 slump in oil prices has given Caracas the air of a sinking ship.
Read more on The Guardian.
(Image credit: Wikimedia Commons)
The Guardian article makes it sound like it was a lovely haven before Chavez got it. It stopped being one many, many, many years prior. Chavez turned the entire country into a disaster, let alone having Caracas decline even further.
All pretty gross and unfortunate. Venezuela has tonnes of beautiful places to see and the people are great.