Hugo Chavez swept to power promising to help the poor. But seven years on, many problems seem to be getting worse. Has the Chavez revolution run out of steam?
“The President talks a lot but we’ve been abandoned”, complains Rosalia Aular. “I’m no better off.” The government set up a loan programme to help farmers like her. But the grants never reached the most vulnerable. Millions were embezzled and farmers left owing thousands of dollars they never received. All around Venezuela, there is a belief Chavez is surrounded by a corrupt clique. “People very high in the government are using the revolution to become richer”, complains one Unionist. But no matter how difficult life gets, Chavez himself remains remarkably popular. As one man says; “He’s a good President. I like him.”
SBS
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