Food lines in Venezuela are getting worse
And this morning I filmed one.
It was in Macaracuay, in front of a small shopping center called CC Macaracuay which has the misfortune of its grocery store (former C.A.D.A.) become a public shop, Bicentenario after the expropriation of EXITO chain. I drove in front around 7:30 and the line was much bigger. Driving in front again around 10 AM I was so surprised at the remaining extent of the line that I filmed it.
You will note that at one point the video sort of stands still: the line brings general chaos as buses stop in double and even triple park to pick up or drop off people. But traffic chaos is not the only problem that came with the Bicentenario. All of the shopping of Macaracuay has decayed greatly in the last couple of years as scarcity in the poorer areas of Petare has forced people to travel further for their basic needs since the regime is unable to provide for Petare, and the private sector simply cannot deal anymore with logistics and crime to sell there. Crime followed to Macaracuay, by the way.
Macaracuay has the misfortune to be the closest middle class area to South Petare and thus its traditional commerce has migrated elsewhere, the area now dedicated to what we can call charitably "survival commerce" (small services, lottery stands and the like) the only one that can cater to the economic means of the bulk of visitors. People from Macaracuay, I am told, go mostly to El Cafetal or Chuao for their routine stuff even if it means driving half an hour in traffic. Middle class to semi affluent areas still live in Macaracuay but look at the fences and gated streets and you will notice that something is wrong. Macaracuay is now a frontier district.
Neither the poor, forced far from home to shop for survival, neither the "rich" who see their area become chaotic, are happy. With chavismo it is a lose/lose proposition.
PS1: there were many other lines this morning, in El Cafetal, Chuao, at all grocery stores.
PS2: coincidentally I was listening to "Fina Estampa" of Chabuca Granda who could not have been a better reverse symbol of social decay in Caracas. I hope you enjoyed the sound track.
It was in Macaracuay, in front of a small shopping center called CC Macaracuay which has the misfortune of its grocery store (former C.A.D.A.) become a public shop, Bicentenario after the expropriation of EXITO chain. I drove in front around 7:30 and the line was much bigger. Driving in front again around 10 AM I was so surprised at the remaining extent of the line that I filmed it.
You will note that at one point the video sort of stands still: the line brings general chaos as buses stop in double and even triple park to pick up or drop off people. But traffic chaos is not the only problem that came with the Bicentenario. All of the shopping of Macaracuay has decayed greatly in the last couple of years as scarcity in the poorer areas of Petare has forced people to travel further for their basic needs since the regime is unable to provide for Petare, and the private sector simply cannot deal anymore with logistics and crime to sell there. Crime followed to Macaracuay, by the way.
Macaracuay has the misfortune to be the closest middle class area to South Petare and thus its traditional commerce has migrated elsewhere, the area now dedicated to what we can call charitably "survival commerce" (small services, lottery stands and the like) the only one that can cater to the economic means of the bulk of visitors. People from Macaracuay, I am told, go mostly to El Cafetal or Chuao for their routine stuff even if it means driving half an hour in traffic. Middle class to semi affluent areas still live in Macaracuay but look at the fences and gated streets and you will notice that something is wrong. Macaracuay is now a frontier district.
Neither the poor, forced far from home to shop for survival, neither the "rich" who see their area become chaotic, are happy. With chavismo it is a lose/lose proposition.
PS1: there were many other lines this morning, in El Cafetal, Chuao, at all grocery stores.
PS2: coincidentally I was listening to "Fina Estampa" of Chabuca Granda who could not have been a better reverse symbol of social decay in Caracas. I hope you enjoyed the sound track.
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