Many Poor Venezuelans Are Too Hungry to Join Antigovernment Protests

[Dashinka 25,881]

More winning from the socialist paradise.

 

CARACAS, Venezuela—President Nicolás Maduro has lost support among the legions of poor Venezuelans that once backed the late Hugo Chávez, but they have largely shown little interest in joining the opposition-led protests that have convulsed the country the past three weeks.

Many of the impoverished residents of the vast slums that ring Caracas and other major cities are angry about a collapsing economy and food shortages. But Venezuela’s political unrest remains mostly confined to middle-class enclaves, underscoring the struggle the opposition here faces in trying to unseat an increasingly authoritarian government.

“All I have is hunger—I don’t care if the people protest or not,” said laborer Alfonzo Molero in a slum in Venezuela’s second-largest city, Maracaibo. “With what strength will I protest if my stomach is empty since yesterday?”

 

Until the slums rise up, Mr. Maduro will likely hang on, analysts say.

 

“The discontent in the poor sectors is not being channeled through the opposition,” said Alejandro Velasco, a history professor at New York University and the author of a book on Venezuelan slums.

In three weeks of unrest, seven protesters have been killed and hundreds have been jailed. The government has used tactics such as lobbing tear gas from helicopters to disperse opposition crowds, efforts aided by pro-government gangs often armed with weapons and clubs.

Many slum residents in Caracas and across Venezuela, however, say they are only vaguely aware of the protests and too busy trying to survive to worry about changing the government.

 

More than four in five Venezuelans say they don’t earn enough to meet basic needs and three-quarters say they have lost an average of 19 pounds of weight last year, according to the Encovi survey by Venezuela’s top three universities.

 

 

‘We wear our protest on the inside for the fear of losing our bag of food.’

—San Félix resident Luisa Gutiérrez
 .
The government’s tight control over mainstream media means many poorer Venezuelans without smartphones or internet access say they have no idea when and where the protests even take place. The state’s vast propaganda apparatus offers few details of unrest and portrays the mostly peaceful protesters as Molotov-cocktail-throwing “terrorists,” scaring off many in the slums from joining them.

Some say they are intimidated by armed pro-government militias who scour the slums for signs of dissent. Others say they are afraid to lose the few food handouts the cash-strapped government still provides.

 

https://www.wsj.com/articles/many-poor-venezuelans-are-too-hungry-to-join-antigovernment-protests-1492680607

[IAMX 3,055]

23 minutes ago, Bill & Katya said:

 

Some say they are intimidated by armed pro-government militias who scour the slums for signs of dissent. Others say they are afraid to lose the few food handouts the cash-strapped government still provides.

 

https://www.wsj.com/articles/many-poor-venezuelans-are-too-hungry-to-join-antigovernment-protests-1492680607

So much for the cops taking care of you in socialist utopia.

[Dashinka 25,881]

39 minutes ago, IAMX said:

So much for the cops taking care of you in socialist utopia.

They only take care of the socialist elitist leadership.  I love the folks that espouse socialism which mostly comes from the MDL and Bernie Sanders supporters.  If they think there is a wealth gap now, just wait, with socialism it will get even bigger, but at least Bernie and the other elitist socialist leaders will have their multiple homes.