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Gunmen have started dumping bodies down the hillside garbage chute in La Silsa. The slum, one of the poorest that ring Caracas, was crime-ridden when I was a teacher there in the 1980s. But residents like housewife Gladys Rodríguez tell me the barrio has become a killing field over the past few years, and that corpses are sometimes found atop the rubbish pile below her street. "That's what things have come to," says Rodríguez, 36. "How do you hide your kids from that...
Most residents of La Silsa hope Chávez is right. Like other poor Venezuelans, they're grateful for the poverty-reduction programs and medical clinics Chávez has lavished on barrios like theirs. The potable water, power lines, subsidized grocery stores, community councils that give average people more political say - they had none of that 20 years ago. Since Chávez's leftist revolution began in 1999, though, Venezuela's oil wealth has been redirected into populist spending programs that keep the poor on side and Chávez in power...
...confront the violent crime that plagues the country and leaves scores dead each weekend. "I know in my heart that life is better here than it was 10 years ago," says Tobías Caravallo, 42, who owns an electronics repair shop in La Silsa and is a devoted Chavista. But "we need more police on the streets. Better police...
Polls suggest that Chávez has a narrow lead. Places such as La Silsa are likely to decide the outcome - though in a previous plebiscite, in 2007, his supporters failed to turn out in big enough numbers and voters rejected scrapping term limits, among other proposals. But even if Chávez fails a second time, few doubt he'll try again before 2012. Fans say he needs to complete his revolutionary goals. "He's leading a transformation of our society," says Chávez's former ambassador to the U.S., Bernardo Alvarez. "And we should let voters...
...hard beats and ranging in content from forbidden love stories to journeys of self-exploration. For math geeks, “Infinity 2008” by Guru Josh Project is sure to get you on your feet. Romantics should give “C’est Beau La Bourgeosie” by Discobitch a try. People into the Middle Eastern club scene will find a winner in Beirut Biloma’s “I Wanna Dance in Beirut.” And for those still in love with the ’70s, Bob Sinclair offers...