Word: venezuela
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...disappointed that your story did not mention what everyone should know about Chávez: there is legitimate opposition to his rule in Venezuela, but his method for dealing with it has been to replace the legislature and decree that all law come from a special council he appointed. The judicial branch of the Venezuelan government was packed with Chávez loyalists, and the constitution was rewritten. He might have come to power by the ballot box, but he has remained in power using different tools. In short, Chávez is actually the kind of President that many...
...Venezuela, a home can be hard to come by. Some of the poor in Caracas, the capital, have to make do with a poorly constructed shack on a muddy hillside overlooking the city. For others, not even that much is guaranteed. In the dense slums that blanket many hills surrounding Caracas, ramshackle homes are crammed on top of one another, and crime is rampant on the narrow, garbage-strewn streets and stairways. In many places they are vulnerable to collapse in the mudslides often triggered by frequent downpours. Some lack sufficient electricity supply and telephone access, and their water...
...been one of the toughest challenges of government - and it is attracting more attention as he campaigns for reelection in December. Chavez, a leftist who loves to provoke the Bush administration, is a self-styled champion of the poor but has fallen short in keeping his housing promises. Although Venezuela has stepped up construction of new houses this year, it still needs a further 1.6 million new units to meet the shortfall in low-income housing needs, according to official figures. Only around one-eighth of that total has been built under Chavez's tenure, according to the Venezuelan real...
...Venezuela has funneled some of the profits from surging oil prices into social development programs and infrastructure projects aimed at helping the poor, but building new housing isn't that easy in Caracas. The overcrowded capital city is jammed into a narrow valley where decades of heavy migration from the countryside have gobbled up nearly all the land suitable for construction...
...Venezuela is also looking abroad to alleviate its housing woes. It has struck a deal with Chinese conglomerate Citic to build 20,000 new houses within two years. Even so, Patricia Duran and her fellow protesters say the housing plight is so dire in Caracas that the Mayor needs to find land where he can - even if it means expropriating golf courses. "If we have to go to that extreme, we have to do it," she said. "I imagine the rich are angry right now, but there's nothing else we can do. It's better if they help...