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Here's the second half of the article: Two days later, on Jan. 25, masked police dragged Mr. Godoy from his house, his mother protesting, and took him to nearby alley. He was shot in the foot and stomach and had a diaper stuffed in his mouth, which neighbors interpreted as a message to other would-be rebels considering speaking out against Mr. Maduro. “I heard lots of shots, and my son cry out ‘Jehova, Jehova,” Cecilia Buitrago, Mr. Godoy’s mother, told Mr. Guaidó in a meeting <https://twitter.com/jguaido/status/1103107285000302592?mod=article_inline>shortly after the killing. The corpse was returned to the family two days later, and Mr. Godoy’s mother remains in hiding. Across barrios such as La Vega, fading murals celebrating former leader Hugo Chávez compete with fresh graffiti demanding “Fuera Maduro,” or Maduro Out. Many blame government brutality for the shift. “Symbolically, it is a huge blow to the government to lose the support of the barrios,” said John Polga-Hecimovich, a political-science professor at the U.S. Naval Academy. “In practical terms, it probably means more repression.” *Rising power* Barrios took a high-profile role in Venezuela’s recent history. In February, 1989, a barrio uprising over increases in transport prices led to a crackdown by army and police that killed hundreds. The massacre inspired a previously unknown Lt. Col. Hugo Chávez to attempt an overthrow of then-President Carlos Andres Perez in a failed 1992 coup. Once Mr. Chavez took power in 1999, he championed the barrios. One government program, Barrio Adentro, built health-care clinics staffed by Cuban doctors. Local clinics saved residents long trips to public hospitals. The barrios, in turn, saved Mr. Chavez in 2002. Thousands of residents staged street protests to demand his return after a faction of the armed forces briefly pushed him from power. El Comandante, as he was known, was so popular in barrios that few opposition politicians dared campaign there. The economic crisis has left the barrios in far worse shape. In 2014, the poorest 20% of the nation’s population had 3.35% of the wealth. Now, it is 1.41%. The share of wealth going to the richest 10%, which includes those high in government, doubled their share of wealth to 61% from 30% over the same period, according to a wide-ranging study of poverty by the Andres Bello Catholic University. Venezuela has become the most unequal country in the hemisphere next to Haiti, the study found. In wealthy eastern Caracas, five-star restaurants cater to customers with access to dollars, often high-ranking officials. A pizza pie may cost the equivalent of a month’s wage by barrio residents. Last year, Venezuelans were incensed by an online video showing Mr. Maduro and his wife enjoying a meal at an Istanbul restaurant run by the celebrity chef known as Salt Bae. “The army and top officials here don’t suffer. It’s the barrios that suffer,” said Yasiri Paredes, 32. who runs a food kitchen serving free food in the La Vega barrio. She also is the cousin of Mr. Godoy, the man shot in the alley. During the blackout that dimmed the capital for five days, Caracas’ top restaurants ran on portable generators. But in La Vega, the network of food kitchens like the one run by Ms. Paredes temporarily closed, leaving hundreds of children hungry, During the blackout, Eloina Peña, 55, sold out the entire inventory of a small bodega she runs in La Vega, fearing the food would spoil. Now she wonders how she will restock. “The government has us cornered,” she said. “But if we just stay quiet, we’ll be accepting these humiliations.” Sections of La Vega, home to about 120,000 residents, have been without water for nearly 10 months. The occasional water truck that meanders up the steep hillside sometimes only goes to the homes of government supporters, according to residents. When the Fe y Alegria Andy Aparicio parish school had a small fire on its patio last year. firefighters had no available truck to help. Teachers and students used water, dirt and sand to put it out, school official said. *Empty shelves* Venezuela’s rate of hyperinflation, estimated by national economists to now be as high as 2 million percent, is best measured in everyday barrio life. Yulitza Ramos, 32, has seven children, and her boyfriend makes the equivalent of $6 a month, enough to buy about two kilos of rice at black market prices. They get a box of subsidized food from the government once a month, but it’s not nearly enough. “I used to be able to provide for my kids,” she said, “and now we don’t have enough to eat. I feel like a failure as a mother.” Her daughter Milagro, 12, skipped school for a week recently because she had no shoes. “My mother told me it was either shoes or food,” the girl said. At a local Catholic school, director Martha Piñango also has trouble buying food. A year ago, a kilo of chicken cost the school 140 bolivars, according to receipts. By year's end, the price was the equivalent of 72,000,000 bolivars. From November to January, the price of a kilo of carrots jumped from 400 bolivars to 4,000. A kilo of onions rose from 600 to 3,720. “It’s hard for the school to keep going,” Ms. Piñango said. Of 40 teachers at the school, 11 have left since September. Some have left the country. Others can’t afford public transportation for the commute. Ms. Piñango’s entire monthly wage can buy four bottles of shampoo. As is common, many in Ms. Piñango’s family have left the country and send her money. At the El Araguare preschool, only a dozen or so students remain in a class that started with 35 in September. On a recent day, there were two, said their teacher Mercedes García. “School seems like a low priority when families are struggling to eat,” she said. Working men like Angelo Chacon have lost jobs in construction, now at a standstill. He and others are trying to grow food on the slum’s adjacent hillsides. He recently showed off his crops. “Look,” he said, “that’s where I’ve got the beans.” His tomato crop is dying because the slum is short of water. Without enough money for even basics, the owners of beauty shops have mostly closed their doors. Domingo Mojoto, 76, had a storefront on La Vega’s main street. He was the district’s biggest meat and produce seller, but closed down about 18 months ago after years of price controls and declining wages hurt sales. These days, Mr. Mojoto wakes up at 1:30 a.m., has a quick cup of coffee and heads to a nearby mountain spring. He fills up about 20 18-liter drums to sell in La Vega. Any later, he said, and the line for water gets too long. An old joke in Venezuela: When people in the barrios couldn’t afford beer, a government revolt will follow. Beer consumption, excluding restaurants and bars, declined nearly 90%, to 751,000 liters in 2018 from 9.2 million liters in 2014, according to data from Polar, the country’s biggest food company. The Maduro government still has supporters, despite the national troubles. “I can’t close my eyes and not see people eating out of the trash,” said Seudi Guanipa, 33, an accountant. But she mistrusts the opposition. The blackout was the work of the U.S., she said, repeating a government allegation. Yet those who agree with Ms. Guanipa have become a rarity these days. Venezuela’s opposition has made slow inroads into the barrios. In early February, anti-Maduro groups held their first open-air town-hall style meeting in La Vega. It was disrupted by pro-government supporters who blocked nearby roads. Neighbors banged pots and pans, and the government backers retreated. At a second meeting, Mr. Guaidó’s supporters spoke out. “Maduro had a fake election last year, and that is why he is illegitimate,” Erick Machado told an applauding crowd of about 120 people. Days later, government special forces raided the home of one of the organizers of the meetings, José Becerrit. Mr. Becerrit, 52, happened to be at a protest. His brother, who was home, said the police commander told him they had orders to “disappear” Mr. Becerrit. Since then, Mr. Becerrit has been in hiding. He said by phone that police stripped his home of a TV and other belongings, including his cologne. “The government says we face a danger of a U.S. invasion,” he said. “But it is the government that’s declared a war on the barrios.” -- *“In politics, abstract terms conceal treachery.” *from "The Black Jacobins" by C. L. R. James Check out:https:http://oaklandsocialist.com also on Facebook _________________________________________________________ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: https://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
