Caracans split between boredom and business as usual

Venezuela's capital has become a tale of two cities.

The month-long strike aimed at ousting President Hugo Chávez has all but shut down Caracas's wealthier east side, home to most of the president's opponents. On the west side, however, where Mr. Chávez's support is strong among the city's poor, there's an equal determination to conduct business as usual.

Milagros Corales's home on the east side, for instance, has never been cleaner. She's been baking up a storm and ironing every last T-shirt. She's no wonder woman, just a bored housewife. Ms. Corales says she mostly cleans, watches television, or talks on the phone with family and friends.

Her son Andres has been home from school for a month, and while he's a good little guy, she doesn't know how much more of him she can stand.

"The teachers are on strike so there are no classes. And nobody knows when school is going to start again," she says as her son punches the air with his purple action figure's tiny fists, oblivious to his country's current political problems.

At the Gramma supermarket, one of the few places on the east side that is open, Luisa Mercedes González Castro is looking at the empty shelf that used to contain corn flour - a staple in the Venezuelan diet and one of the first grocery items to become scarce.

She is against the strike because she doesn't believe it's working. "You can't link a political problem with an economic problem," says this retired economist, who also says that Chávez has a lot of good ideas but took over a very difficult situation.

Food is becoming scarce on the east side. So if Ms. González needs something, she just hops on the subway and finds it out west, where few are striking. She won't use her car for anything so mundane. The state-owned oil company is also on strike and gasoline is hard to come by all over the city. Some people wait in line overnight to fill up. She says she is saving her gas for something fun with friends - but even there the options are limited.

Movie theaters, discos, and sports centers are all closed, giving people few means for taking their minds off politics.

Carlos Flores, the owner of the east side's Macaracuay Fitness Center, says he decided to stay open because people need a way to relieve stress. He feels he is contributing to the country by staying open, and has been getting notes and messages thanking him for doing so.

"This is a way for people to relax and work their bodies instead of their minds," says the muscle man.

Lots of Caracans say they are plowing through books, becoming card sharks, and watching way too much TV. Even baseball in this ball-and-bat-crazed country has been suspended indefinitely.

"Baseball was all we had left," says José Manuel Benitez, a despondent fan staring up at the locked stadium in the center of the city.

This season was supposed to spotlight Francisco "K-Rod" Rodriguez, the right- handed pitcher whose performance with the Anaheim Angels in the 2002 World Series made him a national hero in his native Venezuela. He, along with US players who came down for the winter season, left the country upon the advice of the US Embassy.

Page: 1 | 2