{"id":5223,"date":"2026-07-07T06:05:33","date_gmt":"2026-07-07T06:05:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=5223"},"modified":"2026-07-07T06:05:33","modified_gmt":"2026-07-07T06:05:33","slug":"yacht-owners-and-public-housing-residents-once-shared-venezuelas-coast-now-they-share-its-ruin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=5223","title":{"rendered":"Yacht owners and public housing residents once shared Venezuela\u2019s coast. Now they share its ruin"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

CARABALLEDA, Venezuela (AP) \u2014 The rich and poor shared paradise in Caraballeda on Venezuela\u2019s Caribbean coast. Their apartments, a few with direct marina access and hundreds in public housing towers, stood on the same curving street and offered idyllic views of the white sandy beaches and crystal waters.<\/p>\n

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The yacht owners and public transit riders who shared this road epitomized the social integration that the government set out to accomplish. Many of them enjoying a holiday or resting at home on June 24 met the same fate when the ground shook so violently that their homes flattened in seconds.<\/p>\n

Now, about 17,000 who survived also share the uncommon status of being homeless in Venezuela. As the official death toll climbs above 3,500, many must rely on a government that has been excoriated for its response to the tragedy and that has politicized housing in the past to figure out where they will live \u2014 if they will have a new home at all.<\/p>\n

Housing is still a constant even in times of crisis<\/h3>\n

Housing has generally been the first aspiration for Venezuelan adults since the second half of the 20th century, when an oil bonanza allowed the government to fund housing complexes, the poor to build brick and cement shacks locally known as \u201cranchos,\u201d and the rich to buy second and third homes. <\/p>\n

Even when the country\u2019s economy came undone in 2013, most Venezuelans still had a roof over their heads, be it by getting one handed out by the country\u2019s self-described socialist government, buying one at a deep discount from people desperate for cash to migrate, building ranchos on top of each other, and even invading abandoned homes.<\/p>\n

Those in housing built by the ruling party of 27 years \u2014 currently helmed by acting President Delcy Rodr\u00edguez \u2014 do not hold the deeds to the property, but the homes allowed them to save and keep entire families off the streets. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt was their home, their house. It was an immense joy when they were assigned these houses here,\u201d Carlos Ortega said of the 12 apartments in Caraballeda that his relatives were assigned to more than a decade ago following years of financial struggles after a mudslide.<\/p>\n

\u201cImagine, they were given a home after losing everything, but now they\u2019ve lost everything, even their lives.\u201d<\/p>\n

Only one of Ortega\u2019s siblings survived the collapse of the public housing towers, while his son, who lived in a ninth-floor apartment but was working at a convenience store when the earthquakes struck, is still missing more than a week after the disaster. Ortega hoped he might find him at a hospital, a shelter or one of the tent camps that have taken over public spaces and private parking lots.<\/p>\n

Not far from where he took a break from removing the rubble that buried his family, people were assessing flattened homes adjacent to a yacht club and some towed Jet Skis. There, rescuers were being handed cookies and other food on a plastic tray while standing on the rubble where the wife of a military general hoped he and their children would be found. <\/p>\n

Government efforts to integrate different socioeconomic classes<\/h3>\n

Ronal Rodr\u00edguez, a researcher at the Venezuela Observatory at Colombia\u2019s Universidad del Rosario, explained that Venezuelan governments, even before the arrival of the fiery Hugo Ch\u00e1vez to the presidency in 1999, had tried to prevent socioeconomic segregation by building housing projects in or near areas that were considered exclusive. The strategy, he said, also gave them a political edge by diversifying the voter base in wealthier neighborhoods that tend to vote for the opposition. <\/p>\n

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But the homes built under Ch\u00e1vez\u2019s \u201cGrand Housing Mission,\u201d which his successor, Nicol\u00e1s Maduro, continued until the U.S. military deposed him in January, came with a caveat: People never received a deed. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhat Chavismo tries to do is maintain political dependence,\u201d Rodr\u00edguez said of Ch\u00e1vez\u2019s political movement. \u201cThat is, if at any point you turn against me and stop supporting me, then I\u2019ll take away the roof I\u2019ve given you.\u201d<\/p>\n

This makes these residents vulnerable to the whims of the government once again, particularly when survivors have been vocal about the lack of government support in search and rescue efforts.<\/p>\n

The government of Rodr\u00edguez, whose dismal response to the catastrophe has been decried by residents across the board, has not yet given any timelines for long-term housing recovery efforts. <\/p>\n

The extent of damage is still unclear, but at least 10,000 structures, or about one-third, were damaged in Catia La Mar, a city west of Caraballeda also in La Guaira state, based on satellite imagery analyzed by Microsoft\u2019s AI for Good Lab. Older buildings, substandard construction and geography left many neighborhoods in Venezuela vulnerable to strong earthquakes. <\/p>\n

Picking up the pieces<\/h3>\n

Benito Mantilla, 68, now lives in a tent set up in a pharmacy parking lot in Catia La Mar after his privately owned home was damaged. His wife left for the Dominican Republic last week, but he decided to stay and try to find a job about 40 minutes away in the capital, Caracas, as the earthquakes also damaged his and his brother\u2019s car repair shop.<\/p>\n

Another woman also living in the parking lot was still hoping that the government would give her a home soon. Her daughter, she said, is part of the local organizers for the ruling party. <\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Caryudedi Gonz\u00e1lez, who bought her own home when she was 21, was hoping that her working-class home, half of which went down a ravine, could somehow be repaired.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn many countries, it\u2019s very difficult to own a home, and here, we work so hard to have what\u2019s ours,\u201d Gonz\u00e1lez, 44, said. <\/p>\n

Read more After his suspension was lifted in scrutinized move, Balogun has little impact in US World Cup loss<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

CARABALLEDA, Venezuela (AP) \u2014 The rich and poor shared paradise in Caraballeda on Venezuela\u2019s Caribbean…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5222,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5223","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nYacht owners and public housing residents once shared Venezuela\u2019s coast. 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