- Sleek internet kiosks set up in the plaza of a government building, where Caracas residents can sign up and surf the Web for free.
- Mobile vaccination units, set up in a matter of hours in front of shopping malls, and city residents lined up for free health checks and innoculations.
- Karate lessons, soccer camp, family counsling and a host of other free activities at an after-school campus in the downtown complex of PDVSA, the government oil company that owns CITGO.
What I have not seen:
- Pan-handlers blocking my path to the subway entrance, a la New York City.
- People sleeping under the eaves of downtown buildings.
Sure, there are hillsides covered with shacks cobbled together from scrap metal and scavenged bricks, but there are more pan-handlers competing for my spare change in downtown Seattle than I've seen in Caracas.