What I have seen:
– 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.
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