Venezuela: The "Haves"

November 15, 2006 | Pulitzer Center

Nov. 5, 2006-- Supporters of opposition candidate Manuel Rosales line the streets of Chacao, an upper class area in Caracas, to cheer for the presidential candidate.

Nov. 5, 2006-- An aerobics class works out in the center of one of Caracas' many malls. High oil prices have flooded the country with cash-- stimulating the country's burgeoning consumer economy.

Nov. 5, 2006-- An automobile show at one of Caracas' many malls displays the latest import models. Cars are expensive in the country and a waiting list for new cars is a testament the rising income of many citizens as high oil prices have begun to flush the nation with cash.

Nov. 15, 2006-- A boat show at one of Caracas' many malls caters to the country's upper class. Venezuela under Hugo Chavez. High oil prices have flooded the country with cash--stimulating the country's burgeoning consumer economy.

Nov. 13, 2006-- Fhandor Quirega, 51, President of the Yaracuy Chapter of FENDECAMERAS, an aggressively anti-Chavez business group, complains that the government is trying to do away with all private property. The rancher owns a 200 acre cattle farm in the west central part of the country.

They might as well live on a different planet -- or at the least, in Miami. Venezuela's well-heeled upper crust shop in American-style malls and snap up luxury boats and automobiles. They also form the hard-core base of opposition to populist President Hugo Chavez.