A man walks past the unfinished culture centre built by El Chaparral commune in La Guaira May 2, 2014. Picture taken on May 2, 2014. REUTERS/Carlos Garcia Rawlins
CATIA LA MAR Venezuela (Reuters) - The neighbourhood of El Chaparral began receiving cash from the Venezuelan government in 2005. The windfall came courtesy of the late socialist leader Hugo Chavez's plan to fight poverty by transferring billions of dollars in oil revenue to communities around the country.
Within a year, auto mechanic Juan Freire was urging authorities to cut off El Chaparral and its sister community of Los Pinos, with a combined population of 250. The money wasn’t going to the needy, he says, and it wasn’t sowing growth. Instead, Freire alleges, leaders of the community council in this mountain suburb were using some of the cash for personal expenses and to build houses for family members. He and neighbours filed complaints with nearly a dozen state agencies seeking a halt to the transfers.
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