In pandemic and recession, Santa Claus gifts bread and clothes to poor Venezuelan kids

Volunteers from the private initiative "Santa in the street" sort donated clothes to be handed out to families in need, in Guarenas, east of Caracas, Venezuela December 19, 2020. Picture taken December 19, 2020. REUTERS/Fausto Torrealba

GUARENAS, Venezuela (Reuters) - Santa Claus walked the streets of the outskirts of Venezuela's capital Caracas this weekend, giving children gifts ranging from bread to clothes at a time when the country is struggling with the coronavirus pandemic and an economic collapse.

Venezuelans are once again celebrating Christmas in crisis as the OPEC nation completes a sixth year of recession and a third of hyperinflation that has destroyed spending power and fueled a mass migration.