{"id":402987,"date":"2026-01-09T23:34:16","date_gmt":"2026-01-09T23:34:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/402987\/"},"modified":"2026-01-09T23:34:16","modified_gmt":"2026-01-09T23:34:16","slug":"the-daily-struggle-continues-in-caracas-as-venezuelans-dare-to-hope-for-change","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/402987\/","title":{"rendered":"The daily struggle continues in Caracas as Venezuelans dare to hope for change"},"content":{"rendered":"

Caracas retiree Gloria P\u00e9rez* dreams of the days of Venezuela’s “Fourth Republic” \u2014 the decades of democracy before socialist revolutionary Hugo Ch\u00e1vez took power in 1999.<\/p>\n

“You could afford to go out on a Saturday or Sunday to get an ice cream, to be with your family,” Ms P\u00e9rez, a grandmother of six, remembers.<\/p>\n

“You can’t do that anymore.<\/p>\n

“You can’t even afford a bus fare.”<\/p>\n

Ms P\u00e9rez once made a good living at a government department, where she worked for several decades. Now, she says, she receives a monthly pension of 300 Bolivars \u2014 about $1.50.<\/p>\n

“It makes me laugh to say it, but that’s not even enough to buy me a lollipop.”<\/p>\n

\"Crates<\/p>\n

Food shortages and hyperinflation have eased somewhat in recent years, but most Venezuelans still live in poverty. (AP: Matias Delacroix)<\/p>\n

Like other public sector workers and retirees, she also receives a “war bonus” \u2014 a subsidy introduced by the Maduro government, supposedly to offset the effects of US sanctions.<\/p>\n

It equates to about $150 a month \u2014 nowhere near enough to cover basic living expenses.<\/p>\n

“I could eat well for a week, and the other days \u2026 I’d have to beg for food,” Ms P\u00e9rez says.<\/p>\n

It is a daily struggle that is typical for Venezuelans, who have for years suffered under economic collapse, hyperinflation and incomes that cannot cover basic needs.<\/p>\n

“The rich have become poor, and the middle class has fallen into poverty, and poverty is at its most extreme,” says Ms P\u00e9rez. “There are many politicians, the so-called ‘cronies’, who are the only ones who have risen with this government. Everyone, everybody has fallen.”<\/p>\n

Her husband makes a small income from working as a security guard, but Ms P\u00e9rez is dependent on their daughter, who \u2014 as is typical in Venezuela \u2014 does several jobs.<\/p>\n

Without revealing specifics, Ms P\u00e9rez says her daughter works for the government, for a private company and for herself.<\/p>\n

“I call her my husband,” Ms P\u00e9rez tells the ABC. “She is the one who contributes everything.”<\/p>\n

Survival demands creativity<\/p>\n

The US, having snatched and deposed President Nicol\u00e1s Maduro a week ago, is pledging to tap back into the country’s oil reserves and share the riches with the Venezuelan people. But details are vague<\/a>, and the Trump administration’s stated priority is restoring access for American companies.<\/p>\n

There is widespread anxiety that America’s sudden intervention could lead to more violence and spark more economic turmoil.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

Oil pumps feature in street art in Caracas. (AP: Matias Delacroix)<\/p>\n

Reliable data is unavailable, but anecdotally, the prices of meat, fish and drinking water have doubled since the end of the year, and retailers are jacking up prices in anticipation of living costs rising further.<\/p>\n

“People are mostly still very much so focused on trying to survive in this moment,” says Rebecca Hanson, a Venezuela expert at the University of Florida.<\/p>\n

Many people work solely for themselves in Venezuela’s “informal” economy. Those with formal employment commonly have informal side hustles.<\/p>\n

“People have tried to be very creative,” Professor Hanson says.<\/p>\n

“So they might make food and sell it. They might sew and repair clothes\u2026 It’s a lot of trying to figure out what you can do with your own two hands.”<\/p>\n

The economy has seen a little improvement in recent years. Hyperinflation has eased and food shortages are not as severe. Crime also appears to be down, though reliable official data is unavailable.<\/p>\n

But corruption remains rampant, gangs are now more organised, and “the police have become incredibly embedded in extortion networks,” Professor Hanson says.<\/p>\n

“Extortion has just really gone off the charts the past few years.”<\/p>\n

Risks of speaking<\/p>\n

State repression in Venezuela can make public opinion difficult to gauge, and speaking to foreign media is risky for Venezuelans.<\/p>\n

Many are reluctant to be interviewed, even anonymously, for fear of retribution from the Maduro regime, which remains largely intact and in control.<\/p>\n

A state of emergency decree, implemented after the US intervention, orders police to arrest “everyone involved in the promotion or support” for the attack.<\/p>\n

There are reports of journalists being detained, and of civilians having their phones searched for anything considered anti-regime.<\/p>\n

The ABC has changed the names of the Venezuelans in this story for their safety.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Venezuelans commonly work multiple jobs to try to make ends meet. (Reuters: Gaby Oraa)<\/p>\n

“Venezuelans live with fear of writing a tweet or posting a video on Instagram or making a comment in the street,” Jorge Garc\u00eda, a teacher in his 30s, told the ABC at C\u00facuta, on the Colombian side of the Venezuelan border.<\/p>\n

“We live with a lot of fear. We have seen how people like our neighbours and family members are thrown in jail.”<\/p>\n

Mr Garc\u00eda was in Colombia during the US strike on Caracas, but had to return to Venezuela a few days later.<\/p>\n

“Let’s hope that through this situation they will start offering us real guarantees and that we’re in a real transition to democracy,” he said.<\/p>\n

“I’m talking about the freeing of political prisoners, removing censorship for digital media, traditional media, websites. Venezuelans don’t even have access to some social media platforms, like X.”<\/p>\n

Cautious hope<\/p>\n

In October, an AtlasIntel\/Bloomberg poll asked Venezuelans if they supported a US military intervention to depose Mr Maduro and his government.<\/p>\n

Inside Venezuela, only about a third of respondents said they supported a US intervention, compared to two thirds of Venezuelans who had left the country.<\/p>\n

In the days after the US acted, the ABC encountered a range of viewpoints in Caracas.<\/p>\n

In the poorer, traditionally pro-Ch\u00e1vez neighbourhood of Catia, one Maduro loyalist said he was “demanding the release of our president, who was kidnapped by the empire\u2014the evil empire, the sadistic empire, the drug-addicted empire”.<\/p>\n

Another said the decision to “mess with Venezuelans” was the “worst thing that could have happened to Trump”. “Now, he better get ready, because there’s a furious people here, demanding the return of our president.”<\/p>\n

\"Red<\/p>\n

Catia is a poorer neighbourhood of Caracas. (Reuters: Leonardo Fernandez Viloria)<\/p>\n

In the less poor neighbourhood of Chacao, people who spoke to the ABC praised the US action and called for new national elections, which they were confident would be won by opposition leader Mar\u00eda Corina Machado.<\/p>\n

“We have to be careful and protect ourselves because we’re afraid that [the regime] might do something to us for speaking out too much,” one man said.<\/p>\n

“But we support a transition for peace and tranquillity, and for Venezuela to rise. That’s what we want, that’s what everyone in Venezuela wants.”<\/p>\n

Fleeing Maduro’s regime<\/a><\/p>\n

When a Telegram message landed on her phone, Diana knew she had to flee Venezuela. It was from someone close to Nicol\u00e1s Maduro, and she says she would have been jailed, or worse.<\/p>\n

The Trump administration has made clear an election is not a short-term priority.<\/p>\n

Rather, it is seeking to deal with the interim government \u2014 comprised of members of the Maduro regime. American military might is still amassed in the Caribbean and the US plans to control the movement of oil to maintain leverage over the country’s leaders.<\/p>\n

Meeting with top oil executives on Friday, local time, Mr Trump said he expected American companies to move in and employ many Venezuelans.<\/p>\n

Company representatives expressed enthusiasm, but made no commitments, when they spoke to the media. ExxonMobil CEO Darren Woods said Venezuela was currently “uninvestable”.<\/p>\n

Ms P\u00e9rez is hopeful life in Venezuela will soon improve one way or another.<\/p>\n

“We have all the hope in the world, and hope in God, who is paramount, and in our leaders, like Mar\u00eda Corina Machado,” she said.<\/p>\n

“I tell my daughters and my grandchildren that the time has come for us to remove the stones and thorns that are in our path, and move towards a democracy.<\/p>\n

“Not like the previous one, no. It’s going to be better, much better, than the one we had in the Fourth Republic. I have that faith.”<\/p>\n

*Names have been changed<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Caracas retiree Gloria P\u00e9rez* dreams of the days of Venezuela’s “Fourth Republic” \u2014 the decades of democracy before…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":402988,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[2095,64,63,133250,13885,164,134,5465,213954,208642,3281,427,2957,22474],"class_list":{"0":"post-402987","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tv","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-au","10":"tag-australia","11":"tag-caracas","12":"tag-donald","13":"tag-economy","14":"tag-entertainment","15":"tag-inflation","16":"tag-life-in-venezuela","17":"tag-maduro","18":"tag-trump","19":"tag-tv","20":"tag-usa","21":"tag-venezuela"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/402987","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=402987"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/402987\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/402988"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=402987"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=402987"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=402987"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}