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  • We're inside a Venezuelan prison

  • with the minister for the prison service, Iris Varela.

  • She is a close confidante of President Nicolás Maduro.

  • And today, she is escorting a delegation from the Red Cross

  • on a visit that will air on state television.

  • Ms. Varela's press office had invited us here.

  • But it appears she didn't want us to take the full tour.

  • We tag along anyway, curious to see

  • what the system supporting Maduro looks like.

  • The government had closed this building down

  • after a deadly riot.

  • Then they reopened it and named it

  • the Center for the Formation of the New Man.

  • None of the men here are Venezuelan.

  • We learned that they're mostly Colombians held

  • for crimes like murder and drug trafficking.

  • Ms. Varela tries to show that the state treats people

  • with dignity.

  • The reality we see tells a different story,

  • starting here on this staged tour, where there's

  • no real mention of the one issue

  • consuming the prison and the country:

  • a nationwide blackout.

  • Venezuela has been in crisis for years,

  • but this power failure that lasted about a week

  • is unprecedented.

  • Even in the capital, it practically

  • paralyzed life and showed that things could still get worse.

  • We visit Alberto Diaz and his wife, Miriam.

  • Alberto runs a small watch repair shop with his sons.

  • It's the family's main source of income,

  • and they use most of it just to put food on the table.

  • They also depend on government handouts.

  • It's clear to us they're frustrated.

  • But they're careful when it comes to criticizing

  • the government.

  • Without electricity, the family

  • also has no access to running water.

  • So Miriam stores what she can and rations it.

  • During the day, we see Venezuelans

  • scramble to get water.

  • Some are so desperate, they try and collect it

  • from dirty drain pipes.

  • We can't shoot freely on the streets.

  • Security is everywhere, restricting access

  • to places where hardship is most visible, like here

  • at this public children's hospital.

  • Doctors are outside, speaking about the dire conditions

  • on the inside.

  • We're not allowed in the hospital,

  • so we meet with Andrea Verde in the car.

  • Andrea is the mother of a 7-year-old cancer patient.

  • She tells us she sold her apartment and her car

  • to cover a fraction of the treatment.

  • Now she's living at the hospital with her daughter.

  • We can't say that it's the blackout that

  • sent her into intensive care.

  • But what's certain is that people

  • are feeling the compounding effects of one crisis

  • after another.

  • And that's pushed some to take the risk and speak out.

  • But not everybody blames Maduro.

  • We head to the 23 de Enero slum,

  • where the government still enjoys widespread support.

  • Murals of Hugo Chavez, Venezuela's former leader,

  • are everywhere.

  • He's seen as a hero here for pouring money

  • into social programs to lift the poor.

  • And before he died, he picked Maduro as his successor.

  • Jesus Arellano is 25, and he's unemployed,

  • and so he relies almost exclusively

  • on government benefits.

  • Benefits like access to food baskets, medicine

  • and pensions, but these perks are not doled out purely

  • based on need.

  • Fatherland cards carry personal information

  • voting records, social media activity,

  • political affiliation.

  • So government benefits favor pro-government behavior.

  • It's why this show of support for Maduro

  • doesn't feel entirely genuine.

  • Thousands gathered when the government

  • called for a protest during the blackout.

  • But are they here out of choice or need?

  • We asked them why they came out.

  • We hear it over and over, people repeating

  • what the government claims

  • that the United States is responsible for the most

  • recent disaster.

  • There is no evidence of direct sabotage.

  • But that claim fits into a popular narrative here:

  • that U.S. sanctions against Maduro

  • are generally making people's lives worse.

  • Jesus is referring to Juan Guaidó.

  • In January, Guaidó declared himself interim president

  • and used U.S. support to mobilize the opposition

  • and try to force Maduro out of power.

  • At this Guaidó rally we're attending,

  • he appears strong and defiant

  • inspiring thousands of supporters.

  • Guaidó continues to provoke, but so far

  • Maduro has withstood the challenge.

  • And for now, he still sits in the presidential palace.

We're inside a Venezuelan prison

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委內瑞拉停電的內幕。馬杜羅的權力是如何持續下去的? (Inside Venezuela’s Blackout: How Maduro’s Power Endures | The Dispatch)

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    林宜悉 發佈於 2021 年 01 月 14 日
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