March 1, 2006
For better or worse, Hugo Chávez and his Bolivarian Revolution are influencing events in and beyond Venezuela, from the Bronx to Buenos Aires.
María González takes stock of government-subsidized sugar for her bodega.Since December, a bridge on the main highway between Caracas and the Venezuelan coast has been closed, due to shifting of the underlying mountainside. What used to be a 45-minute trip down a modern four-lane thoroughfare has turned into a devilish drive that can last up to five hours along two-lane blacktop that switches back and forth, rising 1600 meters up the coastal range.
The broken bridge, built in 1953, was diagnosed as buckling in 1987, but between President Hugo Chávez and his predecessors, the problem was neglected for 18 years. In recent months, the Chávez regime has been worki