Caracas shanty towns turn on Chavismo
After January 23rd, FAES [National Police Special Forces] has imposed a curfew. Everyone is terrified.” Joana, a secretary and mother of two, confirms the rumor. Like everyone in this story, we’ve changed her name to protect her.
Word got around Barrio José Félix Rivas, a shantytown (highlighted in the image) in within the big Caracas slum of Petare, that at 7:00 pm, an armed group would take the street to protest. News gets around fast via WhatsApp, which is how everyone communicates. The word: don’t go out tonight.
At 7:30, Joana saw a large group of men armed with bottles, sticks, rocks and rifles. Soon, FAES, PNB and GNB officers arrived in riot gear, trucks and firearms.
“This area hasn’t reported any looting,” she tells me. “These people protest, they’re in your face about how much they want Maduro out. Most side with Guaidó. I don’t know what they know about him, but the barrio is talking about him and supports him.”
By 8:00pm, Joana thought a war had started. A three-hour shootout took hold of the area. “They were using automatic weapons and tear gas. We heard screams, chaos.”
Why? Because of something people in the “formal city” have barely noticed: the barrio turned on Maduro.
https://www.caracaschronicles.com/2019/01/29/as-petare-rises-up-faes-wages-war-on-the-poor/