Workers at one maintenance company in Carabobo that was reorganized as a cooperative enjoy their new structure. Their 58–member cooperative makes all decisions by assembly, under the guidance of an elected board of directors. “Before, we had a private company with a hierarchical structure like a pyramid. The cooperative destroyed the pyramid and regrouped workers in a circle so everyone has rights and responsibilities,” said one worker who now feels, for the first time, that his job matters. While workers agreed that the cooperative structure is ideal, and that it even makes them more efficient workers, they still believed they had fared better before the changes. As a cooperative, the company doles out wages based on a fixed amount received from the government. For a while, they said, benefits were improving, but now wages are worse than ever. Workers from the company have gone to Caracas three times to appeal for more funding, but so far their requests have been ignored.

Waste is not the only reason for the failures of these programs; poor planning is key. One of the strongest criticisms of the social programs is that they have no incentive structure built in. “It’s paternalistic, it’s all handouts,” said a representative of Nuevo Pueblo (“New Village”), a NGO that has sought to maintain its independence from the government by seeking funding from international organizations. The organization has given pigs to 36 families and trained the families on how to raise them hygienically and sustainably. Now Nuevo Pueblo is working on diversifying production by introducing citrus planting and quail egg harvesting— activities more suitable for the mountainous terrain. The organization was created 40 years ago to teach families how to gain financial independence in a sustainable fashion, a kind of long-term project that Chávez’s misiónes don’t seem to include. Fabricio Ojeda, recently constructed, boasts almost all the amenities that a cooperative and community space can have. Yet it too shows signs of mismanagement. In the cooperative’s beautiful hillside garden designed to provide agricultural training to members, Orsini explained that, in a few years, it would have to be rebuilt further up the hill because of erosion. And in a country in which 80 percent of the population still lives in poverty, the shoemaking cooperative sent 5,000 pairs of shoes to Cuba and 2,000 pairs to Bolivia in the past year, free of charge. While Orsini contended that neoliberals cannot understand generosity to other countries, the fact remains that large sums of money are being invested in activities that cannot last very long, and they do much less in helping the country’s own citizens.

First Steps

Even though there are myriad opinions on the success of Chávez’s projects, objectively they have done some good. As PDVSA’s Vierma boasted, “We decided to get rid of illiteracy in three years. We are proud to say that in Venezuela there are no illiterates anymore.” While a study of household survey data done by Wesleyan University researchers found no evidence of more than a small improvement in literacy, if that, it is generally accepted that literacy has widely improved because of the government’s efforts to send people of all ages to school and send volunteers to remote villages to teach reading. Educational opportunities for the poor are increasing as well. PDVSA has financed a number of universities that accept any student wishing to attend. They also provide free tuition and low-cost meals. Classes in the morning, afternoon, and evening are designed to accommodate the many students with working schedules.

PDVSA officials also proudly pointed to all the infrastructure they have created: medical facilities as part of the Barrio Adentro program, universities, schools, sports fields, community centers, and low-priced supermarkets called mercales. These programs, according to PDVSA, benefit many people, who in turn notice a significant difference from times before the programs existed. According to some, one can occasionally spot upper-class Venezuelans—wearing their worst clothing—shopping at mercales for the cheaper goods.

Nevertheless, Fabricio Ojeda is deserted, despite its impressive facilities. Orsini explained that PDVSA was encouraging people to stay indoors to foil expected protests over the revocation of the television station RCTV’s license, slated to occur the following day.

On a hill above Fabricio Ojeda stands the skeletal frame of a building. Excited cooperative members boasted of its purpose: it is to be a technical training school so children in the barrio can learn a trade if they are not eligible for university work. Yet no one can answer when it will be completed, who will teach, and who will attend. Will this building fulfill its promise, providing an option for young adults in the barrio, simultaneously getting them off the streets and getting them a job? Or will the building join the many others in Venezuela that, due to mismanagement, keep springing up only to wait endlessly to be occupied?

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