European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - August 05, 1978, Darmstadt, Hesse Luxury apartments in Caracas Rise elegantly before Hillside filled with shanties. Nightmare of congestion fuelled by Oil Boom. E More than two decades ago was a provincial thirty Story buildings have shot up alongside lies. Nent buildings March along the Foothills and my nooks within these towering edifices with a the nearby Blue mountains rent for $1.500 a re Many Sharp reminders that not All Benezue Baring in the wealth. It one third of the country s 13 million people housed ill clothed ill fed and ill schooled i . Government economic report in the room of the Caracas embassy. Y As a million people Are said to live in poverty i panties that climb up the Hills alongside the. Merican business couple pays $1.400 a month for wife Calls the doubtful privilege of looking i i in our 14th-Flpor window into a Public toilet in a / non the Hillside seems lacking in crowded Caracas is the obvious test be Devilling other Caribbean countries with Irge numbers of underprivileged. T Oak they la get Money too. It seems so Caracas journalist and that Hope brings 70.000 into Caracas from the Interior according to of ires. Do shop in Caracas is to dream of riches. P Irwin suits that sell for $150 in new York go for Caracas. An Yves St Laurent tie brings $80 at i Best of the City s Many modern shopping Cen Lan silk shirts at the Centro Simon Bolivar sell and sales Are brisk according to Clothier Vincent Losada who flies to Paris for the annual fashion pageants. Women s fashions Are similarly expensive. The Young women of Caracas however tend to go their own special directions. Jeans Are worn by nearly All for Day and sometimes evening Wear. The Princess of an Industrial fair in january wore jeans and a to shirt under her Dia mond Tiara. The venezuelans Don t have their own culture so they Are trying to create one from what they buy and consume was the disparaging comment of a visit ing american sociologist who also complained of the extreme Macho of the men. Expensive tastes in Caracas go beyond clothing and into foods. Imported specialities Are prevalent and sell at dizzying prices. Campbell s Cream of asparagus soup Sells for $1.75 a can at a supermarket near the Plaza Venezuela. American Price 45cents. Other imports arc similarly High. We tend to Experiment More than we would like with local foods such As the native bread plantains and popular meat concoctions because of the High says the wife of a . Diplo mat. Expense account lunches take up the Slack. "1 just had Swiss Venison at the Piccadilly club said a i a. Embassy economics officer. A visiting american industrialist had picked up the Check i $20 per entree. But More than the skyscrapers the shop window and the expensive clubs it is the automobile that is the most obvious manifestation of the venezuelan Oil Boom. 5, 1978 there Are 400,000 automobiles in Caracas alone according to the transportation ministry clogging the los Angeles like freeways that thread through a building chocked Valley Only 10 Miles Long and three Miles at its widest. The traffic congestion is a Nightmare. My president insists on department head meetings at 7 . Because a later conference would be ruined by traffic tie says a Bank manager in the old City. Auto Mechanic Francisco Ruiz commutes eight Miles each Way to his Job downtown but leaves Home at 5 . To reach his shop by 8. Around 4,000 new vehicles Are added to the total each month mainly Large Fords Chevrolet and Mercedes assembled in Caracas. Prices Range up to three times their Home country Cost but venezuelan motorists Don t seem to care. Regular gasoline Sells at Only 17 cents a gallon. Cara Cas is a big car Haven says taxi Driver Alfredo Villalba. Who was piloting an Ltd through the traffic. To help Narl the frequently clogged cars City authorities have experimented with huge prefabricated weekend Bridges that they throw across intersections. The venezuelan government has made one determined attempt to Cut Down consumer expenditure. By modify ing its color to transmissions to filter the color out at the last stage the government is forcing residents to buy the less expensive Black and White sets. But the wealthier venezuelans have skirted this technicality by buying Black Market color tvs for 51.500 and adding a $250 special device that restores the color the government filters out. So much for fiscal restraint. The stars and stripes Page 15
