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In Pictures

Gallery|Poverty and Development

Hardship and political theatre: The crisis in Venezuela

Photographer Wil Riera documents people’s struggles and the theatre of street politics in his native Venezuela.

Venezuela’s No Bread and Circus/ Please Do Not Use
Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro speaks during a pro-government rally in Caracas on June 26, 2015. Maduro's approval ratings have fallen as the country faces an economic crisis and three-digit inflation. [Wil Riera/Al Jazeera]
By Wil Riera
Published On 2 Apr 20172 Apr 2017
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Caracas, Venezuela – At 34, I’ve spent almost half of my life under the same government.

One morning in 1992, when I was ten, my mother didn’t wake me up for elementary school. Hours later, when I got up, the streets were empty. There had been an attempted coup; my parents, like others, were in a state of shock.  

That day I heard Hugo Chavez’s name for the first time. He was speaking on television, wearing his signature red beret, as the military leader of a failed coup against the former president Carlos Andres Perez.

Seven years later, Chavez became Venezuela’s president through elections, winning an overwhelming majority of the votes, and the country began its transition into “21st-century socialism”, leveraging oil wealth into social programmes for education and housing to help poor communities.

Venezuela, however, was politically divided. My family gatherings grew smaller as Chavistas – Chavez’s supporters – and opposition supporters stopped talking to each other. Within my own immediate family, my father supported Chavez while my mother and brother supported the opposition; they were adamant that a former military officer couldn’t solve our country’s problems.

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Following Chavez’s death in 2013, Nicolas Maduro – his close political ally – became president after winning the election. Maduro is not as charismatic or popular as the former president. Under his leadership, the military presence in government offices has grown. And Venezuela has lapsed into an economic, political and social crisis. 

Oil-exporting Venezuela became dependent on food imports, but when the price of oil collapsed in 2014, the government could no longer afford the food and medicines that the country needed.

Shortages have become commonplace and basic goods are rationed. According to the last digit of one’s ID card, people are assigned a day in the week to buy groceries – just one or two items of the same product – at subsidised prices.

Crime and violence are also widespread. In 2016, 27,479 people were killed – an all-time high – according to the independent group the Venezuelan Violence Observatory.

The crackdown against Maduro’s political opponents has intensified. Opponents have been jailed, accused of or charged with trying to overthrow the government. 

At the end of 2014, I began a long-term project to document the Venezuelan people’s struggles, frustrations and spirit at a time of crisis. I also wanted to document the theatrical practices of the political forces – those in power and in opposition – in holding regular political rallies and free concerts and disseminating propaganda. These have become like a national sport; a distraction from the daily hardships.

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Having witnessed the crisis first-hand, I also aim to show how, no matter which political ideology people identify with, we all seek change and hope for a better future.

Venezuela’s No Bread and Circus/ Please Do Not Use
An opposition supporter waves a party flag at the end of the campaign for the National Assembly elections in Caracas on December 2, 2015. [Wil Riera/Al Jazeera]
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Venezuela’s No Bread and Circus/ Please Do Not Use
A mobile truck serving fast food in Caracas offers a delivery service so customers can avoid being kidnapped. The banner reads: "Deliver. Do not expose yourself, you can pay for food via wire transfer" while President Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores appear on TV on December 6, 2015, the day of the legislative elections. [Wil Riera/Al Jazeera]
Venezuela’s No Bread and Circus/ Please Do Not Use
Voters in the Petare slum in Caracas line up outside a polling station for the December 6, 2015 legislative elections. On the public school wall is a mural of the former Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez. [Wil Riera/Al Jazeera]
Venezuela’s No Bread and Circus/ Please Do Not Use
Humberto Lopez, known as 'El Che', poses while sitting in his truck in Caracas. Cuba strongly influences the Venezuelan government and their political, economic and social strategies. January 23, 2015. [Wil Riera/Al Jazeera]
Venezuela’s No Bread and Circus/ Please Do Not Use
A man displays his arm with a number to mark his position in a queue to buy toilet paper and rice at a supermarket in Caracas on November 24, 2014. People have to wait for up to three hours to buy cost-regulated basics. [Wil Riera/Al Jazeera]
Venezuela’s No Bread and Circus/ Please Do Not Use
Bare shelves inside a rural house in El Hatillo on March 18, 2017. Rural areas in the country have been hard hit by the basic food shortages. [Wil Riera/Al Jazeera]
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Venezuela’s No Bread and Circus/ Please Do Not Use
A grocery store owner inspects his premises in San Felix, Bolivar State, on July 8, 2015, after it was looted by people looking for basic goods. [Wil Riera/Al Jazeera]
Venezuela’s No Bread and Circus/ Please Do Not Use
A child carries an empty gas canister in order to buy a new one from state oil company workers in the Petare slum, Caracas on March 10, 2017. [Wil Riera/Al Jazeera]
Venezuela’s No Bread and Circus/ Please Do Not Use
Children play in a 23 de Enero slum playground in Caracas, close to the Cuartel de la Montana barracks, where the tomb of the former president Hugo Chavez is located. March 5, 2015. [Wil Riera/Al Jazeera]
Venezuela’s No Bread and Circus/ Please Do Not Use
A effigy of President Maduro is set alight during the traditional Easter celebration 'Burning of the Judas' as a part of protests against the government in Caracas on March 26, 2016. [Wil Riera/Al Jazeera]
Venezuela’s No Bread and Circus/ Please Do Not Use
Police detain a demonstrator during a protest against Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro's government in Caracas on May 18, 2016. [Wil Riera/Al Jazeera]
Venezuela’s No Bread and Circus/ Please Do Not Use
Police officers react to tear gas at a protest against President Maduro in Caracas on May 18, 2016. [Wil Riera/Al Jazeera]
Venezuela’s No Bread and Circus/ Please Do Not Use
Protesters clash with police during a demonstration in support of a referendum on the rule of President Maduro in Caracas on July 26, 2016. [Wil Riera/Al Jazeera]
Venezuela’s No Bread and Circus/ Please Do Not Use
Family members play baseball outside a rural house in El Hatillo, one the five municipalities of Caracas, on March 18, 2017. Rural areas have been hard hit by the country's chronic shortages. [Wil Riera/Al Jazeera]


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