THE OP-13 BUILDING at the entrance to the Catia shantytown in Caracas is an ugly red and grey edifice, built a decade ago by a Russian company. With such housing projects Hugo Chavez, the founder of Venezuela's "Bolivarian revolution", established himself as the benefactor of the poor. The polyurethane cladding suits Moscow, not the tropics. The windows are too small to admit much breeze. But people who live in Catia are grateful to the government. "It's completely chavista here," says Ayax Armas, a cook who lives opposite.
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