George Ciccariello-Maher, The Jacobin
Geographically, Caracas, Venezuela consists of a relatively
short, narrow valley just over twenty miles in length, sheltered from the
Caribbean Sea by a mountain range to the north, with population seams radiating
southward in a series of smaller valleys.
The old city center lies to the west of the valley, with
growth historically moving ever eastward: first in verdant suburbs, then elite
urbanizations, and finally — the valley’s easternmost limitations reached — the
massive informal barrio settlements that precariously ring the hilltops of
nearly the entire city.
