© Lurdes R.Basolí, Caracas, Venezuela, 2009
"The urban and social conflict in Caracas remains unnoticed to the current media universe. In fact, it only appears in the newspapers when there is nothing else to talk about, though this is a war with all its characteristics: curfew (at dusk thefavelas‘ inhabitants take shelter in their homes); firearms are rampant (in Venezuela there are nine million firearms, 90% of which are illegal); soldiers ready to die (the malandros, young Venezuelan offenders that think reaching the age of 25 is an important achievement); boundaries and war zones (soldiers from each gang cannot go beyond the neighboring areas, as it is punished with death); collateral victims (many are the innocent who die due to cross fire during confrontations and even parties); own generals (hundreds of gangs have their own strategists, leaders who are capable of doing anything); and with its war reports (during some periods in 2007 more people died in Caracas than in Baghdad)."
