At least 12 people were killed overnight following looting and violence in Venezuela’s capital amid a spiraling political crisis, authorities said Friday. Most of the deaths took place in El Valle, a working class neighborhood near Caracas’ biggest military base, where opposition leaders say a group of people were hit with an electrical current while trying to loot a bakery protected by an electric fence.
The average Venezuelan spends 35 hours waiting to buy basic goods each month. As the lines grow longer, they increasingly become a stage for everyday life. Venezuela’s vast oil wealth once fueled a bustling economy, but years of government mismanagement ground much of the nation’s production to a halt, and the country grew dependent on imports.
The social and economic chaos stalking Venezuela is ripping apart its once-enviable school system, robbing poor students of what would otherwise be their best chance to escape lives fast becoming unbearable. The late President Hugo Chavez made education a centerpiece of his socialist revolution, using the riches from a historic boom in the price of oil to train teachers and distribute free laptops, but in just a few years, all of that progress has been undone.
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The day in photos around the world.
Christians worldwide gather on Good Friday, the South Korean island of Jindo mourns, and Toronto’s embattled mayor tries to win again. Those events are among the stories in today’s photo brief.
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A very wet protest in Venezuela, Purim revelers in Jerusalem and a cancer event in Paris are among the news in today’s daily brief.
Baltimore neighborhoods
Baltimore street photographers
Year in review
Freddie Gray: protests, aftermath
24 hours with...
A. Aubrey Bodine
Viewing Baltimore from above