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“There are internecine fights,
micro-powers within the revolution, everyone defending their interests,”
complains this member of one of Venezuela’s militias, called colectivos, which
consider themselves keepers of socialism’s sacred flame and also sometimes act
as auxiliary state security forces. Ms Caona illuminates a growing public
disaffection with President Nicolas Maduro’s government as oil prices have slid
40 per cent since June. She says her colectivo has taken to delivering food
staples around the neighbourhood so that supplies are not “mishandled by
corrupt forces”. Her comment about “corrupt forces” also suggests why Mr Maduro continues to stall on the reforms the Opec country needs to shepherd itself through the oil price collapse and stave off default on its hard currency bonds, the highest-yielding among sovereign borrowers.
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