Nuestra Señora del Carmen school (El Cortijo, Caracas)

School in the El Cortijo neighbourhood of Caracas, Venezuela. The Atlantic’s “Venezuela Is Falling Apart” uses its twice-robbed lunch pantry to show the state’s collapse.

At a glance

SourceAuthorRoleIn one line
Venezuela Is Falling ApartMoisés Naím, Francisco TorosettingThieves break into the school pantry twice, once leaving the children unfed for at least a week, illustrating the breakdown of law and…

Venezuela Is Falling Apart — Moisés Naím, Francisco Toro (2016)

Source: Original · Readwise highlight

At Nuestra Señora del Carmen school in El Cortijo, a struggling neighborhood of Caracas, supplies for the school-lunch program have been stolen twice this year already: Thugs have broken into the school’s pantry late at night after fresh food is delivered.

  • Role: setting
  • In the article: Thieves break into the school pantry twice, once leaving the children unfed for at least a week, illustrating the breakdown of law and order and hunger keeping kids from school.
  • Why it matters: One of the article’s concrete vignettes of state collapse at street level.