The destruction of Caracas. "Why take the straight road when the crooked one is better?"

[GatoGordo]

Rebar and Cement Thieves Destroy What’s Left of Caracas
By Ana Victoria Silva - October 22, 2018

The theft of construction supplies has become normal all over the country for the past several years. Whether it’s abandoned buildings, unattended, unfinished constructions or transport trucks and private providers, chances are it’s all gonna get stolen. There are multiple causes behind this, like the shortage of materials, their steep prices and opportunism.

Many of the robbers do this to build, finish or expand their homes, which tend to be shacks or very rural buildings in precarious environments, while others steal to sell the rebar, cement and other supplies obtained illegally and dangerously, in what we could call the construction business’ black market.

We visited various hardware stores in western Caracas over the course of two weeks between September 24 and October 10, 2018, to give you an idea of the prices on some construction supplies. None of the places we visited sold cement. In fact, one of the sellers in a small hardware store, in a low-income area, said that he hasn’t seen a cement pack in a year and a half. Several stores have ½ and ⅜ rebar, as well as sand and other mixes. On average, the ½ rebar’s price (they’re six meters long) was Bs.S. 460, the ⅜ rebar was Bs.S. 380 and the pack of sand (21 kilos), Bs.S. 1,200. Note that we use “was” because with rampant hyperinflation, prices don’t usually last more than two weeks. They will have doubled or tripled by the time this piece is published.

-snip-

https://www.caracaschronicles.com/2018/10/22/rebars-and-cement-thieves-destroy-whats-left-of-caracas/

It should surprise no one that El Pueblo has become accustomed to thievery, since the past 19 years has seen Venezuela absolutely LOOTED by Chavismo.