Letter From Caracas

Arriving in Caracas, You Might Think Venezuela Is Stabilizing

The highway is smooth. The mountains surrounding the capital remain breathtaking, especially in the soft haze of early morning. Restaurants are full in certain neighborhoods. International flights are slowly returning. There are even signs of new investment in pockets of the city. To an outsider, especially someone visiting briefly, it can feel like a country cautiously rebuilding itself after years of crisis.

But in Venezuela, appearances have always told only part of the story.

Step away from the main roads and another reality emerges almost immediately: neighborhoods with crumbling infrastructure, frequent blackouts, water shortages, rising insecurity and a population exhausted by years of political and economic collapse. In several regions outside Caracas, residents now endure electricity outages lasting up to eight hours a day. Some communities go days without running water. Even in the capital, outages and shortages remain common, though less severe than elsewhere — a reminder that Caracas still receives preferential treatment simply because it is the seat of power.

Prices continue to climb relentlessly. Food, transportation, medicine, basic household goods — everything costs more. Many Venezuelans now work multiple jobs simply to survive. According to recent economic reports, some households require as many as four incomes to cover the basic food basket. Meanwhile, the official exchange rate continues to fluctuate, adding even more pressure to daily life.

The crisis has also disrupted public education. Some schools are currently being used to house people who lost their homes in the earthquake, forcing children and displaced families to share already limited space. In some schools, classrooms are divided between temporary housing and regular lessons, meaning students attend fewer classes each week because there simply is not enough room for everyone. Other schools were damaged and remain only partially operational because of structural concerns. At Sophia’s school, for example, only half of the building is currently being used, allowing her to attend classes just twice a week. For families, the disruption has become another part of the daily reality of living through the crisis.

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