Parque Central East tower in flames

A short course in the evils of populism in Venezuela

I woke up with TV images of the Eastern Tower of Parque Central in flames.


Image from Globovision.


Dealing with the fire that started around 1 AM was very difficult according to the Chief Fireman: securities system of the building were "in ruin", water hosing did not work, exit doors were barred with furniture, etc... In fact the fire is still not controlled as the fire department cannot bring the water up fast enough, the pumps that were supposed to work not working as planned. Would it end up as the WTC?

How can this be possible in a building where thousand of workers travail everyday, a little bit like our smaller version of the World Trade Center, earthquake risks obliging?

A short history of Parque Central

The Parque Central complex was the pet project of Caldera first term in the early 70ies. The idea was the recovery of large tracts of land in downtown Caracas to build a series of very tall buildings that would serve as residence for public employees who would be working in the ministries that would be located in two large towers. The complex would be planned as a city within the city, with movie theaters, shopping mall, restaurants, even museums and hotels (there are two museums within the premises, and the Hilton hotel, for example).

But of course such a pharaonic project could not be completed during Caldera's term and the following governments dragged their feet for years to just complete the buildings that were already under construction. Large plots are to this day still undeveloped. At least a mention of Carlos Andres Perez, CAP, must be made for making his the Teresa Carreño cultural complex, adjacent to Parque Central.

For all its critics, had Parque Central be completed and well managed, it would have been a very interesting place and would have helped a lot in refurbishing an ever degrading Caracas downtown. Instead it has been fighting a losing fight not to become yet another eye sore in the Caracas sky line. Why?

As already mentioned, for all its usefulness Parque Central was not the project of Caldera successors who would rather look elsewhere to leave their mark. Vanity in politicians is a truly dangerous thing. If CAP did the Teresa Carreño his successor Herrera Campins wasted money in supposedly "sports" centers such as the cock fighting arena in Caracas (now the Sucre police headquarters) or the dog racing facility in Margarita which has stood empty for now two decades as the biggest Margarita Island eyesore, totally unsuitable of any other activity. Lusinchi, the crisis president, was too busy letting his supporters fill up their pockets with the RECADI exchange control system. CAP 2 was not as eager to leave monuments and early on was plagued with social problems and a renewed economical crisis. Caldera 2 was already deep enough in trouble from the start with the banking collapse to think of new monuments. However one wonders if he was unwilling or unable to solve the now very problematic Parque Central.

The main problem of Parque Central is the organization that directs all its maintenance and utilities, the Centro Simon Bolivar, CSB. This "institute" was created as the owner of all the land destined for urban renewal. Thus it was the richest landlord by far in Venezuela. And became a notable source of corruption and patronage. Imagine all the political appointments that can be distributed to all the small campaign activists: street sweepers, janitors, lift attendants, parking managers, garbage removal, maintenance and up to secretaries, security guards, urban planners etc, etc... There is a continuous flow of income going to the CSB: rental properties, condominium payments and other taxes, from the 5 huge apartment complex, the ministries, etc, etc...

The CSB, since I can remember, has always been accused of corruption, incompetence, and what not. No government has been willing to tackle the problem seriously, not even surrender at least the management of the common living areas to the the people that eventually were allowed to really own their apartments. The CSB is a monument to populist irresponsibility. And the Chavez administration after 5 years is equally guilty of that situation, showing itself there as the natural heir of the previous regimes.

Parque Central has been declared unsafe for years. Not only for fire and earthquake hasards, but for the personal insecurity of its residents and workers. As a consequence most restaurants and shopping areas are now close. A run down atmosphere prevails when one tries to go through Parque Central. It has joined downtown in dirt and decrepitude instead of being a beacon of urban renewal.

As a consequence we have all the declarations of the fireman that have to risk their lives because "there is no money" to ensure the safety of the people that must work there. The reason why there is no money is that any "mision" of Chavez is more glamorous and brings more votes than ensuring the safety of public workers that must make these "misiones" work (1). The ever repeated history of populism now brought to perfect absurdity by this regime who awash in dollars is constantly running an electoral campaign with a constant need to distribute cash.

See the cartoon below.

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(1) After 5 years in office, having to work in tall buildings where most elevators do not work, you would have thought that the chavista administration would have found a way to improve things, if anything for their own security. Now, if the tower survives, how much will the bill to make it functional again?