Venezuela returns to 'Middle Ages' during power outages

Walking for hours, making oil lamps, bearing water. For Venezuelans today, suffering under a new nationwide blackout that has lasted days, it's like being thrown back to life centuries ago. El Avila, a mountain that towers over Caracas, has become a place where families gather with buckets and jugs to fill up with water, wash dishes and scrub clothes. The taps in their homes are dry from lack of electricity to the city's water pumps. "We're forced to get water from sources that obviously aren't completely hygienic. But it's enough for washing or doing the dishes," said one resident, Manuel Almeida. Because of the long lines of people, the activity can take hours of waiting. Elsewhere, locals make use of cracked water pipes. But they still need to boil the water, or otherwise purify it. "We're going to bed without washing ourselves," said one man, Pedro Jose, a 30-year-old living in a poorer neighborhood in the west of the capital. Better-off Venezuelans, those with access to US dollars, have rushed to fill hotels that have giant generators and working restaurants...MORE

A typical outcome of a socialist system: long lines and the absence of basic goods for the average Joe, while the elite are comfortable.