More socialist success in Venezuela

The Miami Herald reports:

As Liliana picks lice from the tangled, thick hair of her boyfriend, Patricio, while they sit together on the sidewalk of a Caracas street, she’s also multi-tasking, keeping a watchful eye on her “family.” When a 10-year-old girl named Danianyeliz kneels down to drink water from a puddle, Liliana reproaches her, urging her to have a sip from a juice bottle they’ve just found in a garbage bag.

At 16, Liliana has become the mother figure for a gang of Venezuelan children and young adults called the Chacao, named after the neighborhood they’ve claimed as their territory. The 15 members, ranging in age from 10 to 23, work together to survive vicious fights for “quality” garbage in crumbling, shortage-plagued Venezuela. Their weapons are knives and sticks and machetes. The prize? Garbage that contains food good enough to eat.

More success for socialism. Thanks to this initiative, recycling rates are up.

What has happened in Venezuela is not due to drought or famine or natural disaster. It is purely a result of Government policies that don’t work.