‘FINDING SOLUTIONS’

A group of Caracas residents in June built a system to use water accumulated at a stalled tunnel construction project near the El Avila mountain bordering Caracas.

They used 1,300 meters of hoses for the network and the residents contributed 10 dollars each to buy parts.

“We can’t spend our whole lives complaining,” said Wilfredo Moscoso, one of the project’s leaders. “We are finding solutions.”

In some places, Venezuelans have to walk for kilometers to find a cellular signal.

“The only one way I manage to get even a bit of coverage is when I get up on the roof of the house,” said Jose Atacho, a pharmacy manager in the western city of Punto Fijo, who has lines with three different operators to improve the odds.

Working and studying from home during coronavirus quarantine while struggling with faulty connections has led families to rely on pricey mobile phone data services.

In some cases, residents pay up to $30 per month for additional services, compared with the notoriously faulty state-provided internet that costs $2 per month.

In the western city of Maracaibo, Argenis Linares paid for a satellite internet service and charges people several dollars per month for access. “Some neighbors asked me, especially the friends of my kids, to do their homework,” he said. “Two are in a tough situation and they just pay what they can.”

(Photograph:Reuters)