On the road to the hotel in Porlamar, Margarita island’s largest commercial district, billboards proclaim a high human development index, a low poverty rate, and praises its president, Nicolas Maduro. The NAM summit had to be held in Isla Margarita and not the capital, Caracas, because the crime rate there is much higher. Your money and material objects can be replaced, you cannot be.”Scene outside the NAM summit venue Scene outside the NAM summit venueSometime after midday, mediapersons are evacuated from the media centre. In a superstore in La Asuncion, the capital of Nueva Esparta of which Isla Margarita is a part, bare shelves stare at customers. “There is never enough food,” she says, adding that Isla Margarita has better food supplies only because the government flew in everything for the summit.

Source: Indian Express October 01, 2016 20:16 UTC