Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Caracas (Agenzia Fides) - Around 2 am on Monday, May 18, a group of about 30 women and 18 children violently entered Casa-Hogar "Padre Machado", in the village of El Valle (Caracas, Venezuela ), occupying the premises and detaining the seven nuns who work in the shelter for the homeless, beggars and young drug addicts.
From the information sent to Fides, provided to the media by the same nuns after the incident, two people entered the house from the roof and opened the gate of the center to allow the entrance of the rest of the group, chanting the slogan "We want solutions" and then they closed the gate with chains and padlocks.
The occupants said they would not abandon the house until someone from the government came to negotiate with them, and this happened only after 2 pm. Men of the National Guard and the National Police arrived in the early morning hours.
Sister María, of the Congregation Hermanas de los Pobres de Maiquetía, who runs Casa-Hogar, said: "after entering with violence, they asked us to go away, but we decided not to, because this is a home help for the community". The group claimed to belong to the homeless in Nueva Tacagua, to whom the government has promised houses and help for almost 10 years. Sister Mary Zurita, head of the House, asked the press to deny the fact that the occupants were armed.
In many areas of Venezuela people are living in despair and on the verge of poverty, and this episode in El Valle is an example. (CE) (Agenzia Fides 19/05/2015)
