The rich either lost that status or fled. The middle class, like me, went further and further into poverty. Toilet paper, soap, clothes, shoes, nevermind food and medicine. It all became a luxury. Living became a luxury. The rich in cahoots with chavismo kept their power, of course. A dictatorship sold as socialism and social justice [social justice... that shoved queer people under the rug, chavistas sending off homophobic and ableist slurs on live TV]