The ‘barrio adentro’ system has fragmented care

Hugo Chávez looked puzzled when, on one of his recent Sunday television shows, he listened to a guest’s account of her sister’s nightmarish experience trying to find somewhere to give birth in Caracas. 

While in labour, she was bandied about from hospital to hospital, repeatedly rejected because of a lack of beds and doctors. Incredulous, the Venezuelan president asked: “Who is responsible for this?”