Leading a Double Life In Caracas

Mornings and afternoons, protesters pack the plazas and streets of Caracas's upscale Chacao district, erecting barricades and throwing stones. After the sun goes down, bars light up and the cocktails of choice aren't Molotovs. For a privileged few Venezuelans, the epicenter of unrest is also the best place to escape the country's myriad woes. At La Esquina, one of Chacao's most popular haunts, the guests at a birthday celebration include a television host, a baseball agent, and a gaggle of business owners. Invitees take puffs from a hookah and knock back sangria and whiskey. From afar, Venezuela's capital appears to burn day and night. Chacao has long been a bastion for opponents of the socialist government: Two of its former mayors contended with the late Hugo Chavez for the presidency. Of the four districts ruled by opposition mayors, Chacao is the closest to government ministries and the presidential Miraflores Palace, and therefore a preferred staging ground for protests.