Coronavirus, sex and drugs: how privileged kids of Venezuela’s elite still party in the pandemic
- Embarrassing Instagram posts of raucous partying leak as poor nation is engulfed by food and medicine shortages
- Among young revellers was Jesus Amoroso, son of president’s top anti-corruption official
They whiled away the week on a sex- and drug-fuelled romp: dancing on white-sand beaches and frolicking on a paradisiacal Caribbean island with prostitutes from Europe, some snapping selfies with famous reggaeton artists.
But unbeknown to several children of Venezuela’s ruling elite, the coronavirus was spreading among them.
For some of Venezuela’s high-flying “Bolichicos” – the privileged offspring of the socialist revolution – the party hasn’t stopped amid a widening pandemic in a country already gripped by crisis.
To date, the virus has claimed only seven confirmed fatalities in Venezuela. But the potential is high for the pandemic to overwhelm an already crippled health system, where hospitals lack water, electricity and supplies.
It’s not clear how many people got sick last month on the Los Roques archipelago. But a raucous party that became a cluster of infections has raised concerns at the highest level of the government and drawn condemnation from Venezuelans locked down at home for weeks.
“There was a party, on an island, and practically everyone at the party is testing positive,” embattled leader Nicolas Maduro said on state TV March 20.