Homeland card

They became known for empty shelves, long lines, rationing.

The regime eventually tied access to subsidized food to political loyalty through its Carnet de la Patria ID card.

A government powerful enough to feed you is a p- government powerful enough to decide whether you deserve to eat.

New York may not be Venezuela, and five municipal supermarkets will not turn into Venezuela overnight.

And the families most vulnerable to that pressure were the very families Chavismo had claimed to defend.

In 2017, the government added another instrument, the Carnet de la Patria, the Motherland Card.

It was presented as a way to organize access to social benefits.

Its QR code linked the holder to a digital database.

The political uses of that system would become more visible in the following year.

In 2018, it was documented that the card's database collected personal information and your participation in elections.

The Carnet de la Patria connected state benefits with your personal information and political mobilization.

Now, none of this means that everyone receiving food supported Maduro or that poor Venezuelans didn't protest.