Mission Barrio Adentro (English: Mission Into the Neighborhood) is a Venezuelan social welfare program established by the President Hugo Chávez. Initially billed as an attempt to deliver a de facto form of universal healthcare, Barrio Adentro later became a way to grant access to medical care to Venezuelan citizens whose political stance the Bolivarian government deemed acceptable.
Of a planned 8,500 Barrio Adentro I centers, 2,708 had been built by May 2007, using an investment of around US$126 million, with a further 3,284 under construction.
In Caracas, Mission Barrio Adentro I and II centers in 32 parishes were the subject of constant complaints regarding performance even after receiving 1.492 million bolívares from the government. As of December 2014, it was estimated that 80% of Barrio Adentro establishments were abandoned in Venezuela, with the majority of Cuban medical personnel leaving the country.
By the end of 2015, the Bolivarian government reported that one in three of Venezuelan patients admitted to public health facilities that year died. In October 2016, the Miami Herald reported that hundreds of doctors were being recalled by the Cuban government, allegedly due to a lack of payments by Venezuela.
History
Of a planned 8,500 Barrio Adentro I centers, 2,708 had been built by May 2007, using an investment of around US$126 million, with a further 3,284 under construction.
In Caracas, Mission Barrio Adentro I and II centers in 32 parishes were the subject of constant complaints regarding performance even after receiving 1.492 million bolívares from the government. Councilman Alejandro Vivas stated that "instead of having positive results, what is observed is the discontent of the citizens for a performance that leaves much to be desired".
Analysis
Jorge Díaz-Polanco, a sociologist of the Center for Development Studies (CENDES), stated that despite an increase of investment, the maternal mortality rate increased and in 2009, the rate was 70 deaths per 100,000 live births, the highest since the 1990s.
In Caracas, Mission Barrio Adentro I and II centers in 32 parishes were the subject of constant complaints about performance even after being funded 1.492 million Bolivares by the government. Councilman Alejandro Vivas stated that "instead of having positive results, what is observed is the discontent of the citizens for a performance that leaves much to be desired". One academic study noted that the successes of the Barrio Adentro program in 2003 and 2004 may have "crucially influenced" Chávez's 59% to 41% victory in the 2004 Venezuelan recall referendum.
The functioning of the programme has been hampered by opposition from the media and Chávez' political opponents. However, this opposition has also made the programme more visible to the populace.
Arachu Castro, Assistant Professor of Social Medicine at Harvard Medical School, wrote that the programme has achieved "the materialization of the right to health care for millions of Venezuelans". Due to its reliance on community organisation, the programme has "created a new space for political participation and activism that has forcefully extended throughout Venezuela".
By 2017, it was reported by The Miami Herald that though the program had saved lives, it was "also clear the program is less effective than the administration would like the world to believe," with reports of exaggerated and fraudulent data being reported by Cuban medical personnel who had previously worked under the mission.
Abandonment
In July 2007, Douglas León Natera, chairman of The Venezuelan Medical Federation, reported that up to 70% of the Barrio Adentro modules had been either abandoned or were left unfinished. In some cases the Venezuelan government accused elected opposition officials of trying to impede or close existing Missions. In 2006 Chávez accused the governor of Zulia State of impeding Barrio Adentro there. According to investigative journalist Patricia Marcano, in 2010 the Venezuelan government promised to start 357 clinics of which 148 were completed. In 2012, 298 clinics were promised and 175 were completed, and in 2013, 62 were promised with 35 completed.
In December 2014, it was estimated that 80% of Barrio Adentro establishments were abandoned with reports of some structures being filled with trash or becoming unintentional shelters for the homeless. The majority of Cuban medical personnel had left Venezuela as of 2016.