When the journalist Rupert Russell landed in Caracas with $10,000 stuffed into his underpants, his aim was to circumvent Venezuela’s hyperinflation and tough currency controls while reporting on the survival tactics of the local population.
He saw a street vendor updating a makeshift sign multiple times each day bearing the price of his lemonade, and was presented with a 45mn bolivar bill after a restaurant meal that required two international bank account numbers: one to pay for the food, another for the tip.
He saw desperate children fighting over discarded chicken bones; and interviewed a woman who earns extra money queueing up for hours to buy scarce rationed goods at official prices, then marking them up (her commission) and selling them on.