Despite housing pledges from Chavez, Venezuela’s homeless call racetrack home

The chestnut-colored 3-year-olds still take the turns hard and fast on the dirt track at La Rinconada, the once-elegant racing park inaugurated in 1959 as Venezuela began its oil-fueled heyday.

But these days, dozens of homeless families live under the vast concrete grandstands, moved there by President Hugo Chavez's government into cramped cubicles to alleviate a critical housing shortage. Water service is spotty, foul-smelling bathrooms overflow with sewage and gangs of young thieves steal what little residents have.

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