Venezuela reached the halfway point of its goal to build three million homes for poor Venezuelans this week, the only program of its kind and one of the government’s most successful ones.
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Created in 2011 by Hugo Chavez, the nine-year program is being attacked by sectors of the opposition as a waste of public funds. The public housing program is either free or low of cost, depending on the family's means.
The mission was first launched to provide housing for Venezuelans who lost their homes in the devastating 2010 floods. However, since then the GMV has been expanded to provide low-cost housing to the wider population. In 2011, then-President Hugo Chavez explained the mission would address the “social debt” left behind by former governments that failed to provide quality housing to all Venezuelans.
WATCH: Venezuela: Housing Program delivers 1 Millionth Home
The project aimed to involve Venezuelans in the process as much as possible, with homeowners responsible for 60 percent of town planning.