INTERNATIONAL delegates to the Venezuela solidarity conference in Caracas saw on Monday how the government keeps the poor fed in the face of economic warfare.

Guests visited a local distribution and production committee warehouse at the sprawling armed forces base at Fort Tiuna in the capital to see at first hand the packing of food parcels for needy families.

Soldiers filled sacks with an assortment of staple foods including rice, beans, pasta, flour, powdered milk, oil, peanut butter, mayonnaise and tins of tuna, many of them produced by state enterprises.

Under the government’s Mission Mercal programme, each family receives one food package per month.

The delegates also got a warm welcome from residents of a huge housing estate adjoining the base, christened Tiuna City.

Chinese, Russian and Belorussian firms are building dozens of high-rise blocks of flats along with schools, sports grounds and other facilities.

And delegates toured a garment factory and water-bottling water plant on the site, able to both turn a profit and provide exemplary working conditions and health and safety standards.