Paradise island's stars dim

Economic crisis takes toll on Venezuela

One of the five stars that used to adorn the facade of the Margarita hotel on the Venezuelan paradise island of the same name has fallen off.

Not that there are any guests to notice.

The hotel is abandoned, its peeling facade a symbol of the decline of an island once dubbed the "Pearl of the Caribbean" that has been robbed of its shine by a severe economic crisis.

A short drive away by car, a herd of cows grazes in front of another vacant former five-star hostelry, Lagunamar.

It looks as if an earthquake ripped through there, tearing the roof off a pool-side pavilion, tossing lamps and toilets around the garden and leaving mounds of rubble.

The damage is, in fact, the work of vandals, who steal scrap metal to sell at a profit or to build shacks.

Margarita, a major source of pearls in the 15th and 16th centuries, used to be a playground for American tourists, drawn to its palm-fringed white-sand beaches and turquoise waters.

But Venezuela's economic collapse, high crime rates and growing international isolation in the wake of bitterly disputed elections have caught up with the island of 500,000 people.

The signs of decline are everywhere.

Several clothes and souvenir shops along the main shopping drag, Santiago Marino, stand empty.