In 2010 and 2011, 140,000 Venezuelans were left homeless by severe flooding. Many of these families were stranded by the natural disasters, refugees in their own country.

Just as any community would pull together in the wake of tragedy, many Venezuelans who hadn’t lost their homes came to the aid of their countrymen, offering them shelter and support. So, fifteen months ago, when the Chávez government “respectfully” asked the hotels of Anzoategui state to allow refugees to stay for free under their roofs for two weeks until the government could find a suitable solution, the owners of those hotels patriotically obliged.

However, two weeks quickly turned into fifteen months and at present, the hotels are still being forced to shelter the refugees. Hotel owners have not been compensated and, with little noteworthy progress made toward finding a permanent home for the refugees, there is no end in sight to the government’s hijacking of their property.

It’s only the latest offense committed in the name of Chávez’s so-called “Great Housing Mission,” under which Chávez recently promised to build 200,000 new homes. And while the government continues to seize private property in order to build the homes, the housing itself has yet to materialize, leaving many stripped of their private property and even more without a home. For instance, after the flooding, Calogero Alotto lost his mechanic shop and parking lot to the government. Today, the promised houses do not exist on his property and he is still waiting to get paid.

“I worked for 42 hard years to build my business and it didn’t count for anything,” said Alotto, 57. “I’ve been left without property and without a job. I’ve had to sell two trucks just to keep surviving.”

While many would rightly point out that these stories typify the Chávez administration’s disrespect for property rights, the more important lesson is that his policies have made this a losing situation for all parties involved.

The hotel owners, even after 15 months, must continue to provide uncompensated housing for droves of flood victims, which not only hurts the hotel’s bottom line but also damages the local economy, as paying customers remain unable to secure the rooms held down by the refugees. What’s more, the policies have hurt the refugeesthemselves who, thanks to the lackluster results of Chávez’s program, remain homeless nearly a year and a half after a natural disaster destroyed their houses. And many of the displaced haven’t been lucky enough to receive shelter in a hotel. These families live in constant uncertainty, spending their nights in car-parks and warehouses, waiting for their government to take action.