At the moment, life is not routine in Venezuela. Every day is full of surprises. Food and medicines are scarce, inflation increases but wages do not rise at the same rate. There are street marches for and against the government. Some days just going to work or school is exhausting. The situation is no different for the Episcopal Church and its parishioners.

It's Wednesday and the phone is ringing at the headquarters of the diocese in Caracas, no one answers. Two days earlier, on May 16, the government voted to extend the exceptional measures and continued to refuse to the possibility of a referendum to revoke the mandate of the president. The government's action has led to street protests, with some in opposition to President Nicolas Maduro, and others in support of his government.

Is is because of those protests, precisely, that no one answers the phone at the diocesan office. The treasurer of the diocese and coordinator of theological education, the Rev. José Francisco Salazar, explained later that the office is located in the city center, and, therefore, hard to reach.

"At the diocesan center there are times in which we have had to suspend meetings because, with a protest, they close the subway and the office cannot be reached. If we are already here, we stayed locked up. We have to wait until very late at night to get out," he said.