HOMELESS MUDSLIDE VICTIMS SLEEP IN A MILITARY BASE, 1999-12-20 (photo)

Homeless mudslide victims Antoine Garcia, 6, (R) and his sister Naicar, 4, sleep in a military base used as a temporary refugee center in Caracas, December 20. At least 10,000 people were killed by mudslides and flash floods that swamped Venezuela's Caribbean coast last week, burying whole towns under tons of mud and boulders, according to a government minister on Monday. Almost 200,000 peolple were left homeless by floods that affected the south American country's entire northern coast, stretching from the tourist resort Margarita Island to the western Zulia state that borders Colombia. JMG