* Lucky flood victims sheltered in centuries-old mansion
* Chavez policies for homeless divide Venezuelans
By Andrew Cawthorne
CARACAS, Feb 16 (Reuters) - Boys bounce a football off ornate pillars, a baby crawls up a red-carpeted staircase and mothers sit gossiping on the marble floors of a courtyard in Venezuela's palatial 17th century "Yellow House."
President Hugo Chavez's government has literally opened its doors to the homeless -- and scores of them have taken residence in the architecturally prized "Casa Amarilla," a former presidential home and now Foreign Ministry headquarters.
"It's too good to be true, such a privilege to be here!" said mother-of-two Daniela Cariaco, 20, who was evacuated in December when rains deluged her Caracas shanty-town.
In a move critics say is crass populism but supporters hail as evidence of profound humanism, the socialist Chavez has exhorted all his ministries and military to throw open their doors for victims of last year's floods.
Elsewhere round the South American nation, schools, community centers, even parking garages have also been turned into temporary shelters for the 140,000 or so people made homeless by floods and landslides at the end of 2010.
As ever in Venezuela's polarized society, the subject is being used for point-scoring on all sides as politicians eye a 2012 presidential fight in a nation split down the middle.
Foes say Chavez, who has even let families into his Miraflores palace where kids play round a fountain on a cobbled square in surreal but telegenic scenes, is exploiting victims.
Rather than admit the failure of his government to build more housing for the poor or have shelters at the ready for natural disasters, Chavez has turned refugees into political propaganda and cast himself as savior, opponents argue.
HOUSING CRISIS
Supporters counter that the presence of homeless people in some of Venezuela's most famous public buildings is a unique international precedent that shows Chavez's genuine concern for the poor and contrasts with the disinterest of predecessors.
At the Yellow House the new visitors ride lifts and pass metal detectors side-by-side with besuited diplomats, while catching glimpses of Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro.
They sleep in former offices split into cubicles, one for each family. They share bathrooms, and they are brought cooked food at mealtimes.
"I have never seen any other president do anything like this," said mother and shoe-seller Cariaco at the Foreign Ministry, which provides beds and food for 718 people.
Those in the Yellow House are the privileged of Venezuela's flood victims. Elsewhere, the picture is seldom as rosy.
Though state media ooze with praise for Chavez's policies for the homeless, the private press abounds with tales of food shortages, leaky roofs, corrupt officials and doubts over the Chavez government's promise of secure permanent housing soon.
"I'm happy here of course," said Daniel. "But there are people from my neighborhood in La Carlota who say it's really bad, that two girls have been raped," she added, referring to a Caracas air base where the homeless have also been housed.
Chavez has repeatedly urged Venezuela's "bourgeois" elite to follow his example and give up space on golf courses and other private property for the homeless. He has also promised that 2 million new houses will be built in the next six years.
Industry heads say that is a pipe dream given fewer than 300,000 new homes have been built during Chavez's 12 years in power. They also say the private-public partnership necessary to solve the housing crisis is impossible in a climate of state threats to businessmen and constant confiscations.
Back at the "Yellow House," Cariaco is not too worried about politics as she laughs at her kids playing in surely one of the most beautiful courtyards in the Americas.
"It's not home, of course, but it's not bad, is it?"
(Editing by Frank Jack Daniel)
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