Simplify the following text for a Grade 18 native English-speaking person.
Original: As a friend of Hugo ChÃ vez , Livingstone was appointed personally by him to advise officials and mayoral candidates in Caracas , in order to help transform the city , which journalist Rory Carroll described as suffering from , `` Gridlocked traffic , a crumbling center , hillside slums , horrific murder rates , corrupt police and inept local government '' .
Simplified: Livingstone was appointed by Hugo Chavez to advise officials and mayoral candidates in Caracas , in order to help transform the city , which journalist Rory Carroll described as suffering from , `` Gridlocked traffic , a crumbling center , hillside slums , horrific murder rates , corrupt police and inept local government '' .