Pierre 10,480 Posted August 12, 2016 Share Posted August 12, 2016 It was once the richest country in Latin America. Now it’s falling apart. In Venezuela the food lines are only the most visible evidence of a nation in free fall. Known as las colas, the lines form before dawn and last until nightfall, several bodies thick and zigzagging for miles in leafy middle-class neighborhoods and ragged slums alike. In a country that sits atop the world’s largest known petroleum reserves, hungry citizens wait on their assigned day for whatever the stores might stock: with luck, corn flour to make arepas, and on a really good day, shampoo.“I never dreamed it would come to this,” says Yajaira Gutierrez, a 41-year-old accountant, waiting her turn in downtown Caracas. “That in Venezuela, with all our petroleum, we would be struggling to get corn cakes.” Venezuela was once Latin America’s exemplar: home to Simón Bolívar, who freed much of the continent from Spanish rule. Now, after years of political mismanagement and months in economic free fall, it is the region’s cautionary tale. The bolivar, the currency named for the Liberator himself, is now carried in backpacks instead of wallets; one unit is worth less than a penny. While production plummets, crime soars. Fights frequently break out in food lines. The number of murders last year ranged between 17,000 and 28,000. No one knows the exact tally, but regardless it would put the nation’s murder rate—driven by a lethal mix of street gangs, drug cartels, leftist guerrillas and right-wing paramilitaries jostling for power—among the world’s highest. Even animals are dying: some 50 zoo animals have starved to death over the past six months because there’s not enough food. Medicines often can’t be found at any price. After businessman Rainer Espejo discovered that his 2-year-old daughter Barbara had leukemia, he had to turn to a neighbor who worked in Colombia to smuggle the drugs she needs. With the power cuts, Barbara is going through treatment with sporadic air–conditioning and water shortages that make it hard to keep her clean. “It is a cruel form of survival,” says Espejo. “You can get depressed. But the problem is still there, so you have to face it.” And domestic production has been decimated as farms and factories that Chavez expropriated are all but idle. The crisis has hurt international companies as well, which have seen some $10 billion in profits wiped away over the past 18 months. Many are giving up on the country. In May Coca-Cola suspended its bottling operation in Venezuela because of a lack of sweetener, and in July McDonald’s temporarily stopped selling Big Macs because of a lack of bread. As bad as things are in Caracas, the misery is worse in the provinces. Mario Mora, a 52-year-old laborer, sits in the searing sun in the town of Pavia after waiting since dawn for an arrival of gas canisters to cook and heat water. The wait is in vain—at 4 p.m., a police officer informs the crowd that no gas will arrive until thenext day. Mora will have to forage for twigs to make a fire in order to cook corn cakes and beans for his wife and four children. They eat one meal a day. “I have always been poor, but I have never seen it as bad as this,” he says. A bricklayer and his son look for food in a garbage dumpster in Caracas to take home to their family. Because of the crisis in Venezuela, he has neither a job nor enough money to feed his family, Members of a colectivos with their weapons stand in front of the Venezuelan flag. Colectivos are criminal gangs that were introduced to political ideology by the administration of President Hugo Chavez. They see themselves as the guardians of the Bolivarian revolution, and have been accused of carrying out politically motivated killings. FULL ARTICLE AND MORE PICTURES HERE: http://time.com/venezuela-brink/ ❝Is not blue, not turquoise, not lapis. It's actually cerulean❞. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
LilMonst3r 5,681 Posted August 13, 2016 Share Posted August 13, 2016 Really sad. Hope they start veering into a good system that will help these poor people. Sad to think this is happening right now to so many people. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Computer 10,980 Posted August 13, 2016 Share Posted August 13, 2016 I wonder when it will get better and how it can change 💚💛💕❣⭕💢💢 | ⓜⓔⓡⓡⓨ ©ⓗⓡⓘⓢⓣⓜⓐⓢ Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fernster7 7,976 Posted August 13, 2016 Share Posted August 13, 2016 I see no lies. This country is awful right now and I honestly don't see things getting better in the short term. Truly sad. Monsters never die. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quartz 12,762 Posted August 13, 2016 Share Posted August 13, 2016 Just goes to show we are so lucky. We're sitting here reading about these stuff when they have to line up for food, so that they can eat ONCE A DAY. ****ing mismanagemenet by their leaders. And it's not like they can just up and leave. They're stuck there. I feel so sorry for them. Inside, we are really made the same. 🕊 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BuzzcutSeason 3,307 Posted August 13, 2016 Share Posted August 13, 2016 No but Natalie is from there Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kermit 15,807 Posted August 13, 2016 Share Posted August 13, 2016 The world is dying, piece by piece. Not even the greatest of peace, can bring its ease. Every heart and every mountain, art, beauty and most beautiful fractions. The air we breathe, to maintain life, will be our very poison and last of kind. All have ends, nothing is forever. Wouldn't this be the time to stand together? “For me, insanity is super sanity. The normal is psychotic. Normal means lack of imagination, lack of creativity.” ― Jean Dubuffet Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pierre 10,480 Posted August 13, 2016 Author Share Posted August 13, 2016 15 minutes ago, Fernster7 said: I see no lies. This country is awful right now and I honestly don't see things getting better in the short term. Truly sad. While I was posting this, Maduro announced the wage increase. ❝Is not blue, not turquoise, not lapis. It's actually cerulean❞. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pierre 10,480 Posted August 13, 2016 Author Share Posted August 13, 2016 26 minutes ago, Computer said: I wonder when it will get better and how it can change I wonder the same ❝Is not blue, not turquoise, not lapis. It's actually cerulean❞. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fernster7 7,976 Posted August 13, 2016 Share Posted August 13, 2016 34 minutes ago, Pierre said: While I was posting this, Maduro announced the wage increase. Yeah, tragic. This is a mess, I don't honestly know anymore. Monsters never die. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morphine Prince 109,655 Posted August 13, 2016 Share Posted August 13, 2016 I know people who escaped the country and people who's family are from there and it truly is as awful as they say in the news. Some people are still brainwashed though. My friend said some think the US is taking the food, or stopping them from getting food Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
LUO YI 6,089 Posted August 13, 2016 Share Posted August 13, 2016 I know a woman whos is friend of my parents and her family is from there. They always come and buy everything they can including food, medicine, clothes, etc. They once told us that to buy a chicken you had to pay expensive quantities. Mexico is a great place to them and they always have a good time here. I think my country will go that way. Everything is getting more expensive. A kilo of avocados was really really hard to buy robbery and fraud are growing even more. Jobs are hard to find, and if get it, you try to keep as long as you can. PEMEX is another ****ed up thing... Some of the people working there got fired to make foreign people work there. The night sky tells all Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cheo 2 Posted August 13, 2016 Share Posted August 13, 2016 Hi, I'm a regular visitor to GGD because I love Gaga like you and I'm from Venezuela. While I was seeing the page I found this tread and I was truly surprised! I know what happen in Venezuela because I live here but I didn't have idea that some important magazines were reviewing the situatuion here, and that some of you decided to make a tread of this. Everything that was said is true and like some of you said, very sad. I have 24 years old and since Chavez took the presidency, Venezuela started to fall. But Maduro, a stupid and fool person, makes that everything fall faster. In less than 3 years the main food products and hygiene productos disappeared almost completely. All this in the wake of mismanagement in government. The life of every one of us becomes more difficult every day, like the article said. I do not live anymore, only I survive, not only trying to find food, but also trying not to be a victim of thieves and criminals. But I, my family and friends have faith that this will change someday, maybe soon. But I hope it's not the Gaga's soon hahaha. Guys, I tell you this not to feel sorry for me and my country, but to thank you for taking a minute of your time to learn and spread the status of a country that has a lot of potential and can become very wonderful, as someday almost achieved be. Sometimes I felt that nobody in the world knew what was going on here but seeing this now I know that we are not alone. Thank you. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZiggyZiggs 30,067 Posted August 13, 2016 Share Posted August 13, 2016 but the ppl are so hot Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JbGaga 2,261 Posted August 13, 2016 Share Posted August 13, 2016 Socialism and its policy's at its Best/Worst... Such a shame Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Featured Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.