CARACAS — Venezuela has been in the midst of economic and political turmoil as the majority of its citizens demand that President Nicolas Maduro step down from office.
The country declared a state of emergency. Protests have been active since March 20th when Venezuela’s highest court tried to disband the national assembly in an attempt to weaken Mauro’s opponent. Since then, tensions escalate daily. Venezuela’s repressive dictatorship continues to use extreme violence against anyone who opposes its policies, imprisoning hundreds of peaceful protesters.
Moreover, the country experienced widespread shortages of food and medicine. As a result, around 81 percent of Venezuelan households live in income poverty, a five percent increase from just two years ago.
How it started
Venezuela’s crises stem from various places with a primary cause being the country’s long history of mismanagement and corruption within its government. The 2013 death of Hugo Chavez and the price of oil crashing shortly afterward exacerbated the dictatorship’s corruption.
Venezuela experiences some of the worst economic crises in its history, despite having the world’s largest oil reserves and once being the richest country in South America. Economists blame this downturn on Chavez’s socialist policies of domestic price controls and overprinting currency.
Marxist-inspired social welfare program finances Venezuela’s economy. When the price of oil fell in 2014, the government began providing fewer essentials to its citizens, thus creating a spiral of economic problems. The government decided to cut imports to pay back the foreign debts that worsened the economy.
With a recession becoming quite imminent, the government stepped in and made the situation even worse by setting price controls on necessities. Although intended to allow more Venezuelans the ability to afford necessities, the new regulations only forced more local companies out of businesses from a lack of revenue.
Since they couldn’t afford to produce and import their products, selling them at such a low price (i.e. the government’s forced price) decreased the revenue necessary for companies to sustain themselves. The companies still in business have extremely long lines of shoppers, yet quickly run out goods.
Also, the government continues to print more money they don’t have to fund the little food and shanty dwellings that it provides. This printed money creates mass inflation and hurts the economy; in 2016, Venezuelan consumer prices rose 800 percent. In short, Venezuela’s crises started from the price of oil crashing and the government’s reaction to cutting imports on top of the country’s socialist policies of domestic price controls and overprinting currency. These “helpful” tactics only heightened the recession.
During all these economic hardships, the government’s theft and corruption became more transparent. While the rest of the population continues to delve further into poverty, Hugo Chavez’s daughter, Maria Gabriela Chavez, is worth 3.6 billion and considered the richest person in Venezuela. Nonetheless, the Venezuelan public’s awareness of this corruption increases day by day, and hundreds of thousands take to the streets demanding change.
The current condition
Venezuela’s economic crisis is amongst the worst economic recessions in South America. The previous waves of demonstrations in Venezuela occurred in 2014 and were student-led; now, the protests include a significant portion of the working class.
Unfortunately, the government responded to these demonstrations with violence. The police and military personnel unjustly arrest and detain protesters, and this year’s protest resulted in a total of 84 deaths.
Amnesty International emphasizes how Venezuela’s use of military courts to try these civilians undermines the rule of law, and violates the country’s constitution. Authorities routinely storm in the homes of non-violent activists and lock them up for crimes such as terrorism or “treason against the homeland.” These sentences allow the use of pre-trial detention. These courts are designed to remain solely within the armed forces, yet are instead applied to peaceful protesters.
In fact, military judges and prosecutors brought more than 250 people in for crimes they did not commit. As a result, there exists prison overcrowding of the 2014 protesters, and even more violence is used to silence the press about these issues.
Worst off, the ever-increasing widespread shortages of food and medicine resulted in greater government control and opened the door for more corruption. Local committees of the Socialist Party run food distribution, and food items are distributed only to those who are part of the Socialist Party even though there is barely enough food to survive.
Additionally, news stations such as Vice News reveal how little food each family is expected to live on. Sadly, the process of supplying food continues to be entrenched in corruption. Military generals skim about 50 percent of the socialized food and sell it on the black market to make a profit, resulting in less for the party members. Moreover, supermarkets are not only short on food but also missing the staple foods of flour, bread, butter, sugar and milk. Impoverished citizens have started to lose weight as a result, with a survey by three of the country’s leading universities stating that three-fourths of Venezuelans lost weight last year by an average of 19 pounds.
The lack of food also caused a mass decrease in school attendance by both students and teachers. An overwhelming number of students have fainted from hunger while teachers are too busy to teach in that they stand in line to get food for their children instead.
There also exists a widespread shortage of medicine. Since there is a lack of necessary supplies, there are no antibiotics and a simple infection can now become deadly. Unfortunately, the scarcity of resources forces many to walk all the way to Brazil to find their medicine. The government also holds a tight control of the drug supply and of the media. Hospitals are consistently under the supervision of the military which prevents journalists from reporting on the healthcare situation.
In addition, the limited access to water, food and medicine also intensifies street crime. Caracas is now the murder capital of the world, and ransacking of food trucks is now a common occurrence. Despite all this, Venezuela’s leaders continue to deny that there are any humanitarian crises.
How to help
Due to the nature of the government, donating to Venezuelans is harder than it should be. By denying that a problem exists, President Maduro has refused to accept humanitarian donations, apart from recently asking the United Nations to help “regularize the whole medicine issue.” Donations are not allowed by the government.
Nonetheless, there are still some ways to help Venezuelan children. One can donate to charities in the region, and larger organizations such as Humanitarian Aid for Venezuela, Cedice Libertad, the Human Rights Foundation, and Es Libertad are at the forefront in alleviating Venezuela’s crises.
– Marcelo Guadiana
Photo: Flickr