I witnessed prices changing within 48 hours, in particular on booze, some of it going up 30% between two visits. I witnessed a huge line forming within minutes of the arrival of milk at Sigo, one of the main grocery stores at Pampatar. I saw beggars and other victims when one is supposed that there are plenty of "misiones" to take care of these poor wretches. I endured traffic jams like I have to suffer in Caracas or Valencia. Well, not as bad but way too bad for what is after all a small island. Everywhere potholes, dirt, anarchy. I had to live through hotel rooms barely cleaned, with wash hands and showers with poor drainage. No wonder that the only tourists still seen in Margarita, besides the Venezuelans that cannot go anywhere else are a multilatin chusma crowd. Hard cash tourists nowhere to be seen.
To top it off, on my return to Valencia the huge posters of the baggage claim section reminded us clearly who is responsible for that clogged sinkhole Venezuela has become. I am leaving you with the pictures of "The Giant", Hugo Chavez, the destroyer of the country harassing us even after his death....
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| I felt under surveillance..... |
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| Maduro in little, Chavez in big..... |
I was actively harassed my last year in Venezuela (2012) by the government. When I went to renew my residency visa, they claimed it was fake and I had to report to Caracas. I dunno, I entered and exited the country a half-dozen times on that visa and it always came up okay. Anyway, I was detained in Caracas, threatened to be deported (my VE wife and son saved me from that fate), then for a year I was harassed, inconvenienced, and ultimately at the end, after a year, when I was ready to leave the country on my own, they said, "oh...we made a mistake, it wasn't a fake, you want another visa?" No thank you. I was inconvenienced/pulled aside at the BLA airport one last time as I was leaving the country. Now after a year of being away, still I miss VE, my condo, the food, and family and friends, but not the BS the country has become. Ultimately, I recon most humans (both here in the USA and VE) are really stupid animals.
ReplyDeleteThat second photo with the "Gobierno de la eficiencia" sign is pure BS. The last characteristic of Chavismo governing is efficiency.
ReplyDeleteI witnessed prices changing within 48 hours, in particular on booze, some of it going up 30% between two visits. I witnessed a huge line forming within minutes of the arrival of milk at Sigo, one of the main grocery stores at Pampatar.
ReplyDelete"Change we can believe in," as we see it with our own eyes
The part about "a multilatin chusma crowd" is amusing but true. Due to violence, exchange controls, mediocre hotels with high prices, and other factors, Venezuela basically stopped being a desirable destination for foreign tourists around a decade ago. Go almost anywhere in the U.S. or Europe, and you're unlikely to meet anyone who has been to Venezuela in the last ten years, other than people with relatives there.
ReplyDeleteIf you want to see how ridiculous tourism is in Venezuela for a foreigner, set your web browser to USA or Canada settings and check the price on Venezuelan hotels. You could book the Marriott Playa Grande for this weekend for only US$ 549 per night for what is at best a 3 star hotel. Any need to wonder
ReplyDeleteWow, the situation is horrible, I knew things were pretty bad, but not this bad. That reminds me "Cleanin' out my closet" song. I hope measures that they take is going to be enough. Although I seriously doubt that...
ReplyDeleteOne thing that bothers me is that so many people calls this disaster, chavismo. I don't believe chavez invented this approach to goverment, he was able to accelerate it, but it is the natural ending of all the leftist goverments in latin america, if given enough time. Leftist goverments can take a struggling country and destroy it. Look what cristina is doing to Argentina, or evo in Bolivia, or correa in Ecuador, and obama in the US.
ReplyDeleteI think you can find some common characteristics of these 21 century socialist:
- They re-write history, former criminal/guerrillas become heroes, they create enemies usually those who dissagree and relate them to military regimes, evil business and/or US
- The individual and not the ideas is the basis of their cause so everything becomes "personal", both criticism as well as their replies. Supporters are to vote for the individual and not for their ideas/programs/plans.
- Fight to silence and/or control the media (a small exception here for US where most media has freely become propaganda for dem party)
- Create/promote chaos in the form of violent supporting groups, occupiers, students, natives, etc...they terrorize their opponents and the population in general
- They goal is to control as much of the 3 functions of goverment as possible
- Change constitutions or simply ignore it
- Never relinquish power, in some instances literally like chavez in others cases while in power make so much changes to law, constitution, that the country can never go back to what it was. So the next idiot can take the country even farther the path to the cess pool
This is not an all encompassing list, but you can see they all follow the same '"book".