ADSactly World - Venezuela and its current exodus
Any person who watches international news from time to time, has probably seen pictures from Venezuela of people with little more than a single backpack, walking on some road looking to arrive at another country and starting a new life. It can be something quite hard to see given the precarious situation in which some of them are doing this “trip”.
There might be people that when seeing the state of some of the migrants, don’t understand why they don’t decided to stay in Venezuela and save themselves the difficult journey they are currently facing, but something similar could be asked about the Cubans who for decades have been embarking themselves on the sea and literally risking their lives to arrive at Florida.
Both cases, especially the Cubans risking their lives in the sea, can sound a little bit extreme, and indeed they are, these are extreme measures that people were forced to take due to extremely negative circumstances they were suffering in their native country.
In the case of Venezuela, the general impoverishment that people have been subjected to, especially in the last few years, can become something unbearable for many, because after reaching a certain point in the reduction of their purchasing power, a lot of people find themselves in a situation where for the first time in their lives, they don’t feel like they can provide for their families, so if they don’t do something to change their finances, eventually the day will come when they open their fridge and there will be nothing there and when going to the grocery store to buy something, it would be either empty or with prices so high that most people cannot afford to buy anything.
When people find themselves in this path of unavoidable and increasing poverty that they cannot stop, it is just a matter of time for them to take the decision to leave the country, even if they have to walk mile after mile to reach their desired destination.
However, poverty is not the only factor making Venezuelans leave their country en masse, there are other negative and important factors that make it very difficult to have a comfortable life in today’s Venezuela.
Factors that make life difficult in Venezuela
- High insecurity: in the majority of cities and places in Venezuela, walking around with just a smartphone can be quite dangerous. There are too many criminals hunting down people to take away any valuable item they might have, and smartphones are obviously one of the easiest ways to steal a few hundred dollars from a single person. Since most people don’t walk around with too much cash, the most valuable thing they have when going out is their smartphone.
But there are also a lot of cases of criminals stealing things from cars, like their batteries. It is very common to hear stories about people having their batteries stolen from their cars, there are even videos on Youtube showing some of these criminals committing these crimes, and since the police in Venezuela is completely corrupted and probably some of them are criminals themselves, then these type of unlawful acts go unpunished, resulting in a crime epidemic where the good people end up having their lives disturbed.
- Personal progress is almost non-existent: in any normal country, people go to school and educate themselves, and later on some of them go to college to continue with their higher education, and others simply start working and gaining experience in their occupation. But in Venezuela this is not case, the general situation is that professionals in Venezuela don’t earn enough money to have a good life, they can’t have savings because their money is hardly enough to buy food, much less investments and the natural independence that is gained in adulthood is halted, since they can’t buy their own home the idea of having a family becomes more difficult, and the personal progress of a lot of individuals ends up stagnated.
There are a few people who can manage to keep a business alive, and have a better life than the majority of the people because they don’t depend on devalued salaries, they depend on their product sales and as long as there are people buying their products, they can continue with their life. Nevertheless, as you can imagine, business owners are, by definition, never a majority, there are very few business owners in Venezuela, and each passing week there are less and less. Keeping a business alive in Venezuela is a total challenge, not only because given the ideology of the government, they are against private property and free trade, but also because since the whole country is in an accelerated process of impoverishment, selling products can become more difficult than before because the people have less purchasing power than in previous years. So if having available products is already something complicated under the current government and their war against economic freedom, then finding customers is also challenging because in order to buy something you first need to have enough money to spare, poor people never buy anything, and in a country full of poor people, finding customers can be like finding a needle in a haystack.
All of these aspects can make live very difficult in Venezuela, there are some other topics like constant blackouts leaving entire cities or communities without electricity for hours, and sometimes for several days like what happened a month ago in the state called Zulia, common services like running water sometimes stop working, and they remain like that for several days, and something as basic as cooking gas can also be really scarce, so people are forced to cook their food with electrical grills or electric kitchens, unless they find themselves with no electricity, in which case they will be in a serious problem.
Nevertheless, things might change soon, as of now there are some countries in the region that cannot handle the incredibly high numbers of Venezuela crossing their borders every day, so perhaps a solution to the Venezuela problem might happen in the coming months.
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Authored by @dedicatedguy
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Greetings, @adsactly.
I applaud your post. I just posted my brothers' story. He just made it to Lima two days ago. Started working last night, by the way. He is very excited. Got ruined here. Lost his car, main source of income. Unable to afford the most insignificant part, let alone tires or battery.
As you point out, the irony of this unprecedented migration is that it will be solved (hopefully soon) not because neighbors felt compelled to help based on the actual cruelty of the Venezuelan government, but because of all the troubles this massive "invasion" to their respective countries is causing.
It will take decades, though, to go back to the pre-chavista era. What those bastards have done to our culture may be irreparable.
Hello @hlezama, I wish your brother can start a new and better life in Peru.
This is right, it is the destabilization caused by too many migrants coming from Venezuela that is making other countries start to think in a rapid solution, and it is fair to say there is only one solution to a problem as big as this one.
Not necessarily, please check this document (in Spanish) that was released a few weeks ago.
Thanks, I'll check it out
As always, I thank @adsactly and especially you, my dear @dedicatedguy for making visible many of the problems of our country. In this opportunity: the massive migration that is taking place in Venezuela. How is it that a country that claims to be democratic suffers one of the largest exoduses in Latin America, only compared to those that occur in countries at war? We are not only talking about young people, but also adults of the third age, nor people of the middle class, also of the less favored classes are migrating. Unfortunately, we have become unwanted neighbors, frowned upon, only for the simple fact of seeking to survive outside, of seeking the life that we are denied in our country. No one wants to leave their home and put down roots in another land! But circumstances have impelled us: this government has taken away even the hope of making life in Venezuela. Hopefully, we will once again be a prosperous country and a receiver of foreigners, full of opportunities, because if this does not happen soon we will become a country of houses alone, cars ransacked on the streets, old people alone on the sidewalks. May God turn our eyes and see us. Thank you again.
Its pretty sad that people were forced to leave their home only becauase of political crap.
Lately I came across many posts in steemit which showcases the political doldrum of Venezuela. The condition deteriorated so much that people were to leave their home. It take ages to make own home and now so many people out there were leaving only because of some mean and selfish political . Robbery , migration and corruption only due to inefficient political parties. Even I learnt about abundance of natural minerals in venezuela in one of the posts...but the government is ineffective enough to make use of those treasure.
@dedicatedguy I mostly avoid political and religious discussion...there is no end of such arguments....and looking at such condition i feel sorry for all these people.
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This is correct, Venezuela has a lot of natural resources and the potential to develop tourism as well as a lot of food production, the problem is the system that is currently in place, which was enforced by people supporting an ideology that always fails.
It is probable that once a free market system is implanted in Venezuela, everything should start to get better. Venezuela was very rich in the past, in can be rich again.
Yes I understand, although when disasters happen it is important to discuss them so people can understand what is happening, the causes and the results.
Only through a proper understanding can people make good decisions in their lives.
I understand @dedicated guys....religion and politics is verybsensitive i personslly avoid any discussion on them...but in case of crisis i never left behibd to let people know about the misdeed.
It was only the people and all of us who made people to make it to parliament only to get beating from them through inefficient governace.....my heart goes out to al people, kids, who were suffering all due to inefficient governance....wish these people get some lesson
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it's looks like the Columbia people are helping a friend to the people once you have a new life to anywhere Neighbors in United Soccer America and just to start a new life loved ones and children including family however that Ecuador and Peru doing a very good job that the lake sure that everyone papers pass for the any one of them have it correctly the right way to have a Jenny of the Sun a fan of New Life anywhere in South America but it looks like you're that cologne that is helping to the neighbors that people starting a new life because everything is going to be extremely expensive over there Venezuela 1 chickens going to cost you $4,000 one toilet paper going to cost you 1000 this is how it's going to be look like in Venezuela I don't think so it is too expensive that people are leaving when swallow and start a new life to have a greater for the future of them but however that this president in Venezuela is not doing a good job is not money will be change starts going to be high fives and everything but the people on refugees want to start a new life anywhere in neighbors and allies they could always welcome to Colombia Ecuador Peru or Chile and even sometimes that I have enough money to get a passport but it has to walk by foot to reach Adam like that any country in South America if they wish to choose from United South America
This "Crisis" issue (world wide) is a lot of crap!!.. In 2018, where the world has its highest standard of living in the history of the human race, there is no crisis that millions of uneducated people need to invade other countries and demand free stuff. How did the countries handle their problems 100 years ago? This is a clear case that the "have-nots" have learned that (in the name of Humanitarianism), they can invade the countries of the "haves", get free stuff, and then take over that country... Like a virus..
Hello @moniristi, the crisis in Venezuela is real, and countries like Colombia are starting to be affected due to the high number of Venezuelans leaving their country on a daily basis. The same happens with Brazil.
The Economist released a report not long ago, you can find it here
They knew that in Venezuela there are more than 8 million Colombians as a result of a civil war that has been going on for more than 50 years.
and for Venezuela it was never a problem to receive millions of Colombians... today thousands come out and it is difficult for Colombia to keep the situation under control.
In the news I saw my eyes on the president of Colombia Duque talking about the alleged problem of Venezuelans who are damaging the country's economy.
Those who harm Venezuela are the Colombians trafficking fuel that costs cents of a dollar and as in Colombia they sell fuel at international prices then they find it attractive that our gasoline is the cheapest in the world.
problem are the Colombians selling our money the Bolivar to change it at a convenient price to then convert it into dollars and then Colombian pesos and buy the food that is super subsidized and sell it in the interior of Colombia.
The problem is Colombia as the first producer of coca and other drugs that are carried with total normality with organs such as the DEA and the US army...
Please, sir... you kind of think you're just talking to gringos?..there are also Latinos. and that doesn't mean that there are things that are wrong in my country.
@dedicatedguy
The number of Venezuelans leaving the country is incredibly high, these are not normal migration numbers, this is an exodus.
It is true there is a mafia at the border, but eliminating great part of it would be very easy, by getting rid of the absurd currency exchange control that was implanted in 2003 by the current government, most of the problems you mentioned regarding Colombia will cease to exist.
Venezuela has a distorted economy as a result of the absurd policies of the current government, the problem is the policies, the mafia is a consequence, not a cause.
Yes, Colombia has a huge drug problem, but Venezuela also has a drug problem with its current government involved with drug cartels. Drug in Colombia is mostly produced by guerrillas, which are kind of an ally to the current government in Venezuela.
Those people VOTED for socialism. They allowed themselves to be swayed by the lies socialist tell to get power. It is their fault 100% for the condition of their country, they had history to show them that socialism and communism destroys nations and causes mass suffering, starvation, poverty and death. They voted for it, sadly they deserve it.
Do not generalize, not all Venezuelans voted for socialism, my family never did, so we dont all deserve this misfortune that we are going through.
Funny, 2 months ago you wrote that socialism was working fine in Venezuela https://steemit.com/freedom/@mrashik/re-adsactly-adsactly-world-venezuela-s-state-of-affaris-20180814t082820630z ...
Either way... the ones who voted for this clearly deserve to experience the current situation, but not those who never voted for this government.
good to know, thank you for info!
Painful that people are living in such poverty when even only the profit of one of the top 10 companies in the world could solve that problem...
Hello @bjornb, I don't know what a top 10 company has to do with Venezuela, the problem in Venezuela is the government and the freedoms they destroyed due to their failed ideology.
Yes, I totally agree with the problem in Venezuela. I was referring more to the global problems, which are all (such as Venezuela) a directly or indirectly related to the greed of a few. We, as in, mankind, have all the resources we would need to all live a happy and abundant life, if only it were distributed in an even and honest way.
Good night. I'm a Venezuelan who just wants to say a few realities. Venezuela has been a country with a tradition of receiving people from other parts of the world. In the first and second world wars hundreds of thousands of Europeans arrived, mostly Spanish, Italian and Portuguese, as a result of one of the wars that the so-called first world unleashed on its citizens.
They knew that in Venezuela there are more than 8 million Colombians as a result of a civil war that has been going on for more than 50 years.
They knew that in the 70's´s hundreds of thousands of Latin American refugees arrived, mainly from Peru, Chile, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, countries that had real dictatorships and not those imposed through the North American media.
if Venezuelans have left, but not the amount that the media prays and much less what they pretend to make see as a humanitarian crisis.
It makes me laugh to see how a few gringos and how a steemit page lends itself to serve Zionist interests.
The reality is that there is a conflict and the USA is attacking as it can, it is no longer the 70`s where they influenced the cruelest dictatorships we have ever lived. Now banks intervene in the national oil company blocking its monetary fluidity, just as they did with Cuba.
The history of Venezuela is that the gringos took out for more than 100 years oil given away because they had their own dictators that they themselves handled at their whim like puppets.
today venezuela is free and sovereign and since they can't buy the last two presidents, then they play blockade. the cold war is over but they want to return it from the past.
good night.
Let us hope for the best...