You should spin this off into a separate thread. I think it would be very interesting.
But if you don't, I'd like to know what it was like before 2006, when oil profits were high and subsidies followed. Did you get a sense the poor were significantly improving in their standard of living at that time? What about the middle class? If not, what do you think held them back?
Oye, chamo. :) My wife wants to visit Caracas with our son in the summer, to see family. Last time we were there was 2008, when the "fuerte" was 8:1 and we witnessed two carjackings. I think it's a terrible idea to go back, even for a week or two. What do you think?
It's definitely not safe. But it's very hard to stop visiting family. Just avoid public places, don't go out during the night and stay with your family.
It's 2013. Let's say you were economically literate, had a significant pot of money to protect, and were concerned about the direction the country was taking.
What would have been the best way to protect that pot of money, and how hard would it have been to do it?
The best way to protect the money would have been to buy US dollars on the black market.
Another way would have been to buy a car, motorcycle, alcohol, etc. Anything that preserves it's value over time. The worst thing would be to have it on the bank.
The shortages are extremely serious at this moment. We're having a humanitarian crisis because medicines can't be found, people use social media to ask for medicines.
The government limited the days where you can go to the super market to the last digit of the "Social Security Number". So if yours end in 0 or 1 then you must buy on Monday. And nothing guarantees that you will find what you're looking for.
Lines outside supermarkets take 2 hours or more and they only sell you a limited amount of items. 1 Chicken per week.
The government also installed finger print scanners to make sure that you don't buy more than you're allowed.
All this measures are failing and will fail, because the problem is that they destroyed the private industry making us heavily relay on imports. Now that the price of the oil is down there is not enough money to import, so there's simply not enough food, medicines, etc.
Small business are on their knees. They are just surviving and living paycheck by paycheck. They sell whatever they get access too. Their profits are worth nothing in dollars (if they manage to have profits). An inflation projected to be 700% this year makes it extremely hard to survive, you need to adjust your prices every hour.
Nobody is doing well in Venezuela, except the corrupt people in the government who keep stealing money.
Answering this question has been harder than I thought. I hate to say "Don't go to my country right now". But I've to be honest, I don't think it's worth the risk visiting right now due to crime, robbery, murders, kidnaps and more.. Even though a dollar will go a long way, your life is worth a lot more.. Hopefully things will get better soon you will be able to see the Angel Falls and Los Roques with your own eyes!
Not at all. It's too unsafe, and the tourism industry is not good either. If you still want to go, do so with a local. That way you'll reduce risk quite significantly.
I'm currently living in Montreal. I love Canada and all the opportunities it offers. People are very friendly and it's extremely multicultural! But my heart will always be in Venezuela.
But if you don't, I'd like to know what it was like before 2006, when oil profits were high and subsidies followed. Did you get a sense the poor were significantly improving in their standard of living at that time? What about the middle class? If not, what do you think held them back?