Tourists generally don't go to Venezuela because the country is extremely unsafe. The capital, Caracas, is ranked as the second city with the highest murder rate in the world [1]. There is an extremely low regard for life - petty criminals will kill you for your phone.
However, we do have some of the most unreal places on the planet! [2]
It's a shame. I visited Caracas and Isla de Margarita for about a week 10 years ago. It's a very beautiful place and the people I met were very friendly. I hope the situation improves. Would love to visit again!
You're half right: "tourists" are the one of the solutions, but you can't easily turn Bitcoin into food.
There's a booming trade in the port cities. Sailors bring dollars, which they trade for sex. That turns prostitutes into currency traders. Bloomberg had a story about this earlier this year.
Yeah, this. I would much preferred to have taken in bitcoin.
Either you use the ATM and everything is 3x as expensive as it should be or you carry around a minimum of $1000 on your person in one of the most violent countries in the world.
$300 of my USD stash got stolen by the Venezuelan army guard while strip searching me on the border with Colombia.
However, we do have some of the most unreal places on the planet! [2]
[1] http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jan/12/violent-crime-m...
[2] http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4ghbtqN0bRY/TyV8kLJVivI/AAAAAAAABX...