Insecurity in Venezuela

Venezuela, one of the happiest country but clouded by the
prevalence of insecurity

Insecurity in Venezuela is a naughty issue, scaring not only the locals but everyone thinking of visiting the country. If one embarks on a thorough reading of the country while deciding to visit, they might be persuaded to abandon their mission.

A friend who went to Cuba narrated her experience while conversing with other lodgers in Backpack hostel. Many of the tourists who had traveled extensively in the South American continent eschewed  touching Venezuela though it has the tallest waterfall in the world.

This has led to the anti-Chavez sentiment due to the fact that the issue of insecurity is prevalent in almost all states and towns of the country.

When you arrive you will be explicitly warned over the duration you are here. That will be the topic that you will meet while conversing with people for the first time. Everyone will warn you to be careful.

This will include wisdom about evading the worst part of this cities or that where people of low income resides. It will also include not walking at night from the hours of 5 pm, though others will warn you to completely not walk at any time.

People will also warn you not to carry valuables like earrings, watches, rings or an expensive telephone while not in the safety zone of your car.

Raids in public transports take place time to time. It is common for long commuter buses from one state to another to be robbed en route.

But also local transport like taxis and rutas can be robbed when a person who might enter and start asking for money as a beggar turns to be armed and sweep everyone of their belongings. As a matter of fact, many people will give money not because they want to help but because they want to protect their lives.

The message is somber that one might think of exiting the country. It is a common thing to witness a robbery taking place at a distance when a motorist stops and take the phone of a pedestrian. This is life here.

Cars which are parked might also get robbed like in the case of a friend who was robbed while parking the car waiting for her friend to come out of the house. Random people came over, pointed their guns and asked for money and other valuables.

The robbery of cars is also very common. At night while the car is parked on the street and even sometimes during the day, in case there is no garage or inside parking, the car might not be there when the owner returns.

But what will happen is that, the robbers will call the owner of the car blackmailing him/her for a ransom in order to return the car. I was notified that sometimes police are also engaged in this business, with everyone coming out with something.

Kidnaps are also very common. There are cases of children or parents who are kidnapped with the hope of getting ransom. The subjects are mostly well-to-do persons who are expected to dish out big bucks.

I have also heard of stories of a robber who might assault the subject because the later doesn’t have the object required. An old lady who was robbed while coming from the market, didn’t have any money which pissed off the robber to the point of slapping and hitting her.

For that, many people would walk with enough money to give in case they are robbed because there are two things, either to be robbed and left in one piece or assaulted because you only had 5BsF.

All this has created such fear among the population. When you pass somebody on the street at night, one will move to the other side of the road or eye you with suspicion, protecting himself/herself from a seemingly preemptive robbery.

This condition has been attributed to the Chavez’s regime and many people are against his presidency due to the rampant insecure condition. In some occasions Chavez has been noted to say that one can rob in case one doesn’t have food on the table.

But apart from that, the working of the police here is the worst. There is no real mechanism and impetus to fight crime even when reported. I have heard of many occasions where people wouldn’t report occurrences of crimes because they know nothing will come out of it.

With the new election at the corner, one of the weighing issues on Chavez’s camp is how he has dealt with the issue of insecurity in the country, letting fear cloud one of the happiest countries in the world.