Picture a faltering economy, a wholly corrupt, unstable government, and a grossly deteriorating standard of living synthesized into unholy unison, and you may begin to picture the unabated reality Venezuelan citizens face today.
Although, once one of the strongest economies in Latin America due to their previously strong free market economy and vast oil reserves (the largest amount in the world, Saudi Arabia sits in second place by 31.3 billion barrels), Venezuela has plummeted into a deep recession. The recent authoritative measures taken by the Maduro regime to seize control of private companies and place them into incompetent government hands have, time and time again, proven conducive only to economic failure. 96 percent of Venezuela’s hard revenue is attributed to oil and petroleum, and now with prices at a third of their 2014 value, this adds significant strain to the economy.
This faltering economy, coupled with an inept and fraudulent socialist government, has led to the worst byproduct of all – unsustainable, retrogressive living conditions for Venezuelan citizens.
Let’s talk about Venezuela.
Food Shortages
Waiting lines trailing from supermarkets and stores stretch down multiple blocks. Citizens await anxiously, in hopes of being able to purchase basic necessities: milk, soap, baking soda, and toilet paper. Some citizens faint during this time, due to heat exhaustion and/or lack of food. Stampedes are a common occurrence, and many civilians are killed in fits of desperation in an attempt to attain severely limited resources. This is an everyday occurrence.
80 percent of basic consumer products including food and medicine are now said to be in short supply or entirely unavailable in Venezuela. Moreover, the latest inflation figures report a 720 percent increase in prices, the highest inflation rate in the world today. Two- thirds of citizens must now rely on the black market for food and essential medicine.
These conditions have detrimental effects reaching beyond immediate health conditions. Schools being monitored by the Bengoa Foundation cite that 25 percent of students have ceased attendance due to malnutrition and starvation.
Inadequate Health Care
Venezuela’s severe inflation and lack of health and medical equipment has launched the country into a public health emergency. Hospitals almost entirely lack MRI systems, incubators, and proper antibiotics. More shocking than this, they have started to lack gloves, soap, and even water; some doctors have resorted to washing their hands with seltzer water in order to prepare for surgery.
Since 2012, infant mortality rate has increased a hundredfold and the rate of death among new mothers has increased fivefold in hospitals run by the Health Ministry.
Maduro has rejected efforts in the country to accept international aid for medical equipment, stating the laughable remark that Venezuela has one of the best health care systems in the world – second only to Cuba.
Political Repression
Citizens who wish to revolt against the corrupt government and remove the abusive regime face unparalleled persecution. Political censorship and repression is prevalent in all aspects and people of society, from the lower class activists to mayors of entire towns.
Persecution (and execution) are a harsh reality for any Venezuelan seeking change, and there are a myriad of examples of this. Students participating in anti-government protests are constantly and consistently killed by security forces, including Daniel Tinoco, a student leader who was shot in the chest at a road junction during a demonstration in San Cristobal in 2014. The arrest of the opposition mayor of Caracas in February of 2015 and the imprisonment of Leopoldo Lopez, a political activist, in 2014 have manifested the unconstitutional political oppression.
Perhaps the most famous example is the death of Kluiverth Roa, a 14-year-old schoolboy who was shot point blank by a national guard during a protest on his way home from school. He was chosen to be a warning sign for others who would attempt to revolt against this merciless, unforgiving regime. Pictures of his lifeless body surfaced the Internet for weeks as his family tried to make his death as public as possible, in order to shed light on the inhumane government treatment of civilians.
Amazingly enough, these discretions are deemed technically legal. In January of 2015, the government issued a policy change to allow law enforcement officials to open fire and use deadly force to control protests in a gross attempt to justify the abhorrent and atrocious acts committed by officials.
These events and statistics are indisputable. Venezuela is hurting, and not simply economically or politically. It is important to discuss numbers of GDP decline, percentages of infant mortality, and inflation rates, but all too often these statistics are glossed over without thought or contemplation on what they actually mean for Venezuela and her 30 million miserable citizens. Venezuelan citizens are desperate for change, as it has been cited that 82.25 percent of citizens believe regime change is necessary this very year.
Light has to be shed on the unconstitutional oppression and government abuse in Venezuela, and people must take a stand in solidarity – the future of Venezuela depends on it.
