Are things actually bad in Venezuela or is that capitalist propaganda?
My wife and I have lived in venezeula approximately 9 mos a year for the past 4 years. My wife and I moved here when the local currency was trading at the free market rate of 68 Bs to 1 USD. On Aug 15 2018 before the introduction of the new Bolivera the exchange was 9,987,500 Bs to 1 USD. Inflation is spiraling out of control. IMF published a report that indicates prices double every 18 days. I can attest that prices rise on a daily if not an hourly basis. There are two Venezuelas. You are either very poor or very rich in Venezuela. The middle class is a very small population of the total (completely opposite to the US). I see people on a daily basis eating from the garbage along the road. The biggest problem is the security. After dark, Venezuela is like the wild wild west, armed robberies, kidnappings and homicides are the rule and not the exception. CNN reports that Venezuela is the most dangerous country in the world for the second straight year. LA Times reports a Homicide rate of 119 per 100,000 (compare that to the US with 5.35 per 100,000 for 2016). The Socialist government is failing the people while the leaders steal the wealth and do business with the drug cartels. 1000’s of people flee Venezuela daily to escape the poverty and hardships. A report by the Guardian on May 09 2018 – indicates that at lease one million people have entered Colombia from Venezuela since Maduro’s government has entered into a crisis last year. This figure does not include those fleeing to the US, Brazil, Peru, Spain and other countries. By creating hardship for his people, Maduro is exporting Venezuelan citizens to other countries to send money back to their families in Venezuela, allowing the government to further neglect its citizens at home. This process is going to start its second wave as I speak. Those who can leave are leaving, those who can’t will need the support of those who have left as the government will not help. The infrastructure is failing, brownouts are a common occurrence, water is controlled by the military, food distribution is controlled by the military (imagine kickbacks and bribes just to get food). I love the people of Venezuela, I love the country of Venezuela….however the Socialist Government has completely destroyed Venezuela, it will take at least three generations after Socialism to restore Venezuela back to what it was, The Saudi Arabia of Latin America.