As most of you know I was born in Venezuela and lived there
until I was 11 yrs old. In 1993 my family moved to Jupiter, FL with the desire
to provide better opportunities for us here. At the time the economic state of
Venezuela was relatively good and not the main reason for my family
moving over here.
But since then the political and economic state of Venezuela
has significantly deteriorated. As you may have seen in the news recently the
country is in the brink of a civil war and the death toll rising by the day. A
few weeks ago I posted in Instagram how Venezuela is one of the leading countries
in crime in the world, here are some facts on crime:
- The
official national rate of 39 deaths per 100,000 people in 2013 and a tally of
double that from monitoring group the Venezuelan Violence Observatory (which
estimate 79 deaths per 100,000 people) make Venezuela an international leader
in homicides *1
- By
comparison, the United States' current rate is about 4.7 deaths per 100,000 *2
- Along with
kidnappings, thefts, and extortions, that’s earned Venezuela the No. 3 spot as
the economy most damaged by violence, according to the World Economic Forum’s
Global Competitiveness Report 2013-2014 *3
It is difficult to write in one blog post the historical events
that have led Venezuela to the broken state it’s in today. After doing
some online research I was able to find a few reliable sources summarizing recent events:
Venezuela Crisis explained in 90 seconds (Video)
Venezuela: What's the crisis about? When, Who, and What (Written article)
Last May I attempted to summarize in a blog post the
political events in Venezuela over the last 20 years. I wrote this a two weeks
after Nicolas Maduro was elected as president, and our family and friends were
discouraged and mourning the hope they had that this election would take the country in a new direction.
Below is a short summary of the economic impact this presidential election had:
The
death from cancer on 5 March of President Hugo Chávez triggered a snap
presidential election just 40 days later that his anointed successor, Nicolás
Maduro, won by a margin of less than 1.5 per cent over Henrique Capriles of the
Democratic Unity (MUD) alliance. But the tight result and legal challenges to
the validity of the vote cast a shadow over the sustainability of the new
administration…The validity of the election result remains to be clarified and
the full independence of the electoral authorities, judiciary, and other key
institutions restored.
With
institutions weakened by the Chávez government’s long-term policy of
presidential co-optation, the MUD may ultimately have little practical recourse
at the domestic legal level, leaving – it believes – few options but a policy
of peaceful street demonstrations and other forms of political pressure,
including appeal to international public opinion. When political discourse
takes the form of large-scale street protest, there is always a risk of
violence. There have already been several deaths and numerous injuries, often
in confused circumstances, that the government seems keen to exploit so as to
discredit the opposition.
The
power vacuum produced by Chávez’s death is a fundamental source of potential
instability. His personal authority over his movement, the armed forces and the
state bureaucracy is irreplaceable for the regime, certainly in the short term.
This vacuum is particularly grave because the country is on the brink of a
recession, has a large public-sector deficit and suffers from a growing
scarcity of basic goods and one of the world’s highest inflation rates. * 4
Switching gears from historical facts to personal thoughts:
I see the frustration, insecurity, and at times hopelessness my family and friends in Venezuela have and it's hard to watch- nd not be able to do anything else other than pray. There are some days where I can't process that my beautiful country of Venezuela is in such a broken, dark, and insecure state. I have not visited there since 2002 when Steve and I traveled over there to see my dad before we got engaged. For the last 12 years we've met him in the Caribbean since Venezuela hasn't been a safe place to travel to. I would love nothing more than to visit Venezuela and show my children
where I grew up, and that is something I will more than likely never get
to do.
Growing up I remember how much I disliked the United States stepping in to other countries when opression and goverment crimes took place. From the US sending troops to Colombia to battle the drug supply, to them going into Iraq ten years ago, and the countless other times they have stepped in.
But now being on the other side, I would love nothing more than for the US to step in try to help the situation in Venezuela. Who would've thought? And I know most of our family and friends in Venezuela do too. My dad asked me to share the link below for people to petition the United States government to step in (Requires an online signature). And as much as I would love for the US or UN stepping in... I just don't foresee them going in anytime soon.
If you would like to sign this petition I know it would mean a lot to my dad.
But from me- I ask for prayer over the people of Venezuela, their government, and the events that are happening over there today.
Sources:
