During the timeline of this assignment, the presidential election took place in Venezuela, and the results and effects were exactly the same as I expected. Because I had significant background knowledge about the situation, I didn’t find myself very surprised by any of the news I saw. Before starting my research, I wondered if I... Continue Reading →
An article published June 7th, 2018 by Quartz calls Venezuela "the most dangerous country to live in". It was given this title based on a poll conducted by Gallup. It gives scary statistics such as "only 17% of Venezuelans feel safe walking home at night". For context, the global average is 68%. 42% of Venezuelans... Continue Reading →
A recent article published June 3rd, 2018 by the Washington Post shares the quality of life of students in Venezuela. According to the article, 48 000 teachers have quit this year. As salaries become worse, more and more citizens are trying to leave the country. Last year, the article says, the average teacher’s salary was... Continue Reading →
On May 29th, KFOR, a newspaper from Oklahoma, published an article about a situation that has received a fair amount of media coverage recently. An American prisoner who has been held captive for two years was released. Josh Holt was in Venezuela to marry Venezuelan Thamara Caleño in the summer of 2016 when he was... Continue Reading →
An article titled “Venezuela Election: Fourteen Ambassadors recalled after Maduro Win” was published by the BBC on May 22nd, 2018. It talks about the presidential election that took place on May 20th. Unsurprisingly to most Venezuelans, Nicolas Maduro won his second six year term. Maduro’s government has been bribing citizens since they came into power,... Continue Reading →
On May 7th, 2018, Bloomberg published an article titled “Venezuelan Soldiers Desert in Droves with Presidential Election Ahead”. Author Fabiola Zerpa interviewed Rocio San Miguel, director of Control Cuidado, a military group in Caracas. According to the article, soldiers are leaving Venezuela in huge amounts. They are leaving for the same reasons the citizens are.... Continue Reading →
According to an article by Bloomberg, inflation in Venezuela is so extreme it’s broken the stock market. The article shares some alarming statistics. The Caracas index has gone up 1584% so far this year, and in 2016 it went up 3884% within the year. Regulators say they have to drop three zeros off the price... Continue Reading →
On April 23rd, Brookings, a Washington-based research organization, published an article titled “Venezuela’s Refugee Crisis: Views From the Border”. Dany Bahar, traveled to Cucuta, Colombia, for the article. Cutuca is one of the most active crossings for Venezuelans hoping to get into Colombia. He spoke to several Venezuelans about why they crossed the border and... Continue Reading →
Wuilly Arteaga, one of the well known faces of Venezuelan protests, is currently a subway performer in New York. Arteaga gained fame in Venezuela when for peacefully playing the violin in the streets during violent protests. His fame was deemed dangerous to the government and he was arrested and tortured. For obvious reasons, it was... Continue Reading →
On February 6, Reuters, an international news agency, published an article covering a major power outage in Caracas. The article calls the outage “another sign of economic meltdown”. It focuses on issues with electrical infrastructure, stating that at least 10 subway stations had to be closed, and phone-lines were down. The article goes on to... Continue Reading →
According to an article by the Wall Street Journal published March 22nd, President Nicolás Maduro of Venezuela is manipulating the election using food bribes to stay in power. When Maduro was elected in 2013 he was accused of manipulation in the election and his opponent was ignored when he demanded a recount. A shortage of... Continue Reading →
Since Hugo Chavez’s rise to power in 1999, Venezuela’s economy has been worsening and the country has become more and more dangerous. Chavez and his party, the United Socialist Party of Venezuela(PSUV), worked to put “chavismo” in place, a political ideology based on socialism, patriotism, and bolivarianism, named after Chavez. They called it “La Revolucion”,... Continue Reading →
Venezuela's Political Situation 