The head of one of the largest kidnapping gangs in the Venezuelan capital has detailed how he stalks and takes away his victims, how he kills those who do not pay the ransom, and also about his network of corrupt police officers.
In a chilling interview with the Daily Mail, literally held at gunpoint in the lawless slums of western Caracas, the gang leader admitted he had no qualms about his reign of terror over a city engulfed in economic crisis.
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“If they don’t pay the ransom in a week, we dig a two-meter hole, shoot them in the face with a shotgun so that no one can identify the body. They remain on the missing list forever. I am in charge in this city,” he says.
The number of kidnappings in Venezuela has skyrocketed after oil prices plummeted and sparked widespread shortages and unrest. The bloated police force is unable to cope with the wave of crime that has brought the country to its knees.
Called the most dangerous city on earth, Caracas has the highest number of murders, with 3,946 people killed in the city of 3.3 million in 2015 alone. According to police, 85% of deaths in Caracas are violent.
The police publicly admit they can't handle crime. Santiago Rosas, chief of the El Jatillo police station, who patrols one of the city's most dangerous areas on a motorcycle, said the police can only protect nine percent of the population right now.
The leader of a kidnapping gang, only 23, makes macabre confessions about how he weaves nets around the police and takes advantage of the plight of a nation that scavenges for food. Sitting in the shade and wearing a mask, he says, “I have no remorse because the people we kidnap have a lot of money. We usually get a tip from someone who holds a grudge against that person. He tells us that he knows that the victim has money, and knows what route she is moving on. We know a lot of private bodyguards, and when they feel like they're underpaid, they give us the information we need to kidnap their wealthy employer, and we kick them back."
Perhaps the leader of the gang exaggerates his "exploits". But Santiago Rosas, chief of El Hatillo's police department, said the reliance on intelligence and the ability to hold onto its victims for long periods of time meant it was one of the biggest crime groups in Caracas. Most of the kidnappings are done by one-day gangs called express kidnappers. The gang leader's claims of 300 members may be an exaggeration, says the policeman, but even if there are 150 people, this is already the size of the municipal police department.
As the economic crisis worsened, the price of the ransom has skyrocketed, despite the average salary being $20 a month. As a result of the first kidnapping, which the gang committed five years ago, the criminals managed to get $170. Now they are asking for at least $17,000.
The gang, which calls itself the "kings of the city", has informers and informers in all walks of life, including among the military and police. According to Transparency International, Venezuela is the ninth most corrupt country in the world.
“There is a lot of competition in the kidnapping market. A lot of cops do it too,” the gang leader said. - There are two kinds of cops. Some are smart, who understand that it is not wise to be at enmity with us, while others are stupid, who get grenades through the window. The smart ones give us rapid-fire weapons, bullets, uniforms. We have people who work for us, in the municipal, in the people's police and in the army, and they make sure that we are well equipped."
“We have much better weapons than the police. We have four houses in the area that we use as warehouses for weapons and explosives. While your car was approaching, my men were practicing aiming sniper weapons at you,” adds the 23-year-old thug.
All this is familiar to El Hatillo police, where an anti-corruption raid fired 41 people over two years on charges of kidnapping, robbery and murder. “The situation is exactly as he described, that's for sure,” says Rosas. - They have the best weapons. We hope there aren't many smart cops in our area, but it's dangerous to be an honest cop."
Two years ago, an audit of the arsenal of the El Hatillo police station showed that 20 weapons and 1,000 shells had gone missing. It is assumed that they were handed over to criminals. To illustrate how bad the crime situation is in Caracas, last year a woman called the police when she saw the front door of her house was open, and as a result, six police officers who came on call robbed her house themselves.
Police officers in Venezuela have the most dangerous job, so hiring new employees is very difficult. The cops earn only $16 a month, which means they have to live side by side with their enemies in the heart of a gang-infested slum.
In the criminal world, killing a police officer is a condition for promotion to a higher position among underground gangs. In 2015, 173 police officers were killed in the capital. Since the beginning of 2016, 64 law enforcement officers have already been killed, a 14% increase compared to the same period last year.
Last year, a member of the El Hatillo police station was attacked at his home. He was shot 14 times in the face and 12 times in the body right in front of his wife and two small children. In Caracas, crime has merged with everyday life. While journalists were interviewing the gang leader at gunpoint, people went about their business along the street, and children played near the brightly painted houses in the slums.
On average, according to the leader of the kidnappers, his gang kills several people a month and kidnaps someone every week. They make no distinction between men, women, or old people when it comes to kidnappings, and they will even steal a child if they can be sure that they will receive a large enough ransom for this. He added that they are working on a kidnapping that could bring them $34,500.
“Last Thursday we kidnapped the principal of the school because one of her students told us that she had a lot of money. We demanded a ransom of 17.6 thousand dollars, and her family paid within seven hours. Everything went very smoothly, it was a good deal.” The leader of the gang said that the kidnapping took place near the hotel where the Daily Mail journalists lived, in the business district of Caracas.
The gang also claims to be running a lucrative drug business. “Sometimes we kill victims if they make us angry. Once I killed a man because he begged so much to let him live. He didn't have an ounce of courage and I shot him." The boss claims to have killed at least twenty people with his own hands and ordered the execution of hundreds more.
The leader of the gang told in detail how the abductions take place. A team of whistle-blowers roam the streets unnoticed and spend weeks gathering information about a wealthy man whose life is subject to a schedule. Then a group of four people track the victim's car, following in front of her, not behind her. “We already know exactly his route,” he explained.
On a relatively empty street, they stop in front of the victim's car and push the person into their car. An abandoned car, as a rule, remains standing. “When we bring them to our slums, we treat them the same way we treated you today. We make them keep their heads down, search them and make them sit on metal chairs. Our faces are always covered. If they resist, we shoot at the legs. We don't waste time torturing or cutting off an ear to send to the family, as shown in the movies. If they don't pay or don't cooperate, we just kill them,” says the leader of the group.
Many members of the gang are teenagers, some as young as ten. As they become more powerful, they feel more and more impunity. Between 92 and 97 percent of those arrested with clear evidence are released because of a justice system riddled with corruption and nepotism, Rosas says. “This is Venezuelan justice. This is one of our biggest and deepest problems,” he says.
Confusion is especially felt by the police on the front line. In April, Rosas' subordinates arrested a motorcycle thug who shot someone in the area. Less than two months later, the suspect paid a bribe and was released.
To make matters worse, Venezuelan prisons are run by the prisoners themselves, and the authorities simply keep them inside. Prisons are stocked with weapons and drugs and act as incubators for violence.
In Venezuela, there is one firearm for every two people. It is the most armed country in the world. Most firearms legally or illegally fell into the hands of ordinary citizens from the authorities themselves.
Hugo Chavez, the legendary Venezuelan leader who died in 2013, organized hundreds of armed militia units to take to the streets and defend his socialist ideology in times of crisis. Thus, the possession of firearms became widespread throughout the country and greatly increased the number of murders.
The police department run by Rosas is in the part of Caracas that is run by opposition politicians, so he can speak freely. However, he said the government is increasingly trying to control an independent police force. He believes that the government is mainly to blame for the security crisis in Venezuela. In 2014, authorities tried to defuse conflict between police and gangs by declaring "peace zones" across the country where police were forbidden to enter. After that, local gangs united in huge groups and captured areas ranging from several blocks to the area of a small town.
In Caracas alone, there are four "peace zones" with an area of 15.5 square kilometers. The police are only allowed to collect corpses. “It was obvious that this was going to happen,” says Rosas. “It was a crazy decision in a country of crazy decisions.”
Many children are involved in the criminal world from an early age. The gang leader himself began dealing drugs on the street and shoplifting at the age of 13 because he was mistreated at home. He then moved on to carjacking, armed robbery and murder, and then used the money he earned to put together his own gang from the bandits he hired.
According to him, his first fatal victim was a man who tried to stop him while robbing a store. “I shot him in the stomach with a .38 revolver and later learned that he was dead,” recalls the gang leader. “I was angry with him and scared of the police, but I knew he deserved it. He was bigger than me, he didn't have to try to stop me."
Now he doesn't waste time cleaning up the crime scene because he knows the police won't investigate him anyway. “It gives me a great feeling. I am powerful, I am better than other people who work for 20 dollars a month. I have earned respect for my intelligence and cruelty. If someone crosses my path, I will kill him in front of everyone, so that they know that I am in charge in this city.
The fact that Caracas is one of the most criminogenic and dangerous cities in the world is no secret to anyone. One of the features of this city is that it is already dark here at seven o'clock in the evening and by this time the entire local population is striving to get home, as it is dangerous to be on the streets. In the city, daytime is dangerous, and at night crime simply overwhelms Caracas. This situation is connected with the low standard of living of the local population, which mostly lives in barracks in the favelas. This is a housing that is constructed from improvised materials, which are most often found in a landfill. The city is conditionally divided into two parts. The first part is normal, where people live in acceptable conditions, and the second is unofficially called the "kingdom of the poor", where there is no electricity, running water or even basic living conditions. Tourists are strongly advised to refrain from visiting such areas, as they can be robbed, beaten and even killed there.
Wealthy residents of Caracas live in areas that are surrounded by high fences with barbed wire, which is under voltage. Towers are also installed in such areas, there are guards with weapons. But it must be said that no more than 10% of the population of Caracas lives in such privileged conditions.
Troubles can await tourists at every turn, many local groups hunt foreigners not only to rob them, but also for the purpose of kidnapping (for a ransom in the future). Tourists are strongly advised not to carry large sums of money, original documents (copies will be enough), and not to wear jewelry - do not attract criminals once again.
Right on the streets of Caracas and many other Venezuelan cities, you can see people who openly sell drugs and weapons, while the police in most cases turn a blind eye to this.
As a result, it turns out that you should not walk around Caracas after sunset, use the services of exclusively official taxis (even if the fare is somewhat more expensive). Under no circumstances should you leave your belongings unattended. And one more very interesting point - if you are robbed, then you should not resist, because in case of resistance you can lose your life.
There are so many places in the world that you have never been to, from Monte Carlo to the deserts of the Australian continent. There are many beautiful cities where millions of tourists come every year, but there are also completely unfriendly territories. Countries like Colombia, South Africa, and Mexico might be beautiful in theory, but thanks to drug cartels, massacres, political terror, and poor socioeconomic conditions, they are dangerous.
The position of Cali in the ranking is constantly changing, it can be considered both the most dangerous and the second most dangerous city in Colombia, time and time again. Drug cartels such as CaliCartel, NortedelValleCartel and LosRastrojo and the FARC guerrilla group operate in the city, which keep the population in constant fear. According to statistics, there are 83 murders per 100,000 inhabitants of Cali. On the one hand, the city, like the whole of Colombia, is beautiful as a butterfly, but very often it meets tourists with a swarm of thousands of wild wasps, which can take lives.
San Salvador is the capital of El Salvador, a small city in Central America. The population is 570,000 people. According to statistics, 45 people are killed per 100,000 in the city. As a result, in 2015, about 2,200 murders were committed in El Salvador. This is a terrible statistic. The criminal situation is completely dependent on the vigorous activity of armed gangs, MS-13 and Barrio 18, which keep the entire population in suspense. Violence has become a hallmark of San Salvador, and residents at any time can become casual victims of street shootings. By the way, these gangster groups are not as organized as the Yakuza or the Italian mafia, they are mainly engaged in robberies and robberies. In San Salvador, you can not only be robbed and beaten, but also killed.
13. Karachi, Pakistan - the most dangerous metropolis
Karachi, the capital of the Pakistani province of Sindh, is the largest city in the country and the second most populated city in the world. It is also considered one of the most dangerous cities for tourists who are going to visit Pakistan. Karachi is known for political and criminal instability and constant conflicts between terrorist groups that engage in kidnappings, robberies, armed attacks and murders. According to statistics, 12.3 people commit murders per 100,000 inhabitants in the city, in addition, in 2015 the level of crime in the city increased.
12. Detroit, USA - the most dangerous city in America
In the 1987 film RoboCop, Detroit was portrayed as a bankrupt, crime-ridden city with no place for the law. The directors of the film, despite the cyborgs and robots, did not expect that they were looking to the future, and the city would develop exactly according to their scenario. In 2013-2014, it was recognized as the most dangerous city in America. The population is almost 700,000 people. According to statistics, there are 2,072 beatings and 45 murders per 100,000 people. 38.1% of Detroit residents live below the poverty line, this is one of the reasons for this situation.
11. Sana'a, Yemen - an unstable city
Yemen is often on the news today. Sanaa is becoming one of the most dangerous places on earth to live. The political situation worsened due to the instability that took place in the country in 2012. The standard of living dropped sharply, and the criminal situation worsened. Cases of explosions, armed attacks, terrorism, which are combined with robberies and murders, have become frequent. Disruption of power supply, lack of drinking water become the causes of the slow death of the city.
10 Mogadishu, Somalia - Territory Outside Government Jurisdiction
Somalia today is associated with pirates, crime and Tom Hanks. The danger is best illustrated by the situation in its capital, Mogadishu. Since international embassies and UN offices were forced to leave the country in the 1990s due to political instability, there has been no effective government in Somalia. This situation has led to an open and brutal civil war involving al-Qaeda, al-Shabaab and AMISOM. Mogadishu got its reputation due to the flourishing of corruption, poverty, high levels of crime, cruelty that occur on the streets of the city every day.
9 Ciudad Juarez, Mexico - Murder Capital Of The World
Ciudad Juarez has gained a reputation as a drug-dealing city and the title of the most dangerous city in Mexico. It is the unofficial capital of the country's entire drug trafficking. This is a dangerous city where laws do not apply, but cruelty and murder flourish. The police here are absolutely powerless and plunged into corruption. Although, according to statistics, there is hope for an improvement in the situation. For example, if in 2010 there were 8.5 murders per day, then in 2013 there were 530 murders in just a year, and in 2014 - 434. The situation is improving, but very slowly.
8. Baghdad, Iraq - victims of ISIS
Ever since the US military pulled out of Iraq, Baghdad has gained a reputation as a dangerous city. For years, residents have gotten used to bombings in public places, shootings and murders. As a result of the war, the infrastructure and economy were completely destroyed. The city is mired in crime and terrorism. In 2014, 12,282 killings of civilians were recorded as a result of the activation of the terrorist organization ISIS.
7. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil - the hooligan capital of the world
Despite the fact that in other cities in Brazil the number of murders is higher, Rio de Janeiro, being a tourist mecca and the second largest city in the country, has received the status of a criminal capital. The murder rate, compared to 2005, and then there were 42 murders per 100,000 people, dropped to 24 in 2014. But, if the fact that you will be killed in Rio de Janeiro has become unlikely, then the chances of being robbed have increased. Street crimes, robberies and hooliganism have intensified. In December 2013, there were 6,626 robberies, and in 2014 - 7,849. The number of stolen mobile phones increased by 74.5% over the same period. Despite the statistics, there are not fewer tourists in Rio, because people come here to get acquainted with the culture, visit the football championship and look at the statue of Jesus Christ.
6. Cape Town, South Africa - the most violent city in Africa
Cape Town is the second largest city in South Africa. But, despite the beauty, he gained a reputation as one of the most dangerous cities. According to statistics, the number of murders per 100,000 people was 50.94, and crimes - 8,428, despite the fact that the population is 3.75 million people. This situation has developed due to class and financial inequality, which was aggravated by gang shootings, murders, robberies, rapes and kidnappings. If you still plan to visit one of the most beautiful cities in the world, do not deviate from popular tourist routes.
5. Guatemala, Guatemala is a violent city
Guatemala can be called one of the most beautiful cities in Central America, but despite the popularity among tourists, due to the presence of numerous attractions, it is characterized by a high level of crime and drug trafficking. Guatemala borders Mexico, Honduras and El Salvador, so drugs play an important role here. In addition, robberies, poverty, class and financial inequality flourish in the city. Guatemala has the highest levels of brutality in Central America, exacerbated by the fact that there are 42 murders per 100,000 people. Lawlessness and corruption, organized crime have become the hallmark of the city.
4. Kabul, Afghanistan - hostages of war
Kabul, the capital of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, has become a hostage to constant wars and has gained a reputation as the most dangerous city in the world. The features of the city include economic instability, poverty, kidnappings, murders and other crimes. The situation was exacerbated by political instability, power struggles, terrorism and wars. After the US minimized its presence in Afghanistan, ISIS terrorists took over and instability increased, so there is no reason to visit Kabul.
3 Caracas, Venezuela - street violence
Caracas is known for three things: it is the capital of Venezuela, the capital of murder, the capital of drugs. In conditions of economic instability, street crime has increased. Caracas, the second most dangerous city in the world, has a high murder rate per 100,000 people, 134, in a population of 3.5 million. There were 24,000 murders across Venezuela in 2014. Along with the dismantling of gangs in Caracas, robberies, rapes, kidnappings and cruelty flourish.
2. Acapulco, Mexico - Corruption
Acapulco, as a beautiful resort, has always attracted movie stars, sports stars and other celebrities. But, one has only to take a step away from the tourist routes, as you plunge into another reality of one of the most dangerous cities in Mexico. Until recently, Acapulco was a tourist mecca, and now it scares away tourists with a high murder rate. In 2014, there were 104 murders per 100,000 people. The corrupt police are more concerned with human trafficking than with establishing the rule of law. In addition, the city has big problems from drug trafficking and street violence. In such a city, you don’t know who to run away from: from the police or bandits.
1. San Pedro Sula, Honduras is the most dangerous city in the world
San Pedro Sula is the most dangerous city in the world. It is located in the northwestern part of Honduras. In 2014, there were 171 murders per 100,000 people, the highest rate in the world, despite the fact that the city is not in a war zone. There are 3 murders per day. The city is mired in murders, gang wars, drug trafficking, illegal arms trade. On the streets every day someone is killed, beaten, raped. There is no law in this city.
No less dangerous can be beautiful beaches with clean and hot sand, washed by the clear blue waves of the ocean.
The holiday season is coming, which means you need to decide where to go on vacation, and where you definitely shouldn’t go if you are not an inveterate extreme sportsman who does not value life and wallet. And just in time, Numbeo - the largest website on consumer prices, crime rates, the quality of medical care and other statistics about various cities and countries - released its Crime Index. It's an annual rating of the most criminal cities in the world.
The rating includes 378 cities, which are ranked according to the crime index. Cities with a crime index below 20 are considered very safe, while cities with a crime rate between 60 and 80 are considered very criminogenic. It turned out that the safest city in the world is Abu Dhabi (crime index - 15.51), followed by Munich and Taipei.
10. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (crime index - 77.87)
In the fun city of carnivals, you can run into criminals not only in marginal areas. The most frequent crimes are street robbery and theft. Therefore, if you are determined to go there, take a few simple rules into service. They will come in handy when visiting other cities from this list.
- Do not walk alone down the street after 10 pm. This doesn't mean you shouldn't go to restaurants or bars in the evenings or enjoy Rio at night, but if it's not carnival week, it's best to stay inside the building (or outside, but with a crowd of people).
- The iPhone is easy money in Brazil. Considering locally absurd luxury mark-ups, the iPhone starts at $1,000 in Brazil. This means that if you are talking on your iPhone while you are outside, you are more likely to lose it. Buy a cheap phone for the trip, or stash your iPhone in your pocket when you're out and about.
- Do not take anything to the beach except a swimsuit and a towel. Many criminals, acting in groups, literally comb Brazilian beaches in search of things that careless tourists leave on sunbeds when they go swimming.
- If possible, move around the city only by taxi, metro or bus. It is cheap, fast, with a breeze, that is, air conditioning, as well as signs in English.
9. Pretoria, South Africa (77.99)
Although Pretoria is inferior to Johannesburg in the number of violent crimes, it is definitely not worth going there on vacation with your family or alone. It is very easy to identify a tourist in Pretoria in a crowd of passers-by, and since most of the locals are poor, a rich European is a welcome prey for them. The most common crime in Pretoria is pickpocketing.
8. Recife, Brazil (78.00)
This seaside town is famous for both frequent shark attacks (18 people have died since 1992) and murders. Usually the violence is limited to the poorer areas of the city, but are you willing to test it for yourself?
7. Johannesburg, South Africa (78.49)
Petty pickpocketing, break-ins and car thefts are the most common tourist attractions in beautiful but dangerous Johannesburg. There have been incidents involving foreigners traveling from Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg to their destination by car. They were robbed, often at gunpoint.
6. Durban, South Africa (78.58)
The central and "tourist" areas of Durban are quite safe and violent crimes are rarely committed there. But outside these areas, robberies are commonplace. If you come to this city for work or pleasure, take a taxi.
5. Selangor, Malaysia (78.90)
The Malaysian metropolis opens the top 5 most dangerous cities in the world, where pickpocketing is very common. However, compared to the third number on the list, Selangor is heaven on Earth, because there murders and kidnappings with subsequent ransom demands do not happen often.
4. Fortaleza, Brazil (83.90)
In the most dangerous city in Brazil, you must always be on the alert and do not put your phone and valuables in your pockets. Is it only in the inner, and even in the pocket of the underpants. And it's not a joke. They know how to steal in Fortaleza. And the number of murders in the city is 60% per hundred thousand of the population. In addition, kidnappings for ransom are not uncommon.
3. Pietermaritzburg, South Africa (84.23)
The main criminal element is concentrated in local slums (townships) and getting into them is highly discouraged even during the day. Murders, robberies and violence are not uncommon there. And white tourists are at particular risk. In Pietermaritzburg, there is a serious problem of school crime and the police carry out whole raids, confiscating weapons from black high school students. However, all tourist areas (restaurants, shopping centers, shops, attractions) are under protection and you can feel relatively safe there.
2. San Pedro Sula, Honduras (85.59)
In the second largest city in Honduras, drug trafficking, murders and police brutality thrive, who often brutally crack down not only on gang members, but also on those who pass by. There are 169 homicides per 100,000 people in San Pedro Sula.
1. Caracas, Venezuela (86.61)
The capital of Venezuela heads the selection of the most dangerous cities in the world, where the city center (still relatively prosperous in terms of crime) is taken into the ring of poor areas, where a careless traveler will be robbed, tried to sell drugs or beaten (or all together) with great pleasure and skill. Do not rely on the help of the police, she does not look into dangerous areas. Yes, and near a fashionable hotel, criminals can lie in wait for tourists, but not loners, but representatives of gangs. In general, you should not choose Caracas as a city for a relaxing holiday.
Ilya Varlamov writes: Today Venezuela is all about queues and wild crime. After the death of Hugo Chavez, the situation changed dramatically for the worse. The crime rate has risen. Now you can’t just walk around the city with appliances, jewelry, and even good watches. In terms of the number of deliberate murders, Venezuela used to be in the first lines of all ratings, but today it claims to be in first place. In the first 3 months of 2016, the number of murders in Venezuela increased by 47% compared to the same period in 2014. The number of kidnappings increased immediately by 170%. And these are just the statistics of third-party observers. What passes by her, one can only guess.
Due to a lack of money, the current President Maduro has reduced the cost of the police (now there are almost none), and gangs are operating in different parts of the city. There are very few safe areas. They can rob and kill in the city center, in the subway, in the park - and anywhere. Somehow, the authorities control several blocks in the center, where government buildings are located, and blocks in wealthy areas. But the police (as well as the National Guard) have not been trusted for a long time. The attitude towards the army has also changed a lot. Previously, there was always respect, but after the events of 2014, everyone considers them executioners, they went against the people. Any wealthy Venezuelan has a bodyguard.
This time I had to hire security. Three years ago, I freely rode in an ordinary car with a driver, walked about the slums. But today the car is armored and there are several guards. I go to the subway, go down to the station, and the guard says: “You see, there is not a single policeman at the station today? So they can kill." Passers-by on the street, seeing the camera, make frightened eyes and recommend hiding it.
The network has a lot of stories about how diplomats were robbed, how tourists were kidnapped and demanded a ransom. Everyone recommends that in the event of a robbery, do not resist, but immediately give everything away, then there will be a chance to stay alive. RIA Novosti recently wrote that in the city most of the criminal gangs working on foreigners are coordinated from one center. “These groups include employees of airports, hotels, rental offices – everyone who is in contact with visitors, so it is very dangerous to rent a car and show money at the same time,” says a police source.
They can really kill. Caracas, the capital and largest city of Venezuela, in 2015 was once again recognized as one of the most dangerous cities in the world. There were 119.87 murders per 100 thousand inhabitants. In general, data on the number of murders vary. Some sources write about 134, 160 and even 200 murders. June was the bloodiest month of 2016 for Caracas. During this month, about 400 people were killed in the city, according to El Nacional. Authorities do not publish official statistics on murders.
Today, Caracas is the most dangerous city in the world where there is no war.
My friend Oksana, who lived in the country for a year and a half, both in Caracas and in the provinces, told me in more detail about the criminal situation in Venezuela. Security in Venezuela is a very sensitive topic, many foreigners do not pay due attention to it. Or they didn’t pay until then, for example, in 2014, they killed a German tourist right at the entrance to the Eurobuilding Hotel (they were tracked from the airport, presumably after seeing something valuable) and an Egyptian right at the exit from the airport. For me personally, it was a shock when my young man, with whom we were driving around Caracas in a car, asked me to hide the iPhone, because, I quote, “motorisados will drive up, a gun through the window, if we don’t give it up, they will kill me.” For me it was wild. For Venezuelans, a phone hidden in their underwear is a chore.
In the slums, "barrios", even the locals do not meddle - it's dangerous, any stranger there is studied for "what to take." It is believed that the homeland of the punks, "malandros", is the state of Vargas (this is where the Caracas airport is), but after the landslide that came down in 1999, when a huge number of residential buildings were destroyed, many local residents were settled in other states and thus spread throughout Venezuela. But this is one version.
The truth is that Chavez's policy was aimed at pandering to the lower strata of society: they were given houses, monthly allowances, cars, and so on. All to get votes in elections and popular support. Thus, it was not necessary to work: everything for life will be given anyway, and you can earn additional income by robbing people. In the last couple of years, the oil needle that Chavez was based on has failed, oil has fallen in price, and the country has become short of money. The result of such a policy was a shortage of essential products, in fact, famine. As a direct consequence of this, crime increased. No job will bring as much money as criminal activity.
Kidnapping has become one of the most popular types of this very activity. It can be a kidnapping express, a “carousel”, when criminals simply drive around the city and collect well-dressed people in the trunk of an SUV and then ask for a ransom according to the principle “Who is your dad? Well, 10 thousand dollars will give. Or planned kidnapping: a person is studied what he has, where he lives, where he works, what kind of relatives he has ... The amount of the ransom can be 100-200 thousand dollars. I have a friend who was kidnapped. It was a long time ago, really. They confused him with his cousin, kept him blindfolded for a week, in the end they said they would kill him, took him out in a car, pushed him out into the street and shot him in the air. Now, as a rule, they are not left alive ...
Hunger makes people more aggressive. Now they kill for the phone (they stole my phone, but asked for a ransom; where is that poor blocked iPhone now ...), for a watch, for a package of groceries, for good shoes. I personally was robbed in Venezuela twice: the first time the phone was out of the car, the second - a bag at the entrance to the hotel, but both times in secret and without weapons (the first was clearly on a tip). A friend was robbed with a gun twice. Once they were having lunch with a group in a restaurant - armed men came in and took all the phones from the table. The second time he very wisely went for a walk at night in a resort village with a bag in which there were 30,000 bolivars (then it was still money). The notorious motorisados drove up, took off the bag, threatening with a gun - it’s good that they didn’t kill (but they could).
The current crime situation is such that people are afraid. They are afraid to have nice things, to dress well, to drive a nice car (it's difficult with cars, but that's another story). Go outside with a good watch, phone, gold chain: life threatening. I remember how in the small village where we lived, our driver from the locals approached me and warned one young man to put away his Samsung watch (which is a smart watch, or something), because the hotel workers had already blabbed all over the village that he has them (the same village where my iPhone was stolen). It is very dangerous to drive a car outside the city at night, it is deadly if the car breaks down. The modus operandi of modern robbers is to throw a stone or a branch onto the track, make a fire to make the car stop. The most dangerous in this regard is the motorway Puerto Cabello - Valencia (it was there that Miss Venezuela Monica Speer was killed).
I see the main problem in the fact that human life does not matter to the criminal. Shooting a person is not a problem at all. Old man, woman, child. I'm not even talking about men. The first rule for the victim in any robbery is not to resist: then, perhaps, they will let them live. Criminals are not shy of passers-by, cameras, daylight. It seems that the youth from the lower strata of society sees some kind of romance in this. There are memes on the Internet on the topic "You have a gun - all the chicks love you." This is easy money, easy money, impunity. The penitentiary system is also terrible. As far as I understand, the prisoners themselves rule inside the prisons, there are not even guards there, so they perceive the prison as an opportunity to lie low for a while and rest (this does not apply to political prisoners). This police post was bombarded with grenades a couple of weeks ago.
Now the situation in the country is such that it is also dangerous to work as a policeman. They began to kill policemen, and not only in the service, as a result of resistance, but simply to rob. Recently, a police officer was killed in front of his children in order to take a bicycle.
Sometimes bandits raid police posts. While the authorities are trying to investigate the attack in a panic, even less attention is paid to ordinary robbers, and they can continue to engage in a bloody gop-stop. This year alone, and only in Greater Caracas, 104 security officials (policemen and guardsmen) were killed.
Police with flasks on their backs. The main task of the police now is to control the queues to the shops so that there is no looting, and also to guard the rallies. More power is not enough.
A policeman rides a motorcycle with a wad of money. There are only a few dollars in this pack. But even this picture is not very typical for Caracas.
Any building should be behind a high fence, whoever is richer also makes an electric fence on top. Who is poorer - broken glass and barbed wire. There are always bars on the upper floors of houses so that robbers do not climb from the roof.
The usual entrance of an ordinary house where the local "middle class" lives. Everywhere there are gratings, chambers and live wires.
This is how an ordinary residential building looks like: everything is also in bars, light around the perimeter, barbed wire ...
US embassy fence
The embassy itself. I wanted to take a picture with a beautiful sign, but I did not find it
At the entrance to each establishment, a menu with prices must be hung, as well as warning signs: you can’t enter with weapons and you can’t smoke.
Such signs should also be in public buildings in the most prominent place. For example, this is the wall behind the reception desk in my hotel.
Even in a restaurant, signs should hang in every room!
Behind the scenes) A strange law.
The center is quite clean, given the general poverty and the collapsed economy.
Subway entrance.
It is almost impossible to get on the train during rush hour.
People skip 5 trains to get into the car.
Inside is a crush.
A simple metro ticket costs 4 bolivars, something like 25 kopecks. A round-trip trip combined with a bus - 12 bolivars (75 kopecks). Ticket for 10 trips - 2 rubles 25 kopecks, for 40 trips - 9 rubles. Why so cheap? First, it's all about the unofficial rate of the bolivar. For 1 dollar on the black market, you can buy 1000 bolivars. The official exchange rate within the country is one and a half times higher, and they generally try to sell 1 bolivar to foreigners for 10 cents. 100 times difference! That is, if the Venezuelan economy worked normally, a metro ride would cost 25 rubles. And do not forget that the prices of a number of goods and services are trying to regulate the state. Therefore, the subway is almost free.
Huge queues for ground transportation. Large buses run between districts.
Minibuses run in a specific area.
The main erogenous zone of Venezuelan fans is a gas station! Gasoline is really cheap here. It costs about 4 rubles per liter. It used to cost 2 rubles.
Think gasoline is free. Is it good or is it bad?
Coffee is sold on the street.
book collapse
In order to somehow earn money, people sell everything in general.
Yoga in the center
Today, the main goal of any Venezuelan is to get something. They get bread, milk, medicines. In free sale there are no essential goods at all. You can't even buy soap and milk. Therefore, everyone walks the streets with packages and ask each other where they “threw out” what.
The main differences from fraternal Cuba:
There is civilization in Venezuela! There is a normal Internet, there are good restaurants and hotels. Caracas has McDonald's and other international fast food. Here you can easily buy expensive alcohol, imported food, rent a good car. But Cuba is calm and safe. And in Venezuela, taking advantage of wealth is not so easy.
The first thing that meets a tourist is a poster with a warning to change currency only in specially designated places! In Venezuela, the exchange rate is controlled by the state. Devaluation occurs every few years. It looks very funny - such a ladder:
Of course, as I said, there is a black market with a completely different course. Three years ago, the exchange rate on the black market differed from the official one by 3 times. Today, only one and a half, but over these three years, the bolivar has depreciated three times.
Yes, there is an enemy McDonald's here!
"Big Mac" costs 243 rubles, ice cream - 103.
There are also more expensive burgers.
You can drink coffee for 52 rubles 44 kopecks, cappuccino and hot chocolate will cost a little more, 67 rubles 42 kopecks.
However, there are good restaurants in the city. True, there are very few people in them. Not a single person came to the restaurant of my hotel (the best in the city) yesterday for !
Food for the rich:
Real luxury. No, not oysters, but bread! Bread is also not on free sale, there are hellish queues behind it. So it's a delicacy. And the oysters are all dead. In three restaurants in Caracas, I never found live oysters.
There are quite ordinary (and not yet plundered) malls in the city. It's one of the few places where you can walk around without getting robbed.
But there are almost no people. Few can afford to go to such stores.
My hotel
Empty restaurant
Street art
How Venezuela survives
Now the country is going through a severe crisis. If things were so bad with high oil prices that people went to the toilet with a flashlight (power outage), then when oil prices fell, Venezuela rolled into the abyss. Now, before going to the toilet, you need to find not only a flashlight, but also toilet paper. If 5 years ago the average salary was 300 dollars, then today it is 30. If earlier the pension was about 200 dollars, then today it is 20, and it’s not a fact that you will receive it.
To understand how Venezuelans live, first you need to understand the local currency. With the exchange rate, everything turned out to be even more complicated than I thought. It turns out that until February 2016 there were three official exchange rates at once! There were two preferential rates and one regular rate. Now there is a "protected" official rate - 10 bolivars per dollar, at which food and medicine is imported, as well as a floating rate - 660 bolivars / $ 1. In addition, as I said, there is a black market where the dollar is sold for completely different money. This year, the real value of the dollar fluctuated around 1000 bolivars, now $1 in Caracas can be bought for about 1200 bolivars.
Here is a graph of the depreciation of the bolivar until the end of 2015.
More about how Venezuela came to such a life, I was told by my friend Oksana, who has been living in this country for a year and a half.
Currency control in Venezuela was introduced in 2003. If earlier the currency could be exchanged freely, then from that moment the state took over the management of the exchange rate and the distribution of the currency. This was done to protect against capital flight, which threatened the country due to high inflation and the depreciation of the bolivar. Chavez then came up with CADIVI - a currency management commission (the main sources of the dollar in the country are oil sales and tourism).
The ad invites you to work for $15 a week.
In 2003, the official exchange rate was set at 1,600 bolivars per dollar, but in the very first two years of the system, the rate had to be raised: first to 1,920 bolivars in 2004, and after the denomination of 2005 (3 zeros were taken away from the bolivar and called it "fuerte bolivar "- strong, or strong bolivar) - up to 2.15 bolivars per dollar.
Since it was quite difficult to get access to the official currency, a black currency market immediately arose in parallel. Despite the higher price of the dollar, it was in great demand. Those who could not get dollars in the official way due to the large number of obstacles and bureaucracy looked for illegal ways.
The Venezuelan economy continued to decline, and in 2010 the government announced the introduction of a dual exchange system. From now on, there were two exchange rates: 2.6 bolivars per dollar for priority sectors (food, medicine, education) and 4.3 bolivars for all other sectors that are not so important, according to the government. According to Chavez, the purpose of this new policy was to "strengthen the Venezuelan economy, slow down non-essential imports and stimulate exports." In the same year, a new parallel exchange system SITME (Foreign Currency Transfer System) appeared with a rate of 5.3 for travel, study and purchases.
Already in December 2010, another hidden devaluation takes place: the exchange rates of 2.6 and 4.3 are combined, and 4.3 bolivars per dollar becomes the official priority rate. At the beginning of 2013, the exchange rate is set at around 6.3 bolivars per dollar. All this time, the parallel (black) rate has been more or less stable, remaining slightly more expensive than the highest of the official rates.
In March 2013, SICAD (Supplementary or Alternative Currency Management System) replaces SITME and is used for non-priority imports and is set at around 12 bolivars per dollar. For food and medicine, the rate remained the same - 6.3 (usually, for convenience, it is simply called the "official rate").
In 2014, the third official exchange system, SICAD II, was introduced. Its rate at first was about 50 bolivars, and it exists in the form of an auction in which banks are allowed to sell dollars to legal entities and individuals at a rate that depends on supply and demand. Keep in mind that this is not a free sale: there are a huge number of requirements that must be met in order to access the system, and the number of dollars per buyer is limited).
In 2013, the growth of the black dollar rate begins in parallel. If in March 2013 it was about 22-25 bolivars, then by December it rose to 50. In 2014 there was a slight decline, and then a rapid growth, which stabilized only at the end of 2015 at a level of about 1000 bolivars per dollar.
Maduro claims that DolarToday, where it is easy to check the real dollar exchange rate, is the bourgeoisie bought by America, who set the rate they like. This course is calculated on the border with Colombia in the city of Cucuta, it was there that the Venezuelans went shopping until the border was closed, and all smuggling flows there.
These are graffiti with portraits of people who were killed/crippled by security forces during protests or sent to jail.
In 2015, the SICAD I and SICAD II systems are cancelled, replaced by SIMADI (Ultimate Exchange System). The rate is set by the state and starts at 170 bolivars per dollar. Official exchange offices can sell dollars: no more than $300 per day, $2,000 per month, and $10,000 per year. But these are all fairy tales for the people. In practice, it was unrealistic to buy them: from personal experience, there were never dollars there. At the same time, the official exchange rate of 6.3 bolivars per dollar for priority imports is maintained.
In February 2016, after the increase in gasoline prices, the exchange system changes again. The new rates are called Dipro ("protected dollar") - 10 bolivars per $ 1 for imports of medicines and food, and Dicom (additional "floating" dollar) with an initial rate of 202.95 bolivars per dollar for travel, non-priority imports, purchases.
Alcohol in the bar is guarded with measuring tapes. Moreover, they protect from waiters so that they themselves do not drink and do not drain anywhere)
As of October 21, 2016, the Dicom dollar is worth 659.31 bolivars, while the parallel (black) rate is 1204.78 bolivars (Cucute and bank transfer exchange rates, cash is a lot of problems, so cash exchange will always be less profitable). Courses are taken from the DolarToday website.
Modern Art
Venezuelan comment:
“Dicom is a floating rate, and the government itself decides how to assign it to individuals and firms. And it practically does not give dollars. Because the whole economy is based on a parallel course. And Dipro is a special preferential rate for the state, that is, a Venezuelan consul in some European country receives one hundred thousand bolivars in Venezuela, and since it is in Europe, they are counted to him ten, and he receives 10,000 dollars. The state uses the same dollar for imports for its own needs. This dollar bled the country, it exists only for the government and close associates.
Here begins the barrio, the famous slums of Caracas, the main habitat of the socialist electorate, whether Chavez or Maduro.
Getting access to the official currency has indeed always been difficult. For example, a Venezuelan is going on a trip. He needs to collect a whole package of documents for CADIVI, and very strict requirements are imposed on the design: almost the color of the folder is regulated.
Be sure to have a round trip ticket, indicate the purpose of the trip. After the interview, the commission issues a verdict: to give the currency or not. Moreover, it was necessary to have a credit card (and it is also not so easy to get it in Venezuela) with a certain credit limit, issued no later than six months before applying.
Initially, you could get up to $5,000 a year for travel, $3,000 for online purchases, in 2008 these amounts were reduced to $2,500 for travelers and $400 for purchases; in 2010, you could get up to $3,000, to other destinations - up to $2,500. In 2014, the issuance of dollars for travel to Panama was discontinued, for a trip to Miami, the amount was reduced to $700. $300 is now given for purchases, and you can use $100 every 4 months.
The inhabitants of the barrio are great authorities. They get almost everything for free. Electricity is free, utilities are free. Products are subsidized, again.
Naturally, this whole dual market set the stage for fraud. For example, a person received his coupon for purchases on the Internet, this coupon was bought from him for cash a little higher than the official rate, they purchased a product, sold it in Venezuela - a profit. Such a phenomenon as "rascacupos" - can be translated as "rolling a card" - has become very widespread.
In all neighboring countries, the Venezuelans began to provide a service for a commission: to hold a card as if for making a purchase, with the issuance of a check (CADIVI will check all checks), and give cash dollars. Thus, the traveler could make good money on the trip by selling his newly acquired dollars on the black market upon his return, paying off his credit card debt at the official rate and remaining in the black.
People here sincerely love Chavez and Maduro, despite the conditions in which they live.
The government took measures as best it could: for countries such as Peru and Colombia, the amount of currency issuance was reduced so that it was unprofitable for people to travel just for the sake of rolling a card. I remember that the first question of all Venezuelan tourists in Russia was precisely on this topic: “Is it possible where to draw a card and get cash?”
“Now the travel dollar system is collapsing. From personal experience: my young man, when he went to Russia, was approved for 2,000 dollars (then the amounts were again reduced and depended on the direction and duration of the trip). It was just during the transition from SIMADI to Dicon, that is, they approved SIMADI for 13 bolivars per dollar, and when he was already here, they introduced Dicon at 600. The ATM choked and stopped dispensing money, then a decision came out that dollars approved until February, 13 bolivars remain, but no more than $ 50 per day will be issued, and they can only be spent on food and accommodation. He had to constantly write to the bank, swear, say that he was starving in cold Russia, but the ATM dispensed money not even once, but every 2-3 days for 700-1000 rubles. We have never seen $50. And then the news appeared that the shop was closed, there would be no more dollars for travelers (out of habit, everyone continues to call them “Kadiwi dollars”), and here the fairy tale ends). At the same time, of course, all officials, those in power and close associates calmly travel around the world with dollars at 10 bolivars.
So, we have more or less sorted out the currency. But why is its rate falling all the time? Well, everything is simple here.
