Rainforest in Venezuela

The German Roman-Catholic newspaper ‘Adveniat’ says that Venezuela currently faces inflation. There are people who can’t even afford healthy food or medicine anymore. Many of these people flee to Brazil. There however they are just as poor as it often takes very long until a refugee can get a regular job. Thus there are cases of moonlighting and illegal trading committed by refugees.

When I took the bus yesterday the bus driver had his radio on. I don’t know which channel this was, but a news reporter reported about Venezuela that as it seems not only fights Corona, but also an increasing number of polio cases and the measles. On a more political note further conflicts are hyperinflation, political tensions within the government, sanctions and an increasing number of criminal gangs.

Has nothing to do with natural habitats: ‘Domradio’ says that in Peru especially immigrants from Venezuela suffer due to the Corona-Crisis. Nationalists accuse foreigners of – albeit unintentionally – having brought this virus to Peru. Others (also nationalists) are worried about the bad economic situation caused by COVID-19 and thus see immigrants now as nothing but rivals. Some nationalists even go so far as to ‘punish these immigrants for their actions’ by means of criminal acts. As most Venezuelan immigrants don’t have a labor contract and some Venezuelan traders even don’t earn any money at all if they can’t sell their goods the lockdown of course is a disaster. Due to bad economy enterprises even had to dismiss some of their workers which in the case of immigrants means that now they need to survive with little to no financial support at all. Despite this being forbidden (quarantine) at least some people from the Catholic church gather things to donate to these immigrants.

‘Domradio’ says that due to the conflict between Juan Guaidó and Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro and their respective supporters – and the ensuing breakdown of the health system – more than 50% of all Venezuelan children and one third of all pregnant women in this country are malnourished. Diseases like malaria also spread faster now than they did before.

The Swiss newspaper ‘Berner Zeitung’ says that Venezuela and Columbia broke up their diplomatic relationship. Reason is that instead of supporting the Venezuelan head of state Maduro Columbia supports Guaidó who claimed himself the new president. Venezuela doesn’t even let medicine or food enter which Columbia and Brazil donated to the Venezuelan people. As a matter of fact Maduro even ordered for two vans that tried to get medicine and food past the border between Brazil and Venezuela to be burned. In Santa Elena de Uairén Venezuelan soldiers even were ordered to shoot two young men – one of which was only 14 years old – for demonstrating against Maduro. In other regions more than six people were wounded by soldiers while participating in a peaceful demonstration.