Guess which country can claim to have the largest oil deposit on earth? The fact is that Venezuela is the largest resource of oil and minerals on earth. So, why is this country in the midst of one of the greatest humanitarian crises in modern history?
Currently Venezuela is suffering the worst exodus in the Latin America in a century. Today Venezuela is the second largest source of refugees in the world after Syria. With about 4.5 million refugees Venezuela has over passed Afghanistan- a country that was once the largest and then the second largest source of refugees in the world for almost two decades.
Venezuela had once been the richest country in South America. In contrast today its citizens in order to get a better lifestyle, employment and most importantly access to basic life amenities are taking refuge in other countries. In 2018 there was a shortage of 50% of essential medical supplies in 85% hospitals and 25 percent people had no access to water at all. Almost 55% of people have resigned or left the country. According to The New York Times, the situation is the worst economic crisis in Venezuela's history and the worst faced by a country in peace time since the mid-20th century and is more severe than that of the United States during the Great Depression. The UN estimated there will be 5.3 million Venezuelan refugees and migrants by the end of 2019, rivalling the scale of the Syrian refugee crisis. By the end of 2020, there will be 8 million Venezuelan refugees, making this crisis the largest refugee crisis in the world. The regional humanitarian crisis is now the worst in the Western Hemisphere, with more than 4 million refugees and migrants. That's about 10 percent of the country's total population. 4 out of every 10 people still in Venezuela want to leave the country.
Why did the once affluent country end up becoming the hub of deficiency?
The economy of Venezuela had always been dependent upon oil, this dependency left the country vulnerable to global markets oil price fluctuation.
During the administration of the first President Hugo Chávez (1999-2013) oil prices reached a historic high. Using these funds, the president introduced "Bolivarian missions".
What were the “Bolivarian missions"?
These were initially short-term projects dedicated to alleviating the largest socio-economic problems faced by Venezuela during the Presidency of Hugo Chávez. The most important missions created include Mission Robinson (literacy), Mission Barrio Adentro (free medical coverage), and Mission Mercal (affordable food).
What went wrong?
The "Bolivarian missions" brought immense praise and political success to the government. Hence, Chávez made the missions his central priority for his administration and overspent on them without saving enough for economic distress. However later in 2015 the effectiveness of the "Bolivarian missions" were also being questioned.
Origination of problems:
Following the enactment of price control and other policies, Shortages in Venezuela of regulated food staples and basic necessities have been widespread. In response to this problem the president on 2 June 2010, declared an "economic war".
Subsequently after the death of Chávez the situations intensified. The years between 2013-2016 witnessed a sharp decline in oil price. Present president Nicolás Maduro was in power, the government failed to cut spending in the face of falling oil revenues, and dealt with the crisis by denying its existence and violently repressing opposition. Protesters were suppressed by mass murder by the government.
In 2018 during the Presidency of Nicolás Maduro the oil prices witnessed a modest recovery reaching $61.25 per barrel. But by then oil production in Venezuela had plummeted. And this is how the economy of Venezuela along with the life of its people is reduced to rubble due to mismanagement and political corruption.
It wasn’t only the wrong temporary choices made by the government that affected but the country’s political instability and corruption also played a very major role in the deteriorating conditions.
Following Chávez's death in 2013, Nicolás Maduro became president after defeating his opponent Henrique Capriles Radonski by 235,000 votes, a 1.5% margin. Maduro continued most of the existing economic policies of his predecessor Chávez. Upon entering the presidency, his administration faced a high inflation rate and large shortages of goods, problems left over from Chávez's policies. Maduro blamed capitalist speculation for driving high rates of inflation and creating widespread shortages of basic necessities. He said he was fighting an "economic war", referring to newly enacted economic measures as "economic offensives" against political opponents, who he and his loyalists stated are behind an international economic conspiracy. By 2014, Venezuela had entered an economic recession and by 2016, the country had an inflation rate of 800%, the highest in its history.
According to a report of 2018 by Transparency International, they ranked Venezuela among the top 13 most corrupt countries out of 180 measured, tied with Iraq, but ahead of Afghanistan, Burundi, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea, North Korea, Libya, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria and Yemen. A 2016 poll found that 73% of Venezuelans believed their police were corrupt. Latinobarómetro’s 2018 report said that 65% of Venezuelans believed their president was involved in corruption, and 64% believed that government officials were corrupt. Discontent with corruption was cited by opposition-aligned groups as one of the reasons for the 2014 Venezuelan protests. A once wealthy country, Venezuela's economy was driven into political and economic crisis by corruption and mismanagement.
Present scenario:
· Over 9.4 million Venezuelans are moderately to severely malnourished – one-third of the population.
· Children are among the most vulnerable in this crisis. As food stocks dwindle, children are at greater risk of hunger and death. And they face a greater danger of exploitation and harm while in transit with their fleeing families. Many children who have left Venezuela with their families need immediate humanitarian aid, according to World Vision staff leading our response to the crisis. Girls often face gender-based violence and greater risk of trafficking in fluid, mass-migration situations like the Venezuela crisis.
· According to the United Nations, 11 million Venezuelans have been forcibly displaced.
· Over 90 percent of families report not being able to buy enough food, and Venezuelans lost an average of 24 pounds in 2018.
Venezuelans need fresh water for drinking, food and shelter. The country demands its leaders the basic rights, health care facilities and proper sanitation. Venezuelans need urgent humanitarian assistance from all over the world. The country and its people are drowning and violations of human rights on a daily basis is exploiting the citizens.
Revive provided by an International organisation.
The Department of State’s Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration (PRM) provided more than $208 million of that total to provide Venezuelans with food and shelter, register for services, and integrate them into host countries.
Since Fiscal Year 2017, the United States has provided more than $856 million to help Venezuelans inside Venezuela and across the region, as well as the communities hosting them. This includes:
· Nearly $611 million in humanitarian assistance, more than $76 million of which is inside of Venezuela.
· More than $261 million in economic, health, and development assistance.
· The U.S. government has deployed a comprehensive interagency response to the crisis with assistance programs from: USAID, State/PRM, HHS/CDC, State/SGAC and the Inter-American Foundation.
UNHCR provides support and legal orientation on arrival and distributes drinking water, and hygiene kits for women and children at border areas. UNHCR is also supporting government registration efforts in Aruba, Brazil, Colombia, Curacao, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru and Trinidad and Tobago. In Peru, asylum requests from Venezuelans have increased more than five-fold, from 33,100 in 2017 to 190,500 in 2018. In Brazil, 61,600 asylum claims were submitted, up from the 17,900 reported in 2017.
Venezuelans are fighting for the basic rights that a human being deserves. Food, water, shelter and basic health care facilities are the basic human rights that every human being deserves.
When it comes to the humanitarian crisis, the world only thinks of the Middle East and parts of Africa but what we forget is that Venezuela is slowly drowning and by the end of 2020 it will be the largest refugee crisis in the world.
Remember “we are all born with the same sets of rights”. Venezuela needs help and the international community is silent.
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