Healthcare is a controversial topic for most countries, though many countries do have access to food and daily necessities. Yet, not for the many citizens of Venezuela. Venezuela has been going through a economic and political crisis where people are losing so much weight from the lack of food and they have to head to other countries to buy basic necessities to live. And for many, this is the first time they are hearing about it.
It all started back in 2013 when Nicolas Maduro (think of him as the Venezuelan Donald Trump) was elected as the president of Venezuela after the death of the previous president Hugo Chavez. Maduro had a very narrow win and has an extremely low approval rating and caused various protests against him. The government developed a new fiscal policy and it’s people, who were blindsided with it, were not happy. It especially didn’t help when the world price of oil plummeted in 2014 and the country, known for its large exports of oil, found itself in severe economic trouble. Since then, the country has fallen apart.
Nowadays, many citizens have found themselves victims to the actions and consequences of their country. Several have reported severe weight-loss, with many losing an average of 19 pounds. The government has strictly subsidized food for it’s 30 million inhabitants. There is dangerous shortage of food with many shelves at grocery stores empty. Many have gone to other countries, like Colombia and even the United States, to purchase food and items like toothbrushes and toilet paper since there isn’t any.
It’s healthcare is another deadly story. Last year, 1 out of 3 patients died in hospitals due to lack of medicine and treatment options. In the town of Caracas, a 3 year-old named Ashley Pacheco almost died from a scraped knee because they didn’t have antibiotics to stop spread the infection. Medicine is extremely scarce and out of reach for those who need it the most. Hospitals are in hazardous conditions with unsterile supplies and doctors cannot keep up with the upkeep with the lack of financial help and resources. All of this happens while it’s government claims there is no health crisis. People are seriously dying as the government sits back and pretends to not notice.
Venezuela’s crisis is a serious and lethal problem, yet numerous people across the world are not aware of what’s going on and how it is affecting the people of Venezuela. If this was happening in a country like the United States or England, it would be an international scandal. So, why isn’t this talked about more? One reason is the lack of the freedom of the press in Venezuela. The government has made it it’s mission to tear down journalists from speaking the truth at antigovernment demonstrations. This also includes not wanting international news organizations to speak up as well, like CNN, whose sister station, “CNN en Espanol,” was recently taken off the air when reporting about an investigation about fake passport and visas.
Venezuela’s citizens are paying the price for their government’s mistakes and most of the world doesn’t even know that there problems there in the first place. It’s time that we educate ourselves and speak up about the injustices these people are facing. They are dying from not having things we take for granted, like food and medicine. We need to raise our voices to bring awareness for them because otherwise, innocent Venezuelans will no longer have voice at all.
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