Venezuela

My Venezuela travel summary:

Visited: 2001, 2003, 2015

Length: 14 days

Capital city: Caracas

Population: 28 million (2015)

Venezuela travel blog reading time: 4 minutes

• Caracas – one of the most dangerous and chaotic cities in Latin America.
• Prosperity, consumer lifestyle, tons of alcohol and good food on Isla Margarita.
• Productive meetings creating many new business opportunities.

I visited Venezuela 4 times between 2001 and 2015. Three times for business and once for pleasure. Over those 14 years, the country changed significantly.

Venezuela transformed from one of South America’s richest countries, with an extravagant lifestyle, into a nation where many of its inhabitants have sought to emigrate.

Political reforms and utopian ideas of Hugo Chavez transformed a liberal economy into a system where people waited hours for basic necessities. Kidnapping, robbery and bribery became part of everyday life, leaving a country weakened by corruption and 21^st-century socialism.

At that time, Venezuela was the richest country in South America with many economic emigrants from poorer Latin American countries, who were in search for better opportunities. Hugo Chavez had just been elected as a president and started with his regular monolog TV shows and new left orientated political agenda. People didn’t take him too seriously, but he had a strong support from majority of poor population.

Venezuela served as an exceptional market for business ventures, with abundant financial resources available. Many companies were eager to invest in goods expected to generate strong profits.

People were spending as nowhere else in South America. It was hard to get a seat in good restaurants.

I visited Maracaibo, Valencia, Barquisimeto and various times the capital, Caracas. There were always beautiful female assistants offering coffee, tea and drinks during meetings. Local businessmen were flying to Miami for weekend shopping, summer holidays or mingling with friends.

Most of companies and wealthy locals possessed bank accounts in the US and credit cards from American banks. They were knowledgeable about products, market situation and always on time when payments were due.

Caracas was already one of the most dangerous cities in the world, but I was hosted by local businessman Raul. He was taking care of me from the moment I landed at Maiquetia airport. Therefore, I never really felt the danger, poverty or rebellion in Caracas, nor Venezuela.

The country looked like a paradise and promised land for Latinos.

Unfortunately, between business meetings there were few opportunities to visit places of interest or tourist attractions.

During a week-long holiday on Isla Margarita, I experienced prosperity, luxury, and comfort. We traveled to the island by ferry, stayed in a luxury hotel, and spent days sunbathing on different beaches. The evenings were dedicated to casinos and time with Venezuelan friends.

An inflatable cushion served as a table for a cooler with rum while we soaked in the shallow, warm sea. Long conversations among Venezuelan friends lasted for hours.

Lobster was often served at lunch, while local rum and imported drinks were always available on the beach. Before returning, we visited three duty-free shops and loaded our Chevrolet Blazer with boxes of rum and vodka. Isla Margarita is a tax-free shopping zone.

The crowds at duty-free shops were incredible. Nobody purchased just a bottle or two of liquor, a carton was the minimum.

In 2015, I traveled to Caracas for a business trip after being informed about a possible ID card project opportunity. The airport felt unusually empty, with old socialist-era shops selling mostly cheap local products.

Traffic jams were no longer as extreme as in the early 2000s, partly because motorcyclists had created an informal extra lane on the highways. Drivers had to be extremely careful when changing lanes to avoid countless motorbikes.

Caracas looked rundown and tense. On my way to a meeting, I saw people queuing outside deteriorating bakeries, while many shops were either closed or empty due to shortages. Exchanging US dollars for bolívares was practically impossible, even on the street.

The meeting itself was unsuccessful and ultimately a waste of time. Reuniting with my longtime friend Raul after a decade became the most memorable part of the visit.

Definitely Venezuela under presidents Hugo Chavez and Nicolas Maduro is a great example that socialism of 21^st century works only for corrupted elite. Through despotism, they ruined a once-rich and prosperous country with the largest oil reserves in the world.

Chavez’s and later Maduro’s politics of nationalization, one party system, giving the power to poor and kicking out the rich people, has proved once again to be a disaster for prosperity of any nation.

If Venezuelans were transporting boxes of rum for personal use from Margarita ten years ago, by 2015 they had to queue for hours to buy basic goods like bread, beans, or toilet paper.

I sincerely hope that Venezuela will recover from its misery and return to democracy with a market economy.

I also hope the country succeeds in reducing the widespread crimes and extortion that have become so common.

I would love to mingle again with my Venezuelan friends, fly over Angel falls, trek on Mount Roraima or swim around the archipelago of Los Roques.

Unfortunately, I have no photos of my visits to Venezuela, since most of the trips were for business and at that time smart phones were not existing.