Adriana Fernandez 27 years

Photographer, journalist. Born and lives in Caracas (Venezuela). Films for Venezuelan online publications Tal Cual, Efecto Cocuyo and Contrapunto. The photo project Paraíso Perdido is dedicated to Caracas, its street gangs and growing crime. Work on it has been ongoing since 2012.

Caracas is my hometown, and for as long as I can remember, life here has never been easy. But now, because of this, the security forces are unable to control the streets. Over the past three years, the crime rate has increased significantly, bandits remain unpunished, all this provokes an increase in aggression in society.

Crisis in politics

In 2012, Maduro's government announced a campaign to combat street crime. But this only worsened the situation: the gangs began to grow and strengthen. The causes of the crisis are much more complex and deeper, they cannot be solved by retaliatory aggression, allowing the police to shoot people. And this is exactly what happened. If killing is the solution, they'll have to shoot half of Venezuela.

In 2014, I reported on protests in a city on the border with Colombia: a police officer shot and killed a 14-year-old boy, which caused serious unrest in the community. But this is an isolated incident that was covered in the news. In reality, the police use firearms when clearing territories and then carefully covers his tracks, pinning the murders on other gangs.

Just a couple of years ago in the upper areas of the city one could stumble upon small gangs fighting, but now they are uniting, taking control of everything. O larger areas of the city. From what I know about the internal organization: gang membership is for life; It is forbidden to steal in the territory controlled by your group. Everyone is in some kind of gang, there are no maniacs or lone robbers.

The police use firearms to clear areas and then carefully cover their tracks, pinning the murders on other gangs.

Economic decline

I've talked to high-profile criminals and they've asked me how much I make. I answered that a journalist has a minimum salary. “How long did you study?” - they specified. - "Five years". - “So, girl, I didn’t study at all, but I have a lot more money. So what is the point of education? I think if people had the opportunity to study and earn an honest living, they would not choose the life of street thugs. Because the oldest of them are at most 25 years old. Life on the streets of Caracas is short.

When Chavez came to power, the main question was how to diversify the economy so as not to depend entirely on oil prices. There was a lot of controversy, but nothing was done; the country was completely unprepared for changes in the oil market. About 15 years ago, Venezuela exported a little cocoa and coffee. We have very fertile lands, and this sector could be developed. Instead, it was finally launched, and today about 96% of the Venezuelan economy is oil.

The oldest of the bandits is at most 25 years old. Life on the streets of Caracas is short.

Fear and anger

For almost a month I cooked hot dogs in a diner in one of the poor areas, so that people would just get used to me, stop being suspicious, and stop being afraid that I would turn them in to the police. Of course, they knew that I was a photographer and a journalist, but since I am standing here, making a hot dog and talking to them and listening to them, I am their own person, they can trust me. This trust was very difficult to earn; people simply do not want to be killed because of the information that I could collect about them. But for me this was not undercover work: in order for these people to let you into their world, you must open your heart to them. After this, it is impossible to talk about manipulation and pretense.

Most of my friends are very opinionated about slum dwellers and street gangs. But they never even talked to any of them. Having been working on this project for several years now, I came to the conclusion that there is not such a huge gap between us: everyone can end up at the bottom. I hope that my photos will help people see others and realize that maybe if we had a little more compassion, we wouldn't have to rely solely on government to solve social problems.

Caracas is the most crime-ridden city in the world.

Interesting places, Active holidays, Travel report in Venezuela, Caracas

Three impressions of Caracas

It just so happened that during the three weeks of our trip around South America, we ended up in Caracas three times. And although we didn’t really have time to see the city, the impressions from it remained vivid. First of all, because of the adventures we managed to get into.

Impression 1.

So, our first day in South America. About 4 o'clock in the afternoon. Denis and I are sitting in a taxi at the exit from Caracas International Airport. In the front seats, a black taxi driver and his brother, a currency dealer, are counting out a thick wad of bolivars to us.

An officer of the Venezuelan National Guard, of which there are a great many at the Caracas airport, seems to be calmly observing this generally illegal business from the street. They give us bolivars, we count them, and give them dollars in return. At this moment, the valiant representative of the National Guard knocks on the window, demanding that the car door be opened. I had a slight panic. One of them gets out of the car and begins to explain. The officer only smiles ironically in response. We understand that it would be nice to get out... but the car doors are closed. We demand to let us out, but the taxi driver just shrugs...
The money changer returns to the car, after which we set off under the escort of the National Guard. Motorcycles of guardsmen ride in front and behind. To me, having read reviews about the riots of tourists in Venezuela, it becomes extremely clear: we are in trouble. At least for the money, or even worse... And this is on the very first day of vacation...

We leave the airport... One of the money changers rips out the radio and hides dollars there. Seeing this, we also feverishly begin to stuff bolivars and other cash into hiding places in our trousers. Several times we ask to stop the car - the blacks wave their heads and point to the motorcycles of the National Guard - they say, we can’t do anything. In turn, they convince us to tell the guards that we only changed $100.

After 5 minutes we stop in a nice place with well-groomed flower beds near the road - it becomes clear that they will not take us to the police station. Here the showdown begins between the senior guardsman and one of the money changers. He returns to the car and says that the police are demanding $100 in ransom from him. We shrug our shoulders: we don’t know anything, we don’t understand – it’s none of our business. The officer demands to open the back door of the car and looks at us carefully. At this time, for some reason, I begin to say threateningly that we are tourists and will file a complaint with the tourist police. Denis sensibly pulls me back. I don’t know what saved us, but the officer suddenly lets go of our car - the motorcycles with the guards leave. The taxi driver drives in the opposite direction from the airport - obviously towards the city. This does not suit us at all - through desperate gestures and loud explanations we force them to turn the car back to the airport. We sigh calmly only when we get out of the taxi. We can only hope that the bolivars they gave us were not fake...

Now you need to get to the city. Taxis in Caracas are expensive, and the distance is quite long, so they require 130-150 bolivars. We decide to take a bus from the local terminal - we need to walk about 300 meters to get there. Price bus ticket– 18 bolivars, a tag with the ticket number is placed on the luggage. Time - around 17:30. Finally you can relax a little.

Along the way we look at the views from the window. Quite prosperous areas give way to favelas - they go high into the mountains. And there are practically no roads - it seems that the poor people get to the top on foot. Pictures of Rio de Janeiro come to mind. We are entering Caracas. The first stop is at the Gato Negro metro station. The area, according to reviews, is unsafe, although the picture on the street is very colorful - many street vendors, fruits, various foods. We decide to go to the final stop – El Silencio metro station.

Prosperous area of ​​Caracas

The metro in Caracas is quite decent, almost like in Europe. It’s difficult to get lost – there are only a few branches. Travel is cheap, one trip is only 0.25 bolivars. The audience is colorful - the Negro type of appearance clearly prevails over the Spanish one. Women are usually dressed very brightly. We take the main line no. 1 to the Collegio Ingenerios station, where the Rodovias bus station is located (one of the best private bus companies). We buy tickets to Ciudad Bolivar, where our journey to the world's highest Angel Falls will begin...

Impression 2.

After our trip to Angel Falls, which has already been written about on the forum, Denis and I returned from Ciudad Bolivar to Caracas by night bus. The capital of Venezuela is not the most pleasant city in the world, but it was almost a whole day before our plane to Lima, so, despite all the horror stories that we would certainly be robbed or even killed in Caracas, we decided to see the most criminal city in the world.

We arrived in Caracas at six o'clock in the morning, the bus stopped at the station not far from the metro station on the main line. We tumble out of the bus, sleep-deprived and rumpled. It's starting to get light. Still not crowded. On the way to the metro, we pass an underground passage littered with garbage and broken bottles. It's creepy - I wouldn't want to be here alone at night. Still, the most criminal city in the world :). And we are wandering around here in the dark with backpacks and all our savings. But the mission turns out to be feasible - after 5 minutes we are already standing at the metro station.

We buy tickets for 0.25 bolivars and go to the main bus station of Caracas, La Bandera. This is the only place we know of in the city that has a luggage storage facility. We have to stay in the city until evening, so we need to get rid of our backpacks.

We follow the guidelines of the Lonely Planet guide, which helped us out more than once in Caracas. We get off at La Bandera metro station and walk about 300 meters, as the guidebook says, through “an unsafe, busy environment.” Well, this area may scare foreigners, but not our brother. La Bandera is similar to noisy Moscow train stations. The storage room is located on the top floor of the station at the very end (there is a dead end). They charge for one item, the first hour is 4 bolivars, the subsequent hours are 2 bolivars.
There are small cafes nearby. In one of them we had breakfast for 15 bolivars per nose (coffee and pies). The owner of the cafe immediately tried to buy dollars from us cheaply, but was politely turned away.

After a short discussion, we decide to start exploring Caracas from the city center. As such, there are no tourist attractions in the capital of Venezuela, in our subjective opinion. We rejected the funicular to Mount Avila due to the large time costs. We decided to see the colonial center and the tourist area near Plaza Venezuela.

We get to the El Silencio metro station and exit into the city, as indicated in the LP - onto La Bolsa street. It takes us a long time to find our way around the narrow streets of the center. We ask the police, but, as it turns out, they are directing us in the opposite direction. As a result, instead of Plaza Bolivar we go to El Calvario Park - it is located on a hill, to which a very steep and high staircase with a hundred steps leads. We decide to go up and look at the city from above. At the top there is a nice and fairly well-kept park with paths and sculptures. Reconstruction is underway here, and the workers, smiling broadly, shout to us the traditional Venezuelan phrase: “Gringo, do you have any dollars?” The hill offers a good view of both the center of Caracas and the slums on the slopes around the city.

Panorama of Caracas. Favelas can be seen on the hills in the distance

We go down and, finally, having found our bearings, we find Plaza Bolivar. Almost all attractions in the center of Caracas are in one way or another connected with the name of Simon Bolivar. In the central square is an equestrian statue of the liberator of Venezuela, dating from the 1870s. There is a small park here where you can take a break from the heat.

In Venezuela, the cult of the liberator of South America Simon Bolivar

The square contains many of the main attractions of Caracas - Cathedral, in whose chapel there is a sculpture depicting the Bolivar family praying. Nearby, in a colonial-style building, there is a museum of sacred art (Museo Sacro de Caracas) with an exhibition of religious objects. The square also houses the Caracas Municipality (Concejio Municipal), where the Declaration of Venezuelan Independence was signed in 1811.

Next to the square is the large beautiful building of the National Capitol (Capitolio Nacional).

Colonial Caracas

After seeing the colonial sights, we moved north along Av. Norte. This is a pedestrian street, a kind of Venezuelan Arbat with a lot of shops and shops. Almost everywhere they sell cheap Chinese goods - local color You can't feel it at all. In the center we came across only one shop with souvenirs, and even there, apart from the busts of Che Guevara and Castro, there was nothing to see.

The promenade led us to another object of worship for Venezuelans - the national Pantheon (Panteon National) - the tomb of the most famous Venezuelans, where the remains of Simon Bolivar himself rest. In the square in front of the Pantheon we saw large group schoolchildren dressed in the same uniform - teachers in suits and with painted faces acted out a pantomime for them. Apparently, this is how children are introduced to local history and from childhood they hammer into their heads Chavez’s ideas about the chosenness and special path of Venezuela.

Patriotic activities with Venezuelan children are held in the fresh air and in a playful way

On the way back we turned east from Plaza Bolivar to El Venezolano Square. Here is the Casa Natal de Bolivar, the colonial house where Simon Bolivar was born. Nearby is the building of the Bolivar Museum (Museo Bolivariano) with an exhibition telling about the struggle for the country's independence. In general, almost everything in the center is somehow connected with the name of the libertador.

As expected, the historical center of the city did not make much of an impression, and we took the metro and went to see the modern day of Caracas - to the Plaza Venezuela area (Plaza Venezuela metro station). Compared to the center, it is spacious here - wide streets, parks, there are even skyscrapers. But mostly it’s worth coming here just to stroll along Sabana Grande, a wide pedestrian street with many restaurants, cafes and shops. We had lunch in one of the open street restaurants, eating a large pizza (45 bolivars per lunch per person). There are practically no tourists; locals sit in restaurants and chat about life over a cup of coffee. We looked into the shops and the same Chinese rubbish prevailed.

Plaza Venezuela area is more presentable and calm for tourists

We decided to go to the airport ahead of time, knowing that the traffic in Caracas is terrible (I read a warning on the forum that it is better to leave 4.5 hours before departure). Buses to the airport depart from the terminal near the Parque Central metro station, at west side Central Park. Despite the presence detailed map in LP, to find the bus terminal I had to resort to the help of locals. Naturally, there are no signs, and the terminal itself is located in the passage under the bridge - the place is not the most noticeable.

The cost of travel to the airport is the same 18 bolivars. You check in your luggage, receive a check and stand in a short queue for the bus. Despite the daytime, we got to the airport surprisingly quickly - in less than an hour. We checked in at the LAN counter for flight LA2565 departing to Lima at 19.20. We paid the airport tax of 137.5 bolivars and quickly, without queues, went through border control.

A funny story happened here - an elderly border guard, turning my passport in his hands, asked with curiosity: “Yuri?” I confirm with a nod of my head. He nods his head with satisfaction, smiles widely and raises his thumb up: “Yuri Gagarin” . I have never heard such associations with my name before . Maybe the myth about the warm attitude of Venezuelans towards Russia is not a fiction?

There were about two hours left before the flight, and Denis and I had the opportunity to thoroughly explore the duty free shops at Caracas airport. I won't say that prices are very cheap there. Perfume costs 5-10 bucks cheaper than in European brands. At the same time, the price tags have been torn off on most boxes of perfume - it is obvious that the price has recently been increased. The choice is small. The same can be said about clothes. It makes sense to buy duty free rum (Cacique costs only 24 bolivars), chocolate, coffee, cigars - in general, local goods.

We flew to Lima in just over 4 hours. I liked flying LAN - new planes, polite and smiling flight attendants. On the flight Caracas - Lima, each seat is equipped with a personal video monitor: you can watch movies, listen to music or play games. They feed you sandwiches and give you wine and beer. In the salon, 99% of the people are Spanish in appearance, there are many colorful gray-haired seniors, drinking this very wine with dignity.

Impression 3.

(After 2.5 weeks).

...Last day in South America. I buy coffee and chocolate at Duty free in Caracas. They announce over the loudspeaker at the airport: such and such passengers, including me, urgently need to approach the departure gate. There are still 40 minutes before departure. I check the information about my flight on the electronic board and head back to the store.

Denis finds me here:

You urgently need to approach the Iberia staff at our gate. I already talked to them - there are some problems with your luggage...

What should I do? I'm going to the gate. Smiling girls from Iberia ask you to wait. After 10 minutes, another member of the Venezuelan National Guard appears - this time a girl with a stone face. She puts a bright yellow neon vest on me. Why, why - no one can explain, and no one even tries. Soon a seemingly respectable middle-aged Spanish woman is added to my company, and she is also put on a yellow vest.

It was already time for the plane to take off, and we were still being led to watch the bustle of our luggage. Along the way, at some checkpoint, your passports are taken away. The police inspect everything, right down to your underwear and socks. Naturally, they don’t find anything prohibited. Then they ask: where is my passport? So you yourself, comrade revolutionaries, took it away from me! Well, yes, they definitely remember.

Under the escort of another girl from the guard, I was taken to the policeman who took away the documents. In front of him is an empty table, in the center of which my passport lies alone. The guard lazily leafs through it and finds a tiny coca leaf (This is understandable, we are coming from Peru, where we chewed coca leaves from the heights. But how did this unfortunate leaf get into my passport?!!). The officer calmly places the passport on one half of the table, sniffs a coca leaf and places it on the other half of the table. You should have seen this picture! So what, now they’ll sign me up as a drug courier?

Fortunately, everything ends well. They return my passport, for some reason they take me to take an x-ray, and drag me to three more offices at different ends of the airport, where they force me to sign papers that I and my luggage have been searched.
The girl from the National Guard accompanying me becomes kinder and takes a sympathetic interest in where I come from. I say that I am from Russia.

Amigo! – she suddenly smiles widely.

There were several “lucky” people like me on our plane, so we took off 2 hours late.

Sorry, sir, we have nothing to do with it. This is the national guard - they do what they want,” the Iberia flight attendant said, throwing up her hands.

The country of Venezuela is good for everyone, but after our adventures I was disappointed in the regime of Hugo Chavez and did not buy his figurine as a souvenir, as I wanted before the trip...

You can't hide from Hugo Chavez, you can't hide...

Three impressions of Caracas It just so happened that during our three weeks of traveling around South America, we ended up in Caracas three times. And although we didn’t really have time to see the city, the impressions from it remained vivid. First of all, because of the adventure...

Caracas is a city in which an atmosphere of fear reigns. Local residents are afraid of bandits, the so-called “malandros”, who can rob and even kill while you are driving, they are afraid of the police, who can detain you for anything, and then subject you to severe torture.

How do authorities “inspire” people to take up arms? What kind of torture are Venezuelan prisoners subjected to? And who do the locals fear more than the police and the Malandros? Gonzalo Imiob Santome, a human rights activist, lawyer, and vice president of the non-governmental organization Foro Penal, talks about the realities of modern Venezuela.

Venezuela is called one of the most dangerous countries peace. How true is this?

Yes, it's all true. In Venezuela, according to the latest statistics, a murder occurs every 20 minutes. Terrible! And the situation is further aggravated by the reigning impunity. In 97% of cases, no punishment follows the crime, that is, out of 100 murderers, only three are punished. There is no control on the part of the state when it comes to the crime level.

Why is this happening?

I think there are different reasons for this. The first is the absolute inability of the authorities to realize what rampant crime we have and to understand what preventive and repressive measures need to be taken to bring the situation under control. This problem is not limited to Chavez, it has existed for a very long time.

If we talk specifically about Chavista politicians, then it’s enough to listen to their speeches. This is an apology for cruelty, which turns into a mechanism for resolving social and political conflicts. What did Chavez like to repeat? “I am a peaceful person, but I have a weapon.” And he also said: “If I steal from you because I’m hungry, I’m not a criminal,” “If I attack you to defend the revolution, I’m not a criminal.”

Moreover, Chavez advocated the use of brutal methods against opponents. He said about one political party: “These people should have their heads cut off and boiled in oil.” When you listen to Chavez, Maduro and other officials of the last 20 years, you realize that cruelty has always been a component of their speeches.

Mass protests have broken out in Venezuela many times in recent years. How did the authorities react?

Here's an example. If members of the Bolivarian National Guard showed particular brutality towards protesters, the government did not conduct any investigations. Instead, Maduro rewarded them, told them they had done the right thing and hung medals on their chests. What does he mean by this? “If you resort to cruelty to achieve the goals I want, you are doing the right thing.”

(The government is the criminals)

So the police simply have no desire to fight crime?

Yes, but there are other reasons. The courts, prosecutors and police do not have the capacity to cope with this level of crime. There are not enough employees, there is no infrastructure, no technical equipment. Today, let’s say, you go to a Venezuelan court – it doesn’t matter what the case is. A hearing takes place, and at the end of it you are asked if you can bring paper or ink for the printer, because without this the court cannot print the verdict.

The Venezuelan regime is often called a dictatorship. For what offenses can you end up behind bars under this regime?

We do not have any rule of law. It's not just me who says this. This has been confirmed by other organizations such as the World Justice Project. According to them, over the past 4-5 years, Venezuela has been one of the last places among all countries in terms of respect for human rights.

(Hello, dictatorship! Is there any bread? No, and there are no elections either)

There is no control over the police by the prosecutor's office, the ministry or the courts. Because of this, outrages constantly occur. You can be detained for anything, and the police will not even have an arrest warrant. If we talk about political detentions, it is obvious that in this case neither the laws nor the Constitution are respected.

If the authorities need to suppress some kind of inconvenient demonstration, then a special “arrest quota” appears: “You must detain so many people. It doesn't matter who it is." As a result, law enforcement officers detain ordinary people, poor people who live on the streets. They just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, and they are detained only so that the police fulfill the “norm”. I myself have had to defend such people in court many times. In cases of political persecution, anonymous testimony is often used. Nobody knows who gave them, we can't verify them.

What are politicians afraid of? Lose power? Or are they driven by some other fears?

I think yes, the main fear is the loss of power. But we need to make a reservation: the most important thing here is not the loss of power itself, but what is connected with it, because you are deprived of the opportunity to continue to act with impunity. In Venezuela, crimes against humanity are committed, people are persecuted, tortured, they are killed for political reasons, they are sent to prison for no reason.

Politicians also do not want to lose profitable business. In Venezuela, corruption is the norm. There is evidence of connections between some government members and representatives of the drug business. And there's a lot of money floating around there.

The reluctance to end up behind bars for crimes committed and the desire to continue to commit crimes for the sake of profit are the two main reasons why some members of the government do not want to give up power under any pretext.

One of the Venezuelan realities is the so-called colectivos. Some locals say they fear them more than the police. Who are they?

I'll start with history. In 2000-2001, Hugo Chavez proposed the creation of “Bolivarian circles” - círculos bolivarianos. These were groups of people in different areas who were supported by the government. They had to do social work. But from these circles other groups later developed, which were armed and trained by the same authorities so that they, as they called it, defended the revolution.

(Chavez, I swear to you: my vote is for Maduro)

These aggressive groups made themselves felt in 2002, when an attempt was made to change the political structure in the country and when Chavez was temporarily removed from power [the coup attempt lasted two days]. Those who then took to the streets to suppress the demonstration (more than a million people took part in the protests in Caracas alone) represented these aggressive Bolivarian circles. They were armed. Members of the “Bolivarian circles” and the military then killed 19 people and injured hundreds of people.

After this, the circles received the name colectivos. Nowadays there are still colectivos who do cultural work. And there are armed colectivos, paramilitary forces.

And how do these armed colectivos make themselves known today?

You can see them at demonstrations. Here are the police, the national guard, and behind or next to them are armed civilians doing the dirty work that the military doesn't want to do. That is, those who shoot at demonstrators are not always military or police. The colectivos provoke clashes between peaceful protesters and the colectivos themselves in order to justify police and military intervention. Sometimes they detain people, and at that moment you ask the question: “Who gave them the right?” Answer: “They act in concert with the government.”

These groups have concentrated so much power in their hands that there are entire areas that are effectively ruled by colectivos. If we talk about Caracas, then this is the “23 January” district. The police have no powers there; they have absolutely no control over this zone. The colectivos are in charge there, and this exists throughout the country, including in the border areas.

The colectivos tell the government which local residents support and who do not support government policies. They listen to what people say. Depending on this, it is then decided who will receive assistance from the government, for example, CLAP boxes [boxes of food that the government gives to the country's poor], and who will not. People are afraid to say what they think because they know that armed colectivos are watching those who do not agree with the policies of the authorities.

You have already touched on the topic of political persecution. What is the situation now?

Since 2014, we have counted 15,175 politically motivated arrests. These could be participants in demonstrations, people who were called oppositionists, critics of the authorities and dissidents. And what is important: these numbers are constantly changing, every day someone else is detained and sent to prison. Today we have 454 political prisoners. But this does not mean that there are no other cases. We are now looking into other cases. We approach the question of who can be called a political prisoner very carefully. The figure has decreased in recent months because there have been no major demonstrations. And even at the mass rallies that took place in the first months, there were no such large-scale arrests as in 2014. Now repressions have turned from massive to selective.

What do you have in mind?

A person can be detained simply because he is part of a social group. This is what happens to journalists, judges, and students. Judge Maria Lourdes Afiuni was detained to show what happens to those who go against the wishes of the authorities [Afiuni released from custody the banker Eligio Cedeño, who had spent almost three years in prison without trial after being accused of currency speculation, The UN declared his arrest illegal, and the judge himself was detained soon after and sent to prison for several years]. She wasn't just arrested. She was tortured.

People are also detained so that the authorities can find justification for their speeches. For example, they say: “There is no bread in the bakeries because the bakers have taken away the flour.” But that's a lie. There is no bread because there is no flour, and there is no flour because the authorities no longer have production capacity. But the government needs to shift the blame to someone. Then they detain 20-30 bakers and say: “These are the ones who took your bread.” The same thing happened to real estate agencies when the real estate crisis occurred a few years ago, and to managers of brokerage companies and banks when the economic crisis began and the devaluation of the bolivar occurred. The same thing happened to pharmacists when they ran out of medicine. They were accused of taking the medicines for themselves.

Who else has been subjected to repression in recent years?

In 2018, the government was very concerned about what was happening in military circles. The repressions of last year affected the entire society, but primarily the military, as well as their family members and acquaintances. Something happened that forced the government to begin repressing the military. For some reason that is unknown to me, the government began to suspect the military of conspiracies. They were arrested without any reason. Then they were brutally tortured so that other soldiers would not dare to rebel against the government.

There was just an incident that happened with Captain Acosta Arevala [he was accused of being part of a group that allegedly planned a coup at the end of June]. Arevala was tortured so severely that when he was brought to court, he had to be rushed to hospital, where he died. The government thus wants to tell the military: “Don’t you dare rebel against me.” Such repressions are a common occurrence in our country. Today there are 454 political prisoners, and tomorrow the figure may be different. If tomorrow there is some kind of demonstration or they start persecuting someone, 200-300 people may be detained. On average, in the last two years the number of political prisoners remained at approximately 700-800 people (sometimes more, sometimes less).

2019 will be remembered for the largest repressions. At one point we had over 1,000 political prisoners. When Juan Guaidó changed the rules of the game and when it became clear that Venezuelans wanted change, the government wanted to limit all the critical movements that appeared then.

What is the situation in Venezuelan prisons?

None of the Venezuelan prisons meet the most minimal international standards. Our penitentiary system is very archaic. New prisons have been built, but have done nothing to solve the problem: Venezuelan correctional facilities remain terribly overcrowded.

There is one more problem. The last five or so prisoners are not sent to special detention centers, but are left in police stations, in National Guard units, in the branches of the Criminal Investigation Service (Cuerpo de Investigaciones Científicas, Penales y Criminalísticas), because there is no space in prisons. That is, about 40-50 thousand people are not in special detention centers, but in places where no conditions are provided for keeping such a number of people for an indefinite period of time.

There are problems with the supply of food and medicine in Venezuelan prisons. There are prisoners who have been diagnosed with AIDS, hepatitis, and skin diseases, and they cannot receive the necessary medical care. This situation is everywhere in our prisons, and there is neither the ability nor the will on the part of the government to solve this problem.

You have already uttered the word “torture” more than once. What kind of torture are they subjected to in Venezuela and why?

Here, for example, is the case of the doctor José Alberto Marulanda. He was detained because he met with a military woman who was accused of conspiracy. The woman fled the country, and since she could not be found, her friend, who had nothing to do with this case, was detained. When the man was detained, he was beaten so much that he became deaf in one ear, and when they found out that he was a surgeon who specialized in operations on the hands, his hands were broken. Now he can't move his thumb. And on top of that, his ribs were broken.

There have been cases where people had plastic bags placed over their heads and were not allowed to breathe until they lost consciousness. Women are threatened with sexual violence, and in some cases the threats become reality. They can detain the spouse, sisters, daughters of the person they want to “neutralize,” and they tell him that if he doesn’t stop, his relative will be raped or abused in some other way. They can hit the testicles or other vulnerable places, they can pull out nails, they can give electric shock.

We recently received a complaint about the use of a specially trained dog that is trained to pounce on people. Or here’s another type of torture: they lock you in a cell without ventilation and throw two or three tear gas bombs into it.

I also heard about the so-called “white torture”. Do you know anything about this?

Yes, we received such evidence. There is a certain secret room, although in fact everyone knows where it is, namely on the -5th floor at the headquarters of the Bolivarian National Intelligence Service in Plaza Venezuela. The room temperature is set to a very low temperature and artificial lighting is turned on, which stays on all day. And then the department employees try to make you lose track of time. For example, they bring you breakfast at the appointed hour, and 30 minutes later they bring you lunch, and they say that four hours have actually passed. And then after another 20 hours they give you dinner. At the same time, the detainees cannot sleep due to the cold and the constantly on lights.

Loss of time perception provokes serious psychological disorders. People who got there talked about how they tried to keep track of time. The room is located underground, and above it is a metro station. The first and last trains arrived and left at certain time, and so people could determine approximately what time it was.

But it helps for a while, then you lose track of time, you don’t know whether it’s day or night. Wearing watches is prohibited there. Reading and sports are also not allowed. The people who ended up there did not know how long they were in custody - one, two, three or four days.

CARACAS, April 13 – RIA Novosti, Dmitry Znamensky. The first time a RIA Novosti correspondent came to Caracas was back in 2005. Even then, talk about the rapidly growing crime rates did not stop for a minute: those who greeted us warned that walking around Caracas was dangerous, and that documents and money should not be carried with you. Now, eight years later, there is no need for even a warning “not to walk around Caracas” - everything has changed so much for the worse.

Official data on the increase in crime and, above all, murders, to the credit of the Venezuelan authorities, are published regularly. The latest information on this matter resembles a military report: according to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, in 2012 the number of murders increased by 14%, exceeding 16 thousand. Per 100 thousand population, this figure is 54 murders.

But these data are also questioned by independent observers. Thus, the organization Observatorio Venezolano de Violencia published a report according to which almost 21.7 thousand murders were committed in Venezuela last year, or 73 murders for every 100 thousand inhabitants.

People started talking about an “epidemic of violence” in Venezuela in 2011, when the murder rate reached, according to unofficial data, 67 for every 100 thousand inhabitants. “What do you want? There is rampant crime in the country, any foreigner is a potential victim,” says Mauricio, an employee of a large hotel in Caracas.

It’s hard to disagree with him: visitors to the country cannot feel safe either in a taxi or in a hotel room, not to mention a simple walk. In recent years, more than one case of robberies has been registered in Caracas directly in hotel rooms; it makes no sense to talk about selected rental cars.

“They say we’re byaki-buki...”

The main feature of criminals who attack foreigners and citizens of Venezuela is cruelty that is inappropriate to the situation. In case of the slightest disobedience, the chance of getting shot is close to 100%, so the main advice from the authorities for foreign tourists is complete submission to the criminals.

Even diplomatic status is no guarantee that there will be no problems with bandits. Thus, in 2012, robbers “bothered” the Mexican ambassador twice: first, he and his wife were kidnapped and then released, possibly after paying a ransom, then the residence was robbed. At the end of 2011, unknown persons attacked the Chilean consul, wounded him, beat him and robbed him.

“You see, they don’t care, they don’t understand what diplomatic status is, for them any foreigner is a source of income, and they don’t have time to think about any diplomatic scandals,” says policeman Eduardo, a native resident of Caracas, guarding the territory near the embassy of one European country. At the same time, he asks not to take photographs and not to indicate his last name.

What kind of people are we talking about? Yes, about the same ones that came out to rallies of thousands of supporters of presidential candidate Nicolas Maduro. “They are the basis of the regime, socially close, everything is allowed to them, and when such instructions are given, it is difficult to expect the same police to act to catch criminals,” says local taxi driver Miguel, who does not consider himself a supporter of Chavez’s successor.

Before the elections, the number of police on the streets of Caracas goes beyond all reasonable limits, but the feeling of danger does not decrease. A RIA Novosti correspondent visited the burial site of Chavez. Even there, the feeling of a potential threat did not recede for a minute, despite the police next to the huge queue at the grave of the “comandante”.

“Crime is a consequence of internal factors, but we cannot blame only Chavez, who has done so much for our people,” teacher Ricardo, standing in a crowded line at the Museum of the Revolution, clearly supports the government’s course. He came to Caracas from the city of Barquisimeto, where, according to him, there is also a problem with crime, but the realities of Caracas for him lie not in danger, but in the mystery of touch.

There is no way for a foreigner to get there

The barrios (poor neighborhoods) of Caracas are a topic for a separate report. Once, by mistake, a RIA Novosti correspondent drove there in the evening by car along with several other Russians. The only thing that saved us was that there was a police post in the way of the car, which simply did not allow us to drive further, indicating the right direction.

A foreigner can only appear there accompanied by a local resident with authority. Otherwise, there is a very high probability of being robbed and killed.

How many people live in these unauthorized buildings is not known by any statistics, but judging by the geometric progression with which the barrios are growing, we can talk about millions of people. It is approximately known that more than a million people live in one of the largest barrios, Petare, the same situation in the barrio of January 23, where Chavez himself rested. There is talk of hundreds of thousands of Colombians who moved here in years past and now control the drug trade.

“They all need to eat, live on something, but what can they do, and, most importantly, what does the government give them to do? It gives them social assistance and a little money, and then whatever you want!” - taxi driver Miguel continues his thought. Although initially the roots of “evil” do not lie in Chavez, because favelas began to appear in the 50s of the last century, and their heyday came in the wake of the oil boom in Venezuela. However, if earlier the authorities tried to fight the spread of favelas, under Chavez their residents received complete carte blanche and funding.

Social assistance is not very big in terms of dollars, but at the very least it allows you not to work. “And if necessary, you can always go rob and kill, it’s a big problem,” Miguel bitterly ironizes.

Many experts agree that it was Chavez’s policy of supporting unemployed favela residents that became the catalyst for the increase in crime. At the same time, no one, not even Chavez’s ardent opponents, denies that huge amounts of money were spent on social programs, primarily through the nationalization of the oil company PDVSA. Only the result of these efforts has not yet changed the crime situation in the country for the better.

Overtake Honduras

Traditionally, the countries in Central America, primarily Honduras, have been considered the most disadvantaged in the region from a security point of view. In 2012, the number of murders there exceeded 85 for every 100 thousand inhabitants. But Honduras has never been oil producing country, and the standard of living there has always been very low. “At this rate, we will soon catch up with Honduras, 85 corpses per 100 thousand - wait a year or two if nothing changes,” taxi driver Miguel is skeptical.

His business is no less threatened by crime than foreigners: visitors are often robbed in taxis, and then the driver has considerable problems if the foreigner complains to the police. “What’s the point of complaining? The corruption is such that, most likely, the district police not only know the bandits, but also get a share from them, and then they extort money from me, saying that I’m the spotter,” says the driver.

As RIA Novosti managed to find out on condition of anonymity from the city police, in Caracas there really is a large part criminal gangs, working for foreigners, is coordinated from one center. “These groups include employees of airports, hotels, rental offices - everyone who has contact with visitors, so renting cars and showing money is very dangerous,” says the source.

An example of this is the relatively recent story of a film crew from one of the domestic TV channels, who were robbed and left without documents, money, equipment and a car literally 100 meters from one of the the best hotels Caracas. Fortunately, the journalists themselves were not injured.

Interview: Ekaterina Bazanova

Third place in the top most dangerous countries; poverty, crime, civil unrest; the highest inflation in the world - the news rarely says anything good about Venezuela, and despite everything, I really miss this country and plan to return there soon. By profession I am a foreign language teacher, but for the last five years I have worked as a military translator in Venezuela, and have only visited my native Kazan on short visits.

From Kazan to Caracas

When I graduated from the Pedagogical University in 2007, nothing predicted that Spanish, which was our second foreign language, would ever be useful to me in life. After receiving my diploma, I got a job at a school as an English teacher, while teaching courses and doing tutoring. And then one fine day a friend offered me a part-time job: it turned out that a Venezuelan delegation had arrived in Kazan as part of military-technical cooperation. They were accommodated in a hotel, the director of which was urgently looking for a translator to communicate with foreign guests - I immediately agreed. It so happened that already in 2010 I was invited to transfer classes for Latin American students at the Kazan Higher Artillery School, and then they offered me to go on a contract to Venezuela. The government of the country's then president Hugo Chavez concluded a series of contracts with Russia for the supply of weapons and military equipment.

In May 2011, I flew to Caracas for the first time in my life. Before that, I had only been abroad a couple of times, and only in Europe. All the Venezuelans I knew in Kazan told me how incredibly beautiful country, and I felt almost deceived when, on the way from the airport to the city, I saw only shabby gray buildings with garlands of laundry and piles of garbage on the side of the highway. Doubts disappeared the very next morning, when we set off from the capital to Valencia and in the light of day I saw business card Caracas El Avila is a mountain that separates the metropolis from the Caribbean Sea and has been turned into a national park.

Locals are distinguished by their innate optimism and even in the most difficult moments of life, as the Venezuelan proverb says, they prefer to “laugh so as not to cry”

From Monday to Friday in Valencia, I worked with other translators at the port where equipment arriving from Russia was unloaded, and at a military unit. And on the weekend we explored the local beaches with snow-white sand and turquoise water.

The first big shock for me in an unfamiliar country was the local driving style. Venezuelans seem too internally free to bother about rules traffic. And the further from Caracas, the higher the degree of freedom. Traffic lights are just a familiar part of street decorations, something like Christmas lights. Driving through red lights, especially late at night, is par for the course. Pedestrians are no better than motorists: they do not look for crossings and do not wait for a green traffic light, but simply, as one Venezuelan comedian jokes, draw a trajectory from point A to point B.

We must not forget for a second about motorcyclists: these are completely crazy drivers who calmly drive into oncoming traffic, drive along lawns, sidewalks and squeeze between cars. There are really a lot of them. In Caracas, for example, motorcycle taxis are one of the most popular, cheapest and fastest types of public transport with their own official parking lots. Respectable office workers, in suits and ties, driving around morning traffic jams in motorcycle taxis are a classic of Caracas.

Luxurious women
and loud parties

During my five-year business trip, I lived most of the time in the Venezuelan capital. Caracas is both beautiful and terrible for me, but well known and dearly loved. Firstly, it has the most pleasant climate in the entire country: twelve months a year there is comfortable summer weather without stifling heat during the day and with a pleasant cool breeze in the evenings. The Caribbean Sea is just a stone's throw away. People are mostly friendly and sociable - it is very easy to be yourself there in every sense of the word. Modern Venezuelans, whose descendants, in addition to the Spaniards and indigenous inhabitants of the continent, also include Africans, Jews, Arabs, Portuguese, Italians, Germans (the list goes on), answer any questions about their origins like this: “We are all like coffee with milk. Only some have more milk, and some have more coffee.” As for religion, with an absolute Catholic majority, I have not encountered any negativity towards other religions. The locals are distinguished by their innate optimism and even in the most difficult moments of life, as the Venezuelan proverb says, they prefer to “laugh so as not to cry.”

Venezuelan men have a reputation for being the most gallant in Latin America: they will always hold the door, ask permission to pass, and give up their seat on the subway. I remember, at the very beginning of my career as a translator, I was once talking with a group of Venezuelans and accidentally dropped my pen - and then ten men simultaneously bent down to pick up this pen. People pay attention to you all the time: in Kazan you won’t surprise anyone with shorts, but in Caracas you can accidentally stop a garbage truck - I remember it stood in the middle of the road and three workers vying with each other began to tell me how stunning I looked.

A party in Venezuelan style is always loud, crowded and until the morning. And if Russian hospitality means feeding, then Venezuelan hospitality means chatting

Venezuelans are considered the most beautiful women on the continent. They are seven times last half century won the Miss Universe title, so beauty pageants are watched there with the same enthusiasm as the World Cup or the finals of a baseball league. Those with outstanding shapes, especially butts, are considered the most attractive - buttock enlargement operations are very popular here. And if in everyday life most Venezuelans prefer a sporty style, then at parties they show themselves in all their glory: tight dresses, heels, bright makeup.

A party in Venezuelan style is always loud, crowded and until the morning. They most often drink rum and cola and beer. The dances begin with romantic salsa and end with hard reggaeton. They don’t worry too much about food: at most you will be offered grilled meat and sausages, but usually they are limited to a few snacks such as pies and nuts. And if Russian hospitality means feeding, then Venezuelan hospitality means chatting. Taught by bitter experience, I go to local birthday parties only after having a hearty dinner.

Crime, inflation and shortages

As much as I love Caracas, it remains the most dangerous city in the Western Hemisphere. Any decent house or residential complex in the Venezuelan capital is surrounded by a high fence and wrapped in live barbed wire. Security guards, barriers, police and military personnel patrolling the streets - all this does not save us from rampant crime. Thieves attack, hide in the slums and remain unpunished. This, unfortunately, is as natural there as good weather and the turquoise color of the Caribbean Sea.

To make your life in Venezuela as safe and comfortable as possible, you need to strictly follow several rules. Firstly, never appear on the street wearing gold jewelry or expensive watches: they will try to steal them. I remember the first time I witnessed such an attack in the center of Caracas: I was going down to the subway when a guy attacked a man a couple of steps away from me, threw him against the wall and tried to rip the chain from his neck. No one screamed or even tried to stop the thief. Everyone looked so calm, as if nothing had happened, and I was the only one whose heart was beating wildly.

Carrying two mobile phones - one good and the other as cheap as possible - is a common Venezuelan practice. An expensive smartphone is used in closed and safe spaces, a cheap one is used on the street. And, as strange as it may sound, it is always better to have some cash with you, even if you are out for a walk with the dog and are not going to buy anything. The calculation is this: in the event of an attack, you will have something to give to the thief, otherwise he will go mad and may take his anger out on you.

A separate topic is tinting windows in cars. If in Russia it is prohibited, then in Venezuela, for safety reasons, drivers are recommended to tint their windows, and the more, the better. Robbers look at how many people are in the car before choosing a victim, and the risk of attack increases if the driver is traveling alone. In this case, dull tinting can save things and even life.

I experienced the famous Venezuelan inflation and shortages myself. According to my feelings, prices are increasing on average by 25-30% monthly. In any supermarket, no matter how you look there, the price tags change. It’s difficult for foreigners to get a local bank card, so going shopping with a bag or backpack full of cash has become par for the course for me. For example, last December I wanted to dye my hair blue in Caracas. At the hairdresser, I paid 60 thousand bolivars for this: six hundred bills of one hundred bolivars (there were no larger bills in circulation at that time). Venezuelans themselves pay with cards everywhere, even on the beach. Withdrawing cash is a whole adventure: you have to make several operations in a row, and the unfortunate ATMs are practically choking with worthless bills.

The shortage of essential products, such as milk, eggs, cornmeal, soap, toothpaste and others, began when the government, in conditions of hyperinflation, froze their prices, putting producers in a hopeless situation. The other translators and I lived at the time in a hotel and saved up toilet paper and shampoo to then distribute to Venezuelan friends and colleagues. The shelves in the supermarkets were empty, huge queues lined up around them, but the products themselves, naturally, did not disappear anywhere - everything, only at a price two to three times higher, could be found from speculators. Pads and tampons also became scarce, and I once had to go to an underground kiosk to buy them. The choice there, I will say, was better than any hypermarket.

Pads and tampons also became scarce, and I once had to go to an underground kiosk to buy them. The selection there was better than any hypermarket

Together with contrasting Caracas, hot Valencia and Caribbean beaches The state of Zulia will always remain in my memory. We went there, to the border area with Colombia, for work. I didn’t really know anything about Sulia, so I was very surprised when I began to notice adults and children on the side of the road with some strange devices like sticks with funnels. “Are they voting? Maybe we can give you a ride?” - I calmly asked the driver, causing him to almost choke on his fried corn pie.

The Venezuelan laughed heartily, and then explained that all these people were smugglers offering their services. In Venezuela, gasoline is one of the cheapest in the world, while in neighboring Colombia it is several times more expensive. To prevent Colombians from coming to them for fuel, the Venezuelan authorities closed all gas stations within a radius of hundreds of kilometers from the border, and since then entire villages have been living on the illegal trade in gasoline. Roadside smugglers offer to buy fuel if you find yourself in the border zone with an empty tank, or sell them the excess at a price higher than the official one. The most popular cars in the villages of Zulia are old Fords with a bottomless tank and a spacious trunk. Driving them from Venezuela to Colombia is a very profitable illegal business. And I, naive, thought the children were late for school.

It couldn’t have been otherwise - Venezuela changed me: it made me softer, taught me to look at life more simply, value people more and things less. This is the country of eternal summer, where I always want to return: I begin to miss Venezuela even on the plane, when it gains altitude, and the beloved Caribbean Sea glistens under the wing. But I never seriously thought about moving there permanently.