No country can be submerged in conflict forever. There has to be a way out. But, as in all conflicts, either the opposition party or the revolutionary party have to give in, and some foreign help is needed to intervene and improve the future of the beautiful Venezuela.
Inflation, shortages and crime are part of the reason for the continued protests on the streets of Venezuela. Official numbers from the Venezuelan Central Bank showed the inflation level reached 56.2 percent in 2013. When compared to neighboring Colombia, whose inflation level only reached 1.9 percent in 2013, or Spain that reached 0.2 percent in 2013, we don’t need to be economists to see that Venezuela is in a financial crisis. Although international organizations like the Organization of American States and the United Nations cannot intervene to solve inflation issues, they can take help by bringing experts to Venezuela to educate citizens about economics.
Due to inflation, there are also increases in shortages of goods such as flour, cooking oil and toilet paper. Even the wealthy cannot purchase what they want because there is nothing in stock due to the shortages. The UN and the OAS, who are in charge of building bridges between countries, have not interceded. Thus, Venezuela cannot import products due to poor relationships with foreign countries.
On top of this, there are also high murder and robbery rates. In 2013, there were more than 24,000 deaths from violent crimes. Is this normal? Countries see that many people die in a war, and still no foreign forces seem to care.
To attribute all of Venezuela’s changes from 1998 to present to former president Hugo Chavez would be a mistake. Even though Chavez’s revolutionary proposal seemed very dictatorial, he did pay attention to Venezuela’s lower classes, who represent 80 percent of the population, during his 14 years in power. This is why the ones who oppose his government are mostly from the middle and middle-upper classes, and those who support his revolution are mostly from the lower classes.
Governments prior to Chavez were criticized for concentrating on making Venezuela a richer society, forgetting the poor and the living conditions of the lower classes. This is why the lower classes are not willing to give up their revolutionary beliefs. This social issue is what prevents foreign sources from intervening and helping. International organizations such as the OAS and the UN claim this problem needs to be resolved from within and that they should not intervene, but I disagree because Venezuela has been in this conflict for more than 14 years and still cannot find a way out.
Before Chavez died of cancer on March 5, 2013, he ordered his followers to vote for his successor Nicolas Maduro, who was the vice president at the time. Maduro was elected president seven months after Chavez passed away. While his politics and vision for Venezuela seem similar to Chavez, he does not have the same support from the lower class. This presidential election demonstrated that the regime had lost its drive and support. This is part of why there are on-going protests that Venezuelan military forces cannot control; impartial sources are needed to arbitrate this dispute between the opposition and the revolutionary parties.
Venezuela suffers from so many seemingly endless socioeconomic and political conflicts that it is difficult to determine which party is right. While the conditions are gradually deteriorating, Maduro’s charisma and money still flows from oil revenues, supposedly helping to keep things “under control.” The government’s supporters are willing to pursue all means necessary to maintain power — even if this means using violence. Meanwhile, if the opposition party happens to regain control, which is unlikely, the task for them would be to improve the economy, rebuild the institutions, rebuild the morals and ethics and attend to the demands of the segment of the population that placed their trust in the so-called socialist revolution. No one who takes control of this country could fulfill all Venezuelans’ expectations. True leaders are afraid of governing a broken country, and the lack of institutions that could help, hurts them.
Since none of the political parties are giving in, the only solution is external help. It is the duty of the OAS and the UN to protect, to respect, to promote and to fulfill human rights. It is a violation of human rights not to protect the right to humane treatment, right to life, right to personal liberty, right to privacy, freedom of thought and expression, right to equal protection and right to judicial protection. It is also a violation of human rights not to investigate violations of these rights protected by both domestic and international law. However, neither organization seems to be interested in helping this country.
Venezuela’s future no longer depends on Venezuelans. If international organizations do not attempt to help, there will be no way out for this country that has so much potential. Who knows? Maybe what awaits this country is a communist regime like the one implemented in Cuba 50 years ago.
Alessandra Sironi is a senior communication studies major from Venezuela. She is a program director at Sharks United Television and the publicist for the Society of Professional Journalists.
