Venezuelan Crisis, they're our neighbors (Caribbean)

In Europe it is not on the news as much, as we have the Ukrainian situation on the Crimea peninsula. That does not make it less important. Especially because some of the islands in the CAribbean are either geographically very close or have economic ties and/or do business with Venezuela. My native island of Aruba is only about 40KM in front of their coastline and Venezuela is still the second largest source market for tourism into Aruba. Even if it is not direct, we are feeling the indirect effects. I sincerely hope we will not get to the point where we will feel it directly.
Then there are other Islands who depend on Venezuelan oil, produced by PDVSA. Such as Curacao, Cuba and the Dominican Republic. With their oils refining, storing or transshipment business under pressure, it affects their economies and on a second level the region.



I am not a scholar or expert on the situation but I do remember growing up with Venezuelan TV and other media. I also remember the rise of Chavez and why. Venezuela's democracy in the 80's was dominated by 2 political parties: COPEI and Accion Democratica (AD). There were a couple of other parties, but they were small and therefore for the big picture irrelevant. Venezuela was and still is a very resource rich country. But as with many Latin American countries, the division between rich and poor is extreme. The culture also does not allow for quick changes and more equality. In the Caribbean this culture is also present, although in my opinion to a lesser extend.

The poor and disenfranchised grew fed-up and through Chavez felt they had a voice and someone fighting for them. You can argue but Chavez had his good and bad sides. And to benchmark him with his predecessors, presidents such as  Jaime Lusinchi (AD) and Carlos Andres Perez (AD), he was the same just leaning towards the left a bit. It is because of this that I am not sure which way to lean in the current situation. The corruption remains, just the benefactors changed. I don't' want to judge, as I don't live there but what I do condone is the fact that people are being killed. Only for having an opinion and expressing this. Violence is never the answer.

From a distance it is easy to talk, I know. And I definitely don't want to patronize or dismiss anything happening or any opinion of the Venezuelans themselves. It is their country, but I am a neighbor and in the Caribbean Neighbors look out for each other. If the opportunity or situation where I need to be actively involved presents itself I will do whatever I can do to give a positive impulse. But the rich need to understand that the country will not get better and that they will not be able to enjoy their wealth, if there is an intense division between them and the poor. On the other hand the poor (socialists as well) need to understand that you cannot generate wealth for everyone by killing the rich (W. Boetcker). One always has to see a win-win situation and not a compromise (s. Covey). Everybody wins or everyone loses.

If I were rich, I would not want to live in a country where the poor are deliberately kept poor….