Chavez victorious in the Venezuelan election
Posted Monday, December 11, 2006, 5:07 PM by Lonely Planet
What does his re-election mean for tourism to the country? One of our Venezuelan researchers reports:
Venezuela is a pretty full on country. Coming from Colombia, I am astonished just how different Venezuela is from its neighbour. I joke with the locals that I live in Colombia because it's safer than Venezuela.
I fear the political developments in Venezuela will have a negative impact on tourism in the country. I have spoken to many posada owners and tour operators, on the coast especially, who tell me that every year since Chavez came to power they've seen fewer and fewer domestic tourists. I meet middle class people who are making plans to leave the country.
Compared to other countries in South America, Venezuela is expensive, the people can be unfriendly, the food ordinary and the official exchange rate means there's no bang for your buck. Venezuela is a country drunk on its own oil wealth. It's not a quiet, chatty sort of drunk, though, it's the rude brawler in the corner looking for a fight.
So is the socialism preached by Chavez really an alternative to the unbearable tyranny of the American capitalist model, or just an idealised vision? If you go to Venezuela, obviously you can decide for yourself.
But the formula seems simple: if you get all the money you want from Uncle Chavez, who cares about tourists? Why bother attempting to provide good service? Heck, why work hard to begin with, some corrupt official is just going to mooch off your hard work anyway! It's sad, but the service industry will suffer, so the travellers may just start to stay away.
And the question remains - what happens when the oil runs out?
Like the ancient proverb goes, give a man a fish and he eats for a day, teach a man to fish, and he eats for a lifetime.
Labels: Breaking travel news, On the road, The Americas
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6 Comments:
Being a Venezuelan, I must say that it is very sad to read this comment, and as much as I would like to disagrre, I cannot. And it is very unfortunate for us, as well as for tourism, that this is our reality. However, I must add, in our own defense, that Venezuela has some of the nicest scenery there is. Angel Falls, Los Roques, All our caribbean coast line, the mountains, los llanos, the andes, etc, etc, etc.
So to all you travellers, if you happen to know somebody in Venezuela, and they can help you out to get around, I assure you, It might just be one of the best places you have ever been to.
Hope to see you there!!
Having travelled through many countries in South America last year I must agree that Venezuela has beautiful spots; however in my opinion some people are very unfriendly and they do not understand tourism at all. We only had good experiences, loved the South American people and never had any problems, except in Venezuela.
We almost got arrested twice and stripped searched without a reason. Police is rude, corrupt and the political situation gets worse every day. Some people are nice but every day we met some very rude people and could feel that Anti-Gringo mentality, altough we are from Europe. It may sounds strange but we felt much safer in Columbia than in Venezuela. Initially we wanted to stay 3 weeks, but where more than happy to leave (escape) after one week.
In my opinion the only way for Venezuelans is to stop Hugo before it is too late. His anti-western rhetoric and introduction of new laws has made everything worse and Venezuela will become the new Cuba in the very near future.
There is no free press anylonger, no opposition, high crime and the state takes slowly controll of all strategic private sectors.
For the near future I would definitely not recommend to visit your country at all.
Long lives the Bolivarian Revolution! Viva Chavez!
In political order.
Según un sondeo de una consultora mexicana Kirchner es el presidente con mejor imagen de América e igualó al ruso Vladimir Putin.
El jefe de Estado argentino tiene un nivel de aprobación del 73%, muy por delante del 65% del venezolano Chávez. George Bush llegó al 36%. El trabajo midió “la forma en que los ciudadanos de cada país califican la gestión de sus gobernantes”.
www.ZonaColon.com
AGG
A few comments regarding from a Canadian travelling in Venezuela. First off the natural aspects of the country are beutiful. We saw Mochima the Ornico Delta etc. the people were fine. Some friendly some rude. Stick to sea food and fish. Meat is quite unappetizing. Good service is rare and hard to come by. Safety for travellers seems to be on the decline. My impression of the police/security officials is as follows. Either you get old fat bloated shady cops or 16 yr. old national guard boys with machine guns. Take your pick. It will be a shame if they don't get things under control as this country has alot to offer the traveller.
This is sad reading for me, I am not Venezuelan but I have travelled, worked and lived there on and off in the last decade and I have not felt the same unfriendliness of the locals. First trick though is to let them know you're not American! I have though seen a definite decline in the infrastructure and a growing frustration of the people, the majority of them really do LOVE their country and are proud patriots, and only the uneducated cannot see how their nation is being eroded under Chavez rule. What I have told my wife (Venezuelan) is that this great country has been there for millions of years, a temporary visitor like Chavez can only cause so much harm, when he is gone nature will take over and heal her again, I hope.
To any potential visitors to Venezuela: Go there, it is one of the last gardens of the world, of course be careful, as with any other foregin visits one must look out for yourself to a certain degree and don't take chances, the majority of people are poor and desperate, so don't tempt fate with them. But do go, it is beautiful, and so are the people, you won't regret it.
(a Scot living in Cairo, believe me, I'd rather be in Venezuela any day!)
Chavez is now the number one terrorist in america. We must Stop his attacks to the colombioan people. USA & EU let's plan his encarceration. No more farc, no more chavez.
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