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fnox posted:Well, Venezuela is officially a dictatorship now. For the non-Spanish speakers: (tl;dr: Supreme Court rules legislature doesn't really have oversight over the Supreme Court) On December 6, the parliamentary elections gave the National Assembly to the opposition. There were still three weeks left in the parliamentary session, though: three more weeks during which the PSUV could do as much as it wanted to do before losing the majority when the new National Assembly session began in January 5. So, on December 23 - the last day of the session, I believe - the PSUV rushed the appointment of 13 new magistrates to the Supreme Court and 21 back-up magistrates. A vetting process that is understandably fairly drawn out took place over the course of about two days. One of the magistrates sworn in on December 23, Cristian Zerpa, ran as a PSUV candidate and lost in the parliamentary elections just three weeks earlier! The process was all kinds of messed up and was clearly a push by the PSUV to dig itself in to the judicial branch before losing the National Assembly. Naturally, one of the first things the MUD said it would do at the National Assembly was investigate the appointment process of those thirteen deputies, since there were even allegations that the PSUV had forced several magistrates through blackmail to resign their posts early in order to squeeze in as many stooges into the PSUV as they could. Today, the Supreme Court ruled that the National Assembly did not have the power to "investigate, annul, revoke or in any way render invalid" any magistrates' post at that Supreme Court. In other words, with this ruling the Supreme Court is saying "You can't touch us". The same ruling clarified that there is one and only one way for a magistrate to be removed from their seat prior to the end of their twelve year term: the Consejo Moral Republicano (I have no idea what this is and I doubt anyone else does) has to find that a magistrate has committed a "grave fault"; then, the Assembly has to vote with a 2/3 majority to remove the magistrate. Also, remember that while Venezuelans elected a 2/3 majority at the National Assembly, the TSJ in a ruling earlier this year disqualified two opposition candidates, meaning that the supermajority is lost.
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Mar 1, 2016 22:39
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Chuck Boone posted:For the non-Spanish speakers: (tl;dr: Supreme Court rules legislature doesn't really have oversight over the Supreme Court) Well, in certain respects that is only sensible; the legislature being able to vote judges off the bench would give them far too much power over the judiciary. That said if the PSUV ran roughshod over the procedural niceties to stuff the bench there should be some sort of recourse that does not involved the now stuffed supreme court.
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Mar 1, 2016 22:56
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Munin posted:Well, in certain respects that is only sensible; the legislature being able to vote judges off the bench would give them far too much power over the judiciary. That said if the PSUV ran roughshod over the procedural niceties to stuff the bench there should be some sort of recourse that does not involved the now stuffed supreme court. Definitely. But the purpose of this ruling is most certainly to pre-empt the removal of the magistrates and back-ups in question through some administrative mean, specifically in response to the December appointments. I suspect that the gist of the National Assembly's push for removing those magistrates would have been that the PSUV violated an administrative procedure(s) (for example, by rushing through the process on purpose) and that the appointments are therefore invalid. The wording of the ruling gives this purpose away. Part of the ruling reads that the removal of a magistrate "cannot be considered an 'administrative act'"; rather, it is a legislative act and the legislature does not have the power to do that. Another part reads (emphasis mine): quote:The National Assembly does not have the power to inspect, annul, revoke or in any shape leave without effect the process of… assigning magistrates to the Tribunal Supremo de Justicia – both principals and back-up…. In other words, the TSJ totally knew that the National Assembly was looking for a way to disqualify the appointment of the December magistrates, and has just closed the door on any possibility of that happening.
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Mar 2, 2016 00:21
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Have any of of the other Venegoons seen the TSJ tv ad where the two kids have homework to find out what the TSJ does and so they ask their parents and they are all "it's the government institution that protects the constitution  " makes me wanna puke and they are showing that poo poo on cable channels now
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Mar 2, 2016 01:49
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As for the blackouts, Caracas had little issues, but Valencia's citizens get about 10 hours without electricity a week. My friends there are procrastinating any activity that did not require power to blackouts, like going to the gym and studying. Actually, like a week ago a friend was doing surgery in Valencia and a blackout forced them to place it on hold for two hours, with the patient under sedation.
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Mar 2, 2016 08:26
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Hugoon Chavez posted:As for the blackouts, Caracas had little issues, but Valencia's citizens get about 10 hours without electricity a week. Holy poo poo at that surgery thing. Yeah, Caracas hasn't had much trouble in comparison with the rest of the country, but by current estimates at the end of this month, we'll be facing hours-long countrywide blackouts. The MUD has just announced which route they're going to press in order to achieve a change in government. They're going to simultaneously press for Maduro's resignation with massive street mobilizations, pass a constitutional amendment to shorten his term to 4 years which would trigger elections in December and a recall referendum which could begin next month (which could unseat him even sooner, if the electoral council and Supreme Court decide to let it pass, so no dice). This is the "everything but the kitchen sink" approach to regime change and they're keeping a constitutional referendum in their back pocket in case the government fights back on every front, which is to be expected. Look forward to the next few weeks in Venezuela being crazy as we deal with massive blackouts, almost no water, almost no food, and almost no medicine on top of organized marches.
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Mar 8, 2016 15:47
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There is also a situation taking place in Bolivar state that has been causing a bit of stir since Friday. Starting Friday evening, a MUD National Assembly deputy went on Twitter to call attention to reports from the town of Tumeremo in Bolivar state that around 28 miners had been murdered that day, possibly by state security forces (namely SEBIN and CICPC officers) acting on behalf of a criminal organization. Almost immediately, Francisco Rangel Gomez, the governor of Bolivar state, said that the story was "absolutely false" and that it was part of the psychological war being waged on Venezuela by the opposition, etc. On Sunday, Carlos Chancellor, the mayor of the municipality in which Tumeremo is located, said that something most definitely had happened, because the families of the miners were protesting in the streets demanding the authorities to investigate the disappearance of their loved ones. The father of one of the missing miners claims that a family friend witnessed the event. The witness alleges to have seen SEBIN and CICPC officers execute at least 23 miners on a road leading to a mine about an hour away from Tumeremo, and that the officers then went into the mine and killed more people there. Newspapers published more eye witness reports of the event today, but I haven't had the chance to look at them yet. Anyway, the Public Ministry assigned two prosecutors to investigate the case. The authorities have yet to find any bodies, so as of right now this is a missing persons case. The families are saying that they authorities likely aren't going to find any bodies because they are the same ones who allegedly committed the massacre. All of this is going on within the context of illegal mining in the region. Organized crime controls swaths of land and claim mineral rights, so this looks like it might be related to these types of illicit activities. The alleged involvement of state security forces implies that they're on the payroll of these criminal groups.
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Mar 8, 2016 17:09
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Chuck Boone posted:There is also a situation taking place in Bolivar state that has been causing a bit of stir since Friday. Seems like you got a game of Calvinball going on where the National Assembly don't realize the rules gonna change so much between rounds that the only winning move is to play their own game of calvinball and make PSUV go insane with how awesome they be winning. When's the last time your national assembly won? Because clearly, elections don't matter in Venezuela.
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Mar 10, 2016 00:09
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I'm going to assume that our resident Venezuelan posters have been busy not-posting because they barely have get enough electricity these days to run their appliances, never mind computers.
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Mar 17, 2016 05:50
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Probably. Venegoons, if you can read this...Stay safe. (I am now unironically worried for them.)
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Mar 17, 2016 11:49
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It's not THAT bad yet in the big cities. Valencia has had rolling blackouts for years now and Caracas is mostly spared. I mean it's gonna be bad but it's not there just yet.
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Mar 17, 2016 11:59
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Well, OK, at least my fears can be set aside.
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Mar 17, 2016 12:01
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Some new on the Tumeremo massacre: Over the last few days, investigators have started finding the bodies of the missing miners. So far they've found 17, and they haven't discounted the possibility of finding more. Bolivar state governor Francisco Rangel Gomez was on an interview show yesterday defending himself for responding to the first reports of the massacre by saying that it was an opposition lie to cause a commotion in the state. He said that he'd done the responsible thing by not confirming the news right away because he wasn't sure if it was true or not (but he was sure enough that it was an opposition plot  ).I'm trying to think what else has happened so I can give you a quick update... the Guri hydroelectric dam continues its slow descent into shutdown. The Minister of Electrical Energy tweeted a picture a few days ago showing that the water level was so low that it wasn't entering some of the dam's gates, but there are a couple of gates at a lower level that are still operating. I think it'll be a few weeks at least until the dam is forced to shut down completely, barring a biblical deluge(s). If I remember correctly, the water level is just a couple of meters above the shutdown mark (I think the level is at around 248 m above sea level, and the shutdown level is around 244 m). A pretty big newspaper (El Carabobeño) has been forced to shut down because the government wouldn't exchange any currency for it to import print paper. El Carabobeño was (surprise) critical of the PSUV, and had been in circulation for 82 years. I have really fond memories of waking up early in the morning and walking to the nearest kiosko [a newsstand that is ubiquitous in Venezuela] with my grandfather, where he'd buy El Carabobeño. Then we'd balk back, sometimes stopping at a bakery along the way to pick up bread to go with the coffee at breakfast, and then I'd sit with him on out on our little terrace and watch cars and people go by as he read the newspaper. My Imaginary GF posted:Seems like you got a game of Calvinball going on where the National Assembly don't realize the rules gonna change so much between rounds that the only winning move is to play their own game of calvinball and make PSUV go insane with how awesome they be winning. Yeah, I think Calvinball is a good example of what's happening at the National Assembly. From watching a few of the sessions, one thing I've noticed is that an opposition deputy will get up to talk, and he/she will use up their ten minutes to very clearly spell out how endemic corruption at the highest levels of government/PDVSA have helped to bankrupt the country, how a lack of infrastructural investment over the last 17 years has led to the electricity crisis, etc. Then, a PSUV deputy (typified by Pedro Carreño, who's got the most arrogant look to him and way of speaking that you can imagine), will get up and smugly reply about how some kind of procedural rule has been violated, so nothing the opposition says/does counts. And that's just at the National Assembly. The Tribunal Supremo de Justicia is playing its own game and that's on a completely different level.
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Mar 17, 2016 13:10
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I just want this ride to end already.
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Mar 18, 2016 01:13
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ComradeCosmobot posted:I'm going to assume that our resident Venezuelan posters have been busy not-posting because they barely have get enough electricity these days to run their appliances, never mind computers. This month I've spent four out of seventeen days without electricity. The first time it was the whole building and lasted three days, the second it was the whole area and lasted a day. It's not even cause they're rationing power over here at this point, it's just that the service is notoriously bad. The scary part is I'm in Caracas (which notoriously gets pampered at the expense of the rest of the country), when you start hearing about regular major blackouts here then you'll know everywhere else is doing a thousand times worse. The good part is that since I still had to work, I found a kickass place where I can rent a desk for the day and work with other freelancers. It's the kind of stuff I wouldn't have expected to find here, but it's pretty cool to see the amount of people trying to get interesting startups off the ground even with the deck stacked against them.
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Mar 18, 2016 03:10
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Question for caraqueños: How insane would it be to fly in and out of Caracas for a long weekend? I should (it's not strictly necessary, but would be very good for business) visit the place one of these days, just to meet with a handful of clients and potential clients. Say Thursday though Sunday or Monday, prepaid hotel, carrying a wad of cash USD. I'm mostly concerned about getting jacked between the airport and hotel.
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Mar 18, 2016 18:31
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TheImmigrant posted:Question for caraqueños: How insane would it be to fly in and out of Caracas for a long weekend? I should (it's not strictly necessary, but would be very good for business) visit the place one of these days, just to meet with a handful of clients and potential clients. Say Thursday though Sunday or Monday, prepaid hotel, carrying a wad of cash USD. I'm mostly concerned about getting jacked between the airport and hotel. Wear your shittiest clothes, don't wear any jewelry, don't wear watches, don't use your phone out in public under any circumstances, when you arrive only take the Taxis that are clearly marked as such and in front of the gate at the airport, don't stay out late at night, don't gently caress the prostitutes outside the hotel, beware anyone riding a motorcycle for they are the devil. Just use common sense really and you'll have a 50% chance of making it out alive back to your country of origin 
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Mar 18, 2016 18:44
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El Hefe posted:Wear your shittiest clothes, don't wear any jewelry, don't wear watches, don't use your phone out in public under any circumstances, when you arrive only take the Taxis that are clearly marked as such and in front of the gate at the airport, don't stay out late at night, don't gently caress the prostitutes outside the hotel, beware anyone riding a motorcycle for they are the devil. I'm not normally very cautious (spent a few days in San Pedro Sula in 2014 for work), but I don't know anyone who isn't Venezolano who's been there recently. If I went, it would be with the assumption that I wouldn't leave the hotel with anything I wasn't ready to have stolen. There must still be some kind of nightlife in a city that size, right? Say get in, stash all my poo poo at like the Marriott or something, maybe head out in cheap clothes with a few black-market bolivares? I occasionally date a Venezolana here (Washington DC) who says that people in Caracas have become super suspicious of everyone in the past few years, that it's not a friendly city any more.
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Mar 18, 2016 18:55
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It's not friendly at all no, on the other hand if you're adventurous you can have the time of your life even if you only bring $100 since that's a small fortune here.
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Mar 18, 2016 19:04
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TheImmigrant posted:I'm not normally very cautious (spent a few days in San Pedro Sula in 2014 for work), but I don't know anyone who isn't Venezolano who's been there recently. If I went, it would be with the assumption that I wouldn't leave the hotel with anything I wasn't ready to have stolen. There must still be some kind of nightlife in a city that size, right? Say get in, stash all my poo poo at like the Marriott or something, maybe head out in cheap clothes with a few black-market bolivares? I occasionally date a Venezolana here (Washington DC) who says that people in Caracas have become super suspicious of everyone in the past few years, that it's not a friendly city any more. There is some nightlife but it's been progressively dying down. For that, you'll want to stick to the Chacao / Las Mercedes area and find a trusted cabbie you can call late that will pick you up when you're ready to head back to the hotel. If you're gonna be staying at the Marriott or another fancy hotel, ask the desk if they can hook you up with a driver, who will probably be happy to give you recommendations and drive you around for a few bucks. When you arrive at the airport, you should be able to ask for a cab before heading out into the main area, wait for it to arrive and then head out, because that's where you don't want to loiter. Most thefts in the airport occur right at the entrance or in the main area, so you want to get out as soon as possible if you arrive in the middle of the night. Also, you might get offers at the airport to exchange your dollars into bolivares, just ignore them and keep walking, they'll try to rip you off. If you need bolivares, the main desk at your hotel will be happy to point you in the right direction, and if you tip them in dollars and are friendly, they'll likely get you anything you want. Honestly, as long as you avoid rough spots and don't flaunt your money, you should be OK. As El Hefe said, avoid wearing jewelry and watches, fancy clothes should be alright as long as you stick to the east of Caracas. If you want to know whether any specific area is a no go, feel free to ask.
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Mar 18, 2016 23:08
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Try to get whoever you know that is over there to give you the number of a cabbie they trust, and use him/her to get around, tell him/her that you'd be giving them 60000 bolivares just to drive you around for the weekend (That's $50 btw). I'm more than sure they'll be glad to drive you wherever and even show you around if you want to. As for nightlife, there's an actual Buddha Bar in Las Mercedes which is really nice, there's a number of clubs and restaurants, Holic, La Quinta Bar and Barriott come to mind. There is also a nightlife scene in El Hatillo but it's very far away from any hotels. And some tips, you WILL get mugged if ANYBODY realizes you're foreign, so make sure you're always with some locals. If you have an expensive cell phone don't leave the hotel with it, buy a cheap local one if you need to communicate with anybody. If you're going to exchange dollars, make sure it's with somebody you trust, don't use the official exchange rate as it's literally a fifth of the black market. The guards at the airport are VERY likely to try and extort you for like $20, hell, be wary of law enforcement and the military in general as they WILL want to gently caress with you if you're foreign unless you bribe them. Seriously, if you're with locals you should be fine, but you need to always keep in your head where you are, and you need to keep in mind that being foreign makes you a target, so if you can't speak Spanish fluently or if you cannot get somebody to just give you a forged national ID card or whatever don't go out alone.
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Mar 19, 2016 06:01
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Yeah if you can't pass as Latino and get a group of locals just don't risk it. We're not talking about you getting robbed, you will probably get loving kidnapped. Don't risk grabbing a cab in the airport either, try to set something up and have someone picking you up.
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Mar 19, 2016 12:26
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Obama goes to Cuba, meanwhile our resident moron keeps going on about El Imperio and the economic war...
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Mar 21, 2016 04:18
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Hugoon Chavez posted:We're not talking about you getting robbed, you will probably get loving kidnapped. I'm not loving around, (spanish) you have a good chance of being robbed right at the airport and getting killed if you resist.
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Mar 21, 2016 14:39
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So, to summarize. Venegoons, the current US State Dept travel warning does not say "avoid all non-essential travel". Should it?
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Mar 21, 2016 15:44
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I have family in venezuela and the news i have gotten and from the last time my grandmother was there are not very good, it is a very dangerous place to visit. it is not worth it that you can live great for a few bucks there if it means you MIGHT PROBABLY get killed for those few bucks. DO NOT travel to or visit venezuela at the moment, you probably are, somehow safer in iraq or afghanistan unironically.
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Mar 21, 2016 16:14
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A couple of polling firms have released survey results over the last few days and they continue to paint a grim picture for Maduro's term in office. One of them comes from Hinterlaces. The firm's head, Oscar Schemel, said during a TV interview yesterday that 67% of Venezuelans believe that the economic crisis could still get worse. 58% believe that the solution to the crisis involves Maduro leaving office. A survey by the IVAD firm conducted between February 25 and March 7 found that 80.3% of Venezuelans want a "change of course" for the country. Some other interesting findings from the same survey:
Spacewolf posted:So, to summarize. Venegoons, the current US State Dept travel warning does not say "avoid all non-essential travel". Should it? I think the wording on the Government of Canada travel advisory page is correct: "Exercise a high degree of caution (with regional advisories)". From what I can see, that's the third-highest travel advisory level, below "Avoid all travel" and "avoid all non-essential travel". If you're looking for a vacation spot, I would definitely recommend you find another place. If must go for business, then, well, you have to go - just be extremely careful. The problem is that "be careful" to a North American/European doesn't mean the same thing that it does to a Venezuelan (e.g., like they've pointed out, this means not taking your cell phone out of your pocket on the street, and avoiding going out at night. I think these are fairly foreign measures outside of the most dangerous cities in North America, for example). Whenever my family or I go back to Venezuela, there's always a period of two or three days when we have to acclimatize to these really extreme, everyday security measures. One that I always remember is that my aunt drives around with a purse with some token "loot" inside it - an old cell phone, and old wallet and some other miscellaneous "purse things". The purse is there so that when she gets robbed on the road while she's in traffic, she can hand it over and get the thing over with. There are lots of little things like that which your average North American resident just would not think about while visiting Venezuela. In other words: be extremely careful down there. This isn't the kind of thing you want to take lightly. Hugoon Chavez posted:I'm not loving around, (spanish) you have a good chance of being robbed right at the airport and getting killed if you resist. I came to post this. It happened the same day (or the day after?) TheImmigrant posted his question about travel safety in Venezuela. For the non-Spanish speakers: An Egyptian Chuck Boone fucked around with this message at 16:31 on Mar 21, 2016 |
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Mar 21, 2016 16:16
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Thanks, venezolanos. I think I'll go next month. I can write off the trip for work, so there's little disincentive to go. Specs: I don't stand out in Latin America (dark-haired and swarthy), and speak fluent Spanish with an ambiguously foreign accent. I would love to hear suggestions about where you'd book a hotel, if work were paying for it. The hotel should be somewhere central, as I'll be meeting clients in the bar or restaurant or whatever is on the ground floor. Also, if any of you know of, or are willing to be, a fixer (driver and troubleshooter) for a Thursday evening to Monday morning stay, I will pay cash USD. Too bad about the Egyptian guy. That's some crazy poo poo. I'll be sure to update my life insurance beneficiaries before flying out.
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Mar 21, 2016 17:08
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TheImmigrant posted:Thanks, venezolanos. I think I'll go next month. I can write off the trip for work, so there's little disincentive to go. Specs: I don't stand out in Latin America (dark-haired and swarthy), and speak fluent Spanish with an ambiguously foreign accent. I would love to hear suggestions about where you'd book a hotel, if work were paying for it. The hotel should be somewhere central, as I'll be meeting clients in the bar or restaurant or whatever is on the ground floor. Also, if any of you know of, or are willing to be, a fixer (driver and troubleshooter) for a Thursday evening to Monday morning stay, I will pay cash USD. Still, be extremely careful. I'd drive you around but my car is hosed up and I don't go out late at night. As for hotels, there's the Marriott, Altamira Village and Renaissance in Chacao, there's the Radisson Eurobuilding in Baruta which I know is good since I had an uncle stay there, but it's kind of far from most restaurants. Of all of those, I would recommend the Altamira Village, it's on one of the safest parts of the city, there's a variety of restaurants on the ground floor, the rooms are nice and it's easy to park there, no idea about how much it costs. I think I have the number of a cabbie that can get you to and from the airport safely, I don't know if he's still working, I'd have to check.
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Mar 21, 2016 17:58
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Yeah Altamira is probably as safe as you can go, and central enough. It's also near some decent night life spots if you must go out and have fun. But don't. The little night life you can find is good if that's all you have (I should know) but going out for a few drinks and some music is not worth risking your neck. Mostly, stick to the hotel and the Chacao zone, and exercise extreme caution. Like, literally become paranoid. Cross the street to check if anyone is following you or if a group larger than yours is walking your direction. Absolutely no cellphone in public, and avoid establishing any conversation with random people. Consider bikes as you would consider lions. Stay the gently caress away from them and keep them in check if they are anywhere near. Carry some money in your pocket for random necessities and leave the rest hidden at your hotel. Don't even think about flashing any kind of bill except Bolivares. Last time I went there I found a Euro in my pocket and my mom exclaimed "oh is that an Euro, let me see!". I was in an ice cream store and about six people eyed me. Don't trust cops and specially don't trust the military. If they smell you're a foreigner they are going to try and squeeze money out of you. The police around the Chacao zone are the most decent around but still, avoid. If you do get robbed just write it off. I'll ask around on the cabbie, see if any of my friends know someone that does the airport run.
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Mar 21, 2016 19:52
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 Jesus Christ, and people think Detroit is bad.
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Mar 21, 2016 20:05
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I'd stay at the Melia just because it's such a nice hotel and even more if someone else was paying hahah And it's connected to a shopping mall El Recreo so he can go there eat, shop and whatever.
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Mar 21, 2016 20:07
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Seriously though, I've been reading this thread on and off for a while and it amazes me how people are able to continue making a living down there. For everyone down there, stay safe, and I honestly and truly hope your government is able to get its head out of its rear end.
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Mar 21, 2016 20:17
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Acebuckeye13 posted:Seriously though, I've been reading this thread on and off for a while and it amazes me how people are able to continue making a living down there. For everyone down there, stay safe, and I honestly and truly hope your government is able to get its head out of its rear end. The most hosed up thing is that the people that are most affected by the scarcity and insecurity are the poorest and yet they keep voting for the PSUV. I simply don't get it.
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Mar 21, 2016 20:23
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I appreciate the answers to my question. I'll be clear: I am not planning on going to Venezuela. (I don't even speak Spanish, God do I wish I did.) However, I did notice the discrepancy between the picture painted by the travel warnings and the picture painted here.
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Mar 21, 2016 21:33
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El Hefe posted:The most hosed up thing is that the people that are most affected by the scarcity and insecurity are the poorest and yet they keep voting for the PSUV. I simply don't get it. This could literally be a post about the Republicans. I'm not sure which country that reflects worse on.
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Mar 21, 2016 21:42
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El Hefe posted:I'd stay at the Melia just because it's such a nice hotel and even more if someone else was paying hahah The Melia is pretty nice, but it's a bit more dangerous than Altamira and the Chacao zone, right? At least I used to live near and Sabana Grande has always been a zone to look out for. Well, a lot less since they moved the buhoneros. Acebuckeye13 posted:Seriously though, I've been reading this thread on and off for a while and it amazes me how people are able to continue making a living down there. For everyone down there, stay safe, and I honestly and truly hope your government is able to get its head out of its rear end. What's worse is that we're so used to it by now that it's second nature. Everything I just posted about being paranoid is just something we Venezuelans do naturally. Once we manage to move out we act basically like ex-cons. Something that surprises me as someone that left way before things got so unbelievably bad is exactly this: Chuck Boone posted:Which of these issues affects you the most?” This doesn't mean the country is more secure that it was. In fact it's the opposite. But we are used to it. We're used to having our mothers have nervous breakdowns if we don't pick up our cellphone for 2 hours, to cross the streets if there's a group of people approaching, and to enter random stores because we're pretty sure that dude is following us. And things are so bad that 60% of the people are more worried about the scarcity that living in that society of fear. 
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Mar 21, 2016 23:12
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Hugoon Chavez posted:The Melia is pretty nice, but it's a bit more dangerous than Altamira and the Chacao zone, right? At least I used to live near and Sabana Grande has always been a zone to look out for. Well, a lot less since they moved the buhoneros. Sounds like a lobster in boiling water. If things had gotten as bad as they are now over a month, then there'd be riots in the street. Since they've gotten this bad over more than a decade, seems like most Venezuelan folk just don't have that context for how they could be feeling when they go out any more.
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Mar 22, 2016 00:00
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My Imaginary GF posted:Sounds like a lobster in boiling water. If things had gotten as bad as they are now over a month, then there'd be riots in the street. Since they've gotten this bad over more than a decade, seems like most Venezuelan folk just don't have that context for how they could be feeling when they go out any more. There's literally millions of Venezuelans who don't know what it is like to have an actually functional government. We've been in turmoil since the 90's.
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Mar 22, 2016 01:06
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Hugoon Chavez posted:The Melia is pretty nice, but it's a bit more dangerous than Altamira and the Chacao zone, right? At least I used to live near and Sabana Grande has always been a zone to look out for. Well, a lot less since they moved the buhoneros. Yeah, I wouldn't stay at the Melia. The hotel may be nice but the area is terrible, either the Marriott or the Altamira Village would be the best choices. At the Marriott, he could walk out and go to Chacao to eat calmly, while at the Village he'd have to take a cab unless it's to one of the many fancy restaurants around. There's also the Tamanaco, but that's pretty isolated. Either way, TheInmigrant, if you need a night cabbie, let me know and I'll hook you up with mine, who also does airport runs. Labradoodle fucked around with this message at 01:32 on Mar 22, 2016 |
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Mar 22, 2016 01:24
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