A flea market vendor counts his Bolivar bills in Maracaibo, Venezuela, May 16, Maracaibo is Venezuela's second-largest city and a hub of the onc Maracaibo is Venezuela's second-largest city and a hub of the once-booming oil industry. Spanish graffiti declares: I met love at the road blocks. Jeancarlo," referring to roadblocks set up by anti-government protesters demanding the resig Jeancarlo," referring to roadblocks set up by anti-government protesters demanding the resignation of President Nicolas Maduro, in downtown Maracaibo, Venezuela, May 16, A man sleeps on top of his car as he waits in line to fill up outside a gas station in Maracaibo, Venezuela, May 23, In cities across the countr In cities across the country, weary drivers wait for scarce gasoline in long lines at service stations.
A journalist is reflected in a window at Panorama newspaper in Maracaibo, Venezuela, May 16, Panorama, which was established in , published Panorama, which was established in , published a"See you Soon" headline to announce its last print edition, due to lack of newsprint.
A deteriorated home sits abandoned in Villa Esperanza neighborhood on the outskirts of Maracaibo, Venezuela, May 15, Maracaibo's mood is exhaust Maracaibo's mood is exhausted and many who had the means to leave have joined an exodus of more than 4 million Venezuelans who have left the country in recent years. A vendor carries beef to a butcher shop at the flea market in Maracaibo, Venezuela, May 16, He'll have to sell it quickly, since perishables go He'll have to sell it quickly, since perishables go bad quickly without refrigeration in Maracaibo's suffocating temperatures.
Waiters stand behind the bar at the El Girasol restaurant overlooking overlooks Maracaibo Lake where an oil taker navigates, in Maracaibo, Venezuela, Waiters stand behind the bar at the El Girasol restaurant overlooking overlooks Maracaibo Lake where an oil taker navigates, in Maracaibo, Venezuela, May 22, El Girasol used to be a revolving restaurant, and hardly has any customers. People greet their loved ones boarding a plane at the airport in Maracaibo, Venezuela, May 25, Maracaibo is close to the border with Colombia, h Maracaibo is close to the border with Colombia, host to more than one-quarter of Venezuelan migrants.
A woman fills a bucket with drinking water from firefighters during water shortages linked to lack of electricity in Maracaibo, Venezuela, May 14, The opposition blames Venezuela's misery on misguided economic policies, mismanagement and corruption by the socialist administration installed by the late Hugo Chavez.
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A man searches the trash outside a flea market in Maracaibo, Venezuela, May 14, As the political standoff drags on, so does life in Maracaibo, w As the political standoff drags on, so does life in Maracaibo, where some people sift through trash and scavenge for food. Natasha Merchan puts makes up on her friend Maria Margarita Urdaneta at the airport's food court in Maracaibo, Venezuela, May 19, A man takes a nap in the back of a car in Maracaibo, Venezuela, May 15, Maracaibo's mood today is exhausted, due to the shortages of things that Maracaibo's mood today is exhausted, due to the shortages of things that people need the most: cash, food, water, medicine, power, gasoline.
Entryways into the Brisas del Norte hotel are bricked up to keep people from squatting on the property, after it was looted two months prior in Maraca Entryways into the Brisas del Norte hotel are bricked up to keep people from squatting on the property, after it was looted two months prior in Maracaibo, Venezuela, May 15, Residents, seemingly driven to desperation by nationwide power blackouts, looted and destroyed hundreds of buildings and businesses in March.
People sleep outside their homes for fresh air while air conditioning is not working during a blackout in the sweltering city of Maracaibo, Venezuela, People sleep outside their homes for fresh air while air conditioning is not working during a blackout in the sweltering city of Maracaibo, Venezuela, May 15, Some of the most acute misery plays out every day on the streets of Maracaibo, Venezuela's second-largest city and a hub of the once-booming oil industry.
Residents, young and old, push drinkable water home in the Villa Esperanza neighborhood on the outskirts of Maracaibo, Venezuela, May 15, Much o A floor of the Brisas del Norte hotel shows the aftermath of looting in Maracaibo, Venezuela, May 16, By comparison, the inflation rate for Brazil is at 4. The government has fixed the currency in the country at 2.
The actual worth of the money, of course, fluctuates with the global market. As of December , the rate is at 5.
Venezuela's misery doesn't even spare the dead in Maracaibo
An entry-level worker is paid the minimum wage, which is set by the government. Today this is Bs. F, which is subsidized with an additional Bs. F in Food Stamps.
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Most products at the grocery store are imported from Europe, Asia or the US and are sold according to the cost of the U. The index is set up with the cost of the Big Mac in the U. Globally, the average time that would have to be worked to earn a Big Mac was under 40 minutes. It would take 5 hours and 7 minutes to earn the arepas! The ever-increasing cost of living is causing crime to rise dramatically. It is no longer safe in most urban areas to walk in the streets if you are in the middle or upper classes.
A decade ago mugging was the major fear, today it is car jacking, armed home invasion, murder and kidnapping. The following photos were taken while residing in Maracaibo, Venezuela over the past two years. The city sits on Lake Maracaibo, the largest fresh water lake in South America, which acts as the major port for oil exportation.
Maracaibo sits within the mile buffer zone along the Colombian border, which the U. Department of State has prohibited all US Embassy employees and family members from entering into. The threat of kidnapping or murder by paramilitary groups has been determined to be too great in this zone. View of residential high-rises along the edge of Lake Maracaibo, covered by duckweed due to contamination.
Everyday life in Maracaibo is very much about survival. This reality is evident in the way people try to protect their homes. A typical single family home not only has bars on every window, but also tends to sit behind a fortified concrete wall.
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As crime has increased, the fences have grown in vertical height, horizontal dimension and have begun to form occupiable interstitial space between the street and residence. They essentially allow you to feel safe from the threat of kidnapping or armed robbery while unloading groceries from your car or greeting guests. These spaces claim uses such as enclosed gardens, protected front porches or sheltered locations for the now essential water tanks.
They allow the opening of doors and windows, reclaiming an indoor outdoor connection.
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Some fences are evidence of the progression of this phenomenon through time. Additions to the top of the fence in the last decade include shattered glass, barbwire, and for the ones that can afford it, electrified fences with sophisticated alarms and motion detectors systems. While the addition of electrical wire to the tops of these fences may be one of the most visually disturbing parts of the defense system, it is the addition of private armed guards outside the homes that is most troubling. Recently, neighborhood groups have joined together to gate entrances to their streets; essentially creating gated communities at an urban level.
Lower income families primarily protect the front door and the area where they park their car, as well as openings for small businesses such as vending of homemade food, or phone cards.
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The fences of the higher income families are typically the tallest, and least permeable. They are also characterized by the latest gadgets in alarms, intercoms, buzzers and remote control security systems. The isolated single-family home in an open neighborhood is no longer seen as the ideal scenario for raising a family. The city has become so dangerous that children cannot safely ride their bikes in the streets or hang out with friends in front of their homes.
As a consequence, during the past decade, the gated community has been adopted as the new ideal for family living. Housing typologies from detached single-family homes, townhouses, to low-rise apartment blocks now share protected common open space in these planned communities. Continuous concrete fences, up to 20 feet in height and topped with electrical wire, surround the villas, opening at one vehicular and pedestrian access point.
An armed guard sits 24 hours a day at the gate to allow people in or out, always checking the identification and destination of the visitor. Newer villas try to soften the effect of the enormous walls by incorporating landscape features and architectural detailing of the particular theme of the development.
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Once inside the walls of the villa, though bars on windows still remain, other forms of protection disappear. Carports are no longer cages. People are able to keep planters and outdoor furniture on their decks and patios. Visitors and residents can safely park their cars on the street. Many daily activities that were lost re-emerge; such as children playing outside, riding bikes, people jogging or just hanging out watering their front lawns.
Now that the villa developers have started to provide facilities for the residents such as swimming pools, tennis courts and community centers, the artificial feeling of a neighborhood has become more real than it has been for a decade. This lifestyle does come at a cost, not only in the premium charged for the provided facilities and sense of security, but rather in the fact that the enormous complexes act as impassable islands in the city for pedestrians and vehicular traffic.