This nightmare is what Venezuela has become

[Demovictory9]

The walkers come in a steady flow, individually and in small groups, through most of the day. The serpentine mountain road they take often has little room at the sides, leaving refugees in the path of traffic. The 350-mile journey to Bogota is part forced march and part pilgrimage — impelled by hunger and desperation in Venezuela, but also drawn toward a new start in Colombia, Ecuador, Peru or beyond.

At this point in the Venezuelan crisis, many of the men have already gone ahead in search of work. Their families now follow. Children drag luggage behind them. Mothers carry babies or cranky toddlers. Their clothing is generally unsuited to a trek in which temperatures often start in the high 90s but dip into the low 40s in the mountains. Many make the long walk in either flip-flops or Crocs.

Along the route are a string of way stations, run and supported by organizations including the International Committee of the Red Cross, Oxfam, Samaritan’s Purse and World Vision (my host). A station known as El Diamante, sponsored by a local Catholic church, is helping 300 to 400 walkers a day, providing hot food, bathroom facilities and temporary shelter.

“There is no work and no food [back in Venezuela],” one woman resting at El Diamante told me. “I can’t buy diapers or milk.” Another added, “I came here because I suffer with diabetes and can’t find any medicine there.” A man holding his child explained to me, “My son didn’t have anything to eat. I need to fight for him.”

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Venezuela is now a world leader in the production of desperation. In the early 2000s, socialist strongman Hugo Chávez created a system, funded by oil revenue, in which food, education and health care were all essentially free. Salaries were small but were mainly used for extras, not essentials. When the price of oil crashed, so did the system of subsidies. Poor and middle-class Venezuelans were left only with their salaries, paid in a local currency that hyperinflation rendered essentially worthless. Some products are still available, but only when purchased with U.S. dollars.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/this-nightmare-is-what-venezuela-has-become/2019/06/17/364b2c2e-9134-11e9-b570-6416efdc0803_story.html?utm_term=.ca5216ebc81a