Page 12 - ARUBA TODAY

A12 WORLD NEWS
Tuesday 4 June 2019
In Venezuela, criminals feel the pinch of an economic crisis

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) launched a bold cam-
— The feared street gang- paign with the support of
ster El Negrito sleeps with a the U.S. and more than 50
pistol under his pillow and nations to oust Maduro,
says he's lost track of his who succeeded Chávez.
murder count. But despite However, Guaidó has yet
his hardened demeanor, to make good on his prom-
he's quick to gripe about ises to restore democracy,
how Venezuela's failing spark a robust economy
economy is cutting into his and make the streets safer.
profits. As a result of the chaos,
Firing a gun has become crime has not so much
a luxury. Bullets are expen- disappeared as simply
sive at $1 each. And with morphed in form. While as-
less cash circulating on the saults are down, reports of
street, he says robberies just theft and pilfering of ev-
don't pay like they used to. erything from copper tele-
For the 24-year-old, that phone wires to livestock
has all given way to a sim- are surging. Meanwhile,
ple fact: Even for Venezu- drug trafficking and illegal
elan criminals it's become gold mining have become
harder to get by. default activities for orga-
"If you empty your clip, nized crime.
you're shooting off $15," When night falls, streets in
said El Negrito, who spoke A masked gangster who goes by the nickname "El Negrito" poses for a portrait with his gun inside Caracas clear as most resi-
to The Associated Press on his gang's safe-house in the Petare slum of Caracas, Venezuela, Monday, May 13, 2019. dents abide by an unde-
the condition he be identi- Associated Press clared curfew out of fear
fied only by his street name for their safety. Despite the
and photographed wear- the last three years based a political battle for control nationwide strikes. significant drop in killings,
ing a hoodie and face on tallies from media clip- of the once-wealthy oil na- But as the country de- Venezuelans tend not to
mask to avoid attracting pings and sources at local tion. scends into a state of law- gaze at their cellphones
unwelcomed attention. morgues. Soaring inflation topped 1 lessness, many Venezue- in the streets. Many leave
"You lose your pistol or the Officials of President Nico- million percent last year, lans who turn to crime find gold and silver wedding
police take it and you're lás Maduro's socialist ad- making the local bolivar themselves subject to the rings in secure places at
throwing away $800." ministration have drawn nearly useless even though same chaos that has led to home, while others have
In something of an unex- criticism for not releasing ATM machines have been a broader political and so- grown accustomed to
pected silver lining to the robust crime statistics, but unable to dispense more cial meltdown. checking whether they are
country's all-consuming the government on Tues- than a dollar's worth of Critics blame 20 years of being followed.
economic crunch, experts day gave the AP figures scrip anyway. The severe the socialist revolution "Venezuela remains one of
say armed assaults and kill- showing a 39 percent drop scarcity of food and medi- launched by the late Presi- the most violent countries
ings are plummeting in one in homicides over the same cine has driven some 3.7 dent Hugo Chávez, who in the world," said Dorothy
of the world's most violent three-year period, with million to seek better pros- expropriated once-thriving Kronick, who teaches po-
nations. At the Venezuelan 10,598 killings in 2018. Offi- pects in places like Colom- businesses that today pro- litical science at the Uni-
Observatory of Violence, cials also report a fall in kid- bia, Panama and Peru — duce a fraction of their po- versity of Pennsylvania and
a Caracas-based non- nappings. the majority of them young tential under government has carried out extensive
profit group, researchers The decline has a direct males from whom gangs management. research in Caracas' slums.
estimate homicides have link to the economic tail- recruit. And workdays are Earlier this year, opposi- "It has wartime levels of vio-
plunged up to 20% over spin that has helped spark frequently curtailed due to tion leader Juan Guaidó lence — but no war."q

Argentines protest violence against women in large marches

Associated Press and more organized," said But when Chiara Paez, a
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina Verónica Gago, a move- 14-year-old pregnant girl,
(AP) — Thousands of Ar- ment activist. "You can see was killed by her boyfriend
gentines took to the streets it in these marches ... and in May 2015, the organiz-
nationwide Monday to pro- in the everyday organiza- ers felt it was enough. The
test violence against wom- tion at each workplace, first call to protest started
en. in each university, in each with a tweet by local radio
The marches coincided school. It's in the debates journalist Marcela Ojeda:
with the fourth anniversary among families and espe- "Women: are we not going
of the founding of the ac- cially among the younger to raise our voices? THEY'RE
tivist group Ni Una Menos, generations." KILLING US!"
or Not One Less. The Argen- Ni Una Menos was created The public outcry that fol-
tine grassroots movement by 20 artists, journalists and lowed on social media in-
has mobilized to fight gen- activists in 2015 after out- spired the first march on
der-based violence and rage over a brutal string of June 3, 2015. That day,
has spread to other coun- murders. They began by millions took to the streets
A woman's mask is covered with the Spanish phrase: "Enough tries. organizing public readings of cities across Argentina,
killing," during a protest against gender violence in Buenos Ai- "In these four years we've about violence against making headlines and
res, Argentina, Monday, June 3, 2019. gained, and every time women with family mem- triggering a nationwide
Associated Press (the movement) is larger bers of victims. conversation.q