Letter: Venezuela benefits from sanctions

Sanctions taken by the US government against the Venezuelan government brought back the hope that thousands of Venezuelans had lost over the past years. Those sanctions are against those who have committed violations over the rights of the Venezuelan citizens. There has been evidence that shows how the Venezuelan government has been involved with fraudulent actions, such as stealing billions of dollars from the funds available to citizens as well as drug dealing and many other violations that this government has been doing over their 16 years in power.

Hugo Rafael Chavez Frias was elected as the president of Venezuela in 1999. In the 14 years of his presidency, Chavez had every opportunity to make Venezuela South America’s most important country, and to make the Venezuelan economy one of the strongest worldwide, with oil earnings of more than $100 per barrel. But none of this happened; instead he left a country world-known for its absolutely high corruption rates, with one of the weakest economies in the world, with inflation rates of more than 66 percent annually. Five out of the 20 most dangerous cities in the world are Venezuelan cities, with Caracas being the second most dangerous city in the world. Unemployment rates have never been so high in Venezuelan history, but most importantly, Chavez left a country split in the middle; with half the population loving a missing Chavez, their hero, and the other half in desperate need for change.

When Chavez died, Nicolas Maduro took over the presidency. He promised to continue the work that Chavez did in his 15 years of presidency. Nevertheless, things started to get more and more critical for Venezuelans, starting with the high insecurity that people face every day whenever they have to leave their houses for work, school and daily duties. Also, scarcity is starting to be a major problem since people have to stand in lines for hours to purchase basic products such as toilet paper, milk, sugar, diapers, medications and personal hygiene products, among many other goods that people have a hard time finding in regular grocery stores. Venezuelans cannot receive proper medical care because hospitals do not have the proper equipment and medication to treat patients; as an example, babies are placed in cardboard instead of incubators, which has led to the death of many infants.

All these problems have led to many protests around the country, which has caused the death and imprisonment of many students and opposition leaders. The student movements started on February 12, 2014, and continued until the government allowed the use of weapons instead of just rubber bullets and tear gas to dissuade protesters; this is an assault against the constitution which allows pacific protests as a right that every citizen should have.

Since the right of freedom of speech has been taken away from Venezuelans, the Venezuelan government only provides the information that goes out to the world. These lies are all over the world, but the truth is that only Venezuelan citizens know what the truth of the situation of our country is. This is why the posters supporting the Venezuelan government on the free speech board at the Student Union affected many Venezuelans at the University of Toledo. We understand that people may have different opinions, but supporting a lie that they haven’t seen or lived was an insult for all of us that are suffering the consequences of a corrupt government.

We invite you to get a hold of a Venezuelan student, and have them share their story with you. We will be more than happy to discuss the current situation of Venezuela.

— Valentina Diaz Trejo, a third-year majoring in international business and marketing