Venezuela borders Guyana to the east, Brazil to the south, and Colombia to the west. Trinidad and Tobago, Grenada, St. Lucia, Barbados, Curaçao, Bonaire, Aruba, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and the Leeward Antilles lie just north, off the Venezuelan coast. Its size is 916,445 km² with an estimated population of 26,414,816. Its capital is Caracas. The colors of the Venezuelan flag are yellow, blue and red, in that order: the yellow stands for land wealth, the blue for the sea and sky of the country, and the red for the blood shed by the heroes of independence.

We are so glad we got to visit Venezuela before Hugo Chavez became it's president.  When we landed at the port (photo right) and started the climb to Venezuela's capital Caracas, one is struck by the abject poverty as evidenced by the proliferation of barrios as seen when you start your decent into the city of Caracas (left ).

Safe areas: Los Ruices, Sebucan, Los Dos Caminos, Palos Grandes, Parque del Este, Chacao, Altamira, Chacaito, La California, Bello Monte, Colinas de Bello Monte, Los Chaguaramos, Sta Monica, etc...To be avoided: Downtown and west of the city, from Plaza Venezuela metro station to the west, and the far east of the city, Palo Verde, Petare, etc..  Murders: 8,022 (2000) (per capita): 32 per 100,000 people.  This give you an idea of how dangerous a place Caracas has become.

There are two classes of people; the rich and the poor.  There was no middle class that we saw.  The rich live in protected areas in neighborhood much like any middle class neighborhood in the USA.  The poor (and there are LOT'S of people who fit that description live in tight, cramped, squalid barrios that are ubiquitous in Caracas.  You will see them when you are flying in. You will see them as you are driving around town. From a distance they look cute and even beautiful at night but stay away from the ranchitos. They appear as clay huts all over the mountains and hills. If you travel into these areas you will more than likely leave, penniless and naked. That is, if you leave at all.

Festivals abound and are always colorful (right) but again, be careful if you decide to attend one.  We decided to take a tour into the mountains surrounding Caracas.  It was to a German village high in the mountains and it was very interesting.  It's strange to see Bavarian style homes and businesses with German names and German menus in the middle of the jungle. 

Colonia Tovar, (below, left and right) a German settlement town located 40 miles (65km) to the west of Caracas and in the mountains - beautiful!!
 

Our tour took us into the forest and up the steep mountainside.  The village was founded in 1841 by Don Martin Tovar, a Venezuelan congressman that enforced the treaty with European immigrants from Tyrol and West Germany among others. Colonia Tovar was described by Isabel Allende in her novel, EVA LUNA as: 'A picturesque German Village of white houses with timbers and red roofs surrounded by flower gardens, carefully tended fields and creeks with water mills. German cooking and German atmosphere. A cold beer or a freshly made fruit juice, followed by sausages and sauerkraut and a big piece of black forest cake listening to some Bavarian music.'

And so it was!  It was everything Sabel Allende said and more...

Hugo Chávez was elected president in December 1998 and took office in February 1999. His economic policies have been more socialistic than those of his predecessors. He did consider implementing Rhenish capitalism in Venezuela, however he decided not to. In the first four years of the Chávez presidency, the economy contracted, at first because of low oil prices, then because of the turmoil caused by the 2002 coup attempt and the 2002-2003 business strike. Since 2003, the Venezuelan government has set price controls on around 400 basic foods in an effort according to the Washington Post, to "counter inflation and protect the poor." However it is reported that these price controls have caused "sporadic food shortages" due to the regulated prices not keeping pace with inflation so that producers are faced with either selling their goods at 30-60% above the regulated price, or with hoarding in hope of government action to revise regulated prices upwards.

The drastic measures have also caused problems with smuggling, with products being bought at regulated prices in Venezuela and smuggled across the border into Colombia, and that brings me to CITGO Petroleum Corporation (or CITGO) is a United States-incorporated, Venezuela-owned by PDV America, Inc. 

I, personally, will NOT but any products from CITGO.  I don't approve of Hugo Chávez or any of his communist or socialistic policies or attacks on the United States government.  There is absolutely NO way we would ever visit Venezuela again until the rampant crime and this political environment changes. 

As I said in the beginning,  we are glad that we visited Venezuela when we did.