Venezuela recently launched a tourism drive entitled “que chévere es Venezuela” for Semana Santa or Holy Week, which traditionally is a long holiday in all of Latin America. Which brings me to ask this very important question: “why visit Venezuela? Venezuela is a blackhole of bad news these days. Skyrocketing inflation, food scarcity, crumbling public infrastructure, and spiraling criminality. You name it! This country has it.
Now, people who go to Venezuela these days are either unadultered Communists who want to experience 21st century Bolivarian Socialism in the flesh, pseudo-masochists who derive pleasure from subjecting themselves to potential life-threatening risks, or unemployed Spanish Socialists who have nowhere to go (and I have met a few of them). These aren’t foolish tourists by any means. These are simply displaced economic drifters, cast aside by their own crumbling social environments.
First of all, I wish to clarify that I don’t belong to any of the above. While I may have Social Democratic leanings myself, I think Venezuela’s 21st Century Socialism is not something that anyone should aspire to follow. This country, like its ideological partner – Cuba, is exhibit A of how irresponsible ideological rigidity trumps common sense.
Secondly, even if I have been known to accept the riskiest postings or jobs that others shy away from, I am in Venezuela against my own accord. I was sent here because I was forced to bail out from my dream Andean vacation because of a series of missteps by people who should know better (a subject of a previous blog post, by the way). Not that I am complaining. I am, after all, having what amounts to an all-expense paid vacation by my government.
Back to the issue at hand. Venezuela actually isn’t that bad as a potential tourist destination. There is the world’s tallest waterfall (Angel Falls), which is actually part of my personal bucket list. There is Isla Margarita, a fine piece of tropical beach paradise (or used to be, depending on who one talks to). There is the unspoiled beauty of Los Roques Archipelago, with its fine sandy beaches. Venezuela indeed has a lot of tourism hot spots.
If these are not sufficient enough to entice one to visit Venezuela, there are other unconventional reasons to do so for travelers who are searching for offbeat travel destinations. They are as follows:
This is, of course, bad for local businessmen. They are being forced to sell goods and services at a loss. For those in business, the regime’s price-busting program is clearly and literally the one that is offensive. However, this is good news for travelers, like you and me. The prices of hotels, transportation local airfare are dirt cheap because they are priced using the artifically-set forex rates. All thanks to strict price controls being implemented by an extra bureaucracy called the tasty-sounding SUNDEE whose sole purpose of being is to check prices.
Because of SUNDEE, you can find a fully-furnished, four-star apartment hotel that costs US$30 per day or a two-way airline ticket that costs only US$30-35. Car rental is even cheaper at around US$20 per day. Of course, all of these expenses are computed using black market rates. That also goes without saying.
It turned out to be a blessing in disguise because all the expenses I had incurred during my stay in Isla Margarita were recouped from my winnings at the Black Jack table. The casino was packed every night. A word of advice for those who want to play Black Jack in Porlamar. The natives are restless and agressive. Keep calm and collected. I don’t even remember getting my feet week in the beach during that weekend in an island paradise.