# Lessons from Venezuela



## chaosjourney (Nov 1, 2012)

As we watch conditions in Venezuela continue to deteriorate I am hoping that we can pull together with real time real life wisdom gained from their hardships.

Here is an article that briefly sums up where they are currently and I believe that most of us would like to be ready for a worst case scenario such as this.

http://readynutrition.com/resources/venezuela-a-preppers-nightmare-come-to-life_16052016/

I think that we could gain much from sharing news links, making observations and discussing these events as they unfold.


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## chaosjourney (Nov 1, 2012)

I am currently trying to find info on how folks are doing outside of the cities.


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## Tweto (Nov 26, 2011)

Yesterday, a news story came out about this and it did say that only some areas in the larger cities were having rioting. the suburban areas and the country was still quiet.

Research from the Great Depression here in the US found that only the larger cities had the food lines and massive unemployment, where as the country people barely even knew at the time of a depression.

Because the news reporting media is also in the major cities, they report on this and ignore what's happening else where.


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## chaosjourney (Nov 1, 2012)

I've noticed that the major headlines from this are about conditions in the cities. Everything that is happening down there seems to confirm many of our concerns about the escalated danger of city life. 

I did see an article from Guardian yesterday that asked Venezuelans for updates on conditions where they are at. Hopefully we will get more info, but I doubt that many rural folks there have internet access.


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## LastOutlaw (Jun 1, 2013)

Tweto said:


> Yesterday, a news story came out about this and it did say that only some areas in the larger cities were having rioting. the suburban areas and the country was still quiet.
> 
> Research from the Great Depression here in the US found that only the larger cities had the food lines and massive unemployment, where as the country people barely even knew at the time of a depression.
> 
> Because the news reporting media is also in the major cities, they report on this and ignore what's happening else where.


While I'm sure the biggest suffering is in the cities, the whole country will suffer hyperinflation. Even country folk have to buy things to get by in most cases and when the store wants $150.00 for a loaf of bread the price is reflected nationwide. Wheat items are in very short supply there as well as toilet paper, etc. The rumor is the grocery store that was over-run supposedly had chicken.The word is people in the cities are hunting and eating cats, dogs and pigeons.

I would also bet that there is an exodus from the cities to the country by anyone who has family or friends who live away from the cities.
The same thing has been happening in Greece at a slower pace. Children are sent away to relatives in the country. People have been steadily moving away from the cities.


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## LastOutlaw (Jun 1, 2013)

More strife coming

America is being blamed by the president for trying to cause a coup as well.


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## BillS (May 30, 2011)

Tweto said:


> Yesterday, a news story came out about this and it did say that only some areas in the larger cities were having rioting. the suburban areas and the country was still quiet.
> 
> *Research from the Great Depression here in the US found that only the larger cities had the food lines and massive unemployment, where as the country people barely even knew at the time of a depression.*
> 
> Because the news reporting media is also in the major cities, they report on this and ignore what's happening else where.


I don't believe that. In the Great Depression prices fell for everything produced on a farm or a ranch. People who farmed generally had food to eat but they were still very poor.


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## readytogo (Apr 6, 2013)

*Food Wasted ,Riots and Complains .*

No one born in this country has ever suffer living under a totalitarian government, even during the Great Depression and some limited food rations during the wars no one can even imaging those conditions where everything is the property of the government where killing your own livestock becomes a prison term so comparing a small riot in a city is peanuts to what daily life is all about under such government ,we do complain a lot about this or that we complain about the president now or even the next one but we don`t complain about the millions of pound of food that is wasted every day , http://news.nationalgeographic.com/...national-security-environment-science-ngfood/ , grocery stores dump fresh food daily ;bread ,cakes , fresh cooked deli foods ,etc and no one is complaining ,the same food that can be preserved or given to families on government assistance saving millions of dollars so yes Venezuelans' can complain and riot all day long they have a good reason for it ,we don't, every riot that has taken place after a major event has been nothing more than open looting by criminals and yes during the Great Depression we had riots but we also had no FEMA or Homeland Security or a prepared Red Cross; agencies that during major events can delivered in 72 hours or less needed supplies like it did after Andrew here in Miami. What we need to do is write letters to our elected officials about the laws and regulations concerning the FDA or whatever agency is in charge of our food production and safety and ask why so much food has to be wasted we need to riot before the event and folks we are free to do so, we lived in a great democracy we can make changes.


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## AuntB (Nov 24, 2015)

LastOutlaw said:


> While I'm sure the biggest suffering is in the cities, the whole country will suffer hyperinflation. Even country folk have to buy things to get by in most cases and when the store wants $150.00 for a loaf of bread the price is reflected nationwide. Wheat items are in very short supply there as well as toilet paper, etc. The rumor is the grocery store that was over-run supposedly had chicken.The word is people in the cities are hunting and eating cats, dogs and pigeons.
> 
> I would also bet that there is an exodus from the cities to the country by anyone who has family or friends who live away from the cities.
> The same thing has been happening in Greece at a slower pace. Children are sent away to relatives in the country. People have been steadily moving away from the cities.


Very good point. In Venezuela we have a different situation then what we saw in Greece. In Greece the city folks were mainly effected and the ones doing without. I spoke to Greeks and what I was hearing on the news was sort of sensationalized. Plus Greece had the Eurozone to bail it out. Venezuela seems to be on their own

With Venezuela the country on a whole is effected. There are electric holidays where the juice is turned off. The hospital have no supplies. People are having to purchase medication on the black market and the troops are eating stolen goats- http://www.cnbc.com/2016/05/04/how-bad-is-it-in-venezuela-soldiers-are-stealing-goats.html


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## DrPrepper (Apr 17, 2016)

I can compare what is happening in Venezuela to the way things were after Hurricane Katrina and the major differences between "city" and "country" people. I led a team of 21 health care providers to Pass Christian, MS to provide medical support in the days right after the hurricane hit. While the people in New Orleans were looting and hurting each other, the people in Pass Christian were too busy taking care of each other. Although the town was devastated, with very few habitable houses left standing, people kept their decency. There was not a lot of food (or anything for that matter) but as donations rolled in, it was hard to convince people to take what they needed at the distribution center near our clinic. The folks at the distribution center would tell people to take an extra can of food or bottle of water to "share with your neighbor" - it was the only way to get people to take more than one or two items. Yet, even though the devastation was incredible, the media was more focused on the events in New Orleans. Being kind, helpful, and just plain neighborly did not rate the media attention. I could tell so many stories of the kindness and courage of these people who lost everything except human decency - but the media is simply not interested in that.


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## Tweto (Nov 26, 2011)

BillS said:


> I don't believe that. In the Great Depression prices fell for everything produced on a farm or a ranch. People who farmed generally had food to eat but they were still very poor.


The people in the country did not experience food lines or massive unemployment. 50% of the population still worked in the country at the time.

Grain and live stock prices were not apart of my post. Yes, grain prices were much lower, but for a large portion of the land owners it was a serious mater, but for the non owners it was not near as bad as for the city people.

When the Great depression is talked about the first thing most think about is the dust bowl people. But, the dust bowl was a totally separate from the Great Depression. The farmers that were not suffering from that drought did have grain to sell and still had money coming in. The dust bowl could not produce a crop and even if grain prices remained high would have had the same problems.


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## hiwall (Jun 15, 2012)

Many farmers with mortgages lost their farms during that time period. 
It will be the same again soon with many foreclosures of farms and houses and condominiums. As county governments run low on money they increase property taxes causing a bigger burden on farmers, both large and small. When old farmers die often the family can not afford the taxes and have to sell the farms. Now many large farms are now corporate owned and they will not be immune to bankruptcy if (when) things really start going downhill. As farms large and small declare bankruptcy they will sell all their equipment and be unable to farm anymore. Anyone with money will have to buy both the land and all the equipment, a very costly proposition.


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## backlash (Nov 11, 2008)

LastOutlaw said:


> More strife coming
> 
> America is being blamed by the president for trying to cause a coup as well.


I wouldn't be surprised if he is correct.


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## Genevieve (Sep 21, 2009)

Maybe everyone should stop trying to be correct about what did and didn't happen during the US depression and maybe think about what they will need to be better off compared to the people in venezuela

what are they clamoring for and bartering for? do you have it put back?

If you don't know it, by now our economy is so propped up that it is teetering. of course the gov says all is well and anyone saying otherwise are telling tales ( don't pay attention to that! kim k is showing her azz again online look!!)

what is on the list?

flour
meat
hygiene products ( soap, tampons, shampoo,etc)
medications

and from what I've read elsewhere seeds for gardening
everything you can buy at the dollar store for measly buck right now

it can happen here. don't think it can't


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## Country Living (Dec 15, 2009)

Tweto said:


> ....Research from the Great Depression here in the US found that only the larger cities had the food lines and massive unemployment, where as the country people barely even knew at the time of a depression.


My grandparents had a farm in West Texas. My grandmother's answer to my "how did the Great Depression affect you?" question was this: Everyone was poor and they just weren't affected by the depression like the people were in the cities. They grew crops and raised a few cattle, had chickens and some goats so they always had something to eat. All the farms shared with the neighboring farms, and they all took any food that was left over to the people in town when they went to church on Sunday. She said when you've never had much, you just don't need much. Actually, I think she said something about if they didn't have it, they just didn't need it because they would just "make do". She didn't see the Great Depression years as being different or harder.


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## fteter (May 23, 2014)

The two biggest lessons from Venezuela? 1) Don't put all your eggs in one basket; 2) Interest never sleeps. 

They borrowed big dollars and bet the borrowed money on oil. Then oil prices plummeted. While the oil price drops were bad enough, the interest on the borrowed money continued to accumulate...it didn't stop just because the prices dropped.

Now they're forced to extremes as they try to service the debt...that'll fail and they'll default...which kills them in the world markets. It's a downward spiral driven by a crushing burden of debt. I feel for them. It's tough to watch.

So be wary of debt and diversify your investments/preparations. Seems to me as though that's the lesson here.


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## ClemKadiddlehopper (Aug 15, 2014)

Venezuela had big problems long before the price of oil took a nose dive. 

We lived in Caracas '96 -'98 leaving two months before Chavez was voted in. My hubby was shook down as soon as he stepped outside the airport door and escorted to a "private taxi" which met up with some policemen waiting at the toll booths on the highway to Caracas. The police held a gun to his head while he exchanged money to pay for his being dropped at his hotel instead of naked in a Barrio (even worse than a gun to the head) which was a favourite play for those that did not cooperate. These days they don't wait for you to step outside the door and in all likelyhood you could easily end up dead.

The crimes that we saw and experienced were already well in play. Chavez got into power because of the extreme numbers of "have nots" in relation to the relatively small numbers of "have it all and don't give a crap about the rest". Life was so cheap that they used to shoot street kids like stray dogs when they got to be a problem for the privileged. Seriously though, these people voted a guy into power who did jail time for a failed coup. It was never going to end well. His main opposition in the election was a former beauty queen. A lot of people died in the riots after the election to no avail.



An old lady selling cookies without a license outside the BP office was beat to a pulp and her cookies thrown into the street because she didn't have enough bribe money for the officer who ran the block. All this in public and pre Chavez.

Whats happening now, is just an escalation of what already was. I drove miles on a flat tire to get to a safe security stop so that an approved agent could change the tire for me. You just didn't stop on the side of the road. When staying in a hotel while traveling, we were warned to listen for robbers crawling through the ducts and to keep the bathroom door locked and two people should carefully check to see if the bath room could be used safely; one was to stand guard and then the door was once again locked after use, and yes this was an regular hotel room with its own bathroom. The duct work could accommodate a small mugger. The car was more secure than we were. It had a heavy duty cage with a roof and we could pay a policeman to guard it; strongly suggested by the police of course.

We took back packs to the bank and scooters used drive around with boxes of cash strapped to the back. Now one needs a wheelbarrow and tie downs with the problem being that even the middle class is finding it tough to buy food. The higher ups are having no such problem still.

We have Venezuelan friends still there who are sticking it out and risking their lives for change. They have not given up and still have hope that things can change.

Best pray this doesn't come to a land near you.


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## hiwall (Jun 15, 2012)

Venezuela owes a lot of money to China. A lot of money. I wonder what China may do to get some value for that money.


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## mosquitomountainman (Jan 25, 2010)

Relatives who lived through the Great Depression just said that "there was no money." They were country people and when they needed something they bartered for it because no one had real money to purchase anything. One friend's parents owned a bar. They always had food to eat because the bar had a restaurant. People always paid their bar bill before the rent payment. One man's father lost his farm to the bank. The bank failed and his dad lost all of his savings in that then the bank repossessed his farm because he couldn't make the payments. The irony was that his dad's savings were more than what he owed on the farm.

What I gleaned from talking to them was first to stay out of debt. Second, to be able to provide your necessities yourself. Outside sources needed money and if you had no money (no one did at that time) you had no access to the things you needed. Third, you need good friends and to be a part of a community that worked together. That wasn't a big thing back then as most rural places were like that all of the time. Another thing that they took for granted because that's just the way of life for them was being frugal. Their motto before the Depression was the same as during the depression: "Do, make do, do without." The other gem was that they did not replace anything unless it was worn out and used up.

I lived in a small town when one of the local banks went belly-up. People just quit spending money for about six weeks and then they spent it frugally for the next year or so. And that was with federal insuranc on their deposits and one bank that was still solvent in a town of around 1200 people. The only people who actually lost their jobs were the bank employees so no one else felt any actual hardship but the fear factor and panic made them stop spending money. That only made the situation worse. 

I had a small auto repair business in the town at that time and I saw my gross sales drop nearly 90 percent for a whole month. In the meantime my bills were still due (house payment, electricity, gas, water and sewer, phone, insurance, taxes and food). It was a lean time for every merchant in town. The fear reaction of the people made a bad situation even worse! 

So, want to insulate yourself from the effects of economic depressions? Be interest free. Owe on nothing you cannot afford to lose. I saw people make their boat payment but not their house payment. They eventually lost both. Be able to produce your own necessities such as food, water, heat for your home and security. Have some savings on hand to cover at least your taxes for a couple of years and make sure it is spent only on those thing you must have to keep your home or health. Live frugally. Cutlivate friendships with others of like mind and get some barter networks going before TSHTF. What you want is a Mutual Aid Group without it being a formal organization. These are good friends who are self-supporting and responsible citizens and neighbors and you should be the same. (The old saying about small towns is true: in a small town you know whose check is good and whose husband isn't!) For example: I once had a customer's vehicle parked in my parking area and three people stopped to tell me that if the vehicle's owner wrote me a check it was good but be sure to get my money before he took the car or I'd never get paid. Have real barterable skills.


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## Starcreek (Feb 4, 2015)

AuntB said:


> Very good point. In Venezuela we have a different situation then what we saw in Greece. In Greece the city folks were mainly effected and the ones doing without. I spoke to Greeks and what I was hearing on the news was sort of sensationalized. Plus Greece had the Eurozone to bail it out. Venezuela seems to be on their own
> 
> With Venezuela the country on a whole is effected. There are electric holidays where the juice is turned off. The hospital have no supplies. People are having to purchase medication on the black market and the troops are eating stolen goats- http://www.cnbc.com/2016/05/04/how-bad-is-it-in-venezuela-soldiers-are-stealing-goats.html


Hide yer goats!


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## readytogo (Apr 6, 2013)

*As hunger stalks Venezuela?*

And now an amazing story, it seems that the hypocritical government and American way of life and freedom hater politicos in Venezuela stole my WW2 Victory Gardens article ,hell read this article from my local newspaper today ,folks there is no end to a totalitarian governments bull&#8230;&#8230;.ok manure.
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/venezuela/article79422092.html


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## LastOutlaw (Jun 1, 2013)

hiwall said:


> It will be the same again soon with many foreclosures of farms and houses and condominiums. As county governments run low on money they increase property taxes causing a bigger burden on farmers, both large and small.


Keep your eye on Oklahoma. The state now has a huge deficit due to losses in the oil industry and numerous oil companies going out of business there. The Governor is now talking of raising taxes on the farmers and ranchers. Also creating new taxes on horse sales and other produced livestock.


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## Cotton (Oct 12, 2013)

Danny Glover, Sean Penn, Oliver Stone, idiots, they championed this disease.

Hillary and Bernie preach all these failed socialist principles. They preach what all of us know will fail, principles that have failed repeatedly on 6 continents since 1946. Millions murdered or starved, socialism at its finest.

How stupid does a person have to be to actually consider Hillary or Bernie. The other choice isn't any better, damned if you do, damned if you don't.

Watch Venezuela burn like hundreds of other societies from the poison of slavery, I mean socialism. Danny, Sean and Hillary will be there telling all of us how wonderful it is!


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## LastOutlaw (Jun 1, 2013)

Cotton said:


> Danny Glover, Sean Penn, Oliver Stone, idiots, they championed this disease.
> 
> Hillary and Bernie preach all these failed socialist principles. They preach what all of us know will fail, principles that have failed repeatedly on 6 continents since 1946. Millions murdered or starved, socialism at its finest.
> 
> ...


I have to agree with you and I'm sick of Hollywood asshats preaching to me. What makes those hypocrites think they know anything better than the rest of us? Because they can look at a camera and pretend? Or because they can sing a song in front of a microphone? That reasoning is as sound as saying a community organizer is qualified to run the greatest country in the world. 
I wish Hollywood would keep their mouths shut before I run out of movies to watch. There are so many actors and singers that I can no longer enjoy due to their drivel they preach like they actually know something.

BTW....Mark Cuckerburg has purchased all the homes next to his and has torn most down and is supposedly building a secure bunker there meanwhile he preaches we should all give up our firearms while he hires more armed security.

I'm sick of them all.


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## hiwall (Jun 15, 2012)

> Lessons from Venezuela


One lesson we can maybe find in the Venezuela mess is the role of government. As things get worse and worse the government gets stronger and stronger. Protesters are met with more and more violence. The government there is using the supply of electricity to help control the population. We can only speculate what will happen next there as we wait for further developments to unfold. 
Just think about these few facts and explain how that can not ever happen here.
To me this shows the opposite of what is often predicted by writers of apocalyptic fiction where the government falls apart and there is anarchy. It appears more likely the government gets stronger and eventually must become ruthless to stop anarchy. To the point where the citizens have to wonder which option would be worse. Yes I know Venezuela is basically a dictatorship/communistic government while we are supposedly a democratic republic. But I have to wonder if things fall apart here will our government behave more like Venezuela?


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## Caribou (Aug 18, 2012)

LastOutlaw said:


> I have to agree with you and I'm sick of Hollywood asshats preaching to me. What makes those hypocrites think they know anything better than the rest of us?
> 
> BTW....Mark Cuckerburg has purchased all the homes next to his and has torn most down and is supposedly building a secure bunker there meanwhile he preaches we should all give up our firearms while he hires more armed security.
> 
> I'm sick of them all.


It make one wonder if Joe McCarthy didn't have it right after all.


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## TheLazyL (Jun 5, 2012)

LastOutlaw said:


> I have to agree with you and I'm sick of Hollywood asshats preaching to me. What makes those hypocrites think they know anything better than the rest of us? Because they can look at a camera and pretend? Or because they can sing a song in front of a microphone? ....


They make millions, fans scream at them and the news media fall all over themselves trying to get interviews. So the Hollywood crowd think they really are somebody...till they die broke or from a overdose.

Wife goes on and on about some famous person on a "reality" show. I have no idea who she is talking about or why I should care.


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## Tweto (Nov 26, 2011)

On the news today, they are showing inner city people eating garbage right out of the can and in the middle of the street.


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## fteter (May 23, 2014)

ClemKadiddlehopper said:


> Venezuela had big problems long before the price of oil took a nose dive.
> 
> We lived in Caracas '96 -'98 leaving two months before Chavez was voted in. My hubby was shook down as soon as he stepped outside the airport door and escorted to a "private taxi" which met up with some policemen waiting at the toll booths on the highway to Caracas. The police held a gun to his head while he exchanged money to pay for his being dropped at his hotel instead of naked in a Barrio (even worse than a gun to the head) which was a favourite play for those that did not cooperate. These days they don't wait for you to step outside the door and in all likelyhood you could easily end up dead.
> 
> ...


Although my perspective has to do with watching the markets, I will also add that nothing...absolutely nothing...beats personal experience. Thank you for sharing!


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## tmttactical (Nov 23, 2015)

*News update*

Venezuela gov't. started new agency - - Ministry of Urban Farming. Designed to encourage people in urban area's to start raising their own food. See link down below.

http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/mo...inistry-urban-farming/?intcmp=related#slide=1

Maybe preppers do have the right idea.


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## tmttactical (Nov 23, 2015)

*Some power restored*

The President of Venezuela said the planned power outages would be lifted and the regular utility personnel work week would be restored. See link below.

http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/ne...a-says-lifting-power-rationing/?intcmp=hplnws

3 months later and they have the water and money to pay the workers. I guess we will have to see if they are recovering or another political tactic to keep ruling party in power?


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