Three years ago I was in Venezuela to get a first-hand look at the Bolivarian Revolution of Hugo Chavez. I was traveling with a Witness For Peace delegation. Amid all the sights and sounds of a society in anxious, oil-and-ideology-driven flux, I had one overriding impression: Caracas wasn’t safe.
Three times in less than a week there our group was personally privy to crime. Once a member was robbed on a light-rail (yes they have it there) train. Another member was assaulted and robbed as we listened to an outdoor presentation by a local official. The third time a guy on a motorcycle sped off with a video camera being used by a local TV station shooting a piece about our visit. Meanwhile, the media were routinely chronicling news of homicides and kidnappings.
Fast forward to last week. Venezuela is in the news again–for the abduction and rescue of Washington Nationals’ rookie catcher Wilson Ramos. It happened east of Caracas. And it further heightened world awareness of the violence that keeps ratcheting up in that country and, in particular, its capital.
Caracas is a prime candidate for the “world’s most violent city.” It now annually averages more than 200 murders per 100,000 population and is on notorious course for more than 19,000 homicides in 2011. It’s worst than Juarez, Mexico. Baghdad isn’t even close.
I’m glad I got to Caracas when I did and talked to opposition leaders, business types, media members, government bureaucrats and rural residents. I glimpsed a fracturing country now known more for crime than Hugo Chavez.
No, I’m not planning a return trip.