Venezuela update

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KellysEye

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Venezuela has always been viewed as one of the cheapest places in the Caribbean - things have changed dramatically.

Inflation has always been high but the ever rising unofficial (black market) exchange rate (dollar/Bolivar) kept things cheap for cruisers. President Chavez recently flooded the country with dollars and this has had a profound effect on the unofficial rate which has dropped from over five thousand Bolivars to the Dollar to around three thousand. With inflation at thirty to forty per cent the prices (including marina berths) in Venezuela have doubled in the last ten months.

To put that into context Curacao is viewed as slightly expensive, Venezuelan prices are now much the same as Curacao - beer and spirits are slightly cheaper in Venezuela, wine is more expensive in Venezuela, food prices are much tha same. However there are severe shortages of some staples in Venezuela such as sugar and liquid milk.

Diesel fuel remains dirt cheap, ten US for two hundred litres plus. Margarita (which has duty free status) now has much the same pricing as the mainland.

It's still a great place to go if you are careful but if you want 'cheap' the only area left is the western Caribbean. Given that the population in Venzuela is now suffering there are rumours of a coup coming up, we shall see...
 
Yes there are security issues, it was all quiet for about two years but blew up again about a year ago. Places to avoid: Paria peninsula (stay at least thirty miles off); southern side of Gulf of Cariaco; anywhere around Santa Fe; islands off Puerto La Cruz.

Take care in islands south of Margarita (i.e. only go in company). Margarita has had a fair amount of crime recently, dinghies must be lifted on deck at night. There was even a boarding in Los Testigos a few months ago and approaches made by a fake coastguard boat in the Aves. But mainly the out islands ae viewed as safe.

Sarifundys is certainly going strong as the hangover from the last happy hour willl attest :-)
 
Gerry, please could you PM me or post the details here and I'll pass them to the Safety and Security Net. As far as I'm aware Melodye only knows of the death incident which was (wrongly?) briefly reported as a river north of the Dulce.

Need to know for each incident:
Specific place
Date
Time
Boat name
Details of incident
Details of precautions taken e.g. was the boat locked, was the engine locked to the dinghy, was the dinghy locked to the boat etc?
Were the ploice informed and have they taked any action?

Many thanks.

Mike
 
OK, not everything is totally clear (e.g. dates) but this is basically what has happened.

First incident took place saturday night , 9th, Sundays Child, anchored off Monkey Bay Marina, Rio Dulce.
Attempted robbery.
Dan Dryden murdered
Nancy Dryden seriously injured.

Rio Dulce

Three boats anchored between Livingston and Texan Bay were coming to Texan Bay today.

We made radio contact with one of the boats, s/v Mima, owned by Mark and Sue with their two young children last night after dark. They said they were about two miles from Texan Bay and would arrive here sometime this morning.

During the night, five men boarded one of the three boats with machetes and one of them had a gun. One of the boats attempted to call Mima on channel 68 on the VHF radio to warn them of the danger.

Mima was not boarded. They made radio contact with a cruiser at Texan Bay who offered assistance if needed. They also contacted Raul in Livingston. The men demanded US money. No one was hurt . We have no other details at this time.

However, all three boats were badly shaken by this event and no longer plan to anchor in the river. We are all happy that they were not hurt by the robbers and they are safe today.

This information submitted by Dayna McMullen, sv SeFue at Texan Bay

EDITOR'S NOTE: The other boats were s/v Dream Odyssey and s/v Ctoy. Dream Odyssey was actually boarded and quite a few items of value were removed by the pirates while the boat owner and his wife could only watch helplessly.

Reports indicate there was fourth boat that was also boarded later that evening. A British boater named John on s/v Phalcor reported on this morning's VHF cruisers' radio net that he was boarded at around 2 a.m. this morning by a group of men who attempted to rip open his hatch to gain access inside.

John managed to keep the hatch secure despite intense efforts by the boarders. Unable to gain access, they used bolt cutters to cut a chain securing his portable generator on deck, taking it with them as well as a fishing rod he had on deck. In their haste to leave the boat, the group left a machete and the label from a new pair of large boltcutters.

John was not injured.

There were also three outboards stolen from locals, outside the Boom Boom Room, Rio Dulce.


The police have made three arrests and a well known local drug dealer and her son were shot dead two days ago at Backpackers Hotel, Fronteras, Rio Dulce.

All is now quiet!!!


Two killed in Seja "cleansing"
Written by Roy
Friday, 15 August 2008
By ROY McNETT, Editor
Local justice -- it´s not a pretty word -- may have been served last night, August 14, when two men were killed in a shooting in the small town of Seja, about five miles from Fronteras and the Rio Dulce.
The two men are believed to have been involved in the robbery and murder August 9 of Daniel Dryden of s/v Sunday´s Child.
Dryden´s wife, Nancy, was seriously injured in the attack.
Four men were reported involved in the attack on Dryden´s boat. Two of those were reported arrested yesterday, August 14, in the village of Esmeralda and are now in the custody of Guatemalan police.
The remaining two are believed to have been killed last night in the Seja shooting.Their identities have not been made available but several sources of the Rio Dulce Chisme-Vindicator indicate this was a "cleansing" of the Dryden murder.

By ROY McNETT, Editor
Two suspects were arrested Aug. 14 by Guatemalan police in connection with the Aug. 9 brutal slaying of Dan Dryden and the serious injury to his wife, Nancy.

According to information received from El Periodico in Guatemala City, Carlos Ernesto Lemus Hernandez, 19, and his brother Elfido Concepcion Lemus Hernandez, 33, both of the village of Esmeralda, near Mario's Marina, were taken in custody after a search of their home resulted in the discovery of an ice pick, binoculars believed to have been taken from the Dryden's sailboat, s/v Sunday's Child, as well as a quantity of marijuana.
One source who had seen the body of Dryden said the fatal wounds appeared not to have been caused by a machete, but would be consistent with those inflicted by an ice pick. INGUAT has also confirmed that the wounds were made by an ice pick, not by a machete.
At the time of this writing, seven other houses in Esmeralda are being searched by police, according to sources.
The two suspects were said to be under the protection of a woman nicknamed "Reyna del Sur" (Queen of the South) of Morales, believed involved in various illegal activities in the area, including drugs and stolen outboard motors.
Several local Guatemalan residents confirm that a woman, who with her 14-year-old son, were killed by gunfire last night (Aug. 13) near the Backpackers Hotel gate was indeed nicknamed "Reyna del Sur".
She was reported shot while in the woman's bathroom at Backpacker's. Her son dove for safety beneath the men's bathroom and was shot while hiding there.
 
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