1.
They say Caracas is one of the most dangerous cities in the world. Innocent victims here are killed right on the streets, and even more so, God forbid you appear in the crowd with a camera or any other thing in your hands that shows your wealth. In the city, 40 people are killed every day, many of whom are foreigners. And it’s impossible to count how many people are simply robbed.
Such intimidation on the part of the travel company and guides did not add optimism to our visit to Caracas, but they did stir up interest. Therefore, at the first opportunity, we tested all this on our own skin. And this is what we found out.
At first, of course, we were afraid to stick our noses outside the bus and the hotel. But after talking with a representative (or rather, a representative) of the host country, it turned out that the rumors about the danger of Caracas were excessively exaggerated. The 14-year-old Russian girl who met us at the airport said that she had been living in Caracas with her mother for 3 years, and was walking the streets alone.
But! You need to know where, when and in what form it is possible to appear, where it is undesirable, and where it is simply dangerous. Caracas consists of several areas - from real slums to European areas with luxury villas. If you go to poor areas, and even in good clothes, and even more so, with photographic equipment, you can really get hit in the face and literally be left in only your underpants. They're unlikely to kill, but they won't cause you any trouble.
At the same time, in rich areas you can be with almost a 100% guarantee of safety in any form and with any equipment. Even at night, although at night it is undesirable. It is also undesirable (although in principle possible) to shine and shine decorations, equipment, etc. in areas where the middle class lives. By the way, there are few such areas in Caracas - the middle class stratum makes up only 10-15% of the population. The rest are either very poor or very rich. It’s clear that there are a lot more poor people, and accordingly, there are a lot more shady neighborhoods too.
Therefore, basic precautions must be taken. But if you are accompanied by a local guide who knows the local nuances, then you can consider yourself practically safe. You should also take into account that information from local guides and travel company managers located somewhere in Russia (or another country) may differ. If you're going to be intimidated by people who don't live in Caracas, it makes sense to take this information with a grain of salt. Although with caution. If you want to learn more about safety, look for people on the ground.
As a result, we walked around Caracas even at night. We felt a little uneasy, but we understood that we were in a normal area. There were no incidents, although we behaved rather cheekily. During the daytime we were taken more and more, and more and more to tourist places, so there are few pictures, and they are without any artistic pretensions. Just sketches.
Well, in other cities of Venezuela this problem can be considered not at all. Although... if anyone is interested, I can give detailed instructions on how to get hit in the head and lose money, jewelry and photographic equipment, for example, in Moscow or St. Petersburg :)
Other materials from trips to Venezuela and Little Tibet for the project “Two drops. Journey for water" can be found on the company blog "Two Sticks".
The head of one of the largest kidnapping gangs in the Venezuelan capital has spoken in detail about how he stalks and takes away his victims, how he kills those who do not pay ransoms, as well as his network of corrupt police officers.
In a chilling interview with the Daily Mail, conducted literally at gunpoint in the lawless slums of western Caracas, the gang leader admitted he had no remorse about the power of his reign of terror over a city drowning in economic crisis.
(Total 29 photos)
“If they don't pay the ransom after a week, we dig a two-meter hole and shoot them in the face with a shotgun so that no one can identify the body. They remain on the list of missing persons forever. I’m the boss in this city,” he says.
The number of kidnappings in Venezuela has risen sharply after oil prices fell and sparked widespread shortages and unrest. An overstaffed police force is unable to cope with the crime wave that has brought the country to its knees.
Caracas, which has been called the most dangerous city on earth, has the highest number of murders, with 3,946 people killed in the city of 3.3 million in 2015 alone. According to police data, 85% of deaths in Caracas are violent.
The police publicly admit that they cannot cope with crime. Santiago Rosas, chief of the El Hatillo police department, who patrols on a motorcycle in one of the city's most dangerous areas, said police can now protect only nine percent of the population.
The leader of a kidnapping gang, just 23 years old, makes chilling confessions about how he weaves a network around the police and takes advantage of the plight of people who scavenge for food. Sitting in the shadows with a mask on his face, he says: “I have no remorse because the people we kidnap have plenty of money. We usually get a tip from someone who has a grudge against that person. He tells us that he knows the victim has money and is aware of the route she is taking. We know a lot of private bodyguards, and when they feel like they're underpaid, they give us the information they need so we can kidnap their wealthy employer, and we give them a kickback."
Perhaps the gang leader is exaggerating his “exploits.” But Santiago Rosas, chief of the El Hatillo police station, said its reliance on intelligence and its ability to hold onto its victims for long periods of time meant it was one of the largest criminal groups in Caracas. Most kidnappings are carried out by fly-by-night gangs called express kidnappers. The gang leader's claim of 300 members may be an exaggeration, the policeman says, but even if there are 150 people, that is already the size of the municipal police department.
As the economic crisis worsened, the ransom price skyrocketed, despite the average salary being $20 a month. As a result of the first kidnapping, which the gang committed five years ago, the criminals managed to get $170. Now they're asking for at least $17,000.
The gang, which calls itself “kings of the city,” has informers and informants in all walks of life, including among the military and police. According to Transparency International, Venezuela is the ninth most corrupt country in the world.
“There is a lot of competition in the kidnapping market. “Many police officers do this too,” the gang leader said. - There are two types of cops. Some are smart, who understand that it is not wise to be at enmity with us, while others are stupid, who have grenades flying through their window. The smart ones give us rapid-fire weapons, bullets, and uniforms. We have people who work for us, in the municipal, in the people's police and in the army, and they make sure that we are well equipped."
“We have much better weapons than the police. We have four houses in this area that we use as storage areas for weapons and explosives. While your car was approaching, my men were training, aiming at you with sniper weapons,” adds the 23-year-old bandit.
This is all too familiar to police in El Hatillo, where an anti-corruption raid has fired 41 people over two years on charges of kidnapping, robbery and murder. “The situation is exactly as he described, that's for sure,” Rosas says. - They have the best weapons. We hope there aren't too many smart cops in our county, but being an honest cop is dangerous."
Two years ago, an audit of the El Hatillo Police Department's arsenal revealed that 20 guns and 1,000 shells were missing. It is assumed that they were handed over to criminals. To put into perspective just how bad the crime situation is in Caracas, last year a woman called the police when she saw the front door of her house open and ended up being burglarized by six responding police officers.
Police officers in Venezuela have some of the most dangerous jobs, making it difficult to recruit new officers. Police officers receive just $16 a month, forcing them to live side by side with their enemies in the heart of a gang-infested slum.
In the criminal world, killing a police officer is a condition for promotion to a higher position among underground gangs. In 2015, 173 police officers were killed in the capital. Since the beginning of 2016, 64 law enforcement officers have already been killed, a 14% increase compared to the same period last year.
Last year, an El Hatillo Police Department officer was attacked in his own home. He was shot 14 times in the face and 12 times in the body in front of his wife and two small children. In Caracas, crime has merged with everyday life. While journalists interviewed the gang leader at gunpoint, people went about their business along the street and children played outside the brightly painted houses in the slums.
On average, according to the leader of the kidnappers, his gang kills several people a month and kidnaps someone every week. They do not discriminate between men, women or the elderly when it comes to kidnappings, and will even kidnap a child if they are confident that they will receive a large enough ransom for it. He added that they are working on a kidnapping that could bring them $34,500.
“Last Thursday, we kidnapped the school principal because one of her students told us she was full of money. We demanded a ransom of 17.6 thousand dollars, and her family paid within seven hours. Everything went very smoothly, it was a good deal.” The gang leader said the kidnapping took place near a hotel where Daily Mail journalists were staying in Caracas' business district.
The criminal group also claims to be running a lucrative drug business. “Sometimes we kill victims if they make us angry. Once I killed a man because he begged to be left alive. He didn’t have a bit of courage, so I shot him.” The boss claims to have killed at least twenty people with his own hands and ordered the execution of hundreds more.
The gang leader described in detail how the kidnappings take place. A team of informants stalks the streets quietly and spends weeks gathering information about a wealthy man whose life is on a schedule. A team of four then tracks the victim's car, following in front of it rather than behind it. “We already know his route exactly,” he explained.
On a relatively empty street, they stop in front of the victim's car and force the man into their car. An abandoned car usually remains standing. “When we bring them to our slums, we treat them the same way we treated you today. We force them to keep their heads down, search them and force them to sit on metal chairs. Our faces are always covered. If they resist, we shoot at the legs. We don't waste time torturing or cutting off an ear to send to the family as shown in the movies. If they don’t pay or don’t cooperate, we just kill them,” says the group’s leader.
Many gang members are teenagers, some as young as ten years old. As they become more powerful, they feel more and more impunity. Between 92 and 97 percent of those arrested with clear evidence are released because of a justice system riddled with corruption and nepotism, Rosas says. “This is Venezuelan justice. This is one of our biggest and deepest problems,” he says.
The confusion is especially felt by police officers on the front line. In April, Rosas' men arrested a motorcycle gunman who shot someone in the area. Less than two months later, the suspect paid the bribe and was released.
To make matters worse, Venezuelan prisons are run by the prisoners themselves, and the authorities simply keep them inside. Prisons are filled with weapons and drugs and act as incubators for violence.
In Venezuela, there is one firearm for every two people. It is the most armed country in the world. Most firearms have come into the hands of ordinary citizens, either legally or illegally, from the authorities themselves.
Hugo Chavez, the legendary Venezuelan leader who died in 2013, organized hundreds of armed vigilantes to take to the streets and defend his socialist ideology in times of crisis. Thus, gun ownership became widespread throughout the country and significantly increased the murder rate.
The police department Rosas leads is in a part of Caracas that is run by opposition politicians, so he can speak freely. However, he said the government was increasingly trying to control independent police forces. He believes the government is largely to blame for the security crisis in Venezuela. In 2014, authorities tried to reduce conflict between police and gangs by declaring “peace zones” across the country where police were prohibited from trespassing. After this, local gangs united into huge groups and captured areas ranging from several blocks to the area of a small town.
In Caracas alone there are four “peace zones” covering an area of 15.5 square kilometers. The police are only allowed to collect corpses. “It was obvious that this was going to happen,” Rosas says. “It was a crazy decision in a land of crazy decisions.”
Many children become involved in the criminal world from a very early age. The gang leader himself began selling drugs on the street and stealing from shops at age 13 because he was treated poorly at home. He then moved on to car theft, armed robbery and murder, and then used the money he earned to form his own gang of bandits he hired.
According to him, his first fatal victim was a man who tried to stop him during a store robbery. “I shot him in the stomach with a .38 caliber revolver and later learned that he had died,” the gang leader recalls. “I was angry at him and scared of the police, but I knew he deserved it.” He was bigger than me, he didn’t have to try to stop me.”
Now he doesn't waste time cleaning up the crime scene because he knows the police won't investigate it anyway. “It gives me a great feeling. I am powerful, I am better than other people who work for 20 dollars a month. I earned respect for my intelligence and cruelty. If someone crosses my path, I will kill him in front of everyone, so that they know that I am the boss in this city.”
The photo report turned out to be tragic. Reporters photographed scenes of arrest, fear, pain, grief and death.
In San Pedro Sula, there are 169 murders per 100,000 people every year. Local laws allow civilians to own up to five personal weapons. 83.4 percent of murders in this country occur with firearms. In the United States, the percentage is 60.
Attention! Photos contain death scenes!
Police tape surrounds a crime scene next to the body of a victim in the city of San Pedro Sula on March 22, 2013.
Unidentified assailants killed three men and one woman in a working-class area, local media reported. (Jorge Cabrera/Reuters)
A woman cries next to the body of Justiniano Lara (not visible in the photo). He was killed by unknown assailants in the city of San Pedro Sula. Honduras, March 25, 2013. (Esteban Felix / Associated Press)
Thirty-year-old Carlos Pineda's body lies on a stretcher outside the morgue at a public hospital. He was shot in the head in San Pedro Sula. Honduras, March 25, 2013. (Esteban Felix / Associated Press)
A man lies on a stretcher in the emergency room of a local hospital after suffering a gunshot wound to the leg. He has a cross on his chest that says “Jesus Loves You.” San Pedro Sula, March 20, 2013. (Jorge Cabrera/Reuters)
The covered body of a man who was killed during a shootout between members of the Mara 18 street gang and police officers. This happened during an anti-drug operation in the entrance of a house in San Pedro Sula on March 27, 2013. (Jorge Cabrera / Reuters).
Suspected members of the Mara 18 street gang sit in a pickup truck. They were arrested after a shootout with police and military during an anti-drug operation in San Pedro Sula on March 27, 2013. (Jorge Cabrera/Reuters)
Confiscated weapons lie on a sofa after several members of the Mara 18 street gang were arrested during an anti-drug operation. San Pedro Sula March 27, 2013. (Jorge Cabrera / Reuters)
People stand near a crime scene where the body of a man was found, who was shot by street thugs. San Pedro Sula, March 28, 2013. (Jorge Cabrera/Reuters)
Two men are taken on stretchers to a local hospital operating theater after they were attacked by gang members. San Pedro Sula, March 27, 2013. (Jorge Cabrera/Reuters)
A syringe rests on a wall inside the emergency room of a local hospital in San Pedro Sula on March 20, 2013. (Jorge Cabrera/Reuters)
A doctor talks to a family member of a victim in the emergency department of a local hospital in San Pedro Sula, March 29, 2013. (Jorge Cabrera/Reuters)
A patient reacts painfully as a doctor examines his injuries, which were sustained during a confrontation with a local gang. San Pedro Sula, March 28, 2013. (Jorge Cabrera/Reuters)
A woman's body lies on the ground at the crime scene. She was killed with three shots to the head in San Pedro Sula, March 21, 2013. (Jorge Cabrera/Reuters)
Forensic experts at the crime scene where a young man was shot. San Pedro Sula, March 28, 2013. (Jorge Cabrera/Reuters)
Friends and relatives stand near the crime scene where a young man was shot and killed. San Pedro Sula, March 28, 2013. (Jorge Cabrera/Reuters)
Believers from the Light of the World Christian Church participate in an anti-violence march in San Pedro Sula, March 28, 2013. (Jorge Cabrera/Reuters)
Family members of a woman who was hit by a stray bullet during a shootout between rival gangs in San Pedro Sula on March 27, 2013. (Jorge Cabrera/Reuters)
A man's legs are strapped to a stretcher in the emergency room at a local hospital. The victim was shot in the head in San Pedro Sula on March 23, 2013. (Jorge Cabrera/Reuters)
Police escort a Mara 18 gang member to the emergency room at a public hospital in San Pedro Sula. Honduras March 23, 2013. (Esteban Felix / Associated Press)
A security guard stands at the door of the emergency room of a local hospital in San Pedro Sula on March 20, 2013. (Jorge Cabrera/Reuters)
A woman carries a child while walking near police officers after a shootout between members of the Mara 18 street gang and law enforcement. The collision occurred during an anti-drug operation in San Pedro Sula, March 27, 2013. (Jorge Cabrera/Reuters)
Police officers stand guard as Mexico's soccer team practices at the Olimpico Stadium in San Pedro Sula on March 21, 2013. (Jorge Cabrera/Reuters)
The city of Caracas is, without exaggeration, the most dangerous city in South America and one of the most dangerous cities in the world. In addition, unlike most other Latin American capitals, the city is uninteresting and not very beautiful. In general, everything hints that there is no need to visit it, and if you really have to, then stay in it as little as possible.
However, in total I spent about 10 days in it.
“Why go to Caracas at all?” you ask? Well, firstly, the capital is somehow difficult to get past if you are flying into the country. Secondly, Caracas is one of the most convenient points of arrival/departure to/from South America. This is the reason why I was in it for so long. 
Despite the fact that the city of Santiago de Leon de Caracas was one of the first founded in Latin America, very little ancient architecture has been preserved in it. 95% of the city's buildings are new buildings and slums. 
The remake sometimes looks very stylish. 
It makes sense to stay in Caracas if you want to get to know Venezuelan culture better. Visit museum exhibitions.
This is what the pedestrian streets look like in the center in the vicinity of the city's central square - Bolivar. 
Government building - Capitol.
Small architectural ensemble 
One of the most beautiful cathedrals in the center 
There are many strange structures in Caracas. Here, for example, is Plaza Caracas, south of the center. 
A bit of Stalinist architecture (ugh, where did I go) 
And that’s it, even in the center the following cityscapes dominate: 
One of the most important attractions of Caracas is Mausoleum of Simon Bolivar! Do not miss. 
It's beautiful and formal inside 
The grave of the great Liberator is guarded by a guard of honor 
I just happened to be on his shift. 
In addition to Bolivar, other outstanding figures who left an indelible mark on the history of the country are buried in the mausoleum. Rafael Urdaneta, Francisco de Miranda and many others. Of course, it is planned to move the ashes of Hugo Chavez here (most likely they are already there) 
And very close to the Pantheon... 
Nearby is the national library, decorated with the latest technology. The Bolivarian government devotes a lot of effort to the intellectual development of the nation 
Everything else interesting is located east of the center. For example, Central Park. Which, in fact, is not a park at all, but a complex of high-rise buildings that form one long structure with two skyscraper towers. 
The complex is very interesting from the inside. All sorts of galleries, hanging gardens 
You can climb to high places. But you need to get permission from below first. 
To the east of the complex you can find a mosque. 
Even further to the east is the business center of the city, the main walking area is the boulevard Sabana Grande.
In the distance we see a triangular high-rise building on squares of Venezuela, where the boulevard begins. 
There are a lot of shops and cafes here, and in general it’s quite fun 
Don't be like that citizen in Caracas! 
Even further east is another business district of the city - Chacao(there will also be a good place in front of him - Chakaito, like "little Chacao") 
The main avenue here is Francisco de Miranda. Business activity is concentrated along it. 
Beyond Chacao comes the region Altamira. All sorts of embassies and other good things are located here. 
Venezuelan worker and collective farmer 
All of the above areas east of the center are quite safe and pleasant. You can walk along them quite calmly. In the center, security is somewhat worse - there you can only walk along pedestrian streets and a few others in the vicinity of Bolivar Square. It’s no longer worth going too far south.
The rest of Caracas looks quite brutal. This is a slum 
slum 
slum 
slum 
and, of course, the slums
Don’t think that I just decided to post identical frames for you. These are all the harsh Venezuelan realities. To give you an idea of the scale of the disaster, a post where the number of photographs of different types of buildings corresponded to their percentage in the city, then such frames would take up 60% of the entire post. 
There are many, many, many slums. No Rio, no Sao Paulo, and even Lima, which seems to consist entirely of slums, can compare with Caracas. 
However, I talked with one girl who lives in such neighborhoods. She says that they have everything - running water (cold and hot), electricity and the Internet (and in some places they don’t have all of this...) 
In some places there is a multi-storey option. By the way, you will see these views on the way from the airport.
The city of Caracas, like the whole of Venezuela, is a rather poor place; if we talk about the standard of living in the capital in the city of Caracas, then there is not such a strong difference as between, for example, Moscow and the rest of Russia. Another unusual feature of Venezuela is the early sunset, already at 7 o’clock in the evening it becomes dark here, and with darkness Venezuela is covered by crime, until 7 o’clock in the evening Venezuelans try to get home from work as quickly as possible and no longer stick their nose out into the street, let me remind you that in Venezuela there is an acute There is a problem of kidnappings for ransom, the targets of such kidnappings in most cases are not rich people, but middle-aged men from the middle or even lower class. It gets dark early in Venezuela due to the mountainous landscape of the area; the sun sets not behind the horizon, but behind the mountains, which are much higher than this conventional horizon. It is also unusual that in Venezuela there is a constant temperature all year round, so the heat is unbearable all year round.
Living conditions, houses and apartments in Venezuela
80% of the country's population lives in favelas or barracks, people built their homes from scrap materials found in a landfill, especially rich Venezuelans were able to save money for bricks and build more substantial housing, many buildings remain unfinished, in the hope that maybe their grandchildren will be able to finish construction. By the way, unlike Brazil, local favelas are called barrios.
The city of Caracas is divided into a normal city on one side, and on the opposite side there is a kingdom of the poor, in the barrio there is no light, running water, there is nothing except crime, this greatly distinguishes the local slums, for example, from the Brazilian ones where there is still minimal infrastructure. Tourists are strictly prohibited from going to the Venezuelan slums, as they can immediately be robbed, killed or kidnapped.
Wealthy residents of Venezuela live in areas that are fenced off from the rest of Venezuela by high fences with electrified barbed wire with watchtowers and an army of guards with machine guns; such wealthy residents account for at most 10% of the total population of Venezuela. Stepping outside of such a fortified town is like getting into outer space, where nothing protects you and anything can happen at any second.
A person in Venezuela feels like he is in a war; a tourist who moves away from his group will immediately be attacked by a group of armed people, for example, on motorcycles, at gunpoint, you will have to give up everything that is valuable and thank fate that you were not kidnapped or killed. All foreigners and people in general are advised to carry a small amount of dollars with them in case of robbery, and calls not to carry banknotes are dangerous. If you have no money or valuables at all, you can get shot. The trafficking of weapons or drugs in Caracas and other places in Venezuela occurs openly on the streets. The police look at all these cases through the parade grounds, besides, all the prisons are overcrowded, there is nowhere to put new criminals at all, so criminals are often released to make room for new prisoners; in the prisons themselves, people do not reform, but on the contrary, they come out more prepared for new crimes.
Safety and crime in Caracas
Life in Caracas is life behind bars, just look at the local balconies and windows, they are all surrounded by bars, residential areas are protected by high fences with electrified barbed wire and armed guards. There is only one thing - this may give a European or an American reason to think that something is wrong in Venezuela, why so much barbed wire? In fact, in recent years, Venezuelans have been suffering from the fear of losing their lives, such an expression as - going for a walk is an unheard-of luxury, it’s better not to go anywhere for a walk, in general people would happily sit at home all day, but need drives them out into the street, they still need to go to work, the rich drive armored cars, the poor change routes so that they pass through a safer area. Under no circumstances should tourists travel on public transport in Caracas, such as the metro.
White people in Caracas are called Gringos, they are strangers, they are not loved, there is a confrontation here, Venezuelans are socialists, and all white Gringos are capitalists, it is not a crime among the people to rob or deceive Gringos. Caracas is reminiscent of Rio with its favelas; shacks of the poor have also grown here on the mountain slopes. Needless to say, it is dangerous for gringos and tourists to go here. All the favelas in Caracas are controlled by gangs, the police are corrupt and will not help in any case.
Hotels in Caracas, where to stay
If tourists from the Western world come to Caracas, they stay at the Gran Melia Caracas Hotel, today this is the only normal hotel in the country. A regular double room at this hotel costs about $300, which includes meals. You don’t need to think that the best hotel in Venezuela is ideal, the best hotel in Venezuela is similar to a 3-star hotel in Turkey, there will be broken furniture, non-working elevators, forgetful staff, the most interesting thing is that even in a hotel designed only for foreigners, almost no one understands English, in general, even those people in the tourism industry who supposedly should know English, in fact do not know it, no one in Venezuela knows English and do not trust the guidebooks.
Beaches of Caracas and Venezuela
In Venezuela there are islands in the Caribbean Sea, where tourists come specifically to the sea and coral reefs; they live in special reservations where Venezuelan criminals have no access; such a trip to Venezuela can be considered safe.
There are city beaches in the city of Caracas, but they are very dirty, it is not clear what the local industry is pouring into the sea, so in order to normally lie on a good beach you need to drive 100 kilometers from Caracas, but even from here it is very dirty. The nature of Venezuela is very beautiful, but the people living in the country, perhaps a few, suffer from a lack of culture and do not appreciate what they have. In general, the beaches of Venezuela are no different from the beaches of Haiti. Tourists come to Margarita Island to practice sports - windsurfing, kiting and surfing. The islands of Los Roques and Margarita Island are the only normal and clean beaches in Venezuela.