The Venezuelan capital of Caracas is not the city in which the average foreigner would like to take a vacation. This is a dangerous place, not the most clean and not the most pleasant. It is in sharp contrast with the nature of Venezuela, picturesque and elegant. But the big city always attracts crime, and Caracas is a vivid example.
Year after year, the capital of Venezuela is consistently among the top five most dangerous cities in the world. Local kids have fun – blow up firecrackers in public squares and crowded streets. These explosions are like shots, and everyone who hears them, rush to the ground in order not to fall victim to a stray bullet. Such an aggravated reaction is the result of a tense criminal situation in the city. From time to time, entire areas of Caracas are left without electricity. In this city, as in the country as a whole, the Lynch Court is still practiced. Locals suffered greatly at the hands of criminals, and, having caught a thief or gangster red-handed, they often deal with him on their own, without involving the police. According to statistics, every resident of Caracas every year has a chance of 0.134% to part with life against their will. Central University of Caracas is recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site due to its unique architecture. There is no autumn or spring. The whole year is divided into two seasons – rainy and dry.
Officially, Caracas is home to just over two million people, which already makes it the most populous city in Venezuela. In fact, in the city, according to various estimates, from 4 to 5 million inhabitants, and that is not counting the suburbs. The winners of the competitions “Miss Universe” of 1979 and 1981 – born in Caracas. More than half the area of the city is occupied by randomly located slum areas, where even the police do not dare to call. There are similar places in any large city in Latin America, for example, in the Colombian capital, Bogota, which is also considered a very dangerous city. Every year, the crime rate in Caracas, due to the worsening economic situation in Venezuela, is growing. If nothing changes, he will press the Mexican city of Ciudad Juarez from the dubious first place in the nomination “the most dangerous city in the world”. In any place in Caracas, where they sell something, you can always see huge queues. For example, for bread.
Everything that has value is protected here. Movers dragging boxes of soda from a car to the store under the supervision of a pair of guards armed with shotguns is a common picture. Most of the stores in Caracas cannot be entered – the required goods are issued to the buyer, remaining on the street, through a window in a steel grid blocking the entrance. Informal money changers, always ready to exchange foreign currency for Venezuelan bolivars at a favorable rate, stand openly and offer their services at the entrances to hotels and banks. In June 2018, travel on the subway of Caracas became free, because the city authorities do not have enough money to print tickets. Due to the lack of budget money, the number of policemen on the streets of Caracas was greatly reduced, which further contributed to the revelry of crime. Local residents are afraid to show values on the street like a mobile phone or a wristwatch, so as not to run into a robbery or kidnapping. Well-dressed people are sometimes abducted here in broad daylight on busy streets, subsequently demanding a ransom. In the high-rise buildings of Caracas, all windows, regardless of the floor, are protected with gratings and barbed wire. The average salary in Caracas is about $ 40, about the same as in Cuba.
