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by Daniela Gonzalez
I have experienced enough things living in this country to smell when something is coming up on the horizon. And the incoming sequence of events is not going to be pretty. Trouble is brewing in my country. The coming months might be messy, like a nation giving birth, but maybe, just maybe, it’ll lead to progress.
We haven’t had a real fight in 200 years, just a few squabbles. That’s made everyone in South America squeamish about conflict. But here’s the thing: I’m convinced a major one is coming. The blatant lack of interest for the citizens is increasing every day.
Why? Because no matter the election outcome, it’s going to be bad. We’re stuck between two awful choices:
- Massive Fraud: Imagine riots erupting after a stolen election. Corrupt officials unleash convicts with promises of freedom to crack down on protestors. Meanwhile, Colombian rebels already hiding in our country get even bolder with military backing…the same military that once was instructed to combat them and is now being ordered not to touch them! It’s not a pretty picture. Nico doesn´t trust even in his own armed forces!
- Bloody Conflict: A fight with Guyana could lead to a state of emergency, stripping away our rights. The repression could be brutal, taking decades to investigate and punish those responsible.
The craziest part? Both sides are already at war, but not with each other. They’re battling the people! Civilians are sick and tired of the iron fist of the military. Their roadblocks are shakedowns, not security checks. Not all soldiers do it, but the ones who do tarnish the reputation of the rest.
This is a tense situation, but maybe, just maybe, the pressure will force change.
Fragile Neighbors, Brutal Reality
My apartment building is full of kindhearted seniors. Many receive money from their children abroad so they can afford necessities. But with age comes limitations, and they often need a helping hand with chores, like bringing home their groceries or carrying upstairs a 4-gallon bottle of water or a gas bottle.
Here’s the dark side of this situation: with a basic understanding of how criminals think, it’s easy to predict trouble. The Maduro regime’s crimes are anything but subtle. There are mountains of footage showing National Guard units acting with brutality – shootings, beatings – leaving victims with lasting injuries, all of them under a chain of command that allowed this.
Believing these criminals will peacefully surrender power after unleashing armed convicts (bribed with fake IDs) is naive. This is a full-blown criminal organization with documented ties to rogue countries like Turkey and Russia. China seems to be washing its hands of Venezuela’s blatantly corrupt “leadership,” focusing on their own issues.
Trapped in the Urban Jungle: Prepping for the Red Blitzkrieg
Stuck in my tiny apartment, I’m surrounded by the city’s pulse. Barrios thrum with life just outside, but escaping during the Red Blitzkrieg? Forget it. My only hope is this beat-up car I’ve kept running on pure grit. It’s got good spare parts, even a couple of tire patches for emergencies. The missing piece? Gas. You can’t exactly dash out for a refill when the storm hits, so begging for a few liters becomes the new gold standard. I do have an empty gas can, but keeping it in this sweltering oven (35°C/95°F year-round, yikes!) inside a closed car is a recipe for disaster.
Now, let’s get down to brass tacks. We need to strategize for this mess. Imagine a war erupting between factions within the military, a turf battle fueled by greed. These guys have been given the keys to the kingdom – a monopoly on violence under the guise of uniforms and badges. They’re led by a ruthless gang, paid off in gold, cash, and even crypto (Find here the results of the investigation related to the Cryptocurrency scandal with Almeida and Ramirez.) They control untouchable companies, a playground for dirty money. Sanctions make things even juicier – the stolen loot can’t leave the country without getting frozen. Money laundering became their “economic recovery” plan.
This massive gang, with tentacles reaching across borders and a grip of power that chills you to the bone, isn’t going down without a fight. Jail time? Chump change. They’ll do their three or four years, team up to snag some hidden cash, and walk-free laughing. 80% of the people want them gone? Forget about it. These guys have an arsenal that would make a warlord jealous and an army ready to unleash it…for the right price. Think international mercenaries, not just muscle from Venezuela.
And here’s the kicker: there’s a long-standing deal forged back in Hugo’s days. The guerrillas keep the streets “calm” and line their pockets with drug money and protection fees. (Sound familiar?) Sure, some in the military weren’t thrilled about it, but Hugo and his crew shut them down faster than you can say “DEA.” Remember that whole “spying” thing? Yeah, that was just an excuse to kick them out.
Free and Fair Elections? Not So Fast.
There’s a giant roadblock on the path to a peaceful transition: rigged elections. People cling to hope, but the truth is the system’s rigged. We’ve seen the looting and the suppression of freedoms – this “socio-communist” regime has gone too far.
Escape Plan: From Bunkers to Better Options
Forget the dusty bunker imagery. My prep involves a hidden gem: a friend’s hacienda in the countryside. It’s not a luxury resort, but it’s perfect for a quick escape. Think bunk beds, ceiling fans, and a massive diesel generator. When the 2019 blackout hit, this place became a haven thanks to its nearly full fuel tank. Turns out, rationing power for a few hours a day stretches those reserves a long way.
The best part? This approach is much more inviting.
Slowly, some friends took interest when we started to use the approach “take some time out of the city until things get cold” instead of “running away to get into the bunker to escape the shooting” approach.
Supplies
We have a modest supply for 5 people: mostly pasta, flour: cornmeal and wheat, assorted beans, non-perishables (cooking oil, margarine, mayonnaise, ketchup), and condiments. Thinking of getting a few boxes of tomato paste paid evenly within the group. We all agree that we should travel as light as possible. The farm owners set up a storage space and most of the stuff we could need is already there in the trips we have made before. We reduce our stuff to a pre-packaged carry-on case for each member. This fits in the trunk with a small toolbox and some spares. The jerry can, tied up in the roof (as everyone else does) in a rack I could buy used on the cheap some time ago.
My car is a small, 4-cylinder old one, and handling too much weight could make our fuel efficiency poor and make it overheat or malfunction. A pothole and a tire touching the fender could be serious.
One of the guys can store a 20-liter can at his place, and another one knows about mechanics. We could make it with only a full tank, but this jerrycan will be used to top off if the gas stations are closed. And they will be, of course. We plan to leave before any restrictions can come into place, but we know this is a long shot. One of the members, a girl, lives and works far away. She’s already got a bicycle to make it to our meeting point, just in case she can’t get a taxi when the time comes. Her role in the group is important: she’s an MD with training in paramedics. She could get a safe pass to conduce the group to the hacienda, given the need. Her presence means a lot for the farmers, who have to travel half an hour to get medical assistance.
Interestingly, the tension we notice is making the group work as a whole, and nobody complains about having to pay for the supplies in advance. We all know that anything can happen, and having some preps for a while calms everyone down. Most of our family is safe in other countries.
The guys in the hacienda are very willing to absorb the additional workforce and will provide some basic foods, also: eggs, dairy (it’s a milk farm), pork, and chicken. They are relatives of one of the group’s members and have plenty of safe storage space they don’t use. There is a small river nearby and a few ponds for cattle. They had many fruit trees, but without laborers to take care of them and fuel for the machinery, most of them were lost to the wild.
This is the best, fastest, safest way we could find to avoid getting stuck in the city. I already have two boxes with my old CDs, DVDs, an old player for all of that, board games, magazines and books in place. We don’t know how much time we could be there, and as we all know from childhood, having a good time in the evenings after farm work is going to be a welcomed activity.
Same for the few inhabitants of the farm who work their backs to the ground every single day!
Now, you have a good idea of what I believe is going to happen, and what my group and I will do.
Let me know what you think! Thanks for your reading!
And please raise a prayer for our freedom.
Dani
What do you think?
Moving out of an economic collapse and out from under the thumb of a totalitarian regime is a struggle. Do you suspect Venezuela is about to go downhill again? Is there more danger ahead? Do you have other recommendations for Daniela and her friends?
Let’s discuss it in the comments section.
About Daniela
Daniela Gonzalez is a student of history at the Universidad Central de Venezuela in Caracas.