Cash Chronicles has been publishing from Colombia this week and the past few days have been based in the city of Santa Marta on the Caribbean coast.
Source: Wikipedia
Many foreign tourists only take the time to fly into Cartagena, the colonial walled city which is the primary Caribbean port of the country.
Santa Marta however, is a bit up and coming and has become popular with the backpacking set of young people. They are likely attracted to the cheaper prices and nearby national park which offers visits of the “lost city” and bays which host some isolated beaches.
Another feature of the city that I found distinct to others in Colombia was also the larger proportion of Venezuelans here. Santa Marta lies about 150 miles from the border with Venezuela and currently Colombia is hosts 1 million Venezuelans fleeing the economic crisis created by their government.
A number of street vendors were selling purses and other items made out of the worthless Venezuelan currency called the Bolivar. I purchased a small purse and a wallet made of the currency as well as a few Bolivars for myself.
The currency and the purse were offered to me at 15,000 COP which is around $4.50. I paid what they asked because I felt any bargaining on such an already low price would be insulting and just plain cruel.
I paid 30,000 COP or about $9 for a wallet made of the currency as well.
I also noticed a significant number of prostitutes in the center of town that seemed a bit more pushy and desperate than in other places I had been in Colombia.
All of this speaks to the desperate situation in Venezuela and how it is affecting not just the people themselves but now the countries all around Venezuela that have taken in so many of these economic refugees.
That being said, it’s worth reviewing why people are fleeing the situation and how bad it actually is in a few charts.
Venezuela: The Facts
The country is currently experiencing the worst shrinking of an economy that is not in a state of war. Inflation may hit 10 million percent this year, unemployment is at 44% and GDP has shrunk back to the same level as what the country produced in the late 90’s.
Source: Newsweek
It’s a case in point of how bad government and bad government policy can destroy an economy. Most people cannot provide enough to eat for themselves and their families given the punishing inflation.
Source: BBC
The lack of resources have produced death from malnourishment and starvation as well as brought back the scourge of malaria.
Source: BBC
These factors have pushed about 10% of the entire population of 30 million to flee the country, a third of whom, ended up in Colombia.
Source: BBC
These types of numbers mean there is very little that myself or even a group of friends can do much to stem the tide and assist in any way. What’s needed to fix this type of desperation is a change of government that sadly has also been stymied by the current President Nicolas Maduro.
Be Thankful
It’s another reminder that all these high minded things that are discussed in policy papers and blogs like this one have real impacts on the people that have to deal with them. If you are currently in a place with a government follows the rule of law and has a stable independent monetary policy, count your blessings because it could easily be any of us folding currency together to make purses.
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