The scariest neighborhood in Caracas: FAN tells who lives there and why. Caracas: the most dangerous city on Earth Why is this happening?

Caracas greeted us with a large number of election posters, despite the fact that there were more than three months left before the elections. The leader in the number of posters is, of course, Colonel Hugo Chavez. He changed his usual slogan “Socialist Fatherland or Death!”, based on Che Guevara’s slogan “Motherland or Death!” to “Socialist Fatherland and Victory! We will live and win!”
If we put the posters aside, the city behind them reminded us a lot of Rio de Janeiro. Not only that, the people in Caracas are also similar to the people in Rio. The picture is very familiar. If you change the vehicle fleet from American dreadnoughts to Brazilian small cars, it will generally be barely distinguishable. After Peru, it was as if we had come home. The color is absolutely the same

One of the first places we looked at was the Central University of Venezuela (on Wikipedia). Large territory, many faculties, campuses, sculptures, graffiti (murali here). Everything is interesting, but a more detailed inspection takes a lot of time, besides, we were here on a day off, there were few students, much of what was of interest was closed, so we did a quick inspection and went to another place.
In the photo - students are reading/learning something. I have already written several times in my journal that in Latin America, sitting on the floor or on the ground is not considered something dirty or shameful and inappropriate for a normal person

You can pay attention to the decoration of the walls, ceiling and columns. She's gone. This style of architecture is often found in Sao Paulo. So often that sometimes you think that this style is the main one in this city. I used to think that Brazilians simply neglect processing, preferring utilitarianism to beauty. But then we learned from Vera that this is a separate movement called “Brutalism”. In buildings built in this style, the texture of concrete or stone is emphasized, architectural structures are not hidden, and any finishing work, both internal and external, is denied. Not only painting or cladding, but also plaster is not used when creating interior design in this style.
It originated in the 50s, at a time when reinforced concrete structures were just beginning to be erected. Buildings built in this style were supposed to look urban and powerful, although, in fact, they look as if the developer ran out of money or the team of workers became overwhelmed and did not finish the job, and others could not be found.
I don’t know about Venezuela, but in Brazil this style found fertile ground and is widely used to this day, although perhaps the finishing and painting/finishing is simply not done

I didn’t want to take pictures, because I don’t understand anything about it, but Vera said that this is a famous sculpture and I need to take a picture. It is necessary, it is necessary. If any of my readers would be interested, please do so.
Pastor de Nubes o Formes do Lutin Posted by Jean Arp 1953

These are not sectarians, these are young people, students, probably playing some kind of game. Our pastime at the time when I was studying was fundamentally different from this

As far as I remember, this is a campus. At the time when this building was erected, such architecture was advanced (may Vera forgive me if she reads these lines)

I have no idea who Sergio Rodriguez is

We have already left the university grounds and are heading somewhere towards the city park. Hugo Chavez looks down from the pillars, and the walls are decorated with his name.
To be honest, I didn’t notice that life in Caracas is very dangerous. Ordinary peaceful life of ordinary people

Somehow, looking at these police officers, you don’t think that you are in the most dangerous city on the planet, as they colorfully write about Caracas in some trip reports

In terms of their ability to sleep at any time and anywhere, Venezuelans seem to be not much different from. As one of my virtual friends wrote, they are amazingly carefree people

I won’t say how often Chinese establishments are found in Caracas, but during our stay in this city, we saw several of them. I don’t remember the Chinese themselves on the streets.

Murali (graffiti) again. They are different here from those. There is more politics in them, but less social protest; there is even a historical orientation. The theme of Indians and conquistadors is heavily exploited (I may use the wrong terms, since I am not an expert). Apparently, this is what is allowed to be painted on the walls. I’m not saying that you can’t draw something different, but it’s also important that the picture stays for a long time and people see it.
By the way, at the University, which I wrote about above, there are also enough of this type of images, only made in the form of a mosaic. They didn’t interest me then, as they reminded me of the wall of the sports complex in my home village. And now I regret it, because I realized that Venezuelans classify both the drawings on the fences and the mosaics on the walls as the same type of art. Both are murals (I will continue to write this word in Russian, because I’m tired of switching languages).

To be honest, I don’t remember what kind of building this is. But the photo helps to create an image of Caracas that is different from “the most dangerous city on the planet.” At the same time, I will not claim that the city is safe. No. Here, as in almost all of Latin America, security varies greatly by area. But even in a good area, no one is safe from a banal gop-stop, the chances are simply lower.
It seems to me that Caracas in this regard is like Rio before the police sweeps, maybe half a step more “more cheerful”, but, in general, the same thing.

Ordinary people could be confused with Brazilians, if not for their strange clothes. Brazilians also dress in a very specific way, combining things that are impossible to combine, but still a little different.
Just now I discovered that the girl in her beret has her right shoe “asking for something”

I can't say that this is typical for Caracas. Quite the contrary. But no one is in a hurry to evict people from under the bridge. Even in a country with a brutal dictatorship, as Venezuela is portrayed to the whole world, people are tolerant and cannot throw others into the street

Sometimes people react negatively to trying to take a photo by covering their faces. Throw something, swear, etc. didn't try. Although, the man in the photo muttered something, and it was unlikely that it was “Have a nice day!”, but he did not show aggression

Circulo Militar de Caracas, next to the Military Academy of Venezuela

Monument to the fighters for the independence of Venezuela. An Indian on a horse raised his right hand with his index finger extended and seemed to ask: “Will I take this road to Caracas?”

Street painting has reached here too. There’s nowhere else to draw your doodles

Somewhere there I took a photograph of a security guard. It’s strange, but in Mexico, Peru, Venezuela, etc. armed people have no problem allowing themselves to be photographed. In Russia, if a person has a weapon, then you can’t photograph him. Feels like he's a secret agent on the loose

The bas-relief is also dedicated to the struggle for independence. The soldiers look like not-yet-frozen French conquerors from the time of Napoleon. Since the war in Venezuela began in 1816, one can understand where the similarity comes from

Many Venezuelans prefer meditation to sports.

Life is measured and calm. If I didn’t know that the photo was taken in Caracas, I would have assumed that it was Brazil or Uruguay

This park complex takes up a lot of space, is maintained in order, is clean and, in general, is quite pleasant to be in. In this place I carried the camera on my belly. Basically, in order not to attract attention, I took pictures and then put the camera back in my backpack or belt bag

There is a fenced area around the park for cyclists, rollerbladers and other homo volvens.

Residential buildings opposite the park are painted in the colors of the national flag

This is the main monument. The dates of the battles and the names of the people who participated in these battles are immortalized on two columns. The sculptures below are the generals who fought under the military leadership of Simon Bolivar

Bottom line - Juan Mayer - Ruso. So, our country also took part in the struggle for the independence of Venezuela. A simple Russian, Juan, included our country in the list of heroes on the main monument of Venezuela

There is a city park nearby

The park is large, green and full of wildlife. Our learned driver Leo said about these fish that they are distant relatives of the piranha. Judging by the fact that they didn’t eat anyone in front of us, their appetite is worse than that of their relatives

Macaw parrots sit on trees and fly freely from place to place

Having left the park, we climbed to a hill nearby. From here there is a good view, you can see the Venezuelan mixture of favelas and high-rise buildings. In Brazil, houses are usually built next to favelas into which local residents are resettled. There, such houses are called “Singapore”; they do not have an elevator, a gym, a swimming pool, a receptionist and other services that are so familiar to Brazilians and unusual to Russians. But, obviously, here we see houses of a different type, definitely not “Singapore”, too neat for that

Leo, the learned driver. Now he is probably in Russia, since he was going there in September. I wanted to see Moscow and St. Petersburg, and also wanted to work in someone’s garden or vegetable garden to get to know agriculture in our country better

Now we are in one of the expensive areas of Caracas. From here you can clearly see that the city is located in a gorge between two ridges. Due to its location, it is well blown by winds and this avoids heavy gas pollution

Some birds were screaming loudly in the forest; Leo said they were guinea fowl. B, in general, noticed that the nature in this city is much brighter and richer than in Sao Paulo.
Real estate prices are not so different from Brazilian ones. Not even half.

Nuclear mixture on graffiti/mural: two children with Venezuelan flags and a basket of bananas, and on the left a figure of Bolivar on a horse

Street food establishment. You can eat here cheaply and well. The service is worse than in Brazil and worse than in Argentina, but quite tolerable and inexpensive

To the right of the Indian is the favela icon

There is always a place for fast food in markets

Some people love Zazu. I hope it's mutual

Only those who are in the know will understand

"Invasion". Interestingly, this was most likely written by a descendant of those who invaded

Colonel Chavez. True, somewhat enslaved

Peasant, builder, Indian, skinhead and alien with pink hair

Here we met supporters of Venezuelan presidential candidate Capriles Radonski. Interestingly, we met near a social housing construction site. Housing is being built on every free plot, regardless of whether it is private property or not. If you don't use it, you're free

Capriles is a middle class candidate, so to speak. He is behind Hugo Chavez, but not significantly. In addition, there are states in which he is significantly ahead

The slogan on the flag is “There is a way” and something else about justice

Despite the fact that there were no police, and slogans in support of Chavez were heard from other cars and from the streets, everything went very peacefully

National University of the Arts

Caracas has several skyscrapers that create the image of a modern city, despite the colorful "ranches" on the slopes

Art Museum. Entry is free for everyone. This is true for all museums in the country

Small market in front of the museum

One of the mosques of Caracas is visible in the background

Bolivar was born in this house. I, like almost every Russian, had a question: “Who is this Bolivar and why are they running around with him in Venezuela?”
You can ask Google for more details, but in short, Simon Bolivar is cool because: he saw an opportunity, found supporters, found the means and was able to achieve the independence of Venezuela and, moreover, back in the days of King Pea, he saw a threat from the United States and began the process of uniting several Latin American countries into one. He practically predicted that if you do not start the process of integration, then, subsequently, there is a huge risk of becoming a raw material appendage of the States, which is what happened, since he was not allowed to unite the countries - Venezuela was rich, and its neighbors were poor, and this unequal union of investors of independence , apparently, did not suit

Bolivar's mother's stretcher. Comfort - zero, no seat adjustments, no power windows, it's better to walk. Faster and healthier

On this square there is a monument to the country's national treasure - oil. This is one of the most monstrous and inappropriate monuments I have seen

The center is actively renovating old houses. It's clean, neat and peaceful here. I can’t understand why this can be done in Venezuela, but not in Brazil, in Sao Paulo or Rio, for example, where the centers are a place for rabble

Is this a scuba diving box?

Red corner. The program "Hello, President!" is broadcast here. The broadcast is always online; there were cases when the Colonel spoke for more than 7 hours in a row. Lately, however, he has begun to skip programs and speak less and less, but recently he has started to improve. We listened for a few minutes and I was struck by the fact that Hugo Chavez has the voice of an old man, although he himself does not look like one

Whatever they say about Hugo Chavez, I saw myself that people gather without coercion just to listen to him. They could drink beer, but instead they listen to the President. Isn't this a confession?

Thank you for reading/watching. I hope I was able to help you form an opinion about this city.
There are still reports about Peru and Venezuela ahead.

) I would like to consider the problem of crime in the country. Usually there are a lot of different horror stories about Venezuela, which often turn out to be myths. Let's look at Venezuela from the other side of the Moon of crime - what are its causes, how the state and society oppose it, what results have been achieved. First, a few words about the causes of this social evil.

Crime is a chronic problem in Venezuelan society. Its underlying social causes include the consequences of the oil boom: demographic growth, mass exodus from the countryside and, as a consequence, the formation of wide marginal belts on the urban outskirts, which for a long time were the focus of unemployment and the social disasters caused by it.

Poor areas (barrios) of Caracas border on fashionable neighborhoods.

In modern conditions - especially in countries such as Venezuela, where the well-being of the population as a whole has increased significantly over the past decades - the reasons for criminalization are not limited to poverty and unemployment. For several generations now, through the media, television series and computer games, stereotypes of the “consumer society” have been perceived in the spirit of a ghostly, supposedly “American way of life.” This encourages a significant part of young people to perceive the lives of their parents and their own as failures and try to achieve the desired “success” or at least its external attributes through criminal means.

In Caracas, the epicenter of crime is the so-called “barrios” - vast areas of “squatter construction” on the hills surrounding the capital. The government is pursuing a housing policy aimed at repopulating these areas and, as a result, the resocialization and social reintegration of residents of marginal areas. But the measures being implemented, apparently, are not enough to radically change the situation. The crime situation hits small and medium-sized businesses especially hard. For example, it is known that the owners of many metropolitan restaurants prefer to close their establishments after eight o’clock in the evening, citing, firstly, the small number of visitors (many wealthy residents are afraid to go out on the streets after dark), and secondly, the threat of robbery.

View of Caracas from the heights of the barrios, which in Venezuela are ironically also called “ranchos”.

Since 1998, during the reign of Hugo Chavez, the Bolivarian authorities have adopted a total of 20 nationwide programs to combat crime. WITHThe most ambitious program was initiated under Chavez, in June 2012, and continued by the new government of President N. Maduro. Its official name is “Great Social Mission “Venezuela - Every Life”” ( Gran Mision A Toda Vida Venezuela). This is a targeted program focused on crime prevention. The government has allocated 6 billion bolivars ($1.4 billion) for the implementation of this two-year mission.

Official mission logo"Venezuela - every life."

Social advertising of the mission on the streets of the capital.

Street graffiti "For peace and for life"

As part of the same mission, a plan called “Secure Homeland” (Plan Patria Segura) was introduced. It includes a series of measures aimed at preventing crime. Unlike previous security programs, the current one is carried out primarily by the armed forces, with the police playing a secondary role. In addition, organize Night patrolling of city streets by citizens and territorial communes has been introduced. In order to try to direct the social energy of young people not in an aggressive, but in a creative direction, mass cultural events are systematically held in crime-prone areas. According to the new Minister of the Interior, Miguel Torres, thanks to the comprehensiveness of the mission, in 2013 the number of murders was reduced by 17% and the number of kidnappings by 51%.

"Motorized" police of Caracas.

Special civilian paramilitary forces created to fight crime.

Motorized civilian brigades help monitor police safety.

In June 2013, as part of the “Safe Homeland” plan, the “Law for Disarmament and Control of Weapons and Military Arsenal” was adopted (Ley para el Desarme y Control de Armas y Municiones), which tightened the rules for owning and carrying weapons.At the beginning of 2014, the government of N. Maduro put forward for public discussion a program for ensuring civil peace, called the “Plan for Peace and National Coexistence” (Plan de Paz y Convivencia nacional), which was based on the disarmament of citizens, mainly through persuasion. The program received wide support in society, not excluding the opposition. But just a few days later, in January 2014, in the vicinity of Caracas there was a high-profile murder of the former beauty queen Monica Spear and her husband. This crime was solved without delay, but nevertheless was interpreted by the opposition media as a sign of the powerlessness of the authorities in the face of crime, which literally exploded the emerging consensus. About a month later, the violence was given a different, political direction, becoming one of the “nerves” of the confrontation between the government and the opposition. It is symptomatic that one of the first victims of the new round of escalation of the internal political conflict was the leader of a number of youth groups in Caracas, who signed a disarmament agreement with the authorities.

This is what the point of destruction of confiscated and voluntarily surrendered weapons looks like. "Gun Free Zone"

Another most dangerous factor is the presence of a huge mass of firearms. From 2003 to 2012 The state forces confiscated and destroyed more than 320 thousand firearms from the population, but the problem has not been completely solved. The attitude towards the “trunk” as a necessary attribute of a “real man”, a “guarantee” of personal safety and freedom for oneself and loved ones, was partly inherited by Venezuelan society from a degenerate, two-century tradition of military mutinies and guerrillas that had lost its socio-political orientation and previous ideals, and partly - all from the same television-computer fiction of the “American way of life.” Having become a habit, “universal arming of the people” continues to exist, although it has long since become essentially illusory. In a modern urbanized society, moreover, deeply divided by the most acute socio-political conflicts, this “weapon” only turns an increasing number of citizens into hostages (figuratively and literally) of a criminalized minority.

The “image” of the “real” Venezuelan macho, formed by the media, mass culture and consumer society.

The peaceful weapons destruction apparatus in action.

Voluntary weapons surrender point.

Weapons are melted.

Public campaigning for the surrender of weapons.

To be continued....

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.

“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 stocked 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.”

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 (more precisely, 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 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.