. Those paying close attention to this blog for Ecuador may have noticed the more frequent appearance lately of the flag of Venesuela alongside the introductions of new members.
Though frequently not English-speakers, these folks are seeking out this blog and considering moving to EC...and perhaps other Expat-friendly places that are more peaceful and prosperous than their own country.
There are difficult times in Ven. The economy is sour and there have been thousands of "Venesuelan Spring" public demonstrations this year, some deadly.
From Wikipedia: "The protests erupted, for the most part, of as a result of Ven.'s high levels of violence, inflation and chronic shortages of basic goods, which protesters and analysts claim are caused by economic policies such as strict price controls. At least 6,369 protests occurred during the first six months of the year (2014).
"...protests occurred in January 2014, after the murder of actress and former Miss Venesuela Monica Spear (and the Ven.) government has been widely condemned...for the use of rubber bullets and tear gas to instances of live ammunition and torture of arrested prisoners."
There have been 42 deaths from the demonstrations, according to the most recent Travel Warning (June 2014) posted online by the U.S. State Department.
However, that number pales in comparison to the 24,763 Ven. homicides recorded last year, according to the non-governmental group Venesuelan Violence Observatory -- a rate of 79 per 100,000, one of the highest murder rates worldwide. And the local rate in the capital, Caracas, is more than 50 percent higher than that.
The U.S. State Department says that there were 625 Ven. kidnappings reported last year but that 80 percent of kidnappings go unreported, so the true number could have been upwards of 3,000.
Ecuador's friendly relationship with Ven.'s government in recent years may account for part of the interest in coming here. The Correa government has issued a posthumous postal stamp bearing the likeness of the late presidente Hugo Chaves, who died last year.
cccmedia, Quito