VENEZUELA: Eating One Meal A Day

It has the biggest oil reserves on the planet. But instead of living like Middle Eastern sheiks, many Venezuelans are on the brink of famine.

The economy is in ruins, the currency is all but worthless, shops are empty and people queue for subsidised food rations to survive.

A charismatic former army colonel named Hugo Chavez launched a socialist revolution after he was elected in 1998. But under his successor, Nicolas Maduro, the oil-rich country has become a failing state.

A week in the capital Caracas revealed a city on the edge of destruction.

The first things you see are the queues. They start at about 3:00am across the city, with tens of thousands waiting in line to buy subsidised food. The reward for six hours of waiting might be two small bags of flour.

'They are fine in the government, they eat," one woman clutching a baby tells us in disgust.

People tell us they eat only once a day so there'll be something to give the children for dinner. We hear stories of people fainting from hunger in the slums.

'The whole system has to change," one man cries.

"It can't go on like this."

Word spreads through the crowd that journalists have come and others call us over to talk to them. But we can't stay long.

Police are guarding the food stores to prevent riots and if they spot us we'll be arrested.

We move on to our next location, passing people scavenging through garbage for food and socialist billboards boasting how much more people are eating since the revolution.

We catch a train to the edge of the city. The greater Caracas area has 5 million people and most of them live in slums called barrios on the surrounding hills.

As a general rule, the poorer you are, the higher you live. Taxis don't even go the higher barrios. People climb up winding pot-holed streets or catch communal buses or even motorcycle taxis called motos.

At the top of one barrio we find a crowd of people waiting for government deliveries of gas that were supposed to come days before.

Behind them is a giant mural of Hugo Chavez, the first socialist president who lavished oil money on the barrios before dying unexpectedly in 2013.

"We miss him a lot," says an old woman named Josepina Lopez.

"He used to solve all the problems we have now."

But others have only contempt for the new president, Nicolas Maduro.

"People want him out of power," says a moto driver Leon Guerrero.

"But he does not let us vote because he knows he is going to lose. Every day the situation is harder and sometimes in feel suffocated."

The only business that's booming in the barrios is crime. With close to 4,000 murders a year Caracas is getting a reputation as the most dangerous city in Latin America.

Our translator puts us in touch with a local gang who agree to meet us.

We are taken into a concrete room and searched by young men wearing balaclavas and holding pistols.

The leader tells me nonchalantly what they do.

"A bit of everything," he says, "drugs, kidnapping, stealing cars, contract killings. Mostly drugs."
He says business is good.

"Do you worry about police?" I ask.

"No, we have good contacts."

He takes the bullets from his gun and gives it me to hold, then jokes I've left my fingerprints on it.

They line up to show us their weapons and agree to a group photograph.

We politely decline their invitation to smoke marijuana with them.

One of the gang members escorts us back down to the road with a gun "for safety".

We go back to the city centre to meet an eminent historian, Professor Margarita Lopez Maya.

She unlocks the gate to her compound and the heavy locks on her apartment where we set up the small, tourist-style cameras we've brought to interview her.

She explains that falling world oil prices are only part of the reason for the economy's collapse.

The socialist regime didn't just destroy the market economy though mass nationalisation.

It also ran down the state oil company, putting all the profits into social programs and nothing back into the ageing oil infrastructure.

"Venezuela today has the biggest reserves of oil in the world," she says.

"But the problem has been that during the Chavez era, the company has deteriorated seriously, especially in the last years.

"And we are reducing our oil production. They have killed the golden goose."
But even she is surprised by how quickly the economy fell apart when oil prices halved after Chavez's death.

"It's broken, it's absolutely broken," she says.

"Listen, it's so amazing what's going on in Venezuela and so unnecessary.

"You can't believe it!'

We need to change US dollars for the local currency, the Bolivar, named after the 19th century military leader Simon Bolivar who helped win independence from Spain.

The official exchange rate is a joke.

The currency is almost worthless, thanks partly to the government printing more money to pay its bills.

Everyone changes money on the black market where the rate is five to eight times higher.

I meet a man recommended by a barman in the hotel.

I give him four one-hundred dollar bills. He gives me a sack of bolivars. I am now a bolivar millionaire.

Every day we have to haul out huge wads of money and painstakingly count them out to pay for meals.

It's an inconvenience for foreigners, but a catastrophe for locals.

Their savings have been wiped out and hyperinflation means their wages can't cover food or medicine, even if they can find stores that stock them.

The tension of filming secretly rises each day with news of media crackdowns.

We learn two Brazilian journalists have just been arrested and deported.

An American reporter writes of being held for three days and interrogated after he was caught filming at a hospital.

The government takes CNN's Spanish broadcast off-air after it reports on food queues.

The government hasn't banned television journalists outright.

Like many authoritarian regimes, it's just stopped giving visa or filming permits.

Newspaper reporters and bloggers occasionally slip in, but some have been detained on arrival at Caracas airport and flown straight back out.

The atmosphere of surveillance is oppressive. Police are everywhere.

The streets are plastered with giant murals of Hugo Chavez's eyes, as if watching over the revolution.

Red mask-wearing 'colectivos', the government's civilian militia, monitor the barrios for 'counter-revolutionaries'.

Our translator keeps watch, telling us when to hide the camera.

Our luck finally runs out when a motorcycle patrol of the National Guard spots us filming in the street.

Fortunately we are interviewing a die-hard supporter who has tattooed the eyes of Chavez on his forehead.

We tell them we are socialist filmmakers showing the strong support for socialism in the barrios.

They let us go without checking for our permits.

We visit the heavily secured office of an opposition party called Vente to meet its leader Maria Corina Machado.

She tells us how the authorities are trying to break them. She's been accused of plotting to kill President Maduro.

At a rally she was fired on and the woman standing next to her was shot in the head.

She sent her children to grow up in the US after receiving repeated death threats. The government won't give her an exit permit to see them.

"They are the main reason for me to keep moving ahead," she tells us.

"I'm determined to see my kids as well as all Venezuelan children living in a nation full of opportunities, with solidarity, innovation and prosperity, and freedom."

But she says people are losing hope for change. Opposition parties won control of parliament last year but Maduro simply ignored its rulings.

New restrictions may stop them being able to register for next year's presidential election.

"Even though today over 80 per cent of the population is desperate for a profound change," she says, "they have realised that they no longer can have even uncompetitive elections."

We film around her crowded office. Everyone is white, educated and middle class.

They seem to confirm the government line, repeated endlessly on state-controlled television, that they are part of an out-of-touch elite.

But we learn later it's not so simple.

The regime illegally uses public money to fund its election campaigns but stops any opposition parties accessing it.

Only the middle class can afford to compete. And the regime is working hard to make sure they can never win.

Worst Airports in the World 2015

Every year, SleepingInAirports conducts a survey asking travellers to rate their airport experiences based on the services and facilities available within the terminal, cleanliness, customer service, comfort and their overall airport experience. Looking worldwide, there are a lot of airports that didn't quite make the grade. Those that top our charts for worst airports in the world collected the most negative feedback from voters over the past year. These airports fall flat in terms of providing any kind of enjoyable overall airport experience. Instead, they're dirty, uncomfortable, unfriendly and lack the most basic of services and amenities. They elicit passionate critiques from those who visit them, and countless warnings for future travellers to avoid these places at all costs. That said, if you do find yourself at one of the following 10 terminals, bring a serious amount of patience because you'll most definitely need it!

Here are the Top 10 Worst Airports in the World based on overall airport experience as determined by voters in our 2015 Airport Survey:
1. Port Harcourt International Airport, Nigeria (PHC)

This has to be the most corrupt airport in the world. 'Bring money' as they say in PH. It's a standing joke. - a traveller

Ranked as the worst airport in Africa and one of the worst in the world, voters suggested Port Harcourt Airport should also win the title of most corrupt airport in the world. The terminal's unpleasant and unhelpful staff help to earn it this trifecta of atrocious awards. With virtually no seating, broken air-conditioning and a tent for an Arrivals Hall, it was a struggle for many voters to pass the minimum required amount of time here. The good news is that some areas of the terminal have been recently renovated, meaning you can expect actual walls, floors and windows. Though it is a far cry from reasonable, improvements are being made. See also Worst Airports in Africa.

2. Jeddah King Abdulaziz International Airport, Saudi Arabia (JED)

Immigration is a joke! Too few staff and when they are behind their desks they have no sense of urgency and will fiddle with their mobiles or chat to others. - a traveller

Jeddah's International Airport elicited fervent responses from voters who were annoyed by the chaotic, crowded, unclean airport, particularly within the Hajj terminal. From smoking in non-smoking areas to the bathroom odour wafting out into the lounges, few people sang praises after spending time here. Multi-hour immigration queues with distracted and absent officers further aggravated travellers. All in all, JED is decidedly un-sleepable and arguably un-visitable. A number of voters suggested booking layovers elsewhere – at all costs. Travellers can however take heart - the new Jeddah Airport is said to be 85% complete and scheduled to open mid-2016. Hardly soon enough by the sounds of it! Most travellers familiar with the current JED just hope that the new airport comes with new staff and customs/immigration officers.

3. Kathmandu Tribhuvan International Airport, Nepal (KTM)

I had purposely dehydrated myself, so I wouldn't have to use the restroom there - a traveller

Though Nepal's only international airport gathered ample criticism over the past year, it is important to remember that the country itself has been under considerable pressure. In March 2015, a Turkish Airlines flight overshot the runway and skidded off the tarmac, closing the runway for several days. More severely, in April 2015 a devastating earthquake hit the country. The airport struggled to repair their sole runway and restore a flight schedule amidst a national emergency in an already struggling nation. Given this, voters had understandably poor experiences at the airport, particularly within the domestic terminal. Said to resemble a bus station, the terminal is most remembered for the poor state of its restrooms. The good news is that KTM is currently re-building the much-loathed domestic terminal. Officially, the terminal was set to be completed by the end of 2013 but recent events have stalled the official opening. See also Worst Airports in Asia.

4. Tashkent International Airport, Uzbekistan (TAS)

This airport is one of Dante's circles of hell. The number one activity is waiting. - a traveller

Tashkent International Airport acts as the primary airport for Central Asia. In spite of a few recent upgrades to the departures area, the queues and crowds at TAS continue to be a frustrating experience. Though queues at security are to be expected, TAS boasts remarkable queues at all stages of the airport experience. Worsening the situation is that these queues are often chaotic-verging-on-aggressive, and lack any form of crowd control. Travellers should be prepared to quite literally defend their spot in the mob from pushy passengers. After security, there are chairs in climate-controlled rooms, but securing one is of course, another story.

5. Caracas Simón Bolívar International Airport, Venezuela (CCS)

I´ve been to many airports but this airport biggest chaos ever, no matter if you´re at the international or domestic airport.

According to voters in this year's survey, Caracas International Airport is chaotic, uncomfortable and dull. An absence of chairs and dirty bathrooms worsen the experience here – to say nothing of the low quality of food. Floor space is basically the only option for catching some shut eye during a layover, though the unsanitary conditions and nosey police officers will go out of their way to make this difficult. All said, the airport's main redeeming features are the free WiFi and its two private lounges. Splurging for a day pass at the Admirals or Premier Club certainly eases the pains of a visit here. See also Worst Airports in South America.

6. Port au Prince Toussaint Louverture International Airport, Haiti (PAP)

I was stranded here for 8 hours waiting in 95 degree and no air-conditioning. Locals were yelling and screaming about the wait.

What travellers remember from time spent at the Port au Prince airport is the sweltering heat, the lack of chairs and a number of untrustworthy staff. Peace of mind and comfort are decidedly absent here, as are basic bathroom supplies in the washrooms that are cleaned sporadically at best. The baggage porters also collect their fare share of complaints for being overly aggressive and demanding. If travelling through here, this year's voters strongly recommend keeping valuables and snacks with you. The good news is that renovations are said to be currently underway, giving a little bit of hope to the future of PAP.

7. Kabul Hamid Karzai International Airport, Afghanistan (KBL)

Kabul International Airport has NO Facility at all. Adding it will be an improvement.

Given the current political state of Afghanistan relative to other nations on this global list, we're reluctant to criticize Kabul's international airport too harshly. KBL's international terminal has undergone a number of renovations over the last decade, making it a little more friendly to travellers. The domestic terminal does however leave much to be desired. Voters complain about overall cleanliness, a lack of comfort and the accountability of staff – but again, given the violence that often affects the airport directly, we understand that there are more significant concerns. See also Worst Airports in Asia.

8. Ho Chi Minh City Tân Sơn Nhất International Airport, Vietnam (SGN)

The only way this airport can improve is to get rid of all the bribery, you have to pay just to get out of the airport.

Ho Chi Minh City Airport's rating has deteriorated in recent years thanks to allegations of corruption. Numerous survey respondents reported that customs officers ask for bribes in order to move through the process faster, and those that declined paying quickly faced problems or delays with their paperwork. Other complaints include poor Wi-Fi signals, dirty bathrooms and limited selection of restaurants. If visiting this airport, be sure to keep your valuables hidden and some small cash on hand – and consider filling up at the nearby Burger King before entering the terminal itself. See also Worst Airports in Asia.

9. Islamabad Benazir Bhutto International Airport, Pakistan (ISB)

Security Staff are rude mannered, will not respond to your queries like you are not there.
Ranked the world's “Worst Airport of 2014,” ISB has seen improvements in facilities and services over the past year. In December 2014 the airport's unofficial Twitter account made mention that the airport was working to improve the 'guest experience'. Since then they have upgraded the bathrooms, opened a new lounge and increased the number of check-in and immigration counters.

The airport has also been working away on a much anticipated and much needed new terminal, which is set to be open towards the end of 2016. Until then, the existing terminals are still in need of a good scrub, and crowd control continues to be a problem. Staff have a ways to go in terms of providing a welcoming experience to guests, and improvements might begin with cracking down on corruption.

10. Paris Beauvais-Tille International Airport outside Paris, France (BVA)

If the 7th Circle of Hell were a place on earth, it would be "Paris" Beauvais-Tillé.

By global standards, Paris Beauvais' airport could be considered an upgrade in comparison to other airports on this list. Located in what is plausibly a sparsely furnished converted factory with pre-fabricated “temporary” 10-year old extensions, BVA was voted this year to be the worst airport in Europe. Grievances from voters are detailed and far-reaching, but generally revolve around the absence of chairs, kind staff, sufficient toilets and hygienic standards.

Allegedly, there is Wi-Fi available at a cost to help ease your sorrows as you wait elbow-to-elbow for your flight; however, getting your hands on the password is apparently another mission in and of itself.

VENEZUELA: Dynamic Airways Becomes Latest Carrier To Caracas Airport

Dynamic Airways commenced operations from Caracas Airport on 17 July, becoming the 29th carrier to fly from the Venezuelan capital. The four times weekly rotation that it operates from Fort Lauderdale has resulted in the airline being the 13th largest out of Caracas this September. When the route was launched, Paul Kraus, Dynamic Airways CEO, said that the route launch was a “monumental moment” for the company in reconnecting Caracas and Fort Lauderdale, a city pair that had not been operated since 2005 when American Airlines last flew the route. From 14 November, the carrier will add its second destination to Caracas from New York JFK.

On 22 September, IATA announced that passenger traffic in Venezuela fell by 8.5% in 2014 when compared to the same 12 month time period of 2013. What is worrying about this trend is that other key economies in the region, such as Colombia and Peru, were up 6.9% and 2.5% respectively. The table below shows a more detailed overview of what occurred in the South American and Caribbean region for 2014, relating to the key economies of the region.

The decline of 8.5% also outpaced the 3% GDP contraction in Venezuela during the same period, reflecting the growing impact of draconian government policies on airlines, including restrictions on the repatriation of currency. Tony Tyler, IATA’s Director General and CEO, commented about the traffic decline by saying: “The Venezuelan government’s policies are crippling the air transport sector and depriving its people of the economic benefits that it could bring. Air travel options in Venezuela are diminishing while the country’s citizens and businesses pay more to travel due to the negative impact of government policies.” This statement is very much supported by the changes in seat capacity at Caracas Airport, the country’s leading international transport hub. Analysis of OAG schedule data confirms that since 2014 seat capacity from the facility has fallen by 13%. However, not all airlines have cut capacity at the airport.

Caracas is showing rapid capacity decline

If based on just annual seat capacity alone, the decline of 13% out of Caracas for the whole of 2015 is supporting the statement issued last week by IATA. However, it is worth noting that 2015 (highlighted in light green) still has three months left to pass, which is still plenty of time for an airline to announce and commence operations on a new route, or for other airlines to reduce capacity still further. Nonetheless based on the current figures supplied by OAG, the airport is recording its biggest slump in seat capacity in the past nine years.

Home carriers dominate capacity

As we can see from the table above, only four carriers in the top 12 (highlighted in light green) are foreign airlines. When anna.aero did further analysis into the breakdown of aviation in Venezuela, a reason was uncovered for this possibility and why home carriers are dominating Caracas capacity. Venezuela is breaching international agreements and the principles of the Chicago Convention in its treatment of airlines. One example, as confirmed and published by IATA, is as follows: ‘Foreign carriers are forced to pay for fuel in US dollars instead of Venezuelan bolivars, going against the non-discriminatory spirit of the Chicago Convention which Venezuela has signed. This is particularly problematic as purchasing fuel is one of the few avenues they have for spending accumulated local currency that cannot be repatriated.’

Although IATA has come out with this statement in relation to Venezuela, a further investigation by anna.aero shows that these four carriers are actually reporting growth from Caracas this September when compared with the same time period of 2014, quite considerably in some cases. Avianca (41%), Copa Airlines (18.9%), Aerolineas Argentinas (53%) and American Airlines (40%) are all in fact growing at a much faster rate than the home carriers, with the top three airlines out of Caracas, Conviasa (-38%), Aserca Airlines (-19%) and Aeropostal (-17%), all reporting declines in seat capacity when compared to September 2014.

Domestic market suffering the most

Again, trends seen by IATA seem not to be playing a part in the route development at Caracas, as the market which has taken the most severe impact when compared to the same time period of last year is the Venezuelan domestic market, which is down 41%, and has seen its overall capacity share reduce from 66% in September 2014 to 54% in the same month of 2015. Other markets outside of the top 12 have also shown rapid declines in capacity, with Brazil (15th) showing a 52% drop in seats, and Portugal (16th) down 56%. The airport has also lost a country market when compared to the same time period of 2014, with Italy no longer being served according to OAG Schedules Analyser data.

Double trouble to JFK

Later this year two carriers will introduce services to New York JFK, with Dynamic Airways planning to commence services on 14 November, while American Airlines plans to introduce the city pair to its ever-growing, international New York JFK operations on 17 December. OAG Schedules Analyser data shows that currently New York JFK is not served by any carrier from Caracas.