Venezuelas Economic Crisis Has Forced Some Doctors, Other Professionals to Become Prostitutes

[Bacchus4.0]

This is why Venezuelans voted for chavistas of course.

http://www.newsweek.com/venezuelas-economic-crisis-has-forced-doctors-become-prostitutes-672035

On Monday, a group of Venezuelan doctors protested in front of the World Health Organization’s office in Caracas, arguing that the agency is not doing enough to pressure the Nicolás Maduro government and request additional assistance, as the South American country grapples with nearly 85 percent shortage of medicines.

Venezuelan doctors face a host of challenges, from a crippling hospital infrastructure to insufficient vaccines and antibiotics that could easily control diseases such as diphtheria and measles, according to Reuters. To remedy some of these problems, the Maduro administration increased doctors’ monthly salary by 50 percent in March, from $71.2 to $106.8 in U.S. dollars. But for many, this is a pitiful increase because of hyperinflation in Venezuela — which could hover at around 1,600% this year according to the International Monetary Fund— making it harder for doctors to make ends meet.

Venezuela’s economic woes have forced some female doctors and other professionals to become sex workers, according to a recent report by The Miami Herald. Brothels along the Colombia-Venezuela border, particularly those sitting by the Arauca riverbed, have witnessed an increase of Venezuelan women selling their bodies for $25 an hour.
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A January 2017 report by BBC Mundo found that in the Colombian municipality of Saravena, Arauca, a department that shares borders with Venezuela, nearly 200 Venezuelan women have turned to the world’s oldest profession hoping to buy food and other basic products. The most recent report by the group Women Finding Freedom Association revealed that nearly 6,500 Venezuelan women have become sex workers in Colombia.

[Fred Sanders]

1. Report from Miami Herald is dubious. Besides, why do the folks keep electing pro-socialist

governments as in 17 of 21 governorship's just this past week?
Could it be because Venezuelans know international interference when they see it, and once again reject a return to rule by the rich?
The folks know socialism will eventually be the correct path for all of them, not just the chosen few.

[Bacchus4.0]

2. I imagine Venezuelans must have been tired of having food in supermarkets, medicine at hospitals,

and relative personal safety. Perhaps they felt guilty about having the highest standard of living and being Latin America's wealthiest country. Another possibility would be electoral fraud orchestrated by the ruling government.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-venezuela-colombia-trafficking/venezuela-crisis-forces-women-to-sell-sex-in-colombia-fuels-slavery-risk-idUSKBN18W1EX

[GatoGordo]

3. Only 17? The smart money was on Maduro running the tables!

After all, after being outed by Smartmatic (the previous developer of Venezuela's voting machines) for the ANC fraud, Maduro brought in his own Chavista owned voting company to make sure that sort of embarrassment wouldn't happen again!

Speaking at a news briefing in London, Smartmatic CEO Antonio Mugica said the results of Sunday's (ANC) poll were "off by at least one million. We know, without any doubt, that the turnout of the recent election for a National Constituent Assembly was manipulated," Mugica told reporters.

"According to leaked internal CNE documents, 3,720,465 votes (for the ANC) were cast thirty minutes before polls were expected to close"
source: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-venezuela-politics-vote-exclusive/exclusive-venezuelan-vote-data-casts-doubt-on-turnout-at-sunday-poll-idUSKBN1AI0AL

Even the Carter Center, (refused official entry as observers) which isn't exactly a mouthpiece for all things "right wing", called the elections a fraud.

[GatoGordo]

4. The Carter Center said of the previous "selection" (ANC)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: In Atlanta, Deanna Congileo, 1-404-420-5108 or [e-mail]

ATLANTA — The Carter Center is dismayed by the deplorable events that have taken place in Venezuela in recent days.

We condemn Sunday’s process to elect a National Constituent Assembly. The process was carried out in the complete absence of electoral integrity, posing serious problems of legitimacy, legality, and procedure. The measures taken by the government to prevent freedom of expression, freedom of the press, and the right to peaceful demonstrations contravene the democratic values of plurality and the democratic and participatory clauses protected in the Venezuelan constitution.

We deeply regret the violence, repression, and riots that occurred during the election and the excessive and disproportionate use of force by security forces. The government of Venezuela has the responsibility to ensure respect for the rule of law and fundamental rights.

We reject the extrajudicial detention of opposition leaders Leopoldo Lopez and Antonio Ledezma on Tuesday morning by agents of the intelligence service. The persecution of political dissent lays grounds for serious violations of human rights. Authorities must find workable solutions for citizen grievances.

We urge political forces to reinstate rule of law and the 1999 Constitution and to restore confidence that has been lost because of their attempt to establish divisive parallel institutions.