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Backyard burials becoming a new norm in Venezuela as it spirals into chaos
Backyard Burials: the New Venezuelan Way of DeathBy Valentina Gil - November 22, 2018
Link to tweet
translation: In this painful video it is evident how the grave situation in # Venezuela does not differentiate between political loyalties. All Venezuelans are affected by the crisis and we are united by the repudiation of the guilty of those who led millions to misery.
In Los Tres Reyes Magos neighborhood in Maracaibo, Zulia State, Ender Bracho (39) died due of septicemia in his home. The hospitals in the area couldn’t take him due to the shortage of medicines and his family couldn’t afford a burial, so the body had to remain for two days in his room, under a mosquito net, surrounded by fans to hide the smell.
The Brachos tried to use their funeral insurance to cover the costs, but it was useless. The contract had expired due to late payments. Then, they asked the Mayor’s Office and the Governor’s Office for help. By law, the State must offer free funeral services for poor and homeless citizens as needed. But there was no answer.
Since the government didn’t respond, the Brachos dug up a hole in their backyard. They buried Ender there, wrapped in bedsheets. The improvised burial was documented by journalist Lenin Danieri. After the event had spread through social media, the Governor’s Office finally broke the silence: they paid for the funeral and enabled a space in the San Francisco de Asís graveyard.
Burying the dead has become an ordeal that affects many families in extreme poverty: 61.2% of the population, according to the Survey on Living Conditions (Encovi) 2017.
Due to the steep costs of funeral services, some families have been forced to improvise coffins out of black plastic bags or closets. Their backyards now double as graveyards. Desperate measures that show the cracks of a country in crisis, where there’s no respect for citizens, dead or alive.
“People at the Governor’s Office pressured the family to deny what happened and say that it was made up by the media, that the governor was always attentive. Both the mother and the sister refused,” said Danieri, who was threatened by the government for reporting the incident. For those in power, it’s better to keep up appearances instead of showing respect for the losses of the most vulnerable citizens.
The Brachos tried to use their funeral insurance to cover the costs, but it was useless. The contract had expired due to late payments. Then, they asked the Mayor’s Office and the Governor’s Office for help. By law, the State must offer free funeral services for poor and homeless citizens as needed. But there was no answer.
Since the government didn’t respond, the Brachos dug up a hole in their backyard. They buried Ender there, wrapped in bedsheets. The improvised burial was documented by journalist Lenin Danieri. After the event had spread through social media, the Governor’s Office finally broke the silence: they paid for the funeral and enabled a space in the San Francisco de Asís graveyard.
Burying the dead has become an ordeal that affects many families in extreme poverty: 61.2% of the population, according to the Survey on Living Conditions (Encovi) 2017.
Due to the steep costs of funeral services, some families have been forced to improvise coffins out of black plastic bags or closets. Their backyards now double as graveyards. Desperate measures that show the cracks of a country in crisis, where there’s no respect for citizens, dead or alive.
“People at the Governor’s Office pressured the family to deny what happened and say that it was made up by the media, that the governor was always attentive. Both the mother and the sister refused,” said Danieri, who was threatened by the government for reporting the incident. For those in power, it’s better to keep up appearances instead of showing respect for the losses of the most vulnerable citizens.
-snip-
https://www.caracaschronicles.com/2018/11/22/backyard-burials-the-new-venezuelan-way-of-death/
People are born into squalor, live in squalor and die in squalor. Not a big deal to the Chavistas, who know that there is a never ending supply of new Venezuelans in need of subjugation. What matters is the Revolution. Revolution or Death!
