By VIVIANA ONORATO

The situation in Venezuela is critically bad.

There is poverty, unemployment, insecurity, lack of political input, among other issues. A large number of Venezuelans have died because of a shortage of food, medicine or being killed defending their rights.

The quality of life in Venezuela is getting worse every day. People live with the risk of dying without being able to buy food because of its high cost or because there is no food at all. For the last five years, people have been starving. About 75 percent of the country has lost an average of 19 pounds per person since the food crisis.

In addition, the minimum wage does not cover all the necessary expenses in a low cost living. For these reasons, the people in Venezuela decided to take to the streets to defend their rights. Once again, this freedom could not be achieved so there is a lot of emigration in the country not only by the people but also airlines and importing companies.

Venezuela has always been a country that has a lot of potential and wealth. It was the richest country in Latin America and now it is broke thanks to the collapse of the oil industry and general mismanagement of the economy.

It used to welcome many foreigner visitors and today, this beautiful country full of landscapes, beaches and tropical climates has become the most corrupt country in South America.

President Nicolas Maduro isn’t helping to improve the situation. While people are starving, president Nicolas Maduro focuses on changing the constitution in order to give himself more power. This means, people in Venezuela would not be able to have the right to vote anymore.

We as journalists need to stop ignoring the situation in Venezuela. We need to be the voice for those who do not have one. We need to make the world see the reality of Venezuela and contribute to those Venezuelans desperate to have that freedom they have fought so much.