Marcelot/Yepez/INSIDER
- Blackouts, hyperinflation, and chronic shortages have become everyday life for millions of Venezuelans.
- Five people sent INSIDER pictures that show what it’s like to live through the humanitarian crisis.
- From meat rotting in a warm fridge to a happy meal that is worth more than a monthly salary – they see the effects of the crisis everywhere.
- Visit INSIDER’s homepage for more stories.
Venezuela continues to spiral into a worsening humanitarian crisis as the government and the opposition fight each other for support.
More than 3 million people have left the South American country. But for those who stayed, crippling blackouts, hyperinflation, and chronic food and medicine shortages are their everyday reality.
INSIDER asked Venezuelans to send in pictures that best capture their lives under the crisis.
The internet in Venezuela frequently fails, which can make communication difficult and slow. The photographs were taken in March and April 2019, and reached INSIDER piecemeal over the past few weeks.
They show life before the failed uprising last week, led by opposition politician Juan Guaidó. Despite the drama of Guaidó’s gambit, little has changed for ordinary people. Here is what they showed us.
This worthless "money tree" uses black humor to show Venezuela’s hyperinflation.
(Jesus Yepez)
This photo is from Jesus Yepez, an architect who lives in Venezuela’s capital, Caracas.
He found this "money tree" in the street, made mostly from bills in Venezuela’s currency, the bolívares soberanos, on the street.
Skyrocketing hyperinflation has made cash almost worthless: $1 is worth roughly 5,200 bolívares soberanos.
Yepez saw local workers adding their tips to the tree, while other people contributed Monopoly money.
"Many people commented that that is what our currency has turned into: Monopoly money," he told INSIDER. "It’s an ingenious protest for the insane inflation we’ve been experiencing."
You can follow Jesus Yepez on Instagram.
This man is hunting for food in a garbage dumpster — now an everyday sight in Caracas.
(Jesus Yepez)
As prices for basic goods like food and medicine have soared, it is pretty common to see people sifting through the trash in the streets of Caracas.
Yepez observed this young man looking through, likely in search of food, clothes, or plastic containers that he could sell.
"I could see by his face that he was hungry," Yepez said.
Another photo shows a McDonald’s in Caracas offering a Happy Meal for 18,500 bolivares — more than the monthly minimum wage.
(Jesus Yepez)
When Yepez took his daughter to buy an ice cream at a McDonald’s — a special treat — the price of the Happy Meal immediately caught his attention.
The meal — a Cajita Feliz in Spanish — cost 18,500 bolivares soberanos ($3.50), a little more than the minimum monthly wage at the time in March.
The government has since raised the wage to 40,000 bolívares soberanos ($7.70).
Yepez said that the restaurant was mostly empty, since eating out is so expensive.
"Seeing how grave the crisis is, all we can do is ‘be happy’," he said.
See the rest of the story at Business Insider
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Source: Business Insider – bchristofaro@businessinsider.com (Beatrice Christofaro)