News from Margarita Island

[MichaelB]

Over the past couple of years there have been a few posts asking about Margarita Island, a Venezuelan Island just off the coast and accessed conveniently by ferry or air. It is often promoted as a tourist spot and occasionally brought up here as a potential retirement location.

The local press yesterday reported a small inn was robbed. A group of thieves took over the entire hotel and went room to room, robbing all 40 guests. Latin American Herald Tribune - Brazilian Tourists Robbed in Venezuela
The police are investigating. It looks like Venezuela's safety issues still need worked on.

[Onward]

I'm surprised to see that happen on an island.

[Nords]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MichaelB The local press yesterday reported a small inn was robbed. A group of thieves took over the entire hotel and went room to room, robbing all 40 guests. Latin American Herald Tribune - Brazilian Tourists Robbed in Venezuela The police are investigating. It looks like Venezuela's safety issues still need worked on.

Looks like the thieves have been reading Robert B. Parker's crime novels...

[Ed_The_Gypsy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MichaelB Over the past couple of years there have been a few posts asking about Margarita Island, a Venezuelan Island just off the coast and accessed conveniently by ferry or air. It is often promoted as a tourist spot and occasionally brought up here as a potential retirement location. The local press yesterday reported a small inn was robbed. A group of thieves took over the entire hotel and went room to room, robbing all 40 guests. Latin American Herald Tribune - Brazilian Tourists Robbed in Venezuela The police are investigating. It looks like Venezuela's safety issues still need worked on.

Gracias, Miguel. I heard of a similar incident a couple of years ago. VZ is now officially TU 4 us.

S FL looks better all the time.

(Actually, home in Whatcom County is getting more probable as a base. BLI will soon have AK flying to PDX etc. Now I have to find a piano box under a bridge big enough for DW. Naw, it will have to be a container on a hill. Too much flooding.)

[Ed_The_Gypsy]

The article quotes a homicide rate of 48 per 100,000 (Same data as from Wikipedia) in 2010 vs. US = 4.8 / 100,000. 2011 data for VZ was 67 per 100,000. Mexico (reported) was only 18 per 100,000 (probably under-reported).

Back to Tampa?

[MichaelB]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ed_The_Gypsy Gracias, Miguel. I heard of a similar incident a couple of years ago. VZ is now officially TU 4 us. S FL looks better all the time. (Actually, home in Whatcom County is getting more probable as a base. BLI will soon have AK flying to PDX etc. Now I have to find a piano box under a bridge big enough for DW. Naw, it will have to be a container on a hill. Too much flooding.)

Un placer, amigo Gitano Eduardo

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ed_The_Gypsy The article quotes a homicide rate of 48 per 100,000 (Same data as from Wikipedia) in 2010 vs. US = 4.8 / 100,000. 2011 data for VZ was 67 per 100,000. Mexico (reported) was only 18 per 100,000 (probably under-reported). Back to Tampa?

Agree Mexico is probably under-reported. I imagine comparisons vs US would look even worse if they looked at arrests and convictions. Then, instead of 10 x 1 it would be another order or magnitude.

[Leonidas]

Noticed the last sentence in that article:

Quote:

Violent crime is a major problem in Venezuela, where the murder rate stands at 48 homicides for every 100,000 people.

48? Wow. That's ten times the per capita rate in the U.S.

Not that the murder rate is always a good indicator of overall violent crime. Homicide is a violent crime, but too often it is a crime of passion between friends, lovers, relatives, acquaintances, etc.

Although, as the Princess' favorite weapon is my 870 ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Remington_Model_870 ) I do my best to not stray too far from her good side!

My concern would run more along the line of being robbed by the gang of guys who took over the entire hotel. Taking over the hotel and going from room to room indicates there was not much concern on the part of the bad guys about the local constabulary.

Still, that's a whole lot of killing going on in Venezuela.

Further slightly off topic: I Read recently somewhere that murder is no longer on the list of the top 15 causes of death in the U.S.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Onward I'm surprised to see that happen on an island.

It's not a small island - half a million population and almost 300 square miles.

[MichaelB]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Leonidas Noticed the last sentence in that article: 48? Wow. That's ten times the per capita rate in the U.S. Not that the murder rate is always a good indicator of overall violent crime. Homicide is a violent crime, but too often it is a crime of passion between friends, lovers, relatives, acquaintances, etc. Although, as the Princess' favorite weapon is my 870 ( Remington Model 870 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia ) I do my best to not stray too far from her good side! My concern would run more along the line of being robbed by the gang of guys who took over the entire hotel. Taking over the hotel and going from room to room indicates there was not much concern on the part of the bad guys about the local constabulary. Still, that's a whole lot of killing going on in Venezuela. Further slightly off topic: I Read recently somewhere that murder is no longer on the list of the top 15 causes of death in the U.S.It's not a small island - half a million population and almost 300 square miles.

48 is an old number. University research estimates for 2011 it rose. No one knows for sure because the gov't stopped publishing data on murders a few years ago and prohibited the media from reporting Monday morning morgue volumes.

I feel sorry for the police. They are blamed but the real problem is the absence of prosecution.

[Leonidas]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MichaelB I feel sorry for the police. They are blamed but the real problem is the absence of prosecution.

What a curious criminal justice system they have. Prisons are certainly different. NY Times found the prison on Isla Margarita a very unusual experience.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aY_L6...D2NOZuyNPxBG0G

[W2R]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ed_The_Gypsy The article quotes a homicide rate of 48 per 100,000 (Same data as from Wikipedia) in 2010 vs. US = 4.8 / 100,000. 2011 data for VZ was 67 per 100,000. Mexico (reported) was only 18 per 100,000 (probably under-reported). Back to Tampa?

As a frame of reference, New Orleans reported a murder rate of 58/100,000 in 2011 (199 murders, population 344,000). NOPD is also notorious for blatant under-reporting. Personally I would not recommend retiring here unless you are already here, though YMMV.

Retiring in Venezuela sounds like a pretty rash proposition, under the circumstances.