What it's like to be young and Venezuelan in a time of chaos
- Text by Jez Fredenburgh
- Photography by Various. (Main image: Anonymous.)
Gabriel Alfonzo Sanchez stands quietly at a stove in the Colombian beach hostel where he works, pushing his lunch of chopped vegetables and rice around a frying pan, the dog-tag around his neck jingling as he stirs.
To the bikini-wearing backpackers busy squashing avocados in the background, nothing about him would seem out of the ordinary: he’s just another 26-year-old in surfer shorts and flip-flops, carrying his slender frame and wide shoulders casually, flashing a playful smile now and then.
But Gabriel is Venezuelan. And like most of his friends and peers right now, he’s a long way from home and living a life that is anything but a holiday. Last year, he gathered up what he could and fled Venezuela’s devastating economic and political crisis, joining an estimated four million people – 10 per cent of the country’s population – who have left since 2014.
A collapse in oil prices combined with a strained political landscape under the Chávez and Maduro governments – causing tension with both domestic elites and the West – has made food, medical supplies and water almost non-existent in what was South America’s richest country just 17 years ago.
Hyperinflation and devaluation of the Bolivar mean savings and incomes are now almost worthless; violence and disorder plague the streets, prompting students to drop out of universities at an alarming rate. Whether emigrating on foot, bus or plane in search of new horizons, they are now driven by a determination to build the lives that their country once promised them.
Gabriel at his new home, a near-empty flat he shares with his brother, 6,000km away from their old life in Venezuela. Photo: Victor Zea Diaz.
You might like
Glasgow’s Calabash is the restaurant the African diaspora call home
Home Cooking — Having been open in the heart of the city for 15 years, the Kenyan rooted eatery has become a community staple for migrants and Scottish-born locals alike.
Written by: Lisa Maru
Exploring Bucovina, the last wild place in Europe
Noroc! — 70% of Romania’s northern provinces are covered in ancient woodland, with its people cultivating a close relationship with the land that stretches back millennia. Jack Burke forages, eats and drinks his way around the region.
Written by: Jack Burke
War & Pieces: The race to become the world’s fastest jigsaw puzzler
The Obsessives — The UK Jigsaw Puzzle Championships see contestants turn a cosy pastime into a high stakes battleground, as they race to complete 500-piece puzzles in as little time as possible. It’s as much a feat of athleticism as cognitive quickness, reports Ginnia Cheng.
Written by: Ginnia Cheng
On Marrakech’s outskirts, a skatepark reimagines possibility for local youth
Tameslouht — Built on the grounds of the Fiers et Forts orphanage, a new spot is providing space for connection and purpose, while incubating top-class talent. Ellie Howard reports from its banks.
Written by: Ellie Howard
“I didn’t care if I got sacked”: Sleazenation’s Scott King in conversation with Radge’s Meg McWilliams
Radgenation — For our 20th Anniversary Issue, Huck’s editor Josh Jones sits down with the legendary art director and the founder of a new magazine from England’s northeast to talk about taking risks, crafting singular covers and disrupting the middle class dominance of the creative industries.
Written by: Josh Jones
New documentary spotlights Brixton’s community in the face of gentrification
Beyond Brix & Mortar — With property prices rising by 1,700% since the ’80s, the film explores the rich cultural history of the area’s Afro-Caribbean community, and the threat to the area’s soul.
Written by: Sydney Lobe
