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Protests in Venezuela

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REPÚBLICA BOLIVARIANA DE VENEZUELA
UNIVERSIDAD PEDAGÓGICA EXPERIMENTAL LIBERTADOR
INSTITUTO PEDAGÓGICO
“RAFAEL ALBERTO ESCOBAR LARA”
ENGLISH DEPARTMENT
COURSE: READING AND WRITING II

Protests in Venezuela

Author: Isabela Ron

Professor: Ailin Rojas

Maracay, April 2014

INTRODUCTION

This paper constitutes a complement to fulfill the requirements corresponding to the course Reading and Writing II of undergraduate studies in Education, specialty English as a Foreign Language. In the first section, it is presented the outline of an eight paragraph essay. In the second part, the text has been developed after a process of drafting and writing of outline, first draft, edition and final version.

OUTLINE
Thesis statement: Venezuelan people are protesting for three main reasons.
Supporting sentence 1: The first reason is the high levels of insecurity.
Detail 1: Venezuela has one of the highest rates of homicide in the world.
-Currently, over a hundred people are killed every weekend.
Detail 2: Unfortunately, in 2013, the Venezuelan Violence Observatory reported 79 deaths per 100,000 populations and nearly 25,000 dead Venezuelans violence in a year.
Detail 3: Indeed, according to the information of the public ministry, from the protests that it started on February 12, 2014 until now, it has left 37 dead and 461 injured.
-Also, it has identified 59 victims of torture. Furthermore, 1.919 people have been detained, mostly under judicial precautionary measures for terrorism.
Supporting sentence 2: The second reason is the lack of basic food.
Detail 1: For some time, in the middle of last year, the lack of basic food in Venezuela has generated social unrest. For example, Venezuelans do not find milk, sugar, toilet paper, soap, flour, medicines, spare and among other products.
Detail 2: However, the social unrest has increased during the beginning of 2014 because Venezuelans have had to stand in long queues to get the products.
-Now, Venezuela is suffering its highest food shortages in five years with 26.2%
Detail 3: Besides, Shortages of food, medicines, spare parts and other inputs is estimated at 40%. The government's "solution" has imposed to that effect, a ration card.
Detail 4: Another important factor that has led to lack of food has been the closure or expropriation of food companies which has generated greater shortage of them.
Supporting Sentence 3: The third reason is the Inflation.
Detail 1: In Venezuela, the official exchange rate of 6.3 bolivars is black but the dollar is worth ten times more. Venezuelans are based on the black market to calculate the cost of living. That is why, it is increasingly expensive to live in Venezuela.
-At present, a part of the exchange system foreign exchange 6.30, became a rate of 11.30 per dollar and another around 50 bolivars per dollar.
Detail 2: In contrast, speculation in the automotive sector is one of the indicators that are most influencing current inflation because it increases the cost of land freight transport food, where more than 90% of the country's goods and services are distributed.
Detail 3: According to figures from the Central Bank (BCV) Venezuela was ranked with inflation more high in the world with more than 50% in the year 2013.
-As result of this, an ordinary citizen to live in the country where they generate a minimum wage, it is almost impossible to access a car where every day increases the dollar, price speculation is exaggerated and the cost of living is much more expensive every day.
Concluding Sentence: To conclude Venezuelans are protesting for the above reasons. In fact, protest is the criticism of the government, disagreements against them, abuse of power, etc. Therefore, Protestants want is the solution to their needs such as providing products that are not currently available in the market, such as milk, butter, sugar, coffee, soap, flour and other products. Also, they request that the uncontrolled inflation that exists in the country with respect to prices is regulated.
Final Comment: In short, the government must deal this situation, besides, provide citizens a better quality of life and meet the demands of the protesters because it is among the responsibilities of the regime.

Protests in Venezuela
From the beginning, a protest has been the public display of the opinion of a group of activists in the streets through the demonstration. The purpose of a demonstration is to show that a significant part of the population is in favor or against a particular policy, person, law etc. This occurs when citizens observe that their rights are violated. There are no agreements with the proposals implemented by the government and it does not contribute to its development as a citizen of the country. Today, protests in Venezuela have increased in recent years. Currently, it can be said that Venezuelans protest for three main reasons.
The first reason is the high levels of insecurity. Venezuela has one of the highest rates of homicide in the world. Currently, over a hundred people are killed every weekend. Unfortunately, in 2013, the Venezuelan Violence Observatory reported 79 deaths per 100,000 populations and nearly 25,000 dead Venezuelans violence in a year. Indeed, according to the information of the public ministry, from the protests that it started on February 12, 2014 until now, it has left 37 dead and 461 injured. Also, it has identified 59 victims of torture. Furthermore, 1.919 people have been detained, mostly under judicial precautionary measures for terrorism.
Likewise, that coincides with a study by American Pollster Gallup where Venezuela have the second lowest of security in the world and the last in Latin America compared to countries like Colombia and Brazil. In brief, this is a challenge for the government because they need to reduce these indices.
The second reason is the lack of basic food. For some time, in the middle of last year, the lack of basic food in Venezuela has generated social unrest. For example, Venezuelans do not find milk, sugar, toilet paper, soap, flour, medicines, spare and among other products. However, the social unrest has increased during the beginning of 2014 because Venezuelans have had to stand in long queues to get the products. Now, Venezuela is suffering its highest food shortages in five years with 26.2%. Besides, Shortages of food, medicines, spare parts and other inputs is estimated at 40%. The government's "solution" has imposed to that effect, a ration card. Another important factor that has led to lack of food has been the closure or expropriation of food companies which has generated greater shortage of them.
The government should devote time to resolve this shortage problem that is much bigger than ever and increase food companies in the country, instead of expropriating them because of the high demand generated in the country.
The third reason is the Inflation. In Venezuela, the official exchange rate of 6.3 bolivars is black but the dollar is worth ten times more. Venezuelans are based on the black market to calculate the cost of living. That is why, it is increasingly expensive to live in Venezuela. At present, a part of the exchange system foreign exchange 6.30, became a rate of 11.30 per dollar and another around 50 bolivars per dollar. In contrast, speculation in the automotive sector is one of the indicators that are most influencing current inflation because it increases the cost of land freight transport food, where more than 90% of the country's goods and services are distributed. In the same way, according to figures from the Central Bank (BCV) Venezuela was ranked with inflation more high in the world with more than 50% in the year 2013. As result of this, an ordinary citizen to live in the country where they generate a minimum wage, it is almost impossible to access a car where every day increases the dollar, price speculation is exaggerated and the cost of living is much more expensive every day.
Nowadays, it's very difficult to know the exact price of products in general because of the speculation of prices. People can buy the same product with different prices. Therefore, the government must deal with this situation and stabilize the cost of all products.
To conclude Venezuelans are protesting for the above reasons. In fact, protest is the criticism of the government, disagreements against them, abuse of power, etc. Therefore, Protestants want is the solution to their needs such as providing products that are not currently available in the market, such as milk, butter, sugar, coffee, soap, flour and other products. Also, they request that the uncontrolled inflation that exists in the country with respect to prices is regulated.
In short, the government must deal this situation, besides, provide citizens a better quality of life and meet the demands of the protesters because it is among the responsibilities of the regime.

REFERENCES

Corradini, L (2013, August 07) Rebelión global. La clase media desafía a sus gobernantes: Las 10 razones de las marchas. EL mundo.com. Retrieved April 06, 2014, from http://servicios.lanacion.com.ar/archivo/2013/07/07/cuerpo-principal/004

Editor YU (2013, May 30) Escasez de Productos en Venezuela. Informe21.com. Retrieved April, 06, 2014, from http://informe21.com/economia/papel-toilette-inundo-plaza-en-alta-vista-guayana

El Universal (2014, April 05) Informe de Venezuela. Libertad de expresión. El Universal.com. Retrieved April 05, 2014 fromhttp://m.eluniversal.com/nacional-y-politica/protestas-en-venezuela/140405/informe-de-venezuela-2014

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