Venezuela’s Darkest Hours

One way to understand the present situation in Venezuela is to trace the life of this article.

When first contacted on Wednesday, members of the Jewish community, including leading rabbis, openly spoke to Mishpacha about the political chaos engulfing their country. But days after sharing their thoughts, every single one of them called back and asked that their names be removed. “Use another name, but please don’t mention me or the synagogue,” begged one of the rabbis. One thing is clear: the fear of President Nicolás Maduro’s regime is now palpable in the streets of Venezuela.

With a country-wide electrical outage that lasted for more than 72 hours, the imprisonment of a well-known journalist, and the pullout of the US diplomatic representatives from the country, Venezuela’s 6,000 Jews endured their toughest week since last January when the political crisis erupted.

“We were living in our bubble, but this week the situation collapsed,” explained Gregorio (name changed by request) from Caracas, Venezuela’s capital city. “We got used to the economic erosion, but in the last days, with no light, and then with no water, chaos broke out.”