A few things I didn't know about Malaria

(This article was originally written for Th!nk About It: Developing World).

So, I was researching around the web for my trip next week to the Global Voices Summit in Chile, and suddenly I found myself reading the guide on Lonely Planet about my country. I was a bit of a stroke to see all the listed diseases they prevent travelers from while visiting Venezuela. Alphabetically, they list the following: Brucellosis, Cholera, Dengue (breakbone fever), Hepatitis a, Hepatitis b, Hiv/aids (of course), Leishmaniasis, Measles, Rabies, Schistosomiasis, Tick-borne relapsing fever, Typhoid fever, equine encephalitis, and Yellow fever.

Venezuela has achieved environmental sustainability: True or false?

This post was originally written for Th!nk About It: Developing World.

 In Venezuela, we have the cheapest gas prices in the world. We pay $0.12 per gallon, when the same amount of water costs around $2.5 (and I'm talking about controlled dollar, not even real black-market one). We have 5.218.942 automotor  vehicles in circulation, from which a 5th is located in Caracas, and we consumme over 827 tonnels of oil a day.

Aid for development with respect: The Wayuu Taya Foundation

(This post was originally written for Think3: Developing World, and can be found here).

To complement my previous post, I interviewed Maria L. Betancur, who serves as Assistant Director of Development and Operations for The Wayuu Taya Foundation, who so kindly obtained some time in her busy schedule to answer my questions. (Also, they have a brand new and beautiful website, wich you can visit here).

Oil, coal, development and indigenous people: In the search for a peaceful settlement

 According to UNICEF, the Guajira ranks second among the poorest places in Latin America after Haiti. Wayuus, who represent around 54% of all indigenous population of Venezuela, doesn't have stable access to potable water, suffer of an overly high rate of children mortality (two to three children die everyday of malnutrition), and lack of well-supplied schools, health facilities and hospitals.