Out of my four chosen articles, an article about Venezuela really caught my eye. According to this article, in Venezuela, more and more children are being abandoned by their parents. This trend seems to come from parents, who are faced with so much economic distress, that they are actually forced to leave and abandon their own children to survive. It’s become a growing epidemic in the sense that only a few abandoned children, found on the side of the road or delivered to shelters, are officially registered (only 21 cases in 2017). It shocks me that it is even common to find a small child on the side of the road with a note containing the child’s nationality, time of life, and name. It’s hard to understand how parents would leave their children alone in dangerous places, at the mercy of the world, all because the parents cannot support themselves let alone their own family. Although, I believe the main reason these parents are leaving them in these certain dangerous places is not because of their lack of care and sincerity, but because the shelters and protection agencies are become so full that they cannot afford to take care of all these children.
I feel as if a lot to do with the economic distress of these parents and adults is due to the economic distress of the country as a whole. My dad and I were discussing about this crisis in Venezuela and we came to the conclusion that Venezuela’s economy is almost completely dependent on oil and now that they have run out of so many resources, including much of their oil, trade has become much more difficult for the country. This has resulted in less resources for the people as well which leads back to malnutrition and abandonment of children. Another reason I believe there is economic distress in the country is because of the government. The government is very corrupt at this time and due to this corruption, the leader of Venezuela won’t and hasn’t even acknowledged the crisis happening in his own country and the distress of his own people.