San Cristobal, nestled in the Andes mountains, is where the protests that have gripped Venezuela for the past several weeks began. In early 2013, the city’s University of the Andes’ Botanical Gardens began to be taken over by drug dealers and other petty criminals. The country is one of the world’s most dangerous, thanks in large part to an ineffective police force. Students, who enjoyed the quiet beauty of the gardens, fell victim to the crime and lobbied to have the state government bring in more security. The state failed to secure the site, as it has around the country for 15 years, prompting one of the highest crime rates in the world
Read Full Article »
