I thought I continued to tremble for what I still wanted to know: themitochondrial secret in my nerves, my shoulders, my arms, my hands.

After Augusto Pinochet’s coup d’état against Salvador Allende, many families migrated from Chile. It was the case of the Ponsots, the Balaguers and the Escobars, who lived in Finland for some time and then settled in Venezuela. Decades later, some of them went back to the point of departure. 

Minguito has the responsibility of keeping afloat Kiosko El Caney, a small business that his father started in Playa Parguito, Margarita, in the early ‘80s. The multifaceted economic crisis has compromised its operation, but nothing compares to the impact of the pandemic confinement. Images: Álbum Familiar   On Monday, March 16, 2020, during a mandatory […]

Misael Marchan was happy when he arrived in Torres del Paine National Park, in southern Chile, to resume his craft as a pastry chef, full of hope that he would save money to reunite with his family in Venezuela. But just as he was about to achieving his goal, the COVID-19 pandemic hit and put him out of work.

Carlos Fernandes was born and raised in Barlovento. It was there, in the deepest reaches of the state of Miranda, where he emerged as a political leader. It was also there where his parents settled a long time ago when they migrated from Portugal.  In 2017, he would leave for Portugal because he did not want to become yet another Venezuelan political prisoner.

Through her friendship with teenage siblings Aníbal and Orianny Moreno, who have sickle cell anemia, Milena Pérez was able to grasp the meaning of a phrase she used to hear at mass when she was a little girl: «Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.» She learned how small acts of solidarity can change lives, not only that of others, but her own. This is the second installment of our #HaySegundasPartes [#SecondParts] series.

In January 2018, La Vida de Nos published the story“Todo pasó tan rápido”, [It All Happened So Fast], where Olga Meza recounted the circumstances surrounding the murder of her 16-year-old son Ángel Joel at the hands of police officers in the state of Nueva Esparta. She, her husband and their three children were a close-knit family. In this installment of our #HaySegundasPartes [#SecondParts] series, we take a look into what has become of them three years later.

Medical geneticist Venancio Simosa has dedicated his life to studying rare diseases. The country’s crisis has left him without colleagues and students, and without patients who can come to his office. He has had no choice but to continue his work through remote consultations over the phone with other physicians. He is one of the few medical doctors remaining in Venezuela with a specialty that is, at present, as rare as the diseases it studies.

On April 15, 2020, residents of Churuguara town, a two-hour drive from Coro, state of Falcón, took to the streets to protest over gasoline shortages. They were repelled with tear gas. Edgar Flores, a 30-year-old lawyer and psychiatric patient, was among them. Several days later, law enforcement officials broke into his house and took him away.

Obe is 22 years old and suffers from cognitive deficit, organic psychosis, psychomotor agitation, and malnutrition. Margarita and Robert, his parents, do not let go of his hand, even if at times he does not know who they are. They do everything in their power to make sure that he gets the medical treatment they cannot afford to buy.