The Youth in Venezuela 

When we talk about the Venezuelan crisis, people often think of food shortages or hyperinflation. But for a young person, the crisis manifests as the loss of a very valuable stage for the development of any human being, and this is irreparable damage.

Growing up in Venezuela over the last few years has meant living in constant precarity; and it's not just economic, it’s the lack of basic services and goods: There are no medical supplies, there is no functional public transport, there is no security in the streets, and often, there is no electricity or water. For a young person, this means that the simple act of living and studying turns into a dilemma that leads many to ask themselves, "What is the point of graduating with honors from a university if the professional salary is not enough to buy even the basic materials to practice your career?" Many young people have seen how their degrees are useless given the country's reality, forcing them into informal jobs that do not correspond to the effort made to obtain their university degree.

Venezuelan youth have been deprived of the possibility of progressing, bettering themselves, and getting ahead. Instead of moving upward, most have been pushed into a constant struggle for survival that consumes all the energy that should be dedicated to creation, innovation, and personal fulfillment. Furthermore, access to independent media is limited. This creates a dangerous bubble of disinformation where the reality of scarcity and corruption is denied, and any dissenting voice is labeled as a traitor or terrorist. The goal is to undermine the capacity for critical thinking, a fundamental tool of a free citizen.

Venezuelan youth have been on the front line of peaceful protest at crucial moments in the country's recent history: 2014, 2017, 2019, and 2024. In each of these moments, it has been the students and young activists who have taken to the streets to demand political change. And it has been precisely the regime that has, with an iron fist, repressed, tortured, and even murdered young people for the simple act of demanding a better future, and civilly demonstrating against a political model that has failed.

The truth is that when a country does not offer a future to its young people, they are forced to seek it abroad; and indeed, the Venezuelan diaspora is one of the largest migratory crises in the world, and the vast majority of Venezuelan immigrants are young people of working age. Being an immigrant is not an adventure; it means leaving behind family and friends and starting life from scratch in a practically unknown new country.

The reality can no longer be hidden; it must be told beyond conventional media headlines. In a new Venezuela, the focus must also be on considering how to help young people recover the hope of new opportunities and offer them the means to flourish and build a prosperous and solid country.