One bad thing about booking international trips too far ahead is that things often get ugly all of a sudden and you’re left holding an airline ticket to hell. A tsunami wipes out that picturesque beach you were going to relax on. A volcano erupts near that jungle lodge you’ve been planning to stay in. Or politics take a turn for the worse and a dicey situation gets dicier. If you travel a lot, you need to keep one eye on the international news front–preferably from a source that is good at this (see the list at the end). Right now, it might be a good time to put off that trip to Nepal or Venezuela.
Nepal
A few months back, I posted an entry called, “Is Nepal Too Dangerous?” At the time, the Maoist insurgents’ campaign was getting a bit too close for comfort with the tourists. Hikers were still reporting very few problems apart from occasional requests for bribes, but two hotels frequented by tourists had been attacked (nobody was hurt). But now it’s getting ugly.
As if there wasn’t enough instability, King Gyanendra decided to throw gunpowder on the fire two weeks ago. He sacked his whole cabinet, disbanded parliament, and took complete control of the government. Leaders of mainstream political parties have been either under house arrest or in police custody since Feb. 1, when the king imposed a state of emergency and suspended civil liberties including press freedom. Just to make sure everyone suffered equally, he cut off all communication in and out of the country, leaving tourists with no way to call or e-mail relatives. Flights to India and Thailand were cancelled, leaving many stuck there for a while. Immediately after, Britain, India, and the US recalled their ambassadors. On Feb. 21, the rebels attacked a several vehicles on the country’s main highway, killing 7 and injuring 11. Prices are soaring as supply lines are cut off.
In a nutshell, the king wants to go back to a monarchy. The Maoists want to go back to the days when everyone was a poor ignorant peasant. Everyone else wants nothing to do with either of these choices: they want a democratic government with real power and they’re tired of all the fighting. To say this is a volatile situation is putting it mildly. For now, I’d do my Himilayan trekking in India or on a different mountain range altogether. I hate to say one of my favorite places should be avoided, but Nepal is a complete mess right now.
Venezuela
If you’re looking for other hiking trails, you might want to avoid the northern part of the Andes, however. Hugo Chavez is the president of Venezuela, but if he had his way, he would certainly like to be called “King Chavez.” His hero is Fidel Castro and Hugo would love to have the same kind of absolute grip on power. Like the leader of Cuba (and North Korea) he has made no bones about wanting to rid the country of foreign influence, especially those dastardly yankees to the north. This once-democratic country is sliding more towards dictatorship all the time and unstable Caracas has gotten even more dangerous for foreigners. Chavez now publicly gives shelter to drug kingpins from Columbia, increasing the border fighting and kidnappings.
He recently pumped up the size of the supreme court with his allies, after earlier pushing through a law that punishes media outlets for “messages that promote the disruption of public order.”
This past December, the Venezuelan National Civil Aviation Institute suspended all international flights to six airports. Though it is now possible to enter the country through these airports, who knows when they’ll be shut down again on a whim.
Want to find out what the real situation is around the world? Turn off CNN and put down your local newspaper. Here’s where to get the dirt on what’s happening at ground level:
BBC
The Economist
The Week
NewsDirectory.com (links to local English-language newspapers around the world)
