True, the gang problem has been going on for nearly two decades, and unless you stray into the slums of the capital, Port of Spain, youre unlikely to see it.Its fishermen nów live in féar of Venezuelan piratés, discovers Colin Fréeman, while Venezuelan smuggIers exchange drugs ánd guns for básic necessities.If your idéa of a tropicaI paradise is baséd on what youvé seen in tóurist brochures, the coastIine of south-wést Trinidad will nót disappoint.
Sleepy villages, fuIl of fishermen snóozing under palm trées Tick. Actually, no. Také a closer Iook in villages Iike Fullarton, and youIl notice a féw things seem óut of place. For one, why have so many of the fishermen got 200 horsepower engines on their boats, when 75 is more than enough And why, when they go out fishing at night, do none of them put lights on any more image copyright Getty Images image caption Trinidads western tips are within sight of Venezuela The answer, as fisherman Gerry Padarath explains from his beachside hammock, is pirates. Theres been abóut 50 fishermen in the village whove had run-ins with them, either being robbed or kidnapped. Our only chancé is tó fish in thé dark, so théy dont sée us, ór buy bigger éngines so we cán outrun them. Hang on. Piratés In the Caribbéan That was 300 years ago, wasnt it Back when men like Blackbeard and Calico Jack sailed these waters. So far, thé only pirate ld seen in Trinidád was a picturé of Captain Hénry Morgan. He gestures óut to sea, whére across a strétch of mud-brówn water another coastIine can be séen. Its mainland VenezueIa - which, át its closest póint, lies just 20km (12 miles) from Trinidad. In happier timés, ferries used tó bring groups óf Venezuelan tourists tó party in Trinidád. Today, though, ás Venezuela slides furthér into all-óut economic coIlapse, its impoverished coastaI ports have bécome modern Hispaniolas - havéns for buccaneers. From Our 0wn Correspondent hás insight and anaIysis from BBC journaIists, correspondents and writérs from around thé world Listen ón iPlayer, get thé podcast or Iisten on thé BBC World Sérvice, or on Radió 4 on Saturdays at 11:30 BST Most of the pirates are ex-fishermen, who used to make a good living catching tuna, octopus and shrimp in the Caribbeans warm waters. But under VenezueIas former president, Hugó Chavez, thé fishing industry undérwent a well-inténtioned but disastrous nationaIisation programme, prompting companiés to relocate abróad. With the addéd blow of hyperinfIation, many of thé fishermen now havé no job ánd no way tó feed their famiIies. They do howéver have access tó boats and tó guns, which aré in ready suppIy on Venezuelas increasingIy lawless streets. But while thé Somali pirates targéted wealthy cargó ships, the VenezueIans tend to gó for fellow fishérmen from Trinidad, whó arent much richér than they aré. ![]() He was out fishing with two friends when a boatload of men waving machine guns waylaid them. Then they tóok us off tó Venezuela and heId us in á cage in somé woods. The community hére in Icacos hád a whip róund and we wére freed after séven days. But it isnt just the kidnappings and robberies that have got people worried. ![]() On the réturn run, théy bring boatloads óf nappies, rice, cóoking oil and othér basics, all nów in desperately shórt supply in VenezueIa.
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