Paris 2024: crisis in Venezuela limits the preparation of its athletes

The economic crisis in Venezuela takes its toll on the preparation of athletes, putting the country at a disadvantage compared to those who do not go through the financial difficulties faced by the Caribbean nation.

And in the midst of this critical scenario, the Government of Nicolas Maduro He blames part of the problem on international sanctions, mainly those of the United States.

High performance coach Luis Salas told the EFE agency that when a country does not have a strong economy, it is difficult “compete against the great powers”, which have greater resources to invest in coaches, infrastructure and in sectors such as medicine and technology.

“Countries that have certain weaknesses will not be able to count on these benefits guaranteed by monetary resources.“said the former director of High Performance of the Ministry of Youth and Sport.

In his opinion, Venezuela and Cuba have “a similar situation”: are countries with “economies that are hit” and “They do not have the best infrastructures”.

In Venezuelayes ok “There has been a rescue” of sports facilities, even “There is still a lot more investment needed” for “to be able to compete with the great powers”.

He said that because of the sanctions, “The Ministry of Sport stopped receiving a lot of money, and that also led to a cut in the situation of the facilities.”.

According to the government-run Venezuelan Anti-Blockade Observatory (OVA), the “The country’s receipt of dollars fell from 39 billion in 2014 to 743 million in 2020″, which means that in seven years Venezuela “He lost US$ 99 of every US$ 100 he received”.

In May, the country closed the first four months of 2024 with partial losses of more than US$2 billion in its income as a result of the sanctions, despite the fact that 88% of the days computed by the president correspond to the period in which the measures were suspended.

Experts insist that the crisisalthough exacerbated by sanctions, especially those applied to the oil sector, has its origins in factors such as corruption, mismanagement and controls over the economy.

According to the firm Ecoanalítica, the Venezuelan economy It contracted by 75% from 2014 to 2020, then recorded growth of 1% in 2021, 8% in 2022, and 1% last year.

Human resources, a priority

Venezuela has “a good population to get a better sample”, which is why, according to Salas, the country “could have a better position at a global level today”.

To do this, it is necessary to invest not only in infrastructure, but also in the “human resource training”, both physical education teachers and coaches.

“One of the main indicators of development in a powerful country is the quantity and quality of physical education teachers.”, said Salas, who explained that these professionals are the ones who can and should “Report potential talents from schools to sports clubs”.

According to his calculations, there is a shortage of about 60,000 physical education teachers in the nation, 20,000 more than almost two decades ago.

Trade unions, NGOs and opposition leaders say that the shortage of educators in general and the lack of other professionals are consequences of migration, estimated at some 7.77 million Venezuelans, according to the Interagency Coordination Platform for Refugees and Migrants (R4V), a figure that the Government reduces to less than 2 million.

Salas pointed out that the number of coaches in general is unknown, because “There is no such thing as a date”, except for high-performance ones, which – he indicated – do not exceed 400.

He therefore insisted on the need to create an entity that brings together the coaching profession and that, among other tasks, keeps a record of how many there are, identifies needs and formalizes those who are qualified for the task, in order to avoid endangering competitors.