New York Times: AIDS Runs Rampant in Venezuela, Putting an Ancient Culture at Risk
“…In recent years, amid profound shortages of medicine coupled with widespread ignorance, HIV has spread rapidly throughout the Orinoco Delta and is believed to have killed hundreds of the Warao indigenous people who live in settlements like Jobure de Guayo along the serpentine channels winding through this swampy, forested landscape. Even under the best of circumstances, it might be difficult to control the disease’s spread in such an isolated and deprived area. But the government has ignored the issue, medical specialists and Warao community leaders say, leaving the population to face a profound existential threat alone. Already, deaths and the flight of survivors have gutted at least one village…” (Semple/Herrera, 5/7).