Several months ago we were just 50 miles off the coast of venezuela at the island of caracao and I asked several of the locals about venezuela and if they had seen any issues being they were so close. The general concensus was that is was dangerous to go on a boat because pirates would get to you and that they were seeing them show up trying to take advantage of people on the island. They said it wasnt often but that it was a problem. This was several months ago. This stuff is for real and a major warning sign of what can happen.