Living on or retiring to the tropical island of
Isla Margarita or Margarita Island, Venezuela
Tropical Island Living!

This is the third page of our information on Living, retiring to
and Working on Margarita Island or Isla Margarita.

On this page you will find information about Language, Banking, House help, Nannies,
Gardeners, Security Guards, etc. as well as the Political Situation & Security in the country.

Because of the total amount of information on living in Margarita Island I have broken it down
into 4 separate pages:

Page One:
Climate and Weather, Property Ownership, Exchange Controls,
Starting a Business and working on Margarita Island

Page Two:
Supermarket Food Prices, Utilities including phone, Internet,
Electricity & Water & Cellular phones.

Page Three (you are here):
Language, Banking, House help, Nannies, Gardeners, Security guards,
Political Situation, & Security

Page Four:
Schools, Doctors, Hospitals, Medical Insurance, Buying a Car and Insurance, Driving

Language

It is always best to have a working knowledge of Spanish as few people who you will be dealing with on a day to day basis speak any other language. A few may speak English but not enough for you to get by. There are a number of schools and teachers on the Island who would be willing to teach you for a fee. You should use the 6 months to a year renting to learn the language before jumping in with both feet.

Banking

I do not recommend keeping very much in Venezuelan banks. The banking system is poorly controlled and with regular devaluations, and the occasional failure, any money in Bolivars can be quickly lost.
It is recommended that you use outside banks.
Even keeping a supply of US$ traveler's checks as
"just in case" money is a good idea. 

Withdrawals on credit and bank cards will be at the official rate less charges and commissions. 

Please visit this page for information on the planned currency conversion on January 1, 2008 to the new Bolivar Fuerte. The government plans to delete three zeroes from the currency.

I strongly recommend to anyone planning an extended stay here that you make sure that your foreign bank allows you to make "on-line" transfers on the Internet to other banks. This sometimes means signing documents at your bank before leaving. Once you have this ability you will find it much easier and faster to obtain local currency at the best rate. An active PayPal account is also beneficial.

I recommend using a large bank like Banco Provincial (the largest in Venezuela) or one of the other major ones. Under no circumstances use one of the many smaller banks as my experience shows that money can be lost even with signed receipts. One other thing is that, in my experience, the larger the bank the more arrogant and inattentive they get. It's not unusual to find line-ups of 40 or 50 people in line waiting to get to a teller and the bank has only opened 2 of their 10 windows. Unfortunately this is one of Banco Provincial's worst faults. It recently took me 40 minutes to withdraw some money from my own account and I was one of the first ones in when they opened.
Banesco is another horror story of long lines.

House Help, Nannies & Gardening, Security Guards

It's very easy to find people who will help you out (maids, gardeners, nannies, etc.) at very reasonable cost (see remarks below about working here). The problem is always to find people that you can trust. This does not come overnight. You must use a network of people that you will meet over time to recommend other people of trust that you can hire. I have been very lucky with the people I have, however, you won't go too far to hear some horror stories. I guess the thing is to not be too trusting and naive. Just keep reminding yourself that this is not Canada, Germany, Holland or whatever and you must always take a step back to check things out before making commitments.

If you are considering a watchman or security guard for your new house then you have to be even more careful in your background checks. It's an unfortunate fact of life here that many robberies are assisted by or directly done by the very people you are paying to protect you.

Political Situation & Security

For the last 8 years Venezuela has had a populist president who, depending on your view, is either hated or loved. This has caused a decrease in foreign investment and higher unemployment.
A referendum (Aug. 20, 2004) gave the president a new political life although the opposition claimed that the results were rigged by new electronic voting machines. Regional elections in Oct., 2004 and Aug., 2005 have further entrenched the Chavez government with many additional governors and mayors being elected who support him. Here in Margarita the incumbent Chavez governor was defeated and replaced by an opposition (?) governor, Morel Rodriguez, who had previously been governor of Margarita some years ago. He has now become more pro government and it is difficult to know exactly where he stands. For the Dec. 4, 2005 National Assembly elections much of the opposition refused to participate due to alleged irregularities and confidentiality of the voting system.

General elections were held on Dec. 3, 2006. The incumbent president won with a landslide of more than 60% of the vote. He has promised to continue his current socialist revolutionary style of politics and will no doubt be strengthening it now that he is in such a strong position. It is hard to predict where that will lead.
On Dec.2, 2007 there was referendum on changes to the existing constitution & it would be wise for any potential investors to investigate the implications of these changes before investing.
The changes to the reform of the constitution were defeated.

Elections for mayors & govenors will be held in Nov.23, 2008.

For up to date news stories in English have a look at http://english.eluniversal.com/.

The good news for foreigners is that it has also caused a devaluation which has made the cost of living very reasonable in dollar, Euro or Sterling terms. Also Isla Margarita is a very peaceful island. We seldom are affected by what goes on in the rest of Venezuela. Safety and security for tourists here are better than in many other vacation spots and certainly far better than in most major cities throughout the world.

For those of you planning on buying a house or apartment here, you must consider the security features of the property you are about to buy or be prepared to modify it once you buy it to avoid home entries which have become more common. High walls and either concertina wire or electric security fencing are the order of the day.

If you need some time to find a rental place I can recommend either of my vacation properties as affordable & comfortable places to stay for a couple of weeks / months while you are looking around and getting oriented. Have a look at either Casa Trudel Bed & Breakfast which offers rooms with A/C, private baths, DirecTV, refrigerator and king size beds for 1 or 2 people or Trudel's Garden Vacation Homes which are 2 bedroom, 1 bathroom homes with fully equipped kitchens and satellite TV and suitable for either couples or up to six persons (max 4 adults). Both properties are close to Margarita's most popular tourist area and beach, Playa El Agua . You can just send me an e-mail at margarita.island@gmail.com .