Where is a good place to open a hostel?

Why do you think it is not a good idea right now in Venezuela? Chavez is working with other countries to promote tourism investment in the country. If you open any tourist business there right now you are even exempt from tax. They are working very hard to drive tourism in the country right now. Thats the good stuff, Whats the bad side because I do not know. Thanks

Oh, come on.

Every country does a lot of trade with Russia, China and Iran. He´s not rallying anyone to kick gringos out, he just helped the entire continent to get rid of the IMF, which screwed up almost every single country there.

Most countries in Latin America seem to do much better since Chavez bailed them out of the IMF and they can do what´s in their best interests and not what some crook from Washington tells them to do in order to make other crooks in America even richer.

That said, I don´t know what´s going on inside Venezuela. Chavez is certainly no saint. I have the impression he is getting high on the most dangerous drug - power. I just can´t imagine he has a Gestapo just for hunting down gringo hostel owners.

Venezuela has only pledged to resolve their own debt...not that of any other Latin American country.....

Some random articles I just googled up:

Chavez exploits oil to lend in Latin America, pushing IMF aside
...
IMF lending in the area has fallen to $50 million, or less than 1 percent of its global portfolio, compared with 80 percent in 2005. Meanwhile, Chavez has used his oil wealth to lend $2.5 billion to Argentina, offer $1.5 billion to Bolivia and hold $500 million out to Ecuador.

Chavez, 52, is promoting what he calls a "socialist" alternative to the Washington-based IMF and its biggest shareholder, the U.S. Treasury. The timing couldn't be worse for the IMF, whose global clout is diminishing as countries from Uruguay to the Philippines pay their debts.
...
The international lender's worldwide portfolio has shriveled to $11.8 billion from a peak of $81 billion in 2004, and a single nation, Turkey, now accounts for about 75 percent. As its lending wanes, so does the fund's ability to influence government policies. The IMF and its sister institution, the World Bank, have used aid to promote free trade, unfettered investment flows and limited government.

"We don't accept the kind of development the World Bank and International Monetary Fund want to push on us to change our hopes, our souls, our pain," Chavez told a summit of the Non-Aligned Movement in Havana last September.

source

Venezuela to Buy Argentine Bonds, Backs IMF Payoff
...
Caracas, Venezuela, December 21, 2005—Latin America takes another step away from the IMF and toward regional integration, with Argentine President Nestor Kirchner’s statement to Argentine daily El Clarín that Venezuela was to buy $2.4 billion of Argentine debt in the next few months.

In late November, Kirchner along with Venezuela President Hugo Chávez had signed the Orinoco Declaration, which stated, “Venezuela declares its firm decision to increase its financial investments in Argentine public debt,” but the statement did not say the quantity of bonds Venezuela would buy.

Kirchner’s announcement comes in the wake of another government announcement that it was to pay off its debt to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) early. Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez Frías praised the decision, and pledged to “help Argentina end its dependence on the IMF.”

source

You can continue calling me an ignorant who should start to read and stop making dogma-based judgements. The more you do that, the more you make the impression of being a dogmatist know-nothing.

I repeat: I´m not taking sides pro or contra Chavez. I know too little. Much of what´s written about him seems to come from dogmatist ignorants of both camps.
All I´m saying is this: do people run restaurants and bars in Venezuela? Obviously: yes. Does that make it plausible that hostels can be run just as well? Probably yes.
You still gave no answer why that would be impossible.

We could go on forever like this....and quite frankly, I have far more important things to do with my time than argue with someone who openly admits they know nothing about Chavez....has never visited Venezuela and has never spoken to a Venezuelan in their life.

We can all do google searches and manipulate the information about what Chavez is doing... "helping out" his left wing buddies in Latin America. Don't make the mistake of thinking they are simply "lending money to help bail them out" Countries don't cancel the debt of other countries....they just don't. Venezuela is an oil state - that means they have a lot of cash and lots of oil - two things that all countries want to get their hands on. Chavez is doing everything he can to reduce the US dependence in Latin America...it's a selfish move and it's not helping anyone.

Chavez hates America (and I mean, really, really hates them) As such, he's forming alliances with other countries that have a gripe with the US. Last week he signed an oil exploration deal with China. He's signed an arms deal with Russia (a big, big arms deal)...he's signing oil deals with Iran (incorporating his left wing buddies like Bolivia). And he'll not stop until no American company has any dealings with Latin America.

Last year he took over ALL the oil companies, ALL the banks, ALL the concrete companies. Any shred of foreign investment is being slowly but surely squeezed out of the country. He also started a campaign whereby any foreigner speaking negatively of his party could be deported on 'patriotic grounds'.

The two sources you have quoted from - the first "znet" is a trashy online rag - not exactly the BBC is it?.

In the very same article is states this point... Venezuela's budget deficit soared to 8.2 trillion bolivars ($3.8 billion) in the first 11 months of last year from 447 billion bolivars a year earlier. The bolivar has plunged 16 percent against the dollar on the black market this year, making it the world's worst-performing currency."

Hardly in a position to 'bail anyone out' are they?

The second source is a group of international journalists who used to be based in Caracas but now anonymously contribute to the mag from their homes. That speaks volumes. As does this

Yes, foreigners do run hostels, yes foreigners do run restaurants and bars, there's even foreign journalists there...many are having a great time...I know most of them personally. (and that's no lie). What I can tell you for free is that they are all finding it increasingly difficult to survive on the foreign market....less and less tourists are spending time in Venezuela - fewer are enjoying travelling in Venezuela and it all stems from Chavez. The biggest hostel on the Caribbean has decided to close it's doors and so you'd have to be a fool to recommend a newbie to start a hostel there. If the old dogs can't hack it then sure as heck someone new isn't going to last 5 minutes.

If you really want to learn about tourism in Venezuela (and I mean, if you really, really do and don't just enjoy having a rant on a forum now and then) I can PM you with a list of contacts of foreigners who run businesses over there and you can speak to the directly about how they feel about the market.

If you want to understand more about your ol' pal Chavez...have a read of this as well as this and certainly this and you'll get a basic idea of what you're really dealing with. I would also suggest subscribing to a number of Latin American forums so you can make a more balanced argument.

And finally (just for the record)...I'm not prepared to sit and explain myself and my thoughts on a particular subject...that's not the way I operate. You base your opinion on the articles you find on Google, my opinion is of someone who has in-depth knowledge of Latin American tourism, someone who has visited Venezuela several times and someone who gives advice to hostel startups and backpackers on a daily basis.

My only concern is that those who are seriously thinking of starting something in Venezuela are armed with all the facts and information before embarking on a huge investment.

You have you're opinion, I have mine. Let's leave it at that.