The problems in Venezuela are twofold. The government is corrupt and so are a majority of the people who live there due to extreme poverty.
I’ve had 2 separate groups of friends who thought it would be a good idea to travel to Caracas. The first was backpacking through S. America and made a stop in Caracas. He was kidnapped and held prisoner for almost a week. Every day his captors would make him withdrawal money from an ATM. On the last day of captivity one of his captors was supposed to kill him, apparently the guy got cold feet and chickened out. The 2nd was traveling with her husband and they were kidnapped by a cab driver. The cab driver took them to an ATM and made them take out as much money as they could and then robbed them of all of their jewelry and personal items including their passports, luckily the US embassy in Caracas was able to assist them.
VERY VERY dangerous place. I wonder how long Penn would last there if he was not under the protection of the government?