Guns and drugs fuel 'alarming epidemic' of violence
The Guardian Weekly|August 23, 2024
The last thing Raquel Rodriguez remembers of that afternoon is that she was playing with her neighbour's baby outside her home in the Trinidad and Tobago neighbourhood of Barataria in San Juan. Then came a piercingly loud explosion.
Natricia Duncan
Guns and drugs fuel 'alarming epidemic' of violence

"The noise was very, very close. It was very loud," she said. "So I stood there, frozen, with my left hand on my temple. And then I started to wonder what was going on. Then I realised that my eyes were turning dark. Then it went totally blank." She had been hit by a stray bullet that penetrated her left temple and tore its way diagonally to her right cheekbone.

She survived the attack in September 2022. But although the mother of three has regained her speech and mobility, both eyes were ruptured, leaving her completely blind. Rodriguez said the incident has been tough on her family, and she yearns for the opportunity to migrate. She is one of thousands who have been caught in a recent wave of violent crime across the Caribbean.

At the extreme end of this trend, which leaders have called "an alarming epidemic", is a gang war that has plunged Haiti into anarchy. Armed factions have controlled most of the country's capital since the former president, Jovenel Moïse, was assassinated in July 2021. About 2,500 people were killed or injured in the first quarter of 2024.

هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة August 23, 2024 من The Guardian Weekly.

ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.

هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة August 23, 2024 من The Guardian Weekly.

ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.

المزيد من القصص من THE GUARDIAN WEEKLY مشاهدة الكل
Friendship interrupted
The Guardian Weekly

Friendship interrupted

They were best mates. Then one had a baby, while the other struggled to conceive. They share their brutally honest takes on what happens when motherhood affects friendship

time-read
10+ mins  |
November 22, 2024
KERNELS OF HOPE
The Guardian Weekly

KERNELS OF HOPE

During the siege of Leningrad, botanists in charge of an irreplaceable seed collection, the first of its kind, had to protect it from fire, rodents-and hunger

time-read
10+ mins  |
November 22, 2024
A new horizon' The inverse link between cancer and dementia
The Guardian Weekly

A new horizon' The inverse link between cancer and dementia

Scientists have long been aware of a curious connection between these common and feared diseases. At last, a clearer picture is emerging

time-read
4 mins  |
November 22, 2024
Across the universe
The Guardian Weekly

Across the universe

Samantha Harvey won the Booker prize with a novel set in space. Yet, she says, Orbital is actually 'a celebration of Earth's beauty with a pang of loss'

time-read
4 mins  |
November 22, 2024
Frank Auerbach 1931 -2024
The Guardian Weekly

Frank Auerbach 1931 -2024

Saved from the Holocaust, this artist captured the devastation of postwar Britain as ifits wounds were his own but he ultimately found salvation in painting

time-read
3 mins  |
November 22, 2024
Seven lessons I've learned after 28 years as economics editor
The Guardian Weekly

Seven lessons I've learned after 28 years as economics editor

Margaret Thatcher was Britain's prime minister and Neil Kinnock was leader of the Labour party.

time-read
3 mins  |
November 22, 2024
Droughtstricken dam leaves economies powerless
The Guardian Weekly

Droughtstricken dam leaves economies powerless

A ll is not well with the waters of Lake Kariba, the world's human-made lake largest A punishing drought has drained the huge reservoir close to record lows, raising the prospect that the Kariba Dam, which powers the economies of Zambia and Zimbabwe, may have to shut down for the first time in its 65-year history.

time-read
2 mins  |
November 22, 2024
Let this be the end of these excruciating celebrity endorsements
The Guardian Weekly

Let this be the end of these excruciating celebrity endorsements

I wish celebrities would learn the art of the French exit. But they can't, which is why Eva Longoria has announced she no longer lives in America. \"I get to escape and go somewhere,\" she explained.

time-read
3 mins  |
November 22, 2024
Alive, but unable to thrive under absolute patriarchy
The Guardian Weekly

Alive, but unable to thrive under absolute patriarchy

Since the Taliban returned to power, women and girls have tried defiance, but despair at their harshly restricted lives

time-read
4 mins  |
November 22, 2024
‘It's tragic’ Reflection in the wake of Amsterdam violence
The Guardian Weekly

‘It's tragic’ Reflection in the wake of Amsterdam violence

Carrying signs scrawled with messages urging unity, they laid white roses at the statue of Anne Frank, steps away from the home where her family had hidden from Nazi persecution.

time-read
3 mins  |
November 22, 2024