Uncertainty in crisis-ridden Venezuela is also wreaking havoc on relationships

FILE - A couple hold hands at a roadblock set by anti-government protesters in Caracas, Venezuela, April 24, 2017. Many young people who once joined such demonstrations are now disillusioned and are considering emigrating – and it’s wreaking havoc on the country’s dating scene. FILE - Franklin Caceres talks with Banesky Fuentes as he fills her container with water pumped from a well in Caracas, Venezuela, March 20, 2023. In the crisis-ridden country, water, electricity and other public services are unreliable, and food prices have skyrocketed. Student Gabriel Ortiz uses his cellphone at the Central University of Venezuela in Caracas, July 4, 2024. The man Ortiz was dating recently left crisis-ridden Venezuela, where the uncertainty is causing many young people to question whether it’s worth it to start a relationship. Venezuelan Kelybel Sivira poses for a photo in Bogota, Colombia, July 12, 2024. Half of Sivira's graduating class from law school in Venezuela has left the country, worn out, as she put it, by devoting so much of themselves to anti-government protests

Victoria Estevez finally met someone who saw past her shyness. They spent two months learning about their likes and dislikes, texting about their families and friends, and walking around their hometowns on Venezuela's Caribbean coast. On a trip to the capital in December, they held each other for the first time.