Shotguns trigger exit from Venezuela

Having two shotguns knocking  against the back of my head led me to do something last month that 1.5 million Venezuelans have done since the late Hugo Chávez started his so-called socialist revolution in 1999: I left the country. It was a difficult decision, one I spent months agonizing over. I spent 24 years in Venezuela, working initially as an English teacher,  then as a journalist. Ten years ago, I moved to Tasajera, a village nearly 1 mile high in the foothills of the Andes, where I raised coffee and vegetables while writing on a part-time basis. More…