The SUV, in which the players were at the moment of the accident, crashed while trying to dodge a rock that was thrown to the vehicle in the highway. Valbuena and Castillo died and just two persons survived the accident. After the vehicle crashed, the criminals robbed all the belongings.
For Venezuelans, unfortunately, these are not a surprise. This is not the first trap criminals use to rob people we have heard about. The fact that the persons are famous among Venezuelan people for being two outstanding baseball players, and even among the American baseball industry, makes this story sound louder. It is just a small part of what actually happens in Venezuela.
Still this is an unpleasant and sad episode because every Venezuelan life is losing sense and importance every day. Criminals do not stop. It doesn´t matter who you are or what you do, organized crime just do not care. It hurts so much as a Venezuelan knowing that every minute someone dies because of the violence, and you don´t even notice. Those are lives no one knows about, and it happens so often that it doesn´t even have to be reported or written about on news. When did a life lose sense for us? It surprises me how we touch reality when this happens to famous people and it´s even news abroad. Valbuena played for the Seattle Mariners, Cleveland Indians, Chicago Cubs, Houston Astros and Los Angeles Angels. Castillo played for the Pittsburgh Pirates, San Francisco Giants, and Houston Astros of Major League Baseball (MLB), and the Chiba Lotte Marines and Yokohama BayStars of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). So the notice of their deaths was shocking worldwide in the baseball industry.
The Astros team, in which both Castillo and Valbuena played, prepared a statement Friday morning:
"The
Astros family lost two young men yesterday, entirely too soon". "During his two seasons
in Houston, Luis was an extremely popular player with his teammates and the
Astros staff. He was a productive player on the field and played a key role in
the Astros run to the postseason in 2015. Off the field, he was a warm and
friendly presence to all who interacted with him. Jose's time with the Astros
was brief, but he also had a positive impact on those around him. Our thoughts
and prayers are with their families and friends."
The conditions of the highways in Venezuela are miserable. Criminal traps are always innovating and finding new ways to rob people in the road. Car rides all around the country are always risky. Just to give a background, two years ago there was a rumor about fruits on the road and the warning of not passing over them with the vehicle since they contained spikes in order to damage your tires and make you stop in the middle of the highway. The perfect situation to get robbed, and even killed if you resisted the robbery.
Every day in Venezuela is a lottery. You never have the certainty of coming back home. The insecurity in the streets just gets worse on a daily basis. The government is the principal cause. They rob the State´s money, the National Police gives guns to the criminals, the economy is so harmed that even regular people are starting to rob for living. This is a disaster and the biggest crisis of our history.
