When politics mess up with your income...

[nosvan]

First of all, I already did my share of research on the matter, but this is something I really need to know about. So, yesterday, Venezuela (the place I was born and currently live in) was declared under an embargo, which is not objetively an total embargo because the private sector and individuals were left off the grid.

The thing is, I am obviously not part of any public organism, so I expect not to be hit by these sanctions. However, it is important to be cautious and request a spoken statement regarding my status from Upwork's side of things, which is a section of what worries me, since misinformed clients may decline my services for being Venezuelan now.

This is a delicate situation, and while I am aware this is bringing up politics to the forum, I am focusing in the potential impact to my working opportunities and deliberately keeping my opinions of either Venezuela, the U.S. and any other country's political affairs out of this conversation. 

[prestonhunter]

??

Are you asking Upwork to prevent people in Venezuela from using the platform?

[petra_r]

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Preston H wrote:

??

Are you asking Upwork to prevent people in Venezuela from using the platform?

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No, he obviously isn't.

Are you honestly not understanding what he's asking? Or just mocking someone in a pretty scary situation? That would be a new low point...

[prestonhunter]

Petra:
i am not mocking him.

Upwork has placed no sanctions against Venezuela. I am wondering why the original poster is posting what he just posted.

Venezuela is a mess. We all know that.

My support for Venezuelans during this time has been public and consistent. You can do a search. I have Upwork freelancers I work with on projects who live there. My friends in Venezuela benefit from being able to work on an international platform at a time when their local economy is so terrible. They are certainly not asking Upwork to make a decision or public statement or change anything.

[petra_r]

Understood. So you did understand perfectly well what he was asking, pretended not to, and your post was simply a little slap in the face.

[prestonhunter]

I would advise the original poster to delete his post. Or edit it.

Don't request Upwork do anything different, when what it does now is the best possible stance for people there.

[versailles]

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Jose Daniel M wrote:

However, it is important to be cautious and request a spoken statement regarding my status from Upwork's side of things, which is a section of what worries me, since misinformed clients may decline my services for being Venezuelan now.

---

There is not much that Upwork can do unfortunately. I just hope that the vast majority of US clients don't care and keep hiring you. I would optimistically bet on the general I don't care attitude since people tend to forget yesterday's news as fast as more news come in.

[prestonhunter]

Rene is right.

I live in the United States. I can assure the original poster that most people here have absolutely no idea what is happening in Venezuela. Because the original poster lives there, it is impossible for him to understand how little we hear about what's going on there. I learn more about Venezuela directly from Upwork colleagues than I learn through the news.

Across the world, I doubt that more than one tenth of one percent of potential clients would take into consideration anything in the news about Venezuela when making a decisoin about whether to hire a freelancer who lives there.

[mwiggenhorn]

I think that the OP will not have a problem but I would suggest that he follow the US Department of State website information regarding the status of the matter.

A quick  search came up with the following:

 ... blocking all property and interests in property of the Government of Venezuela that are in the United States, that hereafter come within the United States, or that are or hereafter come within possession or control of any United States person. 

So, it is an action against governmental properties in the US.  You appear to be fine.

[tlsanders]

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Rene K wrote:

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There is not much that Upwork can do unfortunately. I just hope that the vast majority of US clients don't care and keep hiring you. I would optimistically bet on the general I don't care attitude since people tend to forget yesterday's news as fast as more news come in.

Sadly for the world, but good for OP--I strongly suspect that most U.S. clients are unaware that anything out of the ordinary is going on in/with Venezuela.

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[VladimirG]

Thank you for the question Jose, we understand your concern. Under the new order, US businesses are prohibited from engaging in transactions with the Venezuelan government or any entities in which the government has a 50% or greater ownership interest. There are currently no sanctions against individuals who are not associated with the government, so if you are not associated with the government these sanctions should not impact how you use Upwork.

[hernandez-luz]

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Vladimir G wrote:

Thank you for the question Jose, we understand your concern. Under the new order, US businesses are prohibited from engaging in transactions with the Venezuelan government or any entities in which the government has a 50% or greater ownership interest. There are currently no sanctions against individuals who are not associated with the government, so if you are not associated with the government these sanctions should not impact how you use Upwork.

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Hi, everybody!

I know that this is an old posting, but it turns out to be pertinent for me to express my concern regarding a related issue: Payoneer and PayPal are limiting their operations for Venezuelan accounts.
I received an email from Payoneer today stating that, unfortunately, they won't process transfers to Venezuelan bank accounts anymore. PayPal is doing the same.

I believe that, eventually, this will impact us (Venezuelan freelancers) throughout this platform too.

[prestonhunter]

Luzh: sorry to hear that. But not something Upwork has any control over. Have you tried talking to PayPal and Payoneer?

**Edited for Community Guidelines**

[prestonhunter]

I agree.

There are not many places right now with worse situations for their citizenry.

Venezuelans are fortunate that they are still allowed to use Upwork. I hope this continues to be the case.

PayPal and Payoneer like money. I'm sure if they thought there was a way to safely make money by continuing to offer all of their services in Venezuela, that they would do so.

[nosvan]

Well, last time I did their answer was quite fast. Enough to pierce skin and bones and those fancy sacks of tissue that let you keep biological functions. Luckily, they missed my temporary address at the time.

I framed it in a sarcastic way, but I wish I was kidding. 

[kochubei_valeria]

Hi Luz,

Thanks for flagging this to us. We understand your concerns with PayPal and Payoneer payments and are looking into the issue.

[nosvan]

I would like to support Valeria's statement. My payoneer card will expire next month, and I have not received any confirmation that I will receive a replacement again.

Local banks are not that good of an idea either. Leaving aside how absolutely unstable and unreliable they are (and don't get me started on public/mix banks) but they also are incredibly limited if you want to travel out of the country to buy basic stuff.

And yes, right now paying a bus to travel to Colombia all the way accross the country, spend a day at Cucuta and getting back home with as much as you can carry is currently far cheaper than trying to buy stuff at your local market. 

[prestonhunter]

The UN estimates that 3 to 4 million people have left Venezuela since 2014. About ten percent of the population. Other estimates I have seen are that the number is 4 to 8 million, or up to one-quarter of the population that has fled the county due to conditions there. Hard to get accurate numbers. Many people have fled on foot. Internally there is so much chaos that census counts are not accurate.

[nosvan]

I tell you, those numbers are so big in population terms, that they tend to become rather abstract if you try to make a clear image of it, so let me give a more personal view of how badly it can be. 

I have a moderately big family. I used to be really close with all of my cousins because we grew up together. A tight-knit family in many ways, Almost all of them have scattered throughout the continent (none of them speak English but me). From both, my mother and father's side, I probably have around 6 family members left. Out of 30+. Yeah, you can say 10%, but in my eyes 80% of the people I care for don't live in this country anymore. And I'm not even counting friends because the percentage would lean dangerously towards the 90%. 

Ironically, the few friends left are all capable of working online and speak English (oh, the irony), so they have it slightly better that your average joe.

[wendy_writes]

Jose Daniel, I have friends in Venezuela and I've heard your words from them as well.  The situation is untenable and more than dire.

I just hope you can manage a surreptitious way of getting your much needed earnings ....

Posters suggesting you 'talk' to your representatives seem to know next to nothing - despite being able to quote press statistics. 

**Edited for Community Guidelines**

[kochubei_valeria]

Thanks for your patience, Luz, and others!

We've reached out to PayPal and Payoneer regarding this issue and both companies have assured us there are no restrictions in place that would block payments to Venezuelan freelancers who use these direct payment methods. We have learned that payments to bank accounts in Venezuela will be blocked, however, this payment option has never been available to freelancers who use Upwork in Venezuela, so no Upwork freelancers will be impacted. If we learn new information, we will be sure to let you know. Thank you!

[hernandez-luz]

Thank you, Valeria!