or almost 40 years (from the mid 40’s through the early 80’s), Albania was
ruled by a communist dictator, Hoxha. He had instilled upon the people a fear that
the Americans and other Capitalist warlords were coming to take over Albania.
All hands were diverted to spend their time building cement bunkers throughout
this country. They are everywhere: city street corners, hills, farm fields.
In mountainsides, huge bunkers were dug and filled with ammunition and guns.
With all the cement they used on the bunkers they could
have built a new home for each Albanian family.
hen Hoxha died, the country held an election which was won by the crooked organized
crime party. They set up pyramid scheme-type banking programs with 50-100%
interest rates and won the monies of all Albanians. Everyone invested for years
and some became quite wealthy. In the mid 1990’s, the schemes started collapsing and
within a few years, everyone was broke. In Vlore, the people started rioting
against the establishment. They raided the gun caches and began their man hunt
for those responsible.
his started here in Vlore, but soon the whole country was caught up in it.
All the expats were evacuated, and many Albanians fled to other countries as refugees.
For one complete year (1997), this country was in a state of civil war where deadly
vengence and retribution were commonplace. Everyone had (and still has) an AK-47 and a
hand grenade or two for protection. No morals seemed to rule what happened here. Mark had
countless murder threats.
At the end of one year, every commercial building in Vlore was looted except for the
two orphanages guarded by Christians. Most buildings and roads still show signs of
this lawless time.
n the brink of self destruction, the war quieted down. There is no money here,
but people get by. There is a semblance of government and police now, but it
still doesn’t seem like a place where any rules really apply. It lives by the
motto, You are not guilty unless you are caught. Even so, the police are scared
to really catch anyone for fear that the guilty person's family will take retribution against
them or their family. This is so common that they have a group of special police
who do all the dirty work. They wear camoflage and black ski masks so you can’t
identify who they are. When a big raid is happening, you see them on the streets
in full gear, AK-47 in tow. We sometimes feel like we are in one of those futuristic,
post-nuclear war, sci-fi movies like Mad Max. Really!
here are a few curious things here. Albania has the most Mercedes per capita in
the world. Even though the streets are horrific and there are no traffic laws or
stoplights that operate, beautiful Mercedes polished to a spit-shine fill the streets.
Almost 80% of the new cars here are stolen from Western Europe. The Mercedes is the
mafia car of choice and is rumored to be the best car for the roads of Albania.
Another factoid is the
abundance of oil. With ancient rusting equipment, oil seeps into the earth spilling
onto the roads and into the rivers. In one area of the country, black stains of oil
mar green hills and globs of black crude float down otherwise picturesque streams.
Different oil companies have attempted ventures here, but most pull out after
experiencing the bureaucracy and extortion of the Albanian government.
or almost 40 years (from the mid 40’s through the early 80’s), Albania was
ruled by a communist dictator, Hoxha. He had instilled upon the people a fear that
the Americans and other Capitalist warlords were coming to take over Albania.
All hands were diverted to spend their time building cement bunkers throughout
this country. They are everywhere: city street corners, hills, farm fields.
In mountainsides, huge bunkers were dug and filled with ammunition and guns.
With all the cement they used on the bunkers they could
have built a new home for each Albanian family.
hen Hoxha died, the country held an election which was won by the crooked organized
crime party. They set up pyramid scheme-type banking programs with 50-100%
interest rates and won the monies of all Albanians. Everyone invested for years
and some became quite wealthy. In the mid 1990’s, the schemes started collapsing and
within a few years, everyone was broke. In Vlore, the people started rioting
against the establishment. They raided the gun caches and began their man hunt
for those responsible.
his started here in Vlore, but soon the whole country was caught up in it.
All the expats were evacuated, and many Albanians fled to other countries as refugees.
For one complete year (1997), this country was in a state of civil war where deadly
vengence and retribution were commonplace. Everyone had (and still has) an AK-47 and a
hand grenade or two for protection. No morals seemed to rule what happened here. Mark had
countless murder threats.
At the end of one year, every commercial building in Vlore was looted except for the
two orphanages guarded by Christians. Most buildings and roads still show signs of
this lawless time.
n the brink of self destruction, the war quieted down. There is no money here,
but people get by. There is a semblance of government and police now, but it
still doesn’t seem like a place where any rules really apply. It lives by the
motto, You are not guilty unless you are caught. Even so, the police are scared
to really catch anyone for fear that the guilty person's family will take retribution against
them or their family. This is so common that they have a group of special police
who do all the dirty work. They wear camoflage and black ski masks so you can’t
identify who they are. When a big raid is happening, you see them on the streets
in full gear, AK-47 in tow. We sometimes feel like we are in one of those futuristic,
post-nuclear war, sci-fi movies like Mad Max. Really!
