This is a picture of a mosquito drinking blood - note how red and healthy the insect

looks. Usually, the number of cases of malaria varies with the population and the

weather. In backward countries there are typically all sorts of problems reconciling the

cases reported to the actual number of people who have malaria. But if the number

of cases reported grows much faster than population and weather changes we have

an epidemic. The good news is malaria does not kill you right away. The bad news is

it makes you weak. If the numbers are true, Venezuela was making good progress in

the 1990s. Since then, the mosquitoes have been winning.