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Feb 6, 2003 This one I did not actually write myself, but it was written by a friend of mine from Venazuela. It gives a very good impression on the situation there. Venezuela, at the moment, finds it self in a political crisis. Many Venezuelans are leaving the country because they do not feel safe or do not believe that there future in Venezuela is secure enough. Mauricio is one of the people that decided to leave Venezuela and in this article he explains the situation in his country. (Written in December 2002) In 1998 in Venezuela, Chavez became the voice of the majority of the population. The people of Venezuela wanted a radical change in the 40 years of government by corrupt politicians. The first time that this feeling showed was in 1992. Chavez was the leader of a coupe against President Carlos Andrés Perez. This coupe failed and Chavez was sent to prison. The next president (Rafael Caldera) however, released him (something that never should have happened) Poverty and corruption ruled by the end of the government of Rafael Caldera, and the need for a change became bigger and bigger. Chavez, who still was aiming to become the president, one way or another, used this feeling. He promised a brand new image of Venezuela; Jobs by creating national industries and supporting the private sector; Creation of public schools, aimed to increase the number of people that can read, etc. In other words: He was the answer and the voice of the population’s wishes. During his campaign he got surrounded by influential people of all sectors of the society, enterprices, universities, young people of different social levels, etc. After winning the December elections in 1998, Chavez continued acting like he did in the campaign, making speeches and talking for hours in a radio program called " Aló Presidente " (Hello, Mr. President). This program still exists today, broadcasted live every Sunday. In this program he talks, by phone, to people of his party and makes promises to the poor people. A few months later, people who supported him, started to abandon him because he did not take any actions, but just kept on talking. He started to use an old, 60´s like, revolutionary vocabulary, aiming at the lower social classes and non-educated people. His contact with Fidel Castro became closer. He made an agreement with Castro, supplying oil to Cuba in order to receive medical and tourist services from Cubans in Venezuelan territory. This happened in a time of high levels of unemployment in Venezuela. An act that was not appreciated very much by the Venezuelan professional population. He began to divide the population into those who believe in his revolution and those who do not. He created the " Circulos Bolivarianos" (Bolivarian Circles), a copy of the civil- political police in Cuba. This police force is mainly used against the protests against his government. The whole process of dividing and suppressing escalated during a march for his resign from the government. On April 11, 2002 this march in Caracas was answered by civil and savage violence. Sharp shooters aimed at the foreheads of photographers, reporters, women and men. During this shooting Chavez was talking in all the national radio and TV stations in order to cover the massacre of unarmed people. After a few hours the military forces where in the streets, and Chavez was "arrested" and put in a prison on an island near the Venezuelan coast. 48 hours later he was back in Venezuela as President. The people that still believed in him took the streets of Caracas, hijacked reporters and an unknown number of people died that night. Before and after these events, thousands of people have left the country, mostly going to the USA and Europe. Recent information from political annalists shows that he could be planning an expansion of his retrograde way of thinking, supporting political campaigns out of Venezuela, specifically the run for president of Lula for the government of Brazil and giving support to the Castro´s communism. In this scenery, he could be a menace for the economical and political stability of South America, even for the United States, in an eventual war conflict with Irak, because the main question remains unsolved: What could happen in case of an oil crisis? Is he going to turn his back to the US with a raise of oil products? This possibility could push the US to use the oil from Iraq to support their own war, dropping the oil prices, making deeper the economical situation in a country that highly depends on the petroleum income and had their other industries devastated due to a wrong administration. Conscious of this situation, the opposition for his government cries out loud "not a single step back" phrase that evocate the defying need to take him out of the government and process him for all his errors. ------------ Peter Faber is Dutch and has recently moved to Brazil. Visit Peter's Advise the World. Email Peter: getting_there@uol.com.br Comment on this column in the forum. ------------ |
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