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We hadn't been in Venezuela for more
than three hours and we were already traversing the brilliantly
spotless subway system in hope of catching a Sunday Presidential
celebration. Earlier, we caught a red-eye flight from Atlanta
to Caracas and hadn't had a wink of sleep. That, and a few beers,
will make even the most intrepid of travelers a bit weary.
Fortunately, we managed to
pull it together and make it in time to see Hugo Chavez's entourage
and the rally that led up to one of his long-winded speeches.
But no matter how long Chavez stands at the pulpit and talks
about his political philosophy, his followers always seem to
be asking for more.
The event itself was an eye
opener for us. Pictures of Chavez and Che were everywhere. From
t-shirts to posters, the icons of revolution were ever present.
Hope with a "red" flare filled the damp air that day,
as did a new brand of socialism. It would be hard for one to
walk away from such an experience, where the poor and less fortunate
had gathered to hail their leader, and not feel something profound.
It was something extraordinary. The only thing that compared
to this, for most of us, were the antiwar protests leading up
to the second Iraq invasion and the anti-WTO actions in Seattle.
No matter what you may think about Chavez or his policies, there
is no doubt that Venezuelans adore him.
We were fast waking up to something
we hadn't felt before as we battled Bush day in and day out in
North America: revolutionary hope, Bolivarian style. And we hadn't
even had our first sips of Venezuelan coffee yet.
From there we traveled southwest
by subway and bus to Caricuao with baseball aficionado Cesar
Rengel, an activist and organizer with the Bolivarian Revolutionary
group Frente Francisco de Miranda. Rengel was our guide and translator
to the Missions, the hugely popular anti-poverty and social welfare
programs instituted throughout the country by the Chavez government.
We proceeded first to a modern full-service medical clinic, Clinica
Popular Caricuao. The lines were long and doctors were extremely
busy when we arrived, so we spoke to a patient waiting for service.
Zulay, a raven-haired, middle-aged woman, dressed in a tank top
with track pants and baby blue sneakers attested to the improvements
in medical care under the administration of Venezuelan president
Hugo Chávez. She said that the clinic was staffed with
60-70 doctors and provided medical care without charge for Venezuelans.
To alleviate the waiting times, a new clinic is being erected
nearby which will be staffed by Venezuelan and Cuban physicians.
The Cuban doctors, we were told, are a temporary measure until
Venezuela has enough of their own to staff the clinics.
Close by the medical clinic
under construction is a government mercal (store), Mercado de
Alimentos. Lisbeth l. Pineda is the administrative assistant
at the mercal with 13 employees. Pineda, sporting in a comfortable
gray sweatshirt and jeans, is also pursuing a college degree
at one of the Bolivarian universities, created by the Chavez
government to do away with illiteracy and make education available
for all, something people of impoverished background were previously
unable to do. She proudly showed us her university ID card, all
the while glowing with a smile that could melt steel. To us,
that proud smile neatly symbolizes the sentiment of the Venezuelan
masses: a sense of pride that comes in benefiting from and contributing
to something revolutionary and life-affirming.
The mercal opened two years
ago to provide durable foodstuffs such as rice, beans, dried
vegetables and cooking oils. Other mercals also have fresh vegetables
and fruits. The products here were often labeled with revolutionary
messages. Meat featured Argentinean beef and Brazilian chicken,
at 15 percent of the retail cost to Venezuelans. Pineda mentioned
that the retail capacity had recently been doubled due to the
popularity of the store. The Chavez administration does not want
Venezuela's food needs to be dependent on outside sources, so
a concerted effort has been made to produce all foods locally.
Many such missions were dispersed
throughout the region. Pineda averred, however, that the mercals,
although in competition with local shops, had not affected small
business appreciably.
Pineda led us downstairs to
where low-cost pharmaceuticals were also sold. Dayana Rosario
runs the pharmacy in this Mercal where she showed a variety of
Venezuelan and imported drugs for assorted maladies, including
contraception.
While strolling outside, Rengel
said that the changes in Caricuao have been substantial: "In
two years everything has changed." He pointed out how the
low-cost housing has been and is being upgraded. The new coats
of paint that have been applied to the high-rise complexes, which
appear to have never been painted before, were very apparent.
Rengel brought us to an unassuming
building where we ascended to the fifteenth floor apartment of
a vivacious revolutionary matriarch, Nancy de Ramon. Her passion
for the revolution and Chavez were readily apparent. She beamed
as she displayed a Chavez photo set in a heart-shaped frame.
She also showed a Christmas card adorning Chavez.
Like so many other Venezuelans
we met, Nancy said the people were happier under Chavez government
because significant changes were being made to their daily lives.
She extolled the country's president. Chortled de Ramona, "Chavez
has four balls. He has the balls of [turn-of-the-eighteenth-century
revolutionary leader] Simón Bolívar's horse and
his own balls."
When asked what she thought
of George Bush's nut sack, she indicated clearly by the downward
crushing motion of a clenched fist into the flat palm of the
other hand.
On March 16 we visited the
Casa de la Alimentación, a mission soup kitchen in Valencia,
a town located 115 kilometers (71 miles) west of Caracas. The
mission is housed in a modest brick structure with corrugated
tin roof, the structure like its patrons, was weathered. It has
been open since October 17, 2004 and is looked after by a stout
woman with a red revolutionary ball-cap, Corina Torres. Torres
explains how the mission, supported by the Ministry of Agriculture,
provides two meals a day for homeless and needy people who cannot
afford their own food. There is a weekly menu to ensure nutrition
and variety for the clientele, which grows as the word of the
mission spreads, according to Torres. The mission has a five
person staff to run from 6am to 2pm every day. According to records
shown to us by Torres, the soup kitchen provides about 85% of
the basic daily caloric needs of the people it serves.
Torres sees Chávez as
key to the entrenchment and expansion of the missions. "If
Chavez is removed from power, the social improvements might end"
fears Torres.
A man selling frozen treats
in front of the mission was interested to share his thoughts
in broken English. Gustavo Gottberg, who describes himself as
a writer of mixed German-indigenous descent, is more optimistic
about the social changes happening: "If Chávez [is]
dead, there are too many people who have learned [about the revolution
for it to end]."
Noting the enmity between the
Venezuelan and US leadership, Gottberg states that Americans
are "very good people." Leadership is a different matter,
however. Venezuelans likely view George W. Bush similar to how
Americans view Hugo Chávez, he says diplomatically.
The missions are prioritized
to providing essential social services to Venezuelans. The clear
impression from us all is that the missions are tangible evidence
of the Chavez government's commitment to improve the lot of the
Venezuelan masses. The missions do something more than look after
the educational, medical, and nutritional needs of ordinary Venezuelans.
The missions give the people hope for a better tomorrow.
Hope is what threatens US power.
Hope is what drives the revolution forward.
Joshua Frank, author of Left Out! How Liberals
Helped Reelect George W. Bush (Common Courage Press, 2005) edits
www.BrickBurner.org. He can be reached at: BrickBurner@gmail.com
Kim Petersen, Co-Editor of Dissident Voice, lives
in the traditional Mi'kmaq homeland colonially designated Nova
Scotia, Canada. He can be reached at: kim@dissidentvoice.org
Sunil K. Sharma is the Editor and Publisher of Dissident
Voice, based in Santa Rosa, California. He can be reached at:
editor@dissidentvoice.org
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