GUARERO, VENEZUELA: TUESDAY, DECEMBER 5
I traveled through Venezuela at a critical time in the country's history - the referendum. As a result, my Venezuelan BLOGS contain a surfeit of politics and insufficient action. This is a final observation. As always in Latin America I am enraged by the monstrous disparity between rich and poor. This is particularly so in a major oil producer awash with petroleum dollars. Oil companies and their allies in the oligarchy were criminally irresponsible. Revolution is their deserved reward.
Only the type of Revolution is in question.
Chavez?
I don't believe so.
Chavez is a megalomaniac drunk on power.
Showing posts with label referendum. Show all posts
Showing posts with label referendum. Show all posts
Saturday, January 12, 2008
Friday, January 11, 2008
NO TO DICTATORSHIP
SANTA ANA DE CORO: SUNDAY/MONDAY, DECEMBER 3/4
Late evening and Coro is closed tight. I can't even buy a sandwich. Fireworks celebrate the undeclared result of the referendum. I doze off with the TV on - wake and discover the result. The people of Venezuela have voted NO. Chavez has lost by a couple of percentage points. Chavez boasted that he intended to be President in 2050.
Analysis shows abstentions amongst his supporters.
Venezuelans want change.
They don't want a dictator.
Chavez should be congratulated on the honesty of the referendum.
Or criticised by his followers for over-confidence.
He could have fixed the votem - Castro's Cubans have ample experience.
As to the people of Coro, they seem in shock.
Late evening and Coro is closed tight. I can't even buy a sandwich. Fireworks celebrate the undeclared result of the referendum. I doze off with the TV on - wake and discover the result. The people of Venezuela have voted NO. Chavez has lost by a couple of percentage points. Chavez boasted that he intended to be President in 2050.
Analysis shows abstentions amongst his supporters.
Venezuelans want change.
They don't want a dictator.
Chavez should be congratulated on the honesty of the referendum.
Or criticised by his followers for over-confidence.
He could have fixed the votem - Castro's Cubans have ample experience.
As to the people of Coro, they seem in shock.
Thursday, January 10, 2008
THIS DAY OF DECISION
LA VELA: SUNDAY, DECEMBER 3
Elizabeth Ortiz is a painter. Her work is exhibited in the municipal art center across from the Cathedral. She paints women. Her style is simple. Her paintings are warm and full of heart and belief.
I call her home number. She is away. She will return in late afternoon.
Referendum day: few cars are on the road - no trucks. I ride 20 Ks out of town to La Vela, a fishing village famous for its restaurants and fresh fish for Sunday lunch.
The village is mid way between collapse and gentrification. Rain fell in the night and I inch through slippery mud and deep puddles. All restaurants are closed. Villagers wait in line at polling booths. Women walk carefully in pairs, holding hands. A good number of men are already drunk. They slouch in groups at street corners, caps reversed, sleeveless singlets, patched chinos, cheap trainers. Bottles are much in evidence. I am an intruder on this day of decision, a foreigner, an outsider shunned by stone faces - a welcome so un-Latin American.
Elizabeth Ortiz is a painter. Her work is exhibited in the municipal art center across from the Cathedral. She paints women. Her style is simple. Her paintings are warm and full of heart and belief.
I call her home number. She is away. She will return in late afternoon.
Referendum day: few cars are on the road - no trucks. I ride 20 Ks out of town to La Vela, a fishing village famous for its restaurants and fresh fish for Sunday lunch.
The village is mid way between collapse and gentrification. Rain fell in the night and I inch through slippery mud and deep puddles. All restaurants are closed. Villagers wait in line at polling booths. Women walk carefully in pairs, holding hands. A good number of men are already drunk. They slouch in groups at street corners, caps reversed, sleeveless singlets, patched chinos, cheap trainers. Bottles are much in evidence. I am an intruder on this day of decision, a foreigner, an outsider shunned by stone faces - a welcome so un-Latin American.
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