Consequences

I think this from Caracas Chronicles is a very well informed post that I wanted to highlight:

Katy says: As we read the news on the student protests and watch the government's heavy-handed approach to dispersing the crowds, we are reminded of the wave of protests in 2001 and 2002 that culminated in the Carmonazo.

So now is as good a time as any to ask: where is all this leading? Do we have any hope that Chavez will allow RCTV back on the air? The government's repression will surely be bad news for Chavez and his tarnished image overseas, but after almost universal condemnation for the closure, is there anything else to gain in that regard?

...

Almost everyone who is protesting is doing peacefully, but there is always an element that takes things too far and I think it can sometimes be easy to let things spiral out of control. Of course there are people on both sides who want this.

I hope that everyone takes their responsibility to really think about why they are doing things, what the objective is and what the likely consequences are.

Hehe, I'm watching TVes right now and it seems they've replaced the crappy telenovelas (soaps) of RCTV with equally crappy ones of their own. With equal amounts of laughable sexual innuendo :-)

Student protests in Caracas

Student protests in Caracas

Well, TVes started up pretty quickly and appears to be mainly a whole load of song and dance. Reminds me a lot of the Edinburgh festival Venezuela show a couple years ago, only worse.

Today business was back to normal (I went to a meeting) but there were mass student protests at all the universities in Caracas. One of my friends got hit by a tear gas bomb that the police fired into the students at UNIMET, one of the private universities. This didn't deter her though, as she continued on the the protests in the center of town at Chacaito.

This was near where at about 5pm tonight Risho and I were walking past the Ministry of Infrastructure and suddenly everyone was running and taking cover. Then we saw a whole load of police closing the road in front of the ministry. We quickly got into the metro.

Later on the news I saw that police were using more tear gas on protesters in this area and firing shotguns into the air. It's strange to see all this stuff in the places I always go - the university, the main business district.

But it's definitely commendable to be protesting this. This is a bad bad turning point in the country's history and I hope the protests go on, peacefully. Caracas Chronicles notes that even the other private TV stations only had their licenses renewed for 5 years, ending conveniently six-months before the next election time. Imagine an entirely state-controlled broadcast TV network using government funds to broadcast their campaign to the masses, with no opposition broadcasting to challenge them. That is a very scary thought.

One really appalling thing about this whole situation is the behaviour of two of the other private TV stations - Televen and Venevision. They have not shown a single moment of these protests or this story. It is as if everything is completely normal for them. This is clearly to appease the government and keep their licenses.

Globovision meanwhile have been showing full support. Many newspaper cartoons depict it as next in the line for will of Chavez to crash down upon.

It's uncertain whether the universities will be open tomorrow.

TVes is here

Well, RCTV just switched off. The signal went black. Now we have a spinning TVes logo and the description says "will provide 24-hour programming". Evidentally not this hour.

Outside: fireworks vs. pots and pans

On the streets of Caracas

I'm quite glad I'm back home now. I just had a little walk around my locality to see what was going on. I wish I'd had my camera, but words will have to do:

First, I came across a group of red-clothed Chavez-supporters about to embark upon a march to celebrate the new TV channel "TVes". Against a backdrop of graffiti painted on walls in the barrio "With the revolution: TVes 2 - making the socialism of the 21st century", I met a group of three interesting-looking characters. They turned out to be from Germany, United States and Colombia, here to support the Bolivarian socialist revolution. They were from an international society called "Intellectuals and artists in defence of humanity". James Cockcroft, an Californian in his 50s with eyes hidden behind black round-rimmed sunglasses, had this message:

"Defendemos la vida
la naturaleza
y el planeta.
Solidarizandonos con los procesos revoluciones de Venezuela y otros paises del mundo"

which means:

"We defend life, nature and the planet. We are showing solidarity with the revolutionary processes of Venezuela and other countries around the world"

Blimey.

He asked if I wanted to join him in the march. I politely refused and moved on.

After passing a play park covered in Chavez slogans and with big murals of the man himself, I heard noise in the distance.

Someone passed me wearing a bullet-proof vest.

2 worried-looking policemen shifted their weight from foot to foot.

Round the next corner was a flood of red. Celebratory music blaring out from trucks painted red with slogans like "a socialist fatherland or death". Here they were, marching through an opposition neighbourhood, every second car a police car.

From the windows, a hundred pots and pans clattering in protest to the march. Security tight as the bravest people stand behind guarded building gates with their pots. One street-seller quietly tapping a spoon against his table as the sea of red floods by.

I overtake it and jump on a bus to the HQ of RCTV, the TV channel at the center of this messy situation.

A group of about 20 heavily armed policemen (shotguns, machine guns, rifles, bullet-proof vests and helmets) signals that I am in the right place.

There are probably only a thousand people here, at the atmosphere is quite sombre, with the occasional celebratory cheer as supporters listen to live broadcast. A huge Venezuelan flag dominates the top of the building. People are selling flags, buttons, T-shirts, food, drinks, ice cream (some things are always the same in Venezuela!) The side of the building is painted with graffiti in support of RCTV - "100% committed to Venezuela", "Don't close it", "In my heart lives RCTV" and painted hands (symbolic of even Chavez-supporters being in support of the channel).

I speak to one woman - Lourdes Bustamente - standing with a sign saying "Yo crecí con RCTV" (I grew up with RCTV). She was born the year after RCTV began broadcasting. She tells me of when she was at university, coming home every evening to watch the channel. She tells me what she likes about RCTV and what it means for Venezuelans:

"All the programs are beautiful, with no violence, very happy. The channel is a tradition, bringing knowledge and culture to the people."

I ask if the channel has changed over the years.

It took a position against all governments, but none of them tried to close it. This is an injustice. It's like a member of my family dying.

Next I talk to Abinadab Gomez Diaz, a Colombian living in Venezuela. He tells me he isn't on either side, but:

"I have confidence in God. He will decide if the channel closes. Chavez wants a war. It starts at midnight tonight."

Then the crowd is suddenly fleeing.

I run too.

Apparently Chavistas - who had been marching past launching fireworks - had tried to get in through the police blockades. A gun goes off behind me. I turn to see a police man with a smoking shotgun. Fuck.

But it was either a warning shot or a mistake. I talk to the police commander on the scene. She tells me:

"It's very calm. We are protecting all the streets. There have been no incidents and that's because of our presence. I'm not worried and tonight there will be more police here."

I think that's what she has to say.

Time for me to get out of here.

Now I'm watching Globovision and the police at the Television Commission are spraying crowds (and the TV camera) with a huge watergun. A policemen just got taken away on a stretcher.

I'm staying inside for a while.

Day of Protests

Day of Protests

It reminds me of pre-election time last December.

This time the protests are against the forced closing by Chavez of Venezuela's most popular public TV station, RCTV, which is being taken off the air on midnight Sunday.

10pm tonight I was in Altamira - a square right in the middle of Caracas - amidst crowds of flag-waving protesters, flyers lining the ground and cars - with their alarms blaring - blocking all traffic through the square.

What really surprised me was that I didn't see any police. I think they are just accepting that the protests are happening and staying out of the way.

I picked up one flyer advertising a "gran cacerolazo" tomorrow evening at 8pm. This means everyone get their biggest casserole dishes and make as much noise as possible with them, along with car alarms, horns, sirens, everything.

Tomorrow the protests are going to be centred around the National Telecommunications Commission where the government - under the guard of the armed forces - will be seizing control of RCTV's transmitters in order to switch over to TVen, the new state-controlled channel.

It's scary, tragic and illegal.

El Universal (English version) has loads of news and background about this story.

Students close university over protest over civil liberties

Students close UCAB

It was strangely quiet when I arrived at University Catolica Andres Bello this morning, where the AIESEC office is based in Caracas.

And this is why. Earlier this morning, masses of students had blocked all the entrances to the university in a protest against the closure of private TV station RCTV which is planned for this Sunday 27th May.

RCTV - Venezuela's oldest TV channel at 53 years on the air - plays an important role for many Venezuelans in providing a variety of programming including news and commentry. One thing they also provide is very vocal opposition to Chavez and his government, and they publicly promoted the coup attempt in 2002.

And now, in another move in the continuing destruction of civil rights in Venezuela, the government is refusing to renew the channel's license to broadcast on terrestrial television.

Apparently this is because of continued legal infractions. But the real reason is no secret. Chavez is in charge and he gets to decide what goes on TV. So the channel will be replaced by a new state-run TV channel, and one valuable platform for open debate against Chavez is gone forever.

Press and student bodies have united to protest against the closure, with protests this week in Caracas both for and against the closure.

Several international bodies have voiced their opposition to the closure as a breach of civil liberties and freedom of expression.

The European Parliament have approved a resolution that calls on Chavez:

"to ensure equal treatment under the law for all media, whether privately or publicly owned and irrespective of all political or ideological considerations" and "Calls for a dialogue between the Venezuelan Government and the country's private media, while deploring the government's total unwillingness to engage in dialogue in general, notably in the case of RCTV;"

The Inter-American Court on Human Rights has filed a law suit against the Venezuelan government for "violating the human rights, freedom of expression, and personal safety" of the RCTV workers and journalists.

The US Senate Foreign Relations Committee has approved a motion expressing "profound concern" at the situation.

Today, the national guard were deployed [Spanish] to ensure the protests remained peaceful.

There will be more protests tomorrow and Sunday.

I am kind of tempted to see what is going on but I think this could turn quite nasty.

Well, as freedom of expression is washed away, there were dramatic thunderstorms and torrential rain in Caracas this afternoon. But it has temporarily abided so I'm off to get in supplies.

More updates on this interesting and desperate situation tomorrow...

Buses and travels and things

I’m just back from training new members in Barquisimeto, one of the cities where AIESEC is in Venezuela. This is a local committee in the great but unfortunate situation that most of its experienced members seem be suddenly going off on traineeships. What’s left is like a clean slate of new members. Members who are so full of ideas and enthusiasm and who are doing some really great things. Working with these members reminds me in one sense what it’s all about – providing the platform to allow people to make of it what they want. I took two members to their first sales meeting today. I remember my own – the nervousness, the not being quite sure what to say, relaxing during the meeting as I realise the company loves the idea of AIESEC then leaving with that awesome feeling of having done a great job and being part of something really real and valuable and useful to companies.

Barquisimeto is a city of over one million people, about 6 hours West of Caracas (“because of the queue” – people in Venezuela are obsessed with traffic queues, I guess because they are so popular!) This places it in the Center-West of Venezuela, meaning it’s much warmer than Caracas but nowhere near as crazy hot as Maracaibo (so I hear). Definitely not suit-wearing temperatures though. So I didn’t.

Compared to Caracas, the city is really calm (OK, anywhere in the world would be) and very spread out with very short buildings. This is because it is on the San Andreas fault (yey – back on it after 2 years!) although apparently they only have minor earthquakes that nobody feels. The city has a total of 210 works of construction at this very moment – hence construction is the industry for AIESEC to be hitting, and every street corner has workers and blocked roads – making bus routes very random.

Buses are very distinctive in Venezuela. The small ones (carritos) have colourful, dramatic paint jobs and are normally adorned with decorations and trinkets and slogans inside and out (often religious or political). With pumping Regaeton music blasting out from the tinted windows. And probably a street seller or two trying to grab everyone’s attention as they sit squeezed into their seats-not-designed-for-Dan. And bus-stops don’t mean anything – you just wave one down when you like and shout, whistle or somehow gain the drivers attention when you feel like the music is too much for you. Great stuff for just 15p! It’s one of the highlights of cultural experience in Venezuela!

The long-distance buses are something else altogether. Even the cheapest has very reclining chairs, air-conditioning and TVs. Cheap like $4 for a 6-hour journey. For only slightly-more you can have “executive-class” which is pretty much like travelling first class on a plane. Of course looking outside is banned, and curtains are strictly provided at all seats. A movie lulls you to sleep as you speed through the countryside of Venezuela oblivious to all. Maybe the best way for really long journeys. But that countryside can be quite spectacular and definitely should not be missed! Again, there is the occasional person making his money – someone just offered me a cachapa, which is like a thick corn-flour pancake, normally with queso blanco (white cheese).

A continual barrage of being offered things you only might just want seems to be the model of the economy for many people in Venezuela. But there are times when you do want, and if you enjoy making last minute decisions as I often do it works very well.

Ooh, great - we’re stopping for food. What timing! Writing about cachapas was making me hungry. I’ll tell you what delight I eat once I return…

…mmm, I had an arepa filled with sausages, onion and mayo. It was as delicious as I’d hoped, although nothing will ever beat the one I had on the way to Mérida in December.

Now it’s freezing on this bus so I’ve wrapped up warm and I’m going to spend my final 34 minutes of battery listening to Snow Patrol and preparing a proposal for tomorrow.

Bye!

Dan

Addition: The bus took 7 hours!!!! Which meant a fun fun fun night sleeping at the bus terminal for me, being awoken by floor-cleaning people and security-type people at horrible times in the morning.

That life-consuming thing that I love

First, let's apologise for the rather sporadic nature of posting. Definitely a case of having way too much going on.

Henceforth to sum up the last two months!

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AXLDS in Mexico. My first international AIESEC conference - 20 countries worth of passionate, amazing people filling a room with spirit and excitement and working together towards the same goals.

The global village on the first day was an unbelievable whirlwind of culture, of strange foods, of joyous peanut butter, of Mariachi bands and gleeful dancing locals. Utter amazement at being part of such an incredible spectacle in the stunningly beautiful city of Guanajuato.

Working with leadership teams from around the Americas (and Spain) and realising that we share so many of the same challenges and problems, and also there are just incredible solutions out there. The power of sharing is incredible. The feeling of connecting and working together - something beautiful and magical. Seeing the impact AIESEC is making on people, on society.

Talking to all the US delegates who had heard the buzz of Get Golden. Roll calls at 5am in elevators. Sleep as a mere illusion of the mind. Making incredible friendships. Meeting people for the first time in real life. Being inspired.

And Mexico! Spicy food. Running up pyramids with ominous clouds set to explode upon us. The Pacific Ocean. Tequila. Long bus journeys. Strange things boiling away in big pots. Chasing muggers through the metro station. Churros and Starbucks.

Needless to say, I came back with 9 other people all filled with boundless enthusiasm, dedication and a determination to take the needed action.

My part in that has been to get damn serious about building the relationships that we need. And there are some great things very far into the pipeline now. I am not leaving AIESEC Venezuela without its sustainability.

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Next up was our national conference. I had the huge responsibility of being the chair of this event. Bringing everything together, setting the mood, the tone, the spirit. Being in charge of conference magic was how I put it. This was very enjoyable, and at times hugely challenging. I think I did a reasonable job of it. The sugarcubes were certainly overflowing :-) (little messages people write to each other at the end of conferences. yes it's all a bit fluffy)

This conference was a success, but I cannot take credit for that. It is because of the members - something amazing has happened to them. They're AIESECers! I think as an MC we have actually shifted something, created something. And that makes me so incredibly happy!

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Right now I'm in Barquisimeto where it is a little bit too hot but nevertheless we are forming the ultimate ER team. Tomorrow we're hitting two companies, Tuesday two more. With "new" members so full of ideas and hungry for knowledge and ready to get the results. I love it. Training in Spanish is awesome :-)

Today I ate Chinese, some incredibly Guanabana jelly, and a delicious Kebab-type thing with falafel and meat. And I drank lots and lots of water, for the two most common reasons.

You will notice that AIESEC has now completely consumed my life, but I don't care. I haven't got long left. Which is extremely sad and very exciting at the same time.