Waiting for 11 April
A inside perspective on the current situation
in Venezuela
By Wild Goose
See also the later article by Wild Goose
The title of this piece is a play on the title of a story of a US cavalry
officer, Major Dunbar, who in the aftermath of the civil war finds a new
life living with a tribe of Indians. They named him Dances With Wolves.
I retired after 33 years of walking with commercial wolves, a career in
advertising around the world, and settled in a peaceful, edenic, bucolic,
naive and good humoured Venezuela. They should have named me Dances With
Lambs.
Shortly after me settling here, an ex-army Lt. Colonel Chavez, who had
failed in leading a military coup against a perfectly legitimately elected,
democratic government some years previously, was elected to the presidency.
Within a year he had re-written the constitution and had himself re-elected,
still on a roll of goodwill from a majority of those that bothered to vote.
Once he was in real power, President Chavez revealed "The Revolution",
a hitherto secret agenda to convert the country into a totalitarian,
neo-Marxist
state similar to that of Cuba and Libya. Watching what happened was like
seeing lambs led to slaughter.
Corruption has grown at an incredible pace until it has become open pillage-with-impunity.
Law and order has been stifled and replaced by political repression, the
investigative police has evolved into a secret political police. Crime has
doubled, and trebled. Most crimes go unsolved, most are not even investigated,
and any crime with a political motivation is guaranteed to go unsolved.
Not a single case of corruption has been tried. Sympathy with the terrorist
rebels known as FARC in neighbouring Colombia is very real. It takes the
form of physical support, to the point where FARC and ELN now openly operate
inside Venezuela, often aided by the political police, and tens of thousands
have been given Venezuelan identity cards. Drugs are shipped through and
over the country with the token occasional dramatic bust set up for international
consumption. The captured tonnage goes straight back into the chain.
The mass of the population in Venezuela today, divides up into a precise
18% who are doing well, one way or another, out of Chavez, or support him
because they love to hear his guttersnipe, barrackroom, exaggerated tirades
against the enemy of the day. Another 10% are "Chavistas Light",
not really happy with him, but sort of still hoping he'll turn out OK. The
rest are the lambs who allowed him to come to power by not bothering to
vote in the various elections and referendums. Chavez was elected with an
amazing 82% of votes cast... in the smallest turn outs in history. The political
innocence of the lambs in the early years was amazing, and one could sense
them drifting towards the slaughterhouse. But the lambs have not been slaughtered.
The easy way for bad people to come to power is for good people, the lambs,
to say nothing. Gradually, a media initially supportive of Chavez became
suspicious as corruption scandals emerged and were dismissed as opposition
propaganda. After a series of very personal attacks against newspaper proprietors
and the legitimacy of their parenthood, etc., the media became hostile,The
church, initially supportive of claims to help the poor, became angry at
being insulted, with cardinals being described as devils in soutanes. Sermons
became openly critical of the government. Chavez is the kind of soldier
who needs an enemy. It allows him to use war games terminology and extremist
rhetoric. Us and them. For me or against me. (President Bush has used similar
techniques in his speeches). Chavez systematically went through the entire
society, creating enemies that he could rail against and blame for all the
evils of the country. The small percentage of people who had been indifferent
or against Chavez began to grow until it became a visible and vocal majority.
The lambs began to take to the streets.
It was the political crimes, in particular assassination and murder, that
provoked a new form of manifestation against the government here, the big
march. To begin with, government supporters would have their marches on
the same day and attempts to force clashes, so that the "oficialistas"
could attack the peaceful opposition marches were rampant. We were in one
of those marches, when a petition of nearly two million signatures was being
taken in a truck to be delivered to the election controlling body headquarters.
The truck continually broke down in the heat, and we found ourselves alongside
it, with me helping to push the thing - along with twenty other fellows.
We were at the head of the march with the truck, two local mayors and the
state governor who were running the protest, behind us were a couple of
hundred thousand people. Just a few hundred metres from the building, the
Chavistas attacked. They threw stones, bottles, lumps of concrete, and fired
pistols. At that time, the metropolitan police was still armed and active
and fought off the attackers with tear gas and shotguns firing rubber pellets.
Eventually we pushed the truck into the building entrance, our faces wrapped
in vinegar-soaked towels, eyes running, chests heaving with strain and pain,
stumbling over broken bottles and shotgun cartridge cases, ducking at every
shot. It was only afterwards that we realized what we'd been through. We'd
known no fear at the time. The adrenaline rush must have been incredible.
With tears of pride, aided by the tear gas, we all sang the national anthem
and another hymn of joy as the boxes of signatures were unloaded.
Subsequently, the metropolitan police were disarmed and their vehicles
have recently been impounded by the Guardia Nacional, and they have become
impotent. On the odd occasion now, when unarmed policemen attempt an arrest,
they are shot down. The GN, who were supposed to guarantee the peace more
efficiently than the PM are absent everywhere except where there is an oficialista
building to protect. Murders are in three figures every weekend. The GN
do turn out to protect demonstrations by Chavistas.
The coalition of opposition groups, from the left wing Red Flag party,
through the Confederation of Labour Unions to the right wing Federation
of Chambers of Commerce decided on a national strike. This lasted two whole
months and effectively washed out Christmas completely. Early on in the
strike, most of the staff, from managers to field workers, from tanker ships
captains to secretaries at the state-owned petroleum company also came out
on strike. This really hurt the government and continues to do so. The strike
was to protest the extraordinary incompetence of the government and demand
the resignation of President Chavez.
It was during the strike that the marches of the lambs reached their zenith.
One march, titled "The Taking of Caracas" brought at least one
and a half million people onto the streets, possibly many more, but that
is the lowest figure given. It was certainly the greatest manifestation
the country had ever seen, and possibly the biggest peaceful march ever,
anywhere, all the more incredible since there was no transport, everybody
walked there. And the Chavistas had blocked the roads into Caracas to prevent
people coming in from the country. Chavez claimed the march was a fake,
with the tv films using computer tricks to make it seem as if the few thousand
there were many more.
A month or two later, the Chavistas attempted a "Re-taking of Caracas"
and brought people in from the country in buses and trucks, all paid allowances
and given food and drink. All public employees in Carcas were ordered to
attend on pain of firing. There were at least 150,000 of them, maybe 180,000.
Chavista claims of attendance ranged from two to four million people were
there. But it was a failure by any standards, and was the last public appearance
of the Chavistas of this kind. From then on they have concentrated on ambushes.
In the first three months of this year there have been 54 armed attacks
by Chavista groups, during which innocent and unarmed peaceful marchers
have been wounded or killed. The presence of the GN ensured that there were
no counter-attacks against the attackers. Films and photos of shooters in
the press never result in any arrests, not even investigations. All are
described by the government, as criminal opposition provocations .
But what of the marches themselves? They are a totally unique form of protest
expression. First there are the clothes. People wear shirts and blouses
and tee-shirts, all made of national flag material. Some of the younger
women wear startlingly original - and somewhat daring by northern standards
- outfits that are just amazing. Hats of every conceivable kind, from standard
peaked caps to tri-corn court jester affairs all in the tricolor yellow,
blue with the seven white stars, and red. Everybody carries and regularly
waves, a flag of one size or another. Mine is about one by two metres and
is held up by a length of bamboo from my garden. The effect of the body
of people is a staggering river of bright yellow, blue and red.
The mood in these marches is amazing. There is always an air of expectancy
and quiet excitement. There are people carrying drums and triangle, whistles
and blocks. They tap, bang and blow in latin rhythms, swing their hips as
they walk, (walk? Many are actually doing dance steps. Everything is salsa-fied).
They sing songs ranging from Beethoven's song of joy, through Lennon to
pure latin songs of protest, love and peace. The national anthem, probably
the most moving and beautiful anthem after the Marseillese, gets an airing
regularly. These lambs are astonishing. Their overall exuding of goodwill
is punctuated regularly by chants like (translated) "This government
will fall", "Chavez out!" and many witty rhyming couplets
that always collapse with the giggles, like "Above, below, Chavez go
to hell!" (Arriba! Abajo! Chavez p'al carajo!) yet the overall atmosphere
of goodwill and camaraderie somehow defuses the incendiary potential of
these efforts. The inference I draw from it all, is that people feel they
are showing, by simply showing themselves to be united and, well by simply
being there, they are showing the world that Chavez is rejected by the majority
of Venezuelans.
I have found myself dancing with these lambs as they gambol and dance along.
Dancing? As an anglo-saxon, I have about as much latin tempo in me as I
have ability to speak Chinese. But it is kind of liberating. Tears have
come to my eyes on several occasions at the sheer decent exhuberance and
innocent hope these lambs had, and still have, after the virtual destruction
of their country.
Chavez is fond of portraying the opposition as a minority of wealthy, middle
class, privileged people who are that way thanks to their oppression and
exploitation of the poor. Walking in one of these marches and it is very
clear indeed that the marchers represent socio-economic classes BC and,
very definitely D. Class A is never numerous in any society, but in a small
village-like society of Caracas, they are all known, and they are not among
the marchers. The socio-economic Es are out in the marginal areas in the
slums on the edge of the city and in the rural areas. They don't march with
us - but few of them march for Chavez either. The marchers are usually a
statistical representation of a solid 70% of the population that is against
Chavez. And in a country that has 80% living at or below poverty level,
you don't have to be a rocket scientist to figure out the significance of
that.
The strike failed. Incredibly, the government was still there after two
months. It proved that Venezuela is essentially ungovernable, and Chavez
stayed in power, because the country is, essentially, not being governed.
This is a lawless, anarchic and chaotic state that is functioning as well
as it does because people simply get on with what they can. And the majority
of people are kind and decent. People are living on their savings - from
under the mattress. Bank accounts and the banking system has become discredited
and is not trusted any more. Barter is real.
But there is fear. The fear is growing and is palpable. Marches have been
cancelled again and again because the spies phone through that ambushes
have been laid. Violence and the threat of it is working for the Chavistas.
The government lies so consistently and obviously that nothing, but nothing
it says is believed by the people. Chavez retaliated against the opposition
by suspending sales of the dollar. And with 70% of the goods and produce
sold in this country being imported, that has had - in two months - far
greater damage than the two-month strike. The killers who were filmed shooting
into the marchers last April 11th have now been released from custody and
hailed as heroes of the revolution. They were never tried.
The hope now is that there will be a referendum in August that will confirm
Chavez as president, or cause his resignation. Few believe the government
will allow it to happen. It is a sort of mythic date in the future that
is enabling everybody to live with today. Meanwhile, the anniversary of
the April 11th march will be celebrated by another march. The lambs are
nervous and restless, and rather despondent. The economic state of the country
is genuinely disastrous, with bankruptcies, closures, suicides and crime
all on the increase. Nobody is sure how the march will be, except that the
Chavistas are threatening to attack and destroy it.
How will the lambs behave on April 11th? Will they turn out in their hundreds
of thousands? If they do, will they dance again? Or will it be a despondent,
silent march with many black flags and single drumbeats being the only music?
Or will it be cancelled, as so many have been since the violence of the
Chavistas became government-protected?
Wild Goose
March 2003
