Venezuela

BearyCuteAPhi · #1 12-03-2002, 12:43 PM

What is going on with Venezuela?? What happened??? I knew that they were not in good shape and that they wanted Chavez out, but I heard that they were in a crisis...and then about the strike

Does any one know??http://www.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/americ....ap/index.html

ZTAMiami · #2 12-03-2002, 12:54 PM

All I know is that Chavez would like to impose Cuban style communism in Venezuela (for some crazy reason he emulates Fidel) and the people have decided to call a general strike.

SATX*APhi · #3 12-03-2002, 05:07 PM

Herm, isn't our sister Michelle A. from Venezuela??

No ma'am! That's probably why she wants to move to Brazil, huh.

ZTAMiami · #4 12-03-2002, 05:22 PM

Back in the 70s-80s it was very easy for Cubans to get asylum in Venezuela, so many Cubans moved there fleeing the regime. I know in the past few years there has been a large exodus of these very same Cubans to the US because they see whats coming with Chavez in power.

BearyCuteAPhi · #5 12-03-2002, 06:49 PM

ZTAMiami: yes I see what you are saying and I agree, but I do not see how someone can think that way, especially like fidel. Which I do not think that would be a good thing for the US, seeing that they are a major oil supplier for us.
Herm: yes Michelle is from over there and I am going to give her a call. I bet she is really torn right now seeing that her family is over there and her father works in the oil business.

Over the summer when everything began stirring up she was worried for her family b/c they had to watch what they said to eachother (through email, phone, or letters) when they communicated, for fear of the govt.

SATX*APhi · #6 12-04-2002, 04:11 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by BearyCuteAPhi

Herm: yes Michelle is from over there and I am going to give her a call. I bet she is really torn right now seeing that her family is over there and her father works in the oil business. Over the summer when everything began stirring up she was worried for her family b/c they had to watch what they said to eachother (through email, phone, or letters) when they communicated, for fear of the govt.

My poor sister! (and the rest of those involved) It breaks my heart.

AlphaSigOU · #7 12-04-2002, 10:46 PM

Well, as the news goes, things just ain't going well down south. I'm part Venezuelan (on my mom's side) and lived in Caracas when I was young, and regularly keep up to date with news and happenings on Venezuela, though I haven't been back in over 25 years.

Summing up the situation in a nutshell needs a little background info... here goes:

After the overthrow of dictator Marcos Perez Jimenez in the late 50s, Venezuela was a relatively stable democracy and the standard of living was quite high thanks to oil production and exports. (Venezuela was one of the founding members of OPEC.)

The oil industry was nationalized in 1976 and things were really getting good, so much so that some wags started calling it 'Saudi Venezuela', because of the strong value of the Venezuelan bolivar compared to the dollar. (A local saying in Miami played to the Venezuelans who frequently shopped there: 'esta bien, dame dos' (that's good, gimme two of 'em!).

The oil bust of the early 80s eliminated all that, and not long afterward the currency was devalued and corruption scandals erupted in government and private industry. Considering that Venezuela has a noticeable division between a small minority ho controls a lot of the wealth of the country and a large majority who live in poverty on the surrounding hills of Caracas, it wasn't long before things started to heat up.

For many of the less well-to-do Venezuelans, a career in the Venezuelan military was a better option to get out of the cycle of poverty and a better life. In February 1992, Army Lt. Col. Hugo Chavez Frias attempted to overthrow the government. The coup failed, and Chavez was sent to prison for a short time. There were a couple more coup attempts but none successful.

After Chavez got out of prison he ran for president and won. Not long after his inauguration (he shocked many by practically insulting the Venezuelan constitution while taking the oath of office (Namely, calling it a 'dying constitution'.) He instituted many reforms which were popular with the people but which angered the wealthy political establishment. He also began to model his form of government after that of Castro, while not obviously Communist, has a peculiar pink tinge to it. Openly admiring Fidel doesn't help matters much either, and that made the military p*ssed off at him.

Needless to say, the honeymoon was soon over and the popularity Chavez once had with the people over his reforms evaporated. The constitution was rewritten and a new national assembly (Congress) somewhat friendly to Chavez was established, which stacked the deck towards Chavez possibly going for a total power grab and becoming a dictator. The economy, already hurt by the earlier oil bust and devaluation of the currency suffered even more.

The people took to the streets in the traditional 'cacerolazo' -- marching to the presidential palace banging pots and pans. Venezuelans, known for their penchant for somewhat crude humor also started making jokes at the expense of Chavez. (One particular funny one is a mock-up of the dust jacket of a Harry Potter book, except the title reads Hijo 'e Puta (son of a b*tch), which goes to show there's not much love left for Chavez.)

Chavez was overthrown briefly in April but returned to power a couple of days later when crucial support collapsed on the coup planners.

Nowadays, it's not unusual to see reports of general strikes, protests, the takeover of the metropolitan police force by the army, and so on. I'm hoping and praying that Venezuela's situation doesn't degenerate into a civil war.