 B
Back in 1989 the President of Venezuela began to implement a number of neo-liberal reforms in accordance to pacts signed with international lending institutions such as the IMF. The transportation sector was one of the many that felt the over-night economic reforms, as the price of bus fairs jumped drastically. The poor, who were most effected by the price hikes began to take their anger to the streets. Public transportation vehicles were burned and destroyed, but as the crowds grew in size - engulfing more and more disgruntled poor - wide spread looting and rioting spread through the large urban centers like wildfire. The police at the time were on strike, thus angry crowds were free to do what they wished. Meanwhile the upper and middle class retreated behind their private neighborhood walls. To this day some upper-class citizens arm themselves in fear that the poor might try to take what is theirs.
Troops were called in (inexperienced young soldiers fresh out of recruitment) and the violence was suppressed. The military took control of these regions and imposed a curfew. Blood was shed during this uprising which later was referred to as the "Caracazo." Shocked by the repression on behalf of the government, one of the effects of the shut down was a 1992 coup-attempt carried out by current President Hugo Chavez. Here's an interesting quote:
"It was a day of terrible bloodshed, when the tropical oil paradise that Venezuela was still pretending to be was exposed as a threadbare myth. The memory of that Caracazo was certainly behind the massive resistance of slum-dwellers who helped restore President Hugo Chavez to power last weekend." Marcelo Ballve, Pacific News Service
Hugo Chavez is not the problem. The problem is with the country's rigid class system. Speaking to a well-off friend of mine from Venezuela, I was told that the lower class and slum dwellers were "crazy" and "criminal." "These people don't know how to read... they don't know anything... their vote for a leftist really should not count," said my grandmother, whom sympathizes with the Venezuelan middle- and upper-class. These people were once referred to as "lazy" by a girlfriend of mine. Such sediment can be heard all of Latin America from the upper strata. In turn, the lower class considers the rich to be greedy, white-collared criminals, and assimilated sell-outs. These two classes do not mix; they do not intermarry, they do not go to the same schools, and they do not live together. There are literally two different worlds; one with limited social-mobility and access to education, services, and health, and another filled with rough street crime, disease, and poverty. As long as these two separated worlds exist side-by-side, they will continue to look at each other as hostile enemies.
To get an idea of just how different these worlds are let's take a close look at my friend, "Jeniffer." Jeniffer is an intelligent young woman who does not need to work and studies in a local university. Her father works with a car company and her mother is employed with a local travel agency. These are normal jobs, right? To you and me they are. Most of our parents, and most of the parents of her friends probably have normal jobs; they might be school teachers, work for insurance companies, and so on. Well, I work in a tourism-dominated industry (Internet Cafes) and I have had a chance to meet a lot of Venezuelans. All of them were middle or upper class, thus I am supposing that the clients of her mother's workplace are all from the same social strata. I'm sure the same goes to her father; I doubt that the slum-dwellers and her father's peers drive the same type of cars. These classes work among, for, and catering to those of their same class. One can go along with their lives without ever mingling with someone from a different class.
The Caracazo happened long before Hugo Chavez, and it could very well happen again. Venezuela's harsh division does not stem from Chavez, it stems from centuries of class division, prejudice, and inequality in social mobility.
For further information on the Caracazo check out:
Venezuela: The Bolivarian Revolution at a Crossroads by Miguel Campos of El Militante
Inter-American Court of Human Rights del Caracazo, Case Judgement |
