The Bolivarian Spirit

Government Center of Venezuela

Saturday, March 18, 2006 Arriving in Caracas

After two days of getting to know one another in our group from Eastern Connecticut University (airline issues) and hanging around airports we’re finally ready to land in Caracas. I’ve been a bit apprehensive about Caracas, not sure what to expect. My only previous trip out of the country, other than Canada, was a short visit to Nogales, Mexico. I’m apprehensive about the way we might be perceived by Venezuelans because of the attitude of the Bush administration towards Chavez. I’m hoping the people judge us as visitors from another country, and not as an extension of our government’s attitude.

My first reaction was the warm and muggy weather which is actually kind of welcome. The airport kind of reminded me of Bradley Field in the 1970’s, but you couldn’t help to notice the construction everywhere. Also, there was a giant TV screen hanging in the lobby which is going to be a familiar theme to me, new technology mixed with less modernized surroundings.

An interesting thing happened as I approached customs. I was summoned over by a security person to have my luggage checked. As soon as he realized I was unable to speak Spanish, he waved me through. I guess I was suspicious looking as a resident, but not as a visitor. The younger students said it was because of my Venezuela hat. I actually thought it was cool to be mistaken as a resident, and not a tourist.


As we were walking through customs I noticed a sign saying “ECSU”. Luis led us to Charlie Hardy, our guide, and our adventure began. We got on board our bus (kids called it the ghetto bus) with Charlie, or guide. Charlie was a priest who was sent to Caracas and found cows and oil, just like Wyoming! He arrived in Venezuela in 1986. He spoke to us along the way to Caracas. We passed the bridge that was supposedly being repaired (it crumbled to the ground a few days later) and we were told that the road we were on was just built. That enabled us to get to our hotel and avoid the dreaded 4 hour bus trip to our hotel. We got to the hotel and were assigned our rooms. The rooms were not quite what I was used to. I had asked for a single room because of my obnoxious snoring so I was alone while most were paired up. One thing that was very different from the states was the act of putting toilet paper in the trash, and not the toilet. I would forget now and then and be worried I would cause some plumbing problem in the building, but I’m sure I wasn’t the only one. Another strange thing was the weird deck outside the room. There were sliding doors where I expected to walk out onto a deck. There was a cement enclosure with a wood slotted roof. I guess it was just some type of deck but it was strange, with no sun or view, just cement. One thing I missed at the hotel was vending machines where you could grab a snack or a drink. We were immediately supplied with water so that helped, and it was a constant on the trip. I then went to the top floor to check out the city. I was impressed with all the construction going on. It was 1 am Sunday morning and workers could be seen on the construction project, working. They were busy building part of a new subway station. Charlie informed us that there would be a meeting in the am.


Sunday, March 19, 2006 Government Center in Caracas

In the morning we were served breakfast in the hotel dining room. There was a buffet line but the food was doled out. The American breakfast consisted of scrambled eggs, a piece of thin sliced ham, a slice of cheese, dried toast, watermelon or melon, and coffee. A native popular juice made from papayas called lechosa was also served.

Later that morning we met as a group with our guide Charlie. He explained to us how to communicate even though we didn’t speak the language. Smile and speak the language of love, he said. He also explained some cultural differences such as the one involving Christmas. When he expected to hear “Silent Night” in Spanish on Christmas Eve, he heard “Fire the Cannons” instead. That along with fireworks made for a different kind of Christmas. Another item about Christmas was that the baby Jesus brought gifts, not Santa Claus.

Another story was the story on shit. Shit! I will admit I didn’t expect to hear a lecture of shit, but no shit, I did. When Charlie first lived in the barrio, he lived in a pressed cardboard type of shack. There were no toilets or septic system so when he had to go to the bathroom he went on newspaper. Then he would roll it up and toss it into a pile on the side of a hill. He told us how he literally lived on a mountain of shit. He was surrounded by shit and soon came to the realization that if God was the God of everything he was also the “God of Shit”. It was fun to hear his initial confusion with the language, such as the double meaning of “caca” which a young person said to him to “watch out” as he almost stepped in it.

When he was talking about the barrios he made one point clear to us. He said that even though the poor in the barrios were worse off then their counterparts in the US slums, since the revolution the poor in Venezuela had something the poor in Harlem did not, and that was hope. The residents of the barrios were always kept down by the ruling class and considered lazy, and that was imposed on them from foreigners. A common saying among the ruling class was “We’re not stupid like Indians”. The “barrios” is the name for low income housing. At one time the president, Carlos Perez, provided the people with shipping containers described as “mobile homes”. They turned out to be nothing but tin ovens and were miserable. They were worse than the cardboard shacks. He was a proponent of neoliberalism and prices rose 600 % on some items. His policies led to Caracazo, the riots of 1989, three weeks after his inauguration. There was a massacre after the riots. 400 people were officially dead, but the true number could have been in the thousands.

When Chavez first attempted his coup he said when it was done “Por Ahora” for the moment. I was soon to see and hear that same message as we toured Caracas. The Chavez attempted coup resulted in a few deaths but the number was greatly exaggerated by the press to “thousands”. “If we are the future of the world, why are you killing us” was a common saying.


Susana was a true revolutionary. She was not a Chavista, however. She told us how over several months before the 2002 coup arrived it was expected. There was a process of violence and fear for months and the message was “today a coup”. The media was in on it and helped to create the atmosphere. Bosses were calling for marches and PdVSA was calling for a general strike. The current right wing Mayor of Caracas was elected with Chavez and was supported by Chavez. During the riot Susana talked about how she seen snipers on hotel roofs firing on protestors. During a later walk around the government buildings she even pointed out some places where they were shot. She described how people were being shot with plastic bullets. The media kept showing doctored films hours and hours on end featuring five Chavez supporters, The Chavez supporters were actually firing on the snipers but were made to look like they were firing on the crowd. A sad note was that area hospitals refused to treat Chavez supporters.

Susana’s sister, who marched for the opposition, felt she was being used by the PdVSA as a target for snipers. This way they could blame the Chavistas. The military, police, and civilians all formed the opposition and they were seeking retribution for Chavez‘s policies. Women were mostly out in the streets supporting Chavez chanting “We want Chavez”. The people learned the truth that Chavez didn’t resign because of a memo picked from the trash. On April 13th there was also wide spread looting and the Chavistas tried to stop the looting. They were inspired by young military personnel waving flags and chanting “Chavez is coming back”. Though there were many Democrats who didn’t support Chavez, they did support the constitution. The military eventually achieved the victory for the people.

Susana says this struggle happened long before Chavez. For many years there was lots of racial prejudice. Susana has strong convictions and does not seem overly impressed with Chavez. When I asked her about the new trade union UNT she said “That’s a disaster”.

Susana told us a lot of this has we were walking through the Government buildings. Phil and Tanya weren’t allowed to go in one area because they were wearing shorts and that was considered improper clothing, like a lack of respect. We visited Bolivar’s house and his monument, which has a 24 hour guard. Many people filled the area. Some were singing and playing music. Everyone appeared to be enjoying a Sunday afternoon. The Government area was beautiful. Susana pointed out different places that were mentioned in the movie about the coup like the bridge and the hotel rooftops where the snipers were. There was lots of graffiti, much of it directed towards capitalism.

I was very impressed with the subway system. While above ground the traffic seemed to be chaotic, underground new technology was at work. Again the combination of old structures mixed with modern technology. Charlie told us how Chavez refused money from General Motors and Ford to build roads and instead focused on mass public transit. The subways use French technology and are quiet and smooth and pretty amazing. They appear to be working around the clock to build it also. Outside our hotel on Sunday morning there were many people at work on the project, using heavy machinery and such.

Monday, March 20, 2006

A key phrase in Venezuela is “within ourselves” which is the Venezuelans wish to become endogenous. Endogenous development is an important part of the Bolivarian Revolution. The Barrio Adentro mission contained the first co-op established by the Chavez government. The Fabricio Ojeda Endogenous Development Nucleus impacts about 1200 people. It contains a small textile factory, a clinic, and a shoe factory. There is also a food store on the site, sponsored by Mercal, which offers food to the poor at heavily discounted prices. The government is committed to providing sustainability and will give them the tools to do this. The project was still under construction as we visited. There are problems, however, sort of like growing pains. There are many social issues; one is trying to get people to get along. The people run the place but it is still owned by PdVSA. Unemployment is still high at about 12% but things are improving.

Textile Co-Op Venezuela Avanza

My visit to the co-op surprised me in many ways. My first thought was the lack sternness and a frenzy that is found in most American factories. Many people were working together in groups, chatting calmly with their co-workers as they sewed on pockets and labels. There is a process used in the co-ops call Congestíon. Congestíon guarantees different levels of control for the workers in the management of the factory. Our guide made it a point to tell us that people have been slow to adapt and haven’t been the best of workers, content to work short hours, and take lots of breaks. The workers need to learn that these actions will affect their income directly, and they need to learn to work steadily for the place to thrive and production will become sustaining. The organizers will stay until the operation will sustain itself and at that point they’ll move on to another place. Another thing that stood out to me in the textile mill was the freedom of expression, with pictures of Jesus and Che hanging on the walls. The people appeared to be genuinely happy, friendly, and content, working at a leisurely pace. Workers were allowed to take breaks when they needed them, and there was no division of labor because the workers rotated

I was impressed with Venezuela’s whole concept of free health care for all. Visitor or resident, legal or illegal, rich or poor, all had availability to healthcare. We visited a new medical clinic and we were shown the lobby, x-ray facilities, dental office, and emergency room. We spoke to dental assistants and other technicians. In the dental clinic a dental assistant said “This is our reality” quoting Chavez. “We are the people also” said Jose Largo. The state uses the profits from oil to provide free healthcare and education to its people. If there is one phrase I can use to describe Venezuela’s social programs, that one is my favorite. That is the one line I say the most to everyone I talk to about Venezuela. I plan on making a short presentation to my local and that will be included. Another simple concept that stuck with me was “the oil is in the ground of Venezuela and belongs to the Venezuelan people”. That simple remark blows me away in its simplicity and utter truth. Could people in West Virginia (considered a poor state) imagine saying “the coal is in the ground of WV and belongs to the people of WV”? If there is a value in traveling to other lands to me it is the expanding of ideas, and the opportunity to see that America might make the best nuclear submarines and may have the best new technology but it doesn’t always have the best ideas.

We were treated to what was, to me, our best and most authentic meal of the trip. It consisted of soup, shredded and spiced meat, rice and delicious black beans, plantain (like bananas) and bread. It was an absolutely wonderful and memorable meal with an incredible setting overlooking the barrios. It had to be my favorite eating experience in Venezuela without a doubt. We even had a farmer tending his garden (but only if he thought we were taking pictures). We were convinced he was sent from central casting to perform for the tourists.

The shoe factory did not seem as organized as the textile factory. I did like the shifts, though. Two shifts of 6 hours each every day. 120 people worked in the factory, 60 at one time. They made steel toed shoes for oil workers and other types of shoes. The motto posted outside was “estudiar y trabajar” which meant “to study and to work”.

Mercal Co-op

Because of the coup and lockout food co-ops were constructed. They would allow the people to purchase food in the case the opposition owned food stores forced lockouts. The food co-ops consist of 4,000 stores which sell between 10 – 15 tons of food daily. The co-op provides discounts of 25% to 50 % in most food staples and provide up to 50% of the food in the country. The food co-ops have been functioning since 2003 and are considered the flagship of state programs.


Tuesday, March 21, 2006

Bolivarian University of Venezuela

We visited the offices of the BUV, located in the heart of the opposition in Caracas. The offices are located in a building that used to house administrative offices of the old PdVSA. You could tell by the lavish furnishings in the building and the marble floors and walls that we were not in a building that housed public education, but we were! The Bolivarian University is actually a network of universities distributed across Venezuela.

We listened to a speaker who had a title that was comparable to a US college dean, but was called the Coordinator for Education of the Bolivarian University. He spoke of the 28th of March movement. The dean informed us that illiteracy, affecting more than 1.3 million people, was wiped out in only a few months, using a Cuban model. He talked about the new “Grandparents University: and how you were never too young to learn. We spoke to a 40 year old student who always wanted to be a doctor and now had a chance to achieve his dream, with the help of Cuban doctors. A young student spoke about transition. When the dean was asked about what would become of the traditional universities, he remarked that they would become shells, with the new universities eventually replacing them. He believed that the fundamentals of Bolivar were the only answer to capitalism. He apologized for the bureaucracy and you could see he was a bit frustrated with it. The university was based on ideals of solidarity and acceptance. I believe it was this man who also remarked “Capitalism is the world’s great failure”. Now that was quite a statement. When I mentioned it to a few people they said it was originally said by someone else, maybe Marx. Now I’m sure many people like Marx said the same thing in different ways, but that’s the first time I ever heard anyone proclaim anything like that and say it with conviction, and I liked it and I’ll remember it forever. I’ll always attribute the quote to him.

Side note – Everywhere we went and listened to speakers a few things stood out 1) their commitment to the revolution, and 2) they did not wear suits but wore clothes of the people, jeans, etc. I may be wrong, but I don’t think we listened to one speaker who actually wore a suit and tie. Was that planned? The only time I seen any suits was at the fancy mall. This man might have been my favorite speaker on the trip. He really came out with some gems like: “We are all young people”, also “All workers have the right to become professionals”, and how they are “Making the abstract concrete”.

Since the BUV was surrounded by opposition, it was necessary to have high security. That was because of attempts to bring down the “process”. (In Venezuela most of the speakers, including our guides, spoke of the ongoing Bolivarian Revolution as the “process”).

Many students were involved in the coup of 2/4/92 which is called the “Day of Dignity”. That was the day of Chavez’s failed coup. It was then when he said “Por Ahora” which became the rallying cry of the revolution. The speaker spoke about socialism and made a point to separate and distinguish between Cuba, North Korea, Russia and Cuba when speaking about different forms of socialism. Venezuela is out to build its own form of socialism based on a Bolivar model. Regarding the university’s curriculum there are 500,000 involved with education studies and another 500,000 enrolled in medicine. Teachers and doctors appear to be Venezuela’s greatest need. 1,000,000 students are in other programs. People have demanded that education be adapted to their reality. There will be lots of errors, but it’s with hope that there will be an education model that’s centered on the people of Venezuela. There are not “subjects” but “areas of interest”. It is a “dynamic curriculum instead of a “rigid curriculum”. The motive is learning for life, and a university for life. It was the speaker’s belief that learning is a life activity, not something you do when just when you’re young. I can totally relate with that. All my life I never had a faint interest in school, college, or learning anything. I always knew the importance of education I just didn’t see the need for me, since I have a decent paying job and was able to support my family. All that changed recently and I was very blown away by the “University of Grandparents”. Another gem was “Learning is for Life”.

We spoke to a Cuban doctor briefly who was there to teach. She appeared quite shy about speaking and we were told “no pictures”. I was very interested in what she might think of us Americans. Did she feel we were out to trap her, or could she sense our solidarity with the Venezuelan people?


Political comments by Charlie: Chavez changed the constitution so that political parties were not funded by the government. When he first took his oath of office he said “I take my oath on this dying constitution”.

Catia TV

Catia TV (channel 41) appeared to be housed in a former warehouse of some sort. All the programming is done by the community. The motto there is “Don’t watch television, make television”. Ricardo Marquez said that there was absolute freedom with the content and that the studios were an instrument of the people. It was a Bolivarian experiment that gave social organizations opportunity to present social messages. There was an idea to sell air time to small businesses and co-ops, staying away from multi-nationals (think Coke). He was asked about Telesur and he thought that was a good start, a good beginning to compete with CNN. One goal of Catia TV was to renounce and replace “yellow journalism”. We were given a tour of the studios. In the editing room community activists were busy on their projects and they were very happy to speak to us about them. They were using Apple computers to edit and prepare their films

It was Ricardo Marquez who said “the idea is that Bolivarian Socialism is going to permeate the Cuban design, not the other way around like the US government tries to say.” He also made a comment about “Simplemente & Che” but I wasn’t able to make any sense of it. He explained that he wanted to make a TV show with us, but he didn’t have the studio time. Ricardo explained the prejudices in Venezuela. If you were taking movies with small video cameras like the ones at Catia, then you were up to no good. Ricardo gave us all posters at the end of the tour.

Visiting the Barrio

After the TV station tour Charlie informed us we were going to visit the barrios where he used to live. As we were going up the mountains you could see where people would create their own landfills, throwing trash onto the side of the mountains. There were several trash piles and they really stood out on the side of the mountains. Also, the roads appeared to be very poor while we switch backed up the mountain. When we arrived Charlie explained the significance of the water tank. The government distributed them to the poor but they were never put to use. Reminded me of the way our government bought all these mobile homes for Katrina survivors, and then allowed them to rot instead of distributing them. Then we proceeded to take a walk I’ll never forget. Charlie walked us around the back of the barrios. There was only one reason for such a walk. He wanted us to experience first hand the stench of living in poverty. The raw sewage flowing in troughs was totally awful. It was just a disgusting smell as he basically walked us through shit. We paused to talk to a few residents, one who tried to share with us his bottle of rum. I watched while people fidgeted and tried to keep from stepping in the sewage. The experience was necessary to grasp the depths of poverty, We walked around to the front and a man described his garden to us and invited us to go look at it. A few people peeked in at a piñata factory while the rest of us strolled and looked around the barrio. Then we visited an elementary school. The principal came out to greet us and started questioning our nationalities, making the point that even though we were all Americans, we could all trace our roots back to another place. After a few minutes we entered the school and proceeded into a classroom. There appeared to be 3rd or 4th graders in the class and one thing that stood out was their good behavior. They were all wearing school uniforms. We asked the children some questions and one female student stood out, wanting to respond the most. One of our party asked the students what they thought of George Bush. A child stood up and gave the most diplomatic and polite answer you could imagine. “We respect George Bush and honor him because he is the leader of America” was the response. I sure wasn’t prepared to hear such a mature and diplomatic response from a 4th grader. Add that remark to the list of things that startled me on this trip. There were many references to Simon Bolivar in the classroom and in the halls. The school appeared to be very clean inside. Most places inside were very clean but the city of Caracas had a lot of trash on the street and along the highways, plus the self designated landfill areas on the side of the mountains.

From this area of depravity in this barrio Charlie played a joke on us. He gathered us onto the bus and brought us into the heart of the opposition. He brought us to a very exclusive mall. I thought about that for a few days. Though nobody mentioned it or seemed too concerned, I thought it was a powerful statement. What better way to show the disparity in wealth? We tracked the sewage we picked up at the barrio around the expensive mall (ha) and it felt like you were on 5th Ave., and I’m sure that was the idea. There were many American items for sale and everybody was dressed in business attire. I haven’t seen anyone in a suit till we got to this place. There was even a place to buy NASCAR items and pro-American articles like patches and military wear. They even had an American rebel flag patch in the window! I sat with friends in a nice restaurant and had dinner. The service was excellent as was the food and Sangria. You could have been in West Farms Mall in West Hartford except for the language. Personally I felt uncomfortable, as I do in West Farms, and I could sense the class difference.

Meeting the Opposition

Later that night a group of us decided to go to a club. It was Professor Russell’s idea to go watch the World Baseball Classic final. It pitted Cuba versus Japan. We cheered for Cuba, seeing they were the underdogs with no professional players. At first everything was kind of quiet. We were in a nice place in an wealthy neighborhood. It would be considered a sports bar in the states. After a few drinks we started cheering a bit louder for Cuba. Soon the opposition joined in. How funny, they were cheering for Japan. It was so obviously political that they were cheering against Cuba, and, because of Cuba’s close ties with Chavez, they were really cheering against Chavez. What a perfect combination this was for me. Two things I enjoy the most, baseball and politics, well actually three things, can’t forget beer, all tied together. Japan won the game to the delight of the opposition, though not many of them were left because they had to go to work the next day, hah! It was a lot of fun till the next day when a few turned up sick. One younger student insisted his sickness wasn’t a hangover but I think it was. Why? Because most of us weren’t feeling that well the next day.


Wednesday, March 22, 2006


Meeting with Oscar – Director of Arts and Culture and Theater Instructor

Oscar gave us a good sense of the history of art in Venezuela. There was culture before the Spaniards came in the 1500’s. Indigenous cultures went back 20,000 years, the oldest finding in Venezuela. These cultures survived until they were almost wiped out by the Europeans using the sword and the cross. Two cultures survived by going into the jungle. One of these was the Cahengas, who were very proud but ferocious.

When the Spaniards arrived they found illustrations and evidence of music and theater. There were big differences between the indigenous peoples of the north and south. Europeans brought Africans to Venezuela, and they brought their own culture. In Cuba they kept African saints and saints had two names, Christian and African. That’s why you find saints with two different names in Venezuela.

Spanish culture was dominant in Venezuela. In the 16th century, Spain entered into the “Golden Century of Spain”. That era produced many great writers such as Cervantes, who wrote “Don Quixote”. There were 10,000 literary works during that time Spain, and that was before the printing press.

The Spaniards developed small kingdoms in Peru and Mexico, that’s where gold and silver were found. For a period of time the military ruled Venezuela. Churches that were built in other countries were very nice, In Venezuela they were not as nice because they weren’t rich. Haiti was the poorest, and the United States most dominant. Venezuela received a lot of literature and many exiles from Spain and Europe, which made it a boiling pot of ideas.

The Masons organized in Venezuela and soon assumed the flag of independence. Simon Bolivar was a mason and liberated Columbia, Venezuela, Peru, Ecuador, and Bolivia.

An interesting remark from Oscar was that “War is a step backward for imagination and creativity”. Regarding the cultural growth of Venezuela Paris was a big influence. During the period of 1850-1900 it was considered the local renaissance, and was called “criollismo”.
Criollismo is also used to describe indigenous South American art.

In the 20th century things started to break away. In the 1930’s petrol camps sprouted up and the exploitation began. People started to move into the cities and industrialization began. In the last 30 years other Caribbean countries have added to the culture, along with immigrants from Italy, Spain, Portugal and China. People in Venezuela are very opened to one another. Venezuela doesn’t abhor immigrants as the US does.

One of the things the revolution brought was the right for all to read. The Government supplied 1,000,000 copies of Don Quixote to the people, along with many other good books with good bindings. It was the first government to do such a thing. The Bolivarian Revolution takes reading very seriously as well it should, and its policy of giving quality, non-political, books to the masses is incredible. It makes me think of an old saying “You can judge a society by the way it takes care of its artists”.

One thing that Oscar touched on that seems to ring true was that he felt things were going faster than they should, or faster then they could. I felt this everywhere. Outside our motel construction workers seem to be working day and night. The poor complained that the revolution wasn’t doing things fast enough and the opposition complained that they were moving too fast. It seemed like everyone was complaining about something which came across to me as progress. If people are complaining things weren’t getting done fast enough I think that’s a good thing. That says people are happy with what you’re doing. Think of a child you’re twirling around and she says. “Go faster, go faster. It’s also how I feel about myself. Since I had my great political awakening I can’t seem to go fast enough. Whether it’s writing letters, attending rallies, making calls, attending meetings or whatever, I want to work day and night. I can feel the sense of urgency with the Bolivarian Revolution. They are trying to go as fast as they can to get help to the people, show the opposition that they ought to give up and join, and show the rest of the world that they have a good thing going on. A couple more items from Oscar: The revolution is not just about government, it’s about the transformation of a human being. And it was interesting about how the old government treated indigenous art. They displayed it in the Museum of Science, not in the Museum of Art. When Oscar was asked if he liked his work he remarked “Government work is terrifying, and the bureaucracy cast is hard to break”

Pablo Fernandez
Red de Apoyo por la Justicia y la Paz

Coordinator from the Network of peace and Justice

Pablo spoke on human rights in Venezuela. One of the important changes in human rights was the recognition of women. Venezuela was very machismo and the new constitution was written with no sexist language.

Another important change had to do with the way the police operated. The police were under the command of the army, not under civilian control. National programs have been established for police departments so that they will learn about human rights. In the past people were put out of their homes by the police and the police would be violent. Pablo described an incident where a 16 year old was shot by police then taken away. His parents searched everywhere for him and were unable to find him. Finally, they found him in a morgue. Problems with the police were the many overlapping departments. It was normal for police departments to compete with each other. One surprising fact was to learn that torture is not a crime in Venezuela. There is a rehab center for people who’ve been tortured. There are also programs being developed for families of victims. There is reform needed in the constitution regarding torture.


A big difference between Venezuela and Cuba is that Venezuela guarantees the absolute freedom of expression. It makes it a lot harder for the Bolivarian process to advance. One of the drags on the process is that the mass media acts like a corporation instead of assuming their social responsibility and reporting the news.

It is important to Chavez that people know their rights. There are many programs trying to educate people about human rights. Also, students have rights too. There are 2,000,000 more students since the revolution and human rights are being taught in all schools. To erase the prejudices of the past, such as criminalizing poverty, racism against dark skinned people and unemployed young people, is a huge goal.

After lunch we prepared to go to Barlovento. Everyone was excited about going to the beach for a few days. The bus arrived and it was quite an improvement over the last, with large windows and A/C. Charlie stayed in Caracas and Susana joined us for the trip. On the way to Barlovento Susana spoke a bit about the Cuban doctors. She took some of the shine off them. She told us that they were too interested in buying DVD players and drinking. She also said that they liked to keep among themselves. When asked about the positives she did say that the program was a success. She also relayed that many of the doctors were very committed to the revolution. I’m sure it has to be a great temptation for Cubans when they leave Cuba and visit other countries. I believe the number was 20,000 doctors working in Venezuela, treating and teaching.

As we were traveling to Barlovento I found the buildings we passed to be very colorful. We also saw plenty more murals on the walls of buildings, a scene I’d like to see more of in the States.


Thursday, March 23, 2006

We visited the Bolivarian University of Barlovento. Barlovento is an area of Venezuela where a lot of African descendants live. There lives have really been affected in a positive way by the Bolivarian Revolution. They are now able to attend college. The University in Barlovento is a school focused on hotel management and tourism. The speaker was very passionate when talking about the school and its students. We went into a classroom where there were students of all ages. I was initially excited, thinking there might be an opportunity for give and take, however, our speaker addressed us and the class and Professor Russell addressed the students. Before the process there were 500 students, now there were 2,800.

Here are some facts about the university. The tuition is free as is transportation and the cafeteria. Free medical care is given if needed, insurance is provided, and scholarships are available. The school is open from 7:30 am to 9:45 pm.

The professor from Barlovento spoke on slavery and how Africans arrived in Barlovento. He explained how religion and science in that day was used to justify slavery. Even when Venezuela achieved independence from Spain, slavery continued for 30 more years. It was Simon Bolivar who eventually ended slavery. Africans and Indians were not allowed to have families. The owners of slaves could earn money, but slaves could not. The struggle against exploitation of blacks continues today. In spite of all that the professor assured us there is much love in their hearts. Chavez and the Bolivarian Revolution have made African culture important. The curriculum of the University has African Culture and there is hope to change the negative references to Africanism. Indigenous people are more recognized than blacks. When the conquistadors came they tried to eliminate indigenous people.

The classrooms seemed like American classrooms, with no a/c. Again, like all the rest of our speakers, the professor was casually dressed. He told us how, before the Revolution, African culture was excluded. Africans were the poorest of all the people of Venezuela, and they made up most of the jail population. They also suffered from hypertension, anemia, and other health issues. But things are slowly changing and they are hopeful with Chavez. Professor explained the importance of drums in the culture of Africans and Barlovento. We visited the drum monument in a small, beautiful, town outside of Barlovento.

The professor went on to say that the only one who produces wealth is the worker. Also, racism is the worse consequence of slavery, which was abolished legally in 1854. Barlovento is 80% black and in the 12 states of Venezuela there are 4 million blacks. My favorite remark from the professor was “Education is a social right, not a privilege”. I believe the same should be said for healthcare.


Friday, March 24th, 2006 - A Visit to the Cacao Plantation.

At one time the only place in the world to find chocolate was in Venezuela. The history of chocolate goes back 2000 years with evidence of cacao being used by the Myas and the Aztecs. At that time only Kings and rulers were allowed to have it. No one outside of South America even knew it existed until Cortez and the Spaniards had contact with it.

Venezuela was the #1 producer and exporter of chocolate in the world at one time, now they don’t even make up 1%. The chocolate produced now in Venezuela is artesian chocolate. The plantation owners in the Barlovento area tend to be descendants of African slaves.

The common cacao plantation in Venezuela consists of 6 hectors. 2.2 hectors equal an acre. The cacao tree thrives in Venezuela because of the cover given from taller trees. A cacao fruit develops from a very tiny flower. The fruit is about the size of a yellow squash. Once the fruit turns yellow is ripe and ready to be picked. After it is picked the fruit is scooped out and allowed to ferment. After fermenting the beans are dried in the open sun. When the beans are fully dried they are roasted over an open fire. After roasting the beans are shelled, then ground to make chocolate liquor. The chocolate liquor is used to make different forms of chocolate. To make what is commonly known as milk chocolate is combined with milk, sugar and other ingredients. We sampled some cacao beans and it was possible to taste chocolate. The chocolate sold at the plantation was quite bitter, and was probably meant to be used in cooking. The chocolate liquor was quite amazing and I regretted not purchasing some. The cacao presentation was an interesting and informative diversion from the social and political speakers we’ve been hearing.

After the visit to the cacao plantation we went to a beach near Barlovento. Since the beach was not a tourist area it was not quite what we expected from the Caribbean. The water was brown because it had been churned up by rains recently. The beach was dirty with broken glass and other trash. There were stray dogs on the beach obviously looking for food.

One thing that stood out on the trip was the lack of wildlife we seen. Even though we spent most of the time in the city of Caracas, I expected to see a few exotic birds or something different. When we went to Barlovento it was the same. The only animals I seen other than humans were stray dogs. The dogs were scrawny and nothing like our fat American dogs. The reason for the stray, scrawny dogs was probably lack of money for animal services, which is another challenge for the new government. I could envision going to Venezuela in a few years and hearing about the “Mision Canine”.

Speaking of dirty water I was aghast when I first saw the ocean surf at our beach hotel. The water was black! Not quite what I envisioned when I thought about my first look at the Caribbean, which were turquoise colored waters fit for snorkeling. A few people suggested it was from oil drilling, or pollution. That really didn’t make a lot of sense because there was no slick. I asked a native and was told that the water is normally blue but that it was all churned up. It had rained recently and that caused the color to be black. It wasn’t very appealing at all.

Later that night we all went out to eat. We returned to a restaurant we had eaten at the night before. By now were all friends and thoroughly enjoyed each other’s company. It was a great pleasure for me to hang out all week with such an intelligent group of people. Having never gone to college I was a bit intimidated at first, a little afraid to speak. I was surrounded by students and professors and felt a bit out of place. Everyone made me feel welcome and soon I began to be comfortable. I especially liked hanging out with the younger students and discussing politics with Naveen. I became comfortable with both groups, students and professors, and enjoyed listening to them speak. In my evaluation to Lanie I suggested more time at the end of the day for discussion amongst the group. I would have enjoyed listening to our professors and students giving their comments on the day’s events. Meals were a great time to share comments and I looked forward to them.

When we came to Venezuela we had lots of questions. A big question for me was this: How is the normal worker, someone in my income group that I can relate to (middle class), affected by the revolution and does he support it? I was thinking specifically about the men outside of our hotel in Caracas, working on construction. I guess it really relies on the individual. If you’re just concerned about yourself, then you watch and see how it affects you economically and pick the side which benefits you most. When I asked Susana she said the people who have “conscience” support the process. What that meant to me was that if you felt that the process was best for the majority you would support it, even if it might affect you financially. Personally, if the process meant I might lose a bit financially but others would be lifted, I would support the process


This trip to Venezuela was so overwhelming for me, I can't possibly summarize it. As Charlie said, it truly was a life transforming expedition. I haven’t stopped talking about it since I’ve been home and I’m constantly thinking of all the new ideas I learned and how they can be applied here. I hope that Simon Bolivar’s dream becomes true and this Bolivarian form of government sweeps the continent. I will do my best on this continent to help preserve the Bolivarian Revolution and spread the goodwill of the people of Venezuela. I am in solidarity with the Bolivarian Revolution.

Dan Durso