New Year
Merida, Venezuela (Dec 30, 2008)
It has been a very busy year, and that translated in long periods without posts. There have been highlights, though, like the New Zealand Diary. We are now in Venezuela, visiting Mayli’s family.
I don’t have time or opportunity to go around shooting artistic photos, so I am posting here what I got. The photo above, however, is quite representative of the country I am in right now. After a decade of “Bolivarian Revolution” a lot of money has been spent in social programs targeted to the Venezuelan lower classes. All this has been financed with the revenues from oil (Venezuela is one of the main oil world exporters) that has been priced above $100 for quite a long stretch. One may argue on the effectiveness of these programs, but something unarguable is the intention of the President Chavez to prolong his stay in power as much as possible. As shown in the photo (the large billboard proclaims that “Chavez will not go [away]”) there is a full swing campaign to change the part of the constitution that limits the number of consecutive terms a president can be re-elected (right now is two 6 years terms). Strong from recent electoral victories, Chavez is pushing for the constitutional change through a referendum to be held on February 15. He may pull it off, as his support among poor neighbourhoods like the one in the background of the photo is still high, despite a similar, but more comprehensive, referendum was narrowly defeated in 2007. This support is likely to remain high, as long as the bulk oil revenues will be used to finance social programs, rather than be lost in the endemic corruption. This is not a given, though, as in the next few months the recession economy pushing the oil price below $50 will start to take its toll. But if he will indeed win the February referendum, Chavez is poised to run for re-election in 2013, which could allow him to stay in power until at least 2019, for a total of over 20 years as President of the country. It may seem a long time but, as he himself once pointed out to a Guardian reporter, if the Queen of England can do that, why not him?!?
