Que Paso?
Well we have had a few busy days. Actually, all our days are so full we just collapse at the end of them. I still feel I am not getting everything done I want to. This past weekend were the last rallies for the Rosales and Chavez campaigns. We have never seen this kind of support for a president of the United States! The numbers far exceeded even those of anti-war marches in the states both in DC and NYC before the war on Iraq in 2003! Even the opposition candidate Manuel Rosales had hundreds of thousands of supporters filling the streets this past Saturday. We filmed and interviewed at the Chavez rally on Sunday and we have heard estimates of numbers as high as 2 million people! Of course it is impossible to confirm any of these numbers but if you compare aerial footage of both demonstrations that could be the clearest indicator. The Rosales campaign had one avenue of supporters that extended beyond where the camera eye could film yet the Chavez rally had 4 avenues and 4 different stages at each avenue. The television cameras could not zoom in close enough to see the end of the crowds on any avenue.
We had prepared some interview questions and our ultra accommodating hosts helped us get these interviews. Once we were in the throngs of people in the streets everyone came to up to the camera and wanted to know if we were international media. People swarmed the camera eager to comment about how and why they love Chavez and all the programs he has offered for the people of Venezuela. In the United States when I film I have to seek people out to talk and often I am told "Oh no, I don’t want to talk" here in Venezuela it seemed offensive to people if I didn’t stop and film them. A small group started chanting “Bush no!” with thumbs down and “Chavez yes” thumbs up. The feeling of the crowd was exuberant and festive. The safest place we have felt in Carcas thus far was in the sea of rojo (red) Chavista supporters. The solidarity of all those in the streets showing love and support for Chavez and other Chavistas engulfed even us, the obvious gringos.
Chavez started speaking on a stage one avenue over from the avenue we had spilled into. The original plan was he would speak at one stage and then move via a truck standing on an open platform through the crowds and speak at the other stages. He spoke a long time (as he characteristically does) for about 2 hours at the one stage and while he moved slowly through the crowd on the platform truck their were too many people in the streets surrounding him that he could not get to the other stages. It is amazing witnessing how open and vulnerable he allows himself to be with this emotional crowd. Even while he spoke Chavez enthusiasts set off massive fireworks in a parking lot below near the stage. Can you imagine that in the United States? Explosives randomly being set off near the president while he speaks. I actually found it a little annoying because it was disruptive to what he was saying but Chavez never broke his flow and police never intervened with the rally in any way that I witnessed. The police presence was rarely noticeable and the manner in which they carry themselves is much different than at rallies I have attended in the States. Our presidents, especially Bush in his past 2 terms of stolen presidency has much to fear. His inaugurations and all his speaking engagements are swarming with secret police, armed police, military, metal detectors and covered motorcades. Basically Bush is on the run. Chavez certainly has security around him on the ground but they are indistinguishable from his supporters. He moved throughout the crowd beaming smiles and engaging people with hand symbols and throwing some personal items like his beret and handkerchief. He receives more attention than that of a pop culture celebrity in the United States.
Chavez has been criticized by the opposition as not being fair with elections because he has made it easy for people living in the barrios to get ID cards to vote. Some of these people have never had ID cards. Many older Venezuelens were never able to vote before Chavez made this process more accessible. Previously it was a very time consuming, complicated process not available to poorer citizens. Chavez has doubled the number of registered voters since 1999. In 1999 only 8 million were registered to vote. Currently, 16 million are registered. Chavez has empowered people by giving them a voice while Rosales is buying votes with the promise Mi Negra. Irocnically this is a blatantly attempt to by the voters. He says he will give a debit card called mi negra from oil revenues to the people every month. Here is a link to a great article written by Chesa Boudin about the elections. http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/articles.php?artno=1880
´Zarha was amazing running around fearless and taking photos during the rally. Really, all the photos of the rally are hers. I filmed and I have to figure out how to get the interviews translated from Spanish. Sidenote, Zarha makes me seem meaner than I am. I am very proud of her determination with Spanish. It is a stuggle for us all that gets better everyday. I quess what tickled me about Zarha spending 2 hours to read half a page is that normally she finishes a 400 page books in that time. She is such a voracious reader that it was just a funny image. So, although I dont win any mothering awards I certainly dont laugh at her hard earned accomplishments. Zarha is benefitng so much from all this political and cultural exposure, she is growing so dramatically here with all this new experience. It is really exciting to see! I am excited to get her to a more natural environment after the elections. As someone from the global exhange group told us¨"If you into Eco-tourism Venezuela is the place".
It will be nice to get out of the congested, dirty, traffic ridden city. However, with the mood around election intensifying this is the best time to be here. We have been credentialed as international media and will attend a press conference with Chavez this thrusday. Tonight we filmed Eva Golinger author of the " The Chavez Code - Cracking US Intervention in Venezuela" and her newëst book "Bush vs. Chavez - Washington's War Against Venezuela". We will post the audio soon. First we are posting the audio of Cowboy in Caracas. He has become a fast friend and he tells amazing stories. check him out!
cltural tips section;
1) In Caracas and maybe all Venezuela (we will find out) when you wipe (after any business) after toileting you throw the TP in the garbage NOT to be flushed. Mostly its easy to remember but on a few sleepy occasions I forget. oh well.
2) Take an inservice in Spanish speaking keyboards before traveling. I still cant figure out some keys, at signs etc. It has a different language too.
3) Back to toileting. if in a public restroom like a mall area, there is one common toilet paper roll outside the stall. So remember to bring the toilet paper in the stall with you. If you dont, dont expect someone in the other stall to hand a gringo speaking gibberish Spanish about "papel" to hand you some.
4) In cafes you order, pay and get your receipt first. Then bring your reciept to the other counter where they make your cafe, dessert etc. oh, and if you order grande cafe (coffee) be prepared for what would be the tiniest size in the US, served in a plastic cup with a straw. The best coffee ever! I am now a daily coffee drinker and hope to kick the habit when in States. I have tried to convert how many cups of coffee my housemate paul drinks into Venezuelan terms. he would probably have to drink.......over 100!
5) Dont be suprised to see many Venezuelans in this tropical country wearing boots, scarfs, hats, sweaters etc. they like the style and dont seem botherd by heat.
more tips later.....
We got a great tour around the barrios tonight with a great history lesson of this situation. We also went on a tour of the newest hospital in Venezuela. a Childrens hospital serving all of Latin America. More on this later. hard to keep up on all the details......
peace and love who ever you are.
Well we have had a few busy days. Actually, all our days are so full we just collapse at the end of them. I still feel I am not getting everything done I want to. This past weekend were the last rallies for the Rosales and Chavez campaigns. We have never seen this kind of support for a president of the United States! The numbers far exceeded even those of anti-war marches in the states both in DC and NYC before the war on Iraq in 2003! Even the opposition candidate Manuel Rosales had hundreds of thousands of supporters filling the streets this past Saturday. We filmed and interviewed at the Chavez rally on Sunday and we have heard estimates of numbers as high as 2 million people! Of course it is impossible to confirm any of these numbers but if you compare aerial footage of both demonstrations that could be the clearest indicator. The Rosales campaign had one avenue of supporters that extended beyond where the camera eye could film yet the Chavez rally had 4 avenues and 4 different stages at each avenue. The television cameras could not zoom in close enough to see the end of the crowds on any avenue.
We had prepared some interview questions and our ultra accommodating hosts helped us get these interviews. Once we were in the throngs of people in the streets everyone came to up to the camera and wanted to know if we were international media. People swarmed the camera eager to comment about how and why they love Chavez and all the programs he has offered for the people of Venezuela. In the United States when I film I have to seek people out to talk and often I am told "Oh no, I don’t want to talk" here in Venezuela it seemed offensive to people if I didn’t stop and film them. A small group started chanting “Bush no!” with thumbs down and “Chavez yes” thumbs up. The feeling of the crowd was exuberant and festive. The safest place we have felt in Carcas thus far was in the sea of rojo (red) Chavista supporters. The solidarity of all those in the streets showing love and support for Chavez and other Chavistas engulfed even us, the obvious gringos.
Chavez started speaking on a stage one avenue over from the avenue we had spilled into. The original plan was he would speak at one stage and then move via a truck standing on an open platform through the crowds and speak at the other stages. He spoke a long time (as he characteristically does) for about 2 hours at the one stage and while he moved slowly through the crowd on the platform truck their were too many people in the streets surrounding him that he could not get to the other stages. It is amazing witnessing how open and vulnerable he allows himself to be with this emotional crowd. Even while he spoke Chavez enthusiasts set off massive fireworks in a parking lot below near the stage. Can you imagine that in the United States? Explosives randomly being set off near the president while he speaks. I actually found it a little annoying because it was disruptive to what he was saying but Chavez never broke his flow and police never intervened with the rally in any way that I witnessed. The police presence was rarely noticeable and the manner in which they carry themselves is much different than at rallies I have attended in the States. Our presidents, especially Bush in his past 2 terms of stolen presidency has much to fear. His inaugurations and all his speaking engagements are swarming with secret police, armed police, military, metal detectors and covered motorcades. Basically Bush is on the run. Chavez certainly has security around him on the ground but they are indistinguishable from his supporters. He moved throughout the crowd beaming smiles and engaging people with hand symbols and throwing some personal items like his beret and handkerchief. He receives more attention than that of a pop culture celebrity in the United States.
Chavez has been criticized by the opposition as not being fair with elections because he has made it easy for people living in the barrios to get ID cards to vote. Some of these people have never had ID cards. Many older Venezuelens were never able to vote before Chavez made this process more accessible. Previously it was a very time consuming, complicated process not available to poorer citizens. Chavez has doubled the number of registered voters since 1999. In 1999 only 8 million were registered to vote. Currently, 16 million are registered. Chavez has empowered people by giving them a voice while Rosales is buying votes with the promise Mi Negra. Irocnically this is a blatantly attempt to by the voters. He says he will give a debit card called mi negra from oil revenues to the people every month. Here is a link to a great article written by Chesa Boudin about the elections. http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/articles.php?artno=1880
´Zarha was amazing running around fearless and taking photos during the rally. Really, all the photos of the rally are hers. I filmed and I have to figure out how to get the interviews translated from Spanish. Sidenote, Zarha makes me seem meaner than I am. I am very proud of her determination with Spanish. It is a stuggle for us all that gets better everyday. I quess what tickled me about Zarha spending 2 hours to read half a page is that normally she finishes a 400 page books in that time. She is such a voracious reader that it was just a funny image. So, although I dont win any mothering awards I certainly dont laugh at her hard earned accomplishments. Zarha is benefitng so much from all this political and cultural exposure, she is growing so dramatically here with all this new experience. It is really exciting to see! I am excited to get her to a more natural environment after the elections. As someone from the global exhange group told us¨"If you into Eco-tourism Venezuela is the place".
It will be nice to get out of the congested, dirty, traffic ridden city. However, with the mood around election intensifying this is the best time to be here. We have been credentialed as international media and will attend a press conference with Chavez this thrusday. Tonight we filmed Eva Golinger author of the " The Chavez Code - Cracking US Intervention in Venezuela" and her newëst book "Bush vs. Chavez - Washington's War Against Venezuela". We will post the audio soon. First we are posting the audio of Cowboy in Caracas. He has become a fast friend and he tells amazing stories. check him out!
cltural tips section;
1) In Caracas and maybe all Venezuela (we will find out) when you wipe (after any business) after toileting you throw the TP in the garbage NOT to be flushed. Mostly its easy to remember but on a few sleepy occasions I forget. oh well.
2) Take an inservice in Spanish speaking keyboards before traveling. I still cant figure out some keys, at signs etc. It has a different language too.
3) Back to toileting. if in a public restroom like a mall area, there is one common toilet paper roll outside the stall. So remember to bring the toilet paper in the stall with you. If you dont, dont expect someone in the other stall to hand a gringo speaking gibberish Spanish about "papel" to hand you some.
4) In cafes you order, pay and get your receipt first. Then bring your reciept to the other counter where they make your cafe, dessert etc. oh, and if you order grande cafe (coffee) be prepared for what would be the tiniest size in the US, served in a plastic cup with a straw. The best coffee ever! I am now a daily coffee drinker and hope to kick the habit when in States. I have tried to convert how many cups of coffee my housemate paul drinks into Venezuelan terms. he would probably have to drink.......over 100!
5) Dont be suprised to see many Venezuelans in this tropical country wearing boots, scarfs, hats, sweaters etc. they like the style and dont seem botherd by heat.
more tips later.....
We got a great tour around the barrios tonight with a great history lesson of this situation. We also went on a tour of the newest hospital in Venezuela. a Childrens hospital serving all of Latin America. More on this later. hard to keep up on all the details......
peace and love who ever you are.
posted by DAZ at 7:01 AM
<< Home