Barrio 23 de enero, known for being the most militant barrio with the most weapons is the warmest, spirited place I have been in Caracas. When we arrived in our delegation bus, a leader from the barrio, Joel, jumped on the bus with us and stood in the open door as we wound our way up the hills deep into the heart of 23 de enero. When we offered him a seat on the bus our delegation leader, Edward, said "He is there for a reason." The reason? To announce, 'a bunch of gringos are coming and are under the protection of the Tupamaro and no-one had better mess with them.' Tupamaro have a history dating back to the late 1950s, starting in Uruguay as a leftist urban guerrilla organization. The descriptions I have got in my internet research range from, "terrorist left wing radicals" to "revolutionary freedom fighters." However here in barrio 23 de enero it it appeared to me to be more of a vigilante police force, with a connection to party politics. They do support Chavez as long as Chavez continues to work for the poor and keep a hands off approach in this barrio. The system reminds me of the the initial purpose of gangs in the United States. Before corruption riddled gangs, they were a well organized, renegade community protection system to fight against racism and police oppression. Arming themselves in order to protect the community from outside attacks. In so doing, warning others not to harass or threaten the community. We had our own security force in the hills and we had people guarding us from the wings. I felt safer there then I have anywhere and I was wishing I had some Tupamaro security yesterday when I was robbed 8 blocks from Miraflores plaza. That's another story.

The Tupamaro is not only a local Barrio phenomenon. It is a broader South American guerrilla movement, armed to fight against dictators and imperialists. Tupamora gets its name from Tupac AMan II, a leader of the 18th centruy revolt against Spanish rule in Peru. Also in 23 de enero there is a sub group of Tupamaro named after Leonardo Chirin, a slave who revolted against Spain in the 1800s. Historically police crack down frequently on barrios, destroying homes and arresting people. After the coup the Tupamoro came out in force to protect the broader community. They set up at locations so people could report problems of violence or harrasment. Even our uppermiddle class Venezuelan hosts, have a very positive view of the Tupamaro and the service they provide to the community.

I really want to go back to 23 de enero and stay 2 weeks with a family there and work on a media project with the children. It was great seeing the enthusiasm the children had for media making and I cannot think of a better place for Indy media here in Caracas. Although, so far I have had no luck convincing Andy or Zarha about this. The kids loved zarha and did not leave her side the whole time. They called her gordita which was translated as "thick" by one interpreter. They were not insulting her but they see her size as a strength and to recognize her size is a compliment. Many of the children were very small and zarha towered over them. They loved dragging her around and holding her hand and using the digital camera to take pictures with her. She was in celebrity standing. Zarha handled it great! She acquiesced to their coaching to dance and make silly moves. She moved in a mass of giggling, high pitched children for a full night and day. It was not until the final hour that Zarha became overwhelmed. The consistent, intense enthusiasm of the children and the non stop fast flowing Spanish, short circuited her only child wires and she broke down and cried. The children paused. They worried about her and backed away for a moment only to surround her shortly after again. They gave her little gifts and wanted little gifts to remember her by. That is a cultural tradition, trading little trinkets.
The generosity of those who have so little, sharing food and drinks and giving us parting gifts is very moving. When We first arrived, people came out to offer us plates of food and pull us into their little shanty homes to talk. I was pulled into one older mans house right away and given a shot of whiskey. I couldn't turn the gift down, even thou I don't like whiskey. He proceeded to give me a tour of his House and showed me his stacked refrigerator. He had 3 full chickens in the freezer and a frig full of beer. There is a 24 hour dry spell before the elections where alcholol is not sold anywhere and this man was fully prepared. This kind enthusiastic man kept telling me "whatever you want I have here, whatever you need is yours."
Andy joined a jam session with some talented musicians playing the Cuatros ,4 string guitars, Venezuelan style drums and Andy played the keyboard. Ill try to post an audio clip of this later. Music transcends any language barriers and it really eased us into our home for the night.
The community cohesion in the barrio is unlike any place I have been. They take care of each other and it functions like one big extended family. Its is hard to distinguish which kids belong to which parents. Kids run in and out of each others homes and guests are engulfed into that immediately.
One of the most amazing homes we were invited into was a Santeria house. The shrines and statues towered in a high ceiling, stoned walled room in back of the house. We were introduced to all the gods and the meaning behind it. It is Interesting how this home of Santeria is right next door to the monastery and church of the Belgium missionaries who have been in the barrio over 30 years. We are invited back to 23 de enero for a Santeria party tonight. Details to follow...
We did have to turn down two more events with Chavez. We were called to cover Chavez voting in 23 de enero on election day, but we would have to arrive again 3 hours early and wait around in the media mob. We had decided to be with the regular folks of 23 de enero and not the spectacle. The day after elections we were called to film his first press conference after his victory. Again we would have to go to MiraFlores and wait many hours. I had been editing footage all night when the call came in and we had to move out of our hotel room that we had used for 2 days during the delegation. I heard we had missed a good press conference. I don't have the patience for those kind of events. I don't like doing the trendy popular media game.

We hiked and explored Avila mountain range 2 days ago. It is the range of mountains that surround Caracas and have amazing trails and camping. The mountain range is over a mile high. It is a paradise in the northern backyard of Caracas. So close yet other worldly. We came upon a waterfall and the hippy in me came out. My clothes came off and I communed with the cascading water and mossy rock.

We have one more week in Caracas and then we head west to the coast and then inland to Merida. It will be good to leave because we are tired of Caracas noise and pollution. We have been invited to stay at the beach house of our amazing hosts. It will be hard to leave the warmth and generosity of our Caracas hosts. We have not made any connections for this next part of the journey. But we are ready for an adventure! We have had such an incredible time here it is hard to keep up on all the amazing experiences. I can only highlight a few. I am off to yoga, again, I have been able to do yoga almost everyday since the elections. The yoga style is Ashtanga and all my teachers have been male. They speak to me in this soft flowing Spanish and I just nod my head and follow my neighbors moves. I am still using a lot of sign language and if I don't understand I smile and either say "si" (yes) which could be dangerous or I smile and say "my Spanish is not very good."
Although my Spanish is getting better I really want to take some formal classes in merida. I think we may make the financial investment while we have the opportunity.
We will have to make some calls home soon, it will be good to hear your voice.
ciao amour

Celebrate with Yoga

Chavez wins the election and I find a great yoga studio. Life is flowing like a sweet song. With Chavez as a shoe in for Reelection and none of the predicted opposition violence occurring some have called the elections "anti-climatic". I suppose one could say this but really the the success of this process was exhilarating. As one union leader said " More than an election it is an attmept to set into stone all the hopes of the Venezuelan people within this process. If it is possible to have an even distribution of wealth within Venezuela, with Chavez as our president that is our hope." Election night was political carnival, Chavez supporters flocked to the street to listen to his victory speech that he gave from the balcony of Miraflores, also known as the balcony of the people. The kind of enthusiasm and jubilation that you find only at sporting championships in the US but this was about great leadership and political ideals. The process has proved the stability of the country and the success of Chavez’s first full term. The CNE, which monitors the election here, is an independent branch of the government that has only become more independent with the new constitution instituted by the people and the Bolivarian government. Previously, past presidents used party officials to monitor the CNE but since Chavez this process has become much more accoutable. The CNE encouraged many election inspectors and international observers as well. The CNE and media here worked for a long time to make this a very fair election. It was an election impossible to steal because of Chavez's incredible popular support and the peoples commitment for democracy. Many nights when the opposition got loud and aggressive with fireworks and party slogans our Chavista housemates said "I am glad to see them expressing their ideas even if I do not agree". It was such an enlightened comment that came on the heels of my saying "those people are really annoying!" and it shows our Venezuelan hosts deeper appreciation for democracy.

It was an exciting few days before election day here. we went to many community television and radio stations to see how a truly free press works. They have an impressive amount of resources and staff that they offered up to us in order to get our footage out to the US. Vive TV is the largest community television station that expanded after the media blackout of the 2002 coup. Vive TV grew as a peoples media, with its mission to reflect the voices and concerns of everyday people. They air people from the barrios, farmers, indigenous people as well as provide media literacy with their “Latin American school for cinema.” This is a youth education component of the station and as one of the staff members explained “ We think this is a language everyone should speak, it is a strong language being used today and people can use video as a tool for their struggle.” The commitment to the ideals of participatory democracy are very strong at the station and it was an honor to work side by side with these people. Currently Vive TV has 400 staff and many volunteers! they have the most amazing editing suits about 15 of them, consisting of G5 computers, dual 17 inch monitors and editors in the wings available to help us any time we needed.


This is also the station that has almost around the clock sign language interpreters. you know the kind in the little box at the bottom of the screen? remember those days? I watched the interpreters working non stop while I was editing there, and sometimes that was the only way I could understand any of the news. Although of course the sign language is different most times it is still easier for me than Spanish. The interpreters work 3 hours at a time without breaks! We are a little more advanced in the States in this regard. I was able to meet a couple of them and I am planning on doing interviews with them for another project.

The night of the election we edited from 5pm until 12:30pm the next afternoon. we became delirious, this was the second night without sleep, the previous night our group stayed in the barrio without much sleep. We are still trying to post our rough first half hour video piece. Stay tuned.
One exciting thing that happened at Vive while we were editing on election night was a spontaneous takeover of the station by Chavez celebrators out on the streets. Vive had a strict policy not to influence the elections by interviewing people talking about who they would vote for. they only had people on air talking about the election process and if things were running smoothly or not. Meanwhile the streets were congested with Chavez supporters beginning an early celebration. over one hundred of these people came into Vive TV with a drums and trumpets and marched and cheered through the halls of the station. The sea of celebrators swept up Vive staff along the way and it became a television station of music, singing and dancing. People came to show their community station what was going on in the streets and to be recognized. They wanted the station to show what the majority of people were doing and not to maintain this stiff neutrality. It was so festive and hopeful and as I filmed the pure joy in peoples faces, I cried. Certainly there are times when I have glimpsed and really felt “Another world is possible” this was one of those rare magical moments.
Now that Chavez has won his second term many have greater expectations for him. I have heard several people say that they expect him now to make more radical changes in two primary ways. He must work to get the countries infrastructure functioning better (garbage, traffic, urban planning etc.) and people are expecting him to move forward with judicial proceedings against the 2002 coup leaders and lockout leaders. This caused such disruption to the country and many people who suffered want to see justice served by punishing those who committed crimes against humanity. Contrary to some mislead beliefs about Chavez being a dictator he never unilaterally punished anyone for those events of the coup and people want the impunity to end. Many slogans throughout the campaign emphasize how Chavez is one with the people. The people are the government. “With Chavez the people are the government” is a frequently seen slogan. People feel heard and valued and the power of that cannot be underestimated. It reminds me of a famous Gandhi Quote (was it Gandhi?) "there go my people, I am there leader I must follow."

I am very excited for Venezuela and the world, to have Chavez leading for his last 6 year term. I hope he can implement as many changes for good in that short time as Bush has managed for bad in his.

(details on yoga, barrio and culture blunders coming up...)

Continuation of the Bolivarian Project Reaffirmed


So, as most of the Polls predicted, Chavez won by a wide margin on Sunday December 3rd. I think many were surprised by how peacefully things proceeded. There were periodic rumors on Friday and Saturday that violence had broken out and the some of the more aggressive of the opposition would sabotage voting centers. But there was nothing to these rumors.

We hung out in the 23 de Enero (January) Barrio on Saturday night and Sunday. Of course most of the Barrios are Chavista, but this particular one- as Dawns previous post explains, is extremely well organized and known for its militant political consiousness. (January 23rd, 1958 is the date that the Perez Jimenez dictatorship was finally overthrown.)

Folks got up at 3am in the morning to bugle music blaring on speakers from community members houses. Then more fireworks, by 4am the voting lines are already forming. Comparing to my experience with US elections, this is the opposite extreme. Where in US elections, we might get around to voting after the work day, Venezuelans spend the entire day participating in the process. By 1pm the voting center where we were doing interviews had no line at all- Everyone votes early.

Polls close at 6pm, but will stay open longer if there is anyone waiting in lines at voting centers. We ended up using the time between 4 and 10pm, when they the CNE (Elections Council) finally announced the preliminary results, to rest and start editing some video. But as soon as Chavez was announced the winner, the entire area around the Mira Flores (Presidential Palace) erupted in celebration. The Sea of Red took over the streets in a driving rain. Chavez got on the speaker and talked for a couple hours. We danced along with everyone else, it was one of those euphoric victories even though everyone pretty much knew Chavez would win.

We will post a link to the 15 minute video as soon as its ready.
For more info on the elections http://venzuelanalysis.com

Peace,
Andy