The Venezuelan Landless Movement

2/15/06

When Justin and I were driving through an area called La Madre Vieja, right outside of the town of Saboneta on the way to the river with Chavez’s cousin Adrian, we passed an area of evenly spaced little shanties on a flat area sprinkled with a few trees. Adrian explained that these shanties were built by people who had previously had no land, but they had expropriated it through the Lay de Tierras (a law passed by the Chavez administration to grant unused land to landless people). They were now waiting for the government to build them houses. Adrian told us about the government house building program, which has been underway for a few years, replacing poorly built and insufficient housing for very low income families, for a small 20 year loan. Along other parts of the road we could see a few of the new stucco houses, with the very poor, small houses the families previously lived in still on the property.
We went back a few days later to speak with the people who are living in shacks on the land that they had expropriated. I wanted to learn how they came to be on the land, and what their experience had been through the process of expropriating the land and waiting for real housing. We brought our friend Agusto with us as our interpreter.
The first person we interviewed, was Rosa, a mother of six, who lived on one of the parcels closest to the road. We asked her to tell us how the original group organized and took the land. She explained that a few people had looked into this parcel of land and spoke with others about it being a possible place to move onto, according to a new law in the constitution that states that people who own no land have a right to a parcel of land that is not being used by others. She was a part of the original group, who began to hold meetings and decided to move onto the land all together. One man who started the process with them, and who tried to make himself the leader, decided that it would be too dangerous, so he tried to convince everyone not to go through with it. The rest of the group, amounting to almost 100 people including children, did not listen to this man that they now consider a traitor, and they learned that they don’t want a leader. She explained that leaders are outsiders, and therefore bad for the community.
Rosa, a very lively and beautiful woman, said that in spite of the risk that the owners may not agree with the land takeover and the law, she had never felt afraid because, she said, “necessity has a dogs face”. Acquiring homes is necessary, it is legal and they badly need homes. On April 17, 2006 the group moved onto the land, less than a year ago.
Their first step was to measure the entire available area, then they divided it up into parcels of 15 by 25 meters. One man who lives across to street helped them tap into the water and electricity lines, and run lines to each parcel. Each house was made by the families, with sheet metal, pieces of particle board, and found material. They are not meant to be permanent because eventually the government will build small houses for them, however the residents could only build their temporary shacks with what they could afford, which wasn’t much at all, so the wait was not easy. The second woman we spoke with explained that the rainy season would be dangerous, because all of the rain outside and leaking inside, “We have to pray all the time”.
There have been other risks in this process as well. Not all land owners who’s land is taken are as compliant with the laws and the settlers as this owner was. There have been owners who hire gunmen to have the people killed who are trying to farm and build on their land (check out Venezuelaanalysis.com for the stories). Luckily the experience of this group in La Madre Vieja did not involve violence. At one point people employed by the owners came to talk with them, to ask them to leave. However, they refused to move, and eventually after talks with the mayor, it was decided that they could stay and be granted property rights.
Another woman took us back through two or three parcels to see the houses in back, which required us to step through the barbed wire fences that marked the boundaries of each plot. We stopped in to talk with two more women who were with their children, under the shade of a black piece of plastic, stretching out from a small two room metal house. They explained that day to day living here was not better than their lives before, but now being the owners of their land was very important, and eventually getting a real house built for them would be a positive change. I asked how they felt about the process of organizing and meeting with the other families. They said that they had only been there for about four months, but their experience of the monthly community meetings had been good, and it gave them an opportunity to share their opinions. After the meetings, the neighbor across the road, who had been a helper and advisor throughout the process, would bring their questions and comments to the governor.
After meeting a few other families and seeing their temporary homes, as well as speaking to the neighbor across the street, we returned to speak to Rosa, the first woman we interviewed. She said she is a very strong supporter of Chavez, and his missions were making things much better for her and her family. In addition to now being a land owner, the government health programs had helped her son with two operations, and she hoped to attend one of the university programs. However, she said, Chavez can not be everywhere, so there is much that is not yet working. She explained that this means that the local governments are not always on the same path, like the mayor of her town, who is doing a terrible job. He is Chavez’s brother, but he is allowing to town to be a mess, doing nothing for the community until Chavez comes into town and gets very angry with him.
When the interviews were over, I left hoping that I had understood enough of the story. The translation process had not allowed me to hear the story in a whole piece, so I hope that I have the correct information now that I have pieced it together. The incredible dignity of the people I spoke with was moving. Even with a place that they are now legally allowed to be on, until the government comes through with the funding and building, they will be waiting and praying that their houses hold up to the rain and mud.