Late May Jurnaling

Wed. May 23rd

I spent today, in Los Teques, with Marlo and Juan Pablo, an economics student from the Central University and his friend Wilmer, who works at a library and attends mission Sucre. Juan Pablo is pat of a group that describes itself as leftist opposition. He explained that he is even farther left than communists. There are only about 10 people in his group, 3 of whom are women. They contribute to an alternative independent newspaper. He thinks it is very important that there be a leftist opposition, to push the Chavez government to end capitalism. I had a really hard time understanding him, because he used complicated language, but I had a really good conversation with his mom in their kitchen. She is blind, and spends a lot of time at home, but she is well informed through the radio and other means. We talked about the closing of RSTV this weekend. She was nervous that there might be unrest and problems. We also talked about US politics, women in Venezuelan politics, the position of my family on various subjects such as Venezuela and the Iraq war. I didn’t understand everything she said, but she was patient and repeated things, and made sure that I understood what she was saying.
Sunday May 27th
We have been hearing about the plans to close RSTV, one of the oldest private TV stations on the free public channels, for at least six months now. The station will be cut off the air tonight, and at many people have been marching together in Caracas for the last two weekends. I was just watching today’s march from the third story of a shopping mall in Chacaito. It was a steady flow of people, walking quickly, as Venezuelans do in marches. They appeared to be coming from Altamira, and are marching to Los Mercedes, another wealthy area. As I stood and watched to march, an older woman came to watch beside me. I asked her what she thought. She said it was “solamente disorden” (only disorder).
This closure is all over the news. It has been condemned by the US Congress, and some European Union members. Chavez is holding firm on his decision to close the station, and has said that the resistance and protests against the closure will strengthen the revolutionary process. Chavez vowed to close the station after the attempted coup, because the RSTV played a part in the coup plot and execution. The station helped by spreading anti government propaganda, and showing news broadcastings describing shootings, which had been recorded the day before. The protests that closing RSTV violates rights of freedom of speech will doubtfully win in courts, because Venezuela has laws about what can be shown on public airwaves, similar to the US, which were clearly broken. Additionally, technically it is not a closure, because the RSTV station is not getting shut down, but rather it’s license to broadcast on the free public airwaves is not getting renewed.
Although the station deserves to be taken off the air, I think that the closure is a poor political decision for a few reasons. First, it opens Chavez up to much criticism both internationally and locally. The majority of Venezuelans, although many still support Chavez, do not support the closure. Venezuelan’s watch a lot of TV, and many, many people are very attached to their telenovelas. Additionally, it is only the poor who are going to be deprived of their TV shows, because after today RSTV will become a cable channel.

Monday 28th
RSTV Protests
Last night the pot banging was much bigger and louder. I stood on my balcony and looking up at the apartments around me, seeing silhouettes of people banging pots on their balconies. Then the sound dramatically increased, as a person on the floor above me and to the left, stood on his balcony and hammered a spoon on a pot. I went to bed, and by the time I fell asleep the noise had stopped
This afternoon a large student protest occurred two blocks away from my apartment. As I painted, I could hear screaming and at times a little chanting, and at times rounds of rubber bullets echoing through the streets. Justin was taking pictures, and when he returned he told me that the police were firing rubber bullets, shooting a water cannon, and spraying tear gas in efforts to disperse the protest, which was in a main intersection and trying to march onto the freeway. The mayor of Chacao, showed up with his police, to talk people into going back into the plaza. The protesters were mostly college students, and watching from my balcony I saw a few small groups of students run down the street, away from the protest. One of them slipped and got back up and kept running. Seconds later came a police water cannon truck chasing the students, but not spraying water. Later it began to rain, and now, even though it is dark, I still hear commotion. The pot banging has started again, very lowed. More students are running by, yelling and chanting. The police are chasing them home.
Painting
Today I finished the barrio painting and painted the sailboat painting a third time, hoping that it would look better in watercolor. It didn’t. I made the colors too dark, and didn’t make enough new improvements. I think that perhaps the main problem is the shape of the objects. I still like the idea, but can’t make it look pleasing, the sails are awkward, even though I am trying to make them abstract and transparent.
6/1/07
By Wednesday and Thursday the RSTV protests were getting smaller and calmer. There are some today as well, but I think the energy is slowly leaving. I have been following the international coverage of the protests, and it has been a popular story. The US and conservative members of the European union have condemned the closure, although some European progressives supported it, as well as some South American countries. It is hard to know whether the protests will pick up again this weekend, and what type of consequences they will create.
My time here is coming to a close. I have two more weeks of language study, and then I will be flying home on the 23rd. I have learned and experienced much more than I had originally planned before I got to this country. My original hope was to spend maybe a week or two with a women’s organization in Los Teques in winter quarter, and then spend spring quarter close to the beach, creating art about what I had learned. I am very pleased tht I have gotten more out of this experience than I imagined possible, and have created the art pieces that i had planned on making to process and share what I have learned. The original women’s organization did not work out because I could not get a hold of them, or the woman who gave me their contact info, but Winter quarter I went on a Global Exchange women’s delegation, and was able to see many organizations and make contact with the Coop of Moncar.
I have had many valuable experiences this quarter, visiting and speaking with many hardworking people. This quarter I have visited community councils in the barrios of 23 de Enero. I have interviewed a young woman who has a community radio show that addresses women’s issues and current events. I have Interviewed a longtime community activist about her experiences working in her community, building community assets, and about her work in her new community council.
My most valuable experiences were the week I spent with the CESOCESOLA Cooperative, and the two weeks with the rural salsa and jam Coop of Moncar. To be continued…