ADSactly World - Losing Freedom: Venezuela, Before the Storm
Losing Freedom: Venezuela, Before the storm
Introduction
I am sure must of you are already aware of the fact that Venezuela has been in a horrible economic situation these past few years, with news about the scarcity of all sort of basic products, even toilet paper as was extensively covered by international news sites.
Yet, even though a lot of people know all of this, the majority don’t know how did Venezuela ended up in this mess in the first place. The truth is that Venezuela has been adopting policies and supporting political parties that were anti freedom for a long time.
The result of this is perfectly clear now, the complete collapse of an entire society, starting with its economy.
With this series of articles I plan to explain how it all went so wrong for Venezuela, with the hopes of teaching people the patterns that have been followed in a lot of countries in the past, always having the same end result, destruction of freedom and therefore, destruction of prosperity.
Venezuela before the storm
To understand what the course of events was that resulted in what we see today, it is important to cover the central character of this “story”, Hugo Chavez, and the context in which this individual came to power.
What few understand is that the Venezuela they know, the one that appears on the TV, is not the same Venezuela in which a lot of people grew up. The Venezuela of the 90s, the one Chavez inherited is not like the current one. In the same way the Chavez who won his first elections at the end of the 90s is not the same one who died a decade and a half later. His image, his message, his speech, changed in the course of his government. Or perhaps, what happened was that after winning and consolidating his power, he ended up showing his true colors.
For a person who lives in Venezuela from day to day the transformation is slow. It seems to unfold naturally. After all the change took place over several years. When the changes are progressive and are made slowly, the contrast is zero, and it is very difficult to notice that something is happening. But if we could only observe the initial form and the final form, if we could skip everything in between, then the difference would be extremely clear. For example, if we could summarize the Venezuela at the end of the 90s in a single picture and place it next to another picture of Venezuela years later, the change would seem brutal and unthinkable. The difference would be as dramatic as the typical before and after photos some people use to promote a new diet in which the transformation of the person is so extreme that we doubt if it is even the same person.
Summarizing what Venezuela was like before Chavez is not easy because there is a danger of falling into romanticism because of the tendency to believe all past time is better, and secondly because this regime has put a lot of time and effort into rewriting the past of the country to put the previous situation of Venezuela as an atrocious space from which Chavez rescued them. Because of this, it is difficult to describe that Venezuela in a 100% objective way.
Venezuela in the 90s, before Chavez, was not a paradise. The economic inequality was considerable. A truly minority elite, and almost always with good relations with the government, had a life of excess while the vast majority of the people were poor or close to. The social structure was a pyramid with a very broad base that, instead of being the middle class, it was the lower class.
But that does not say much about what it was like to live in Venezuela on a day-to-day basis. Before this regime appeared, Venezuela was a relatively relaxed place. Most people didn’t talked about politics, and at least young people were not aware of the political details of the country. There was not a strong interest in politics because it was not necessary, finding out what was happening was more difficult than ignoring it because it was not part of the popular conversation, if someone wasn’t interested in politics, that person could almost live without knowing the name of the president or any minister.
Cities were quiet, at least in contrast to what would come next. The public structures each had a different color and public places used to be relatively clean. When it comes to basic services, there was always electricity and running water. If you turned on the TV any day you could always find a baseball game, regular shows, among other type of entertainment. The messages in the media were all different because there was tolerance for diversity of thought. There were journalists openly criticizing the government, each of them with their own opinion, that was normal back then.
Venezuelans have always been a happy people. The treatment of each other, regardless of social class was friendly and cordial. One Venezuelan considered others as Venezuelan with no sense of division whatsoever, and they were able to discuss the country's problems as a situation they faced together. Families and social circles were united regardless of each others political ideas. There was a natural feeling of brotherhood.
Although there was distrust of the government, people felt secure about Venezuela’s future. Many risked their savings to create their own business, people set up their small stores, factories, coffee shops, malls, whatever, because there was confidence in the economy and private property. In the same way, people got married and bought a house without fear, excited about the future. Families got bigger and bigger, and when someone went to another country, they usually went to find a better job, so the reason for this was ambition rather than desperation.
The storm begins
All of that changed after Chavez took power. More than a decade later, poverty, corruption, impunity, and inequality were the same, but in exchange people lost each and every one of the democratic victories they had underestimated in the past, which seemed so little back in the 90s. This new Venezuela is a dramatic place where it is impossible to be comfortable. I use the word "be" and not the word "live" because although it is close to impossible to live in this country, the feeling is more dramatic than that. It is not a problem about the future or the impossibility of creating a life project. Living with this “revolutionary” government is an intolerable situation because it overwhelms people’s life. I will try to explain how it was walking in the streets after this government took over and became more strict. (It should be noted that when saying government, I mean all of their propaganda mechanism, their way of ruling, and their new leader called Nicolas Maduro.)
After these people took power, escaping from politics was impossible, because it was in every space, always surrounding people. The battle began on television. The first thing they did was to abuse a mechanism that allowed the president to communicate a message to the entire nation by using every single one of the public channels. What that means is that the president can interrupt all channels of television and radio to make a speech on all channels simultaneously. Until then this mechanism was used only with serious and very specific topics that lasted just a few minutes to transmit an emergency message or important news, and either way it was almost never used.
Chavez misused this mechanism and started to do national speeches constantly, several hours long speeches that interrupted the programming of all TV channels. People could not enjoy their regular shows or their baseball match because the president was speaking to the country. The speeches were not important, they were a mixture of occurrences about distorted history, with anecdotes about his breakfast, suddenly he released a kind of economic analysis without any sense, and ended the evening singing a song or some absurd thing like that. It was insane. The worst thing is that no one could escape from it because it was on every TV channel, and in those years the internet was not as developed as it is now.
But after a while their takeover strategies started to pay attention to not only the TV or radio, but the city looks as well. The looks of the buildings and its posters, became an ideological battleground in which the government reminded ordinary citizens how insignificant they are. If before Chavez each structure had a different color, with Chavez they were all painted red. Public buildings started to be “decorated” with gigantic portraits of Chavez's face, Che Guevara's face, and sometimes Simón Bolívar's face. Portraits of 30 feet long with a random slogan like for example: “Socialism, or death". As the images were simply a giant poster every time they changed the slogan, the image of the buildings varied as well.
When that happened, it was impossible to look out the window of your house without coming face to face with Chavez's face and his phrases about division and hate. Thus, little by little, but without stopping, every part of society was getting more and more influenced with ideology. It was inescapable. The government in their ideological battle consumed everything. There was no room for anything other than political thought and their ideology. At first this was done only from public institutions but over time the government started to appropriate spaces that were private thanks to their totalitarian ways, until almost all spaces were under their ideological control.
Conclusion
In this article, I covered the beginning of a political movement that would end up causing havoc in Venezuela. And several measures they took to start changing the general atmosphere inside the country, to make everyone see politics as a kind of battle between enemies, with the obvious goal of dividing the people.
In the coming years, the government started to take what could certainly be seen as totalitarian measures, by forbidding the people to freely exchange the local currency with any other international currency (which is a law that still exists), and arbitrarily expropriating private business in what was considered as a direct attack towards private property and freedom, and that would start a series of events that ultimately caused the biggest crisis in the history of the country, which even to this day, is still not resolved.
We will continue with this exploration about how Venezuela ended up losing its freedom in the next entry.
Cheers to all and thanks for reading!
Images sources
1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8.
Authored by: @dedicatedguy
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The USA is never prepared to accept that the people of south America have the right to elect and re-elect a left wing govt.
You mean like the decade long Kirchner administrations in Argentina, the decade long Lula-Rousseff administrations in Brasil, the decade long Correa administration in Ecuador, the decade long Morales administration in Bolivia, the decade long Frente Amplio administration in Uruguay, as well as the governments of Socialist Chilean president Michelle Bachelet, the Daniel Ortega government in Nicaragua, the Farabundo Martí governments in El Salvador?
All these left wing governments have been elected (and frequently, as you can see, re-elected) in the past 15 years, but you say that the US were and are not "prepared to accept it"? What does that mean, more precisely?
The U.S. topples democratically elected governments, when it doesn't suit them and installs their fascist puppets whenever they please, as evident throughout the 20th century, or more recently in Honduras. The current opposition to Maduro in Venezuela is also lead by U.S. backed fascists of the worst kind. Those governments you mention in large part have no resemblance of democratic socialist administrations, but are lackies of corporate America. Look at Nicaragua right now. The spirit of the Nicaraguan revolution has long died away, Ortega established as autocrat solely protects the interest of international capital and doesn't shy away from slaughtering his own people. I'm not endorsing the Maduro govt. in Venezuela btw, but the U.S. needs to stop intervening where it doesn't belong and focus on the endless list of problems within its own borders.
The CIA does that stuff all over the world all the time. Look up how many countries we are acknowledged to be in. It's always much more than they tell us as I'm sure you all know.
All those South American left movements that you named, were and are a cancer, economic and spiritual.
Jajaja
This actually makes no sense. The regimes actually make "elections" which are FAKE. I'm Venezuelan, and here in my country the elections will happen on Sunday, and most people just don't want to vote, because despite the big majority of the population hates the regime, they ALWAYS win. This always happens in dictatorial countries, because they have control over everything including the military.
This Sunday, there are going to be elections, and all of the candidates are people from the government. Is that very "democratic" for you?
I would say more, but my broken English is not helping...
Not to mention the US government sponsored murder of President Salvador Allende of Chile in 1973. The CIA loves to prop up murderous right-wing dictators around the world, but as soon as the people choose a left-wing leader, its time for another "color" revolution...
Allende was killing the people with hunger.
What are you going to know? Come to Venezuela to see if you can tolerate 3 days.
Perhaps, just perhaps most politicians are the same. I think in the 90’s people in Venezuela not talking about politics much was because they didn’t necessarily felt there had to be change. Usually that’s the reason when people start talking about politics, feel of change. At that time people felt good about their future as you mentioned and that’s what makes a huge difference. It’s almost hard to believe how things can change with the switch of just one person. Of course I don’t believe it was only one, Chavez was the representative of other corrupt scums. Chavez’s methods of manipulating people using TV, radios and eventually buildings and cities was to show people how unimportant they are and is a perfect example of dictatorship. I can feel with people how they felt when it all suddenly changed...
Looking forward your next entry @dedicatedguy and @adsactly!
BTW: believe it or not, but after hearing all these troubled news about Venezuela I and my family started stacking some extra food, water and all necessities needed if times like this come. Even though I live in US.
Hence, the importance of having a proper division of powers, that sadly is not real in some countries.
Very good comment. Thanks!
Good afternoon, @adsactly friends! I am Venezuelan, that you have taken some time to show the whole community the situation of what we live a little more deeply pleases me, but at the same time saddens me.
I am 17 years old and I am not a child anymore, I live reality from another point of view, the situation is critical, I would say very critical, I remember that when I was 10 years old things were easier for my parents, two people whom I thank immensely for all they have given me, although we can no longer give each other the luxuries of before I appreciate the effort to make, because I know that it is giant.
Now, as for the political situation, I want to express my opinion, since I have studied the political history of the country very deeply, in fact I want to study political science at university, I have a very different idea of government from the one that is currently applied, in which I trust and know that it can be successful.
The late and former president of Venezuela, Hugo Chávez, before being elected in 1999, if I remember correctly, was arrested for attempting a coup d'état, which is a behavior with which they currently agree, but it is the same behavior that they applied to come to power, is illogical, isn't it?
When Chavez launched his candidacy after President Rafael Caldera released him from prison to compete fairly and the people decided, that is to say, a social democracy was exercised, the people elected a new president, it was Hugo Chavez, who in his presidential campaign had promised the people that he would fulfill his proposals, there is no denying that his proposals were very good, the people were convinced that he would be responsible for the change that the country needed, I am sure that if the people had guessed that a decade and a half later we would be like this, Chavez would not have been elected.
But.... I personally believe that Chavez was not the main problem, that is, Chavez fulfilled many of the proposals he made, there were still others to be fulfilled, of course, what I can assure you is that the problem of corruption did not begin with Chavez, beyond the fact that his daughter had all the money in the world before and after the death of her father, the problem of Chavez's government was Diosdado and all his combo, that only the same people who have been in charge of making Nicolas a mature puppet of their desires...
It is true that the situation in the country has worsened with the arrival of Maduro to power, a person who is not at all qualified in any of the areas required to be president, he has taken charge of education, public services and everything within his reach as mediocre as possible, and believe me, if he wins the elections this year, he will come for more, he will try to put an end to the little that remains in this country, so rich in every sense, I would not hesitate to call him the best country in the world, I say it with all responsibility.
The crisis that has engulfed the dreams of many Venezuelans today has separated families, has made us become poorer every day, in some way or another it is a nightmare that we are living today, because of the bad management of public services, because of the low production of the producers who have been expropriated, hopefully this May 20, that is in two days, we can leave this dictatorial regime, hope that May 21 will be a new dawn for our beautiful Venezuelan nation.
Thank you very much friends writers of the community of @adsactly, we hope to have your support in this difficult situation, thank you very much for showing our reality to the whole community of steemit, from here in Venezuela I continue to support you and read your very, very nutritious post, they are all great writers, they captivate me with each of their posts, I hope they continue like this!!
It is sad to say, but I doubt very much that it is so. First, because I do not believe that the government will be defeated in the elections, second, because no matter who wins, all the other candidates are equally inept, and also, even if they were to win, and were competent, they would be subordinated to the Constituent Assembly and the clique of corrupt soldiers.
This is a great post on the plight of Venezuela, and that you live there definitely gives the post more authenticity. I hadn't realized that Chavez apparently started out with a fairly obnoxious use of state media, on the one hand it doesn't affect the economy yet, on the other hand it's very disruptive to people just trying to relax and watch a show that they want. At that time, was it still possible to vote him out? Doing something so flagrant and often seems like a good way to make people not like you, even if you didn't kill the economy. My initial guess is that maybe he had his own base of fervent supporters, and his message got through to enough people as a political base that they protected him but that's just a guess.
It's really easy for people in general to not want to pay attention to politics, indeed one reason that say young people in America use to not vote is "it doesn't affect my daily life!" But that's flawed, today it might not seem like that but 10 or 20 years of gradual decline results in a situation like Venezuela. For democracy to work, voters must be educated and constantly vigilant and suspicious of power grabs by those in power.
It's so annoying to think about powerful mechanisms that those in power didn't use much out of respect for the people that get abused by those without that respect. We don't think that we have to codify respect but maybe when that respect is breached, we have a strong hint that we're at a crossroads...
The political division began to be generated in the country from side to side, the media and businessmen began to attack Chavez and he in turn to the businessmen, and that divided the country into two parts. Then the businessmen and the opposition made a coup d'état, but they did not kill him, so he returned to power. It was there that he took control of the armed forces, and after many more events, in which the two political classes that were in the country confronted each other, one of the two was victorious, and that was the Chávez side.
A very good post @adsactly, this can be an excellent motivation for everyone, and can be an example for all people living in other countries. Speaking of the politics of a country, I think, in any country all people want to have a prosperous life and can get a decent job for their life. But much of what we see, most governments can only promise to his people, before he assumes leadership, after he was elected leader of the country, all his promises have been forgotten. As is the case in Venezuela.
So that in a country there will be chaos, as happened in Venezuela these last few years, about the gruesome economic situation, I think, all the chaos that happened in a country, it all comes from the government, if the government can do its job well, and know what his duties as a leader to all society, and not always selfish, I'm sure, chaos will never happen, and there will be no rebels inside the country.
But none of this will happen, because I see, there are so many now self-centered governments, and never want to know about the suffering of their people. Therefore, people say, politics is very cruel, and never knew you in politics. As the saying goes "if money and position issues have no friends or relatives". Thank you for sharing a very useful information for the people, and hopefully you will be more successful to work...
It certainly came from their corrupt ways.
Sometimes they pretend to care but its just an strategy to gain support from the people.
yes, that's true as you say @dedicatedguy, I think, all countries like that, very few countries are not corrupt, but it's very difficult to change, because everything has become hereditary. thank you...
"The fish begins to rot from the head" - this is the well-known wisdom. That is, the situation that takes place in the country primarily depends on those people who are called to govern. The head of state bears responsibility for his actions. But in some cases we see complete irresponsibility. This happens when power is in the hands of a bad and incompetent person. The person who sets his personal goals (and the goals of his family) is higher than the country's needs. Over time, such a person strengthens his power. This is done at the legislative level and thanks to the policy of zero tolerance (increase of the power apparatus). At such a moment, this person becomes a dictator. If you look at the history of dictators, you can say that they do not leave their post "peacefully." They retain their power by any means.
Venezuela is a beautiful country that has been in a bad situation. I'm sad to realize that through the fault of individuals, entire nations suffer. This is also the case in other places. But what we see is not right. That is, I think that people should have the right to a better life. People should have a chance. But the government does not give people a chance.
The way out of this situation is one. But people are very intimidated. It reminds me very much of one or more other countries.
I'm RPD for people in Armenia. They rallied and were able to drive the "dirty" politicians out of the government. They could get them to leave. They are courageous people and now they deserve the right to a better life. This is an excellent example for others.
In my opinion, you have got an excellent and informative message. Thanks for the work!
Yes, because being government is what protects them from ending up in jail. The only solution is a brute force clash that is yet to happen.
Very comprehensive, I was recently looking into that mess, but didn't find such clear an explanation.
Not bad, not bad at all...
Great Post. This happened in Malaysia too.
We were lucky, the people decided to reject the leadership of the ex-prime minister (who was also very corrupted) in the general election just a week ago. It was sensational to see the opposition won and now we are looking forward to a better Malaysia under this new government.