[pr-x] Fwd: article - Venezuelans: 'We want to resolve our problems by ourselves'

[michael a. lebowitz]

-------- Forwarded Message --------
Subject: 	article - Venezuelans: 'We want to resolve our problems by 
ourselves'
Date: 	Fri, 22 Mar 2019 16:52:51 +1100
From: 	Fred Fuentes <fred.fuentes at gmail.com>



  Venezuelans: 'We want to resolve our problems by ourselves'

Federico Fuentes <https://www.greenleft.org.au/glw-authors/federico-fuentes>
Green Left Weekly
https://www.greenleft.org.au/content/venezuelans-we-want-resolve-our-problems-ourselves

<https://www.greenleft.org.au/#print>
Green Left Weekly journalist Federico Fuentes with Maria Paez. Photo: 
Joe Montero.

“Why don’t you go to Venezuela and speak to people living there to find 
out what is really going on?”

Invariably, any article or post on social media presenting a different 
view to that pushed by the corporate media would prompt numerous 
comments such as this — almost always from people not in Venezuela and 
who, mostly, have never been there.

So /Green Left Weekly /decided to take up the challenge.

In early March, together with freelance journalist Joe Montero and 
solidarity activist Lucho Riquelme, I went to Venezuela as part of a 
fact-finding mission coordinated by the Melbourne-based Latin American 
Solidarity Network.

Unlike most journalists who cover Venezuela from the wealthy suburbs of 
eastern Caracas or Miami, United States, we ventured to Caracas’s poorer 
neighbourhoods, the /barrios. /We also travelled to rural states such as 
Barinas and Apure, on the border with Colombia.

Our aim was to hear from those voices permanently and deliberated 
excluded from the media discussion on Venezuela.

We wanted to hear firsthand about their realities, how they were dealing 
with the current crisis, who they blame for it, and how they would like 
to see it resolved.

We met with representatives from women’s organisations and the LGBTI 
community; members of the much disdained /colectivos/; independent 
journalists and economists; grassroots activists from communal councils 
and communes; and many others we happened to bump into on our way.

People such as**María Paez who we met in the barrio of Santa Teresa, in 
one of the poorest parts of San Fernando, the capital of Apure.

Following a short discussion with residents and members of the local 
communal councils, I approached María to ask what day-to-day life was 
like for her, given everything we had heard about Venezuela’s 
“humanitarian crisis”.

“The truth is that the situation is very difficult,” she told me. “But 
we are convinced we will get out of it.”

“What we want is unity, peace and to be able to resolve our problems by 
ourselves, because the idea that others will resolve our problems for us 
is a lie. We are sure of that.

“I know what life was like before [the government of former president 
Hugo Chavez]. Perhaps a young person, someone who is 16 or 17-years-old 
doesn’t remember, but I am 41-years-old, so no one can lie to me because 
that was something I lived through.

“We were very poor, very humble and, thanks to the revolution, today we 
have houses made of concrete, we have floors made of cement.

“I was able to study as a result of the revolution, because before the 
revolution this would not have been possible but today it is something I 
have achieved.

“We were very poor. Everything was available to buy but we couldn't buy 
anything because we didn't have any money.

“Given the wealth that Venezuela has, we shouldn't be facing the kind of 
conditions we have today. These are difficult moments. But we are 
fighting and we are convinced we will be able to overcome this.”

Asked who she blamed for the situation, María said: “We are facing an 
economic war. Everyone knows what they want here in Venezuela: our 
natural resources.

“The main problem is that imperialism has always viewed itself as being 
above everything else and is willing to destroy everything to maintain 
that position.

“Imperialism has always attempted to show us as standard of living that 
doesn't exist and cannot exist. We only have one planet, we cannot 
destroy it.

“This is something we need to take into consideration. We need to make 
sure we can leave a planet for our children. This is really what we 
want, what we have being doing and what the revolution has taught us: to 
love what we have, respect what we have, and to try to get ahead with 
the little we have.”

I asked what she thought about Juan Guaidó, Venezuela’s self-proclaimed 
“interim president”.

“Well, the truth is I don't think much of Juan Guaidó because he doesn't 
have any plan,” Mar/í/a responded.

“His plan is to destroy everything we have built and that's not what we 
need.

“What he should be doing is putting forward a plan — that is, if he 
really wants to help Venezuela — and on the basis of that plan convince 
us to support him, just as Hugo Chavez convinced us with his words and 
actions.

“He should try to do this the proper way; he is trying to do this in an 
improper manner, but he hasn't been able to achieve his aim.”

María’s belief in the need for peace and for Venezuelans to be able to 
resolve their problems free of foreign interference was shared by many 
we spoke to. This was the case whether they were the most loyal 
followers of President Nicolas Maduro, revolutionaries who don’t trust 
Maduro, and even many opposition supporters.

This belief is also shared by millions more Venezuelans, as poll after 
poll has shown.

The question therefore that should be asked is: Why are governments of 
countries like Australia and the media refusing to speak to people 
living in Venezuela to find out what is really going on?


-- 
---------------------
Michael A. Lebowitz
Professor Emeritus
Economics Department
Simon Fraser University
8888 University Drive
Burnaby, B.C., Canada V5A 1S6
Home:   Phone 604-689-9510
Cell: 604-789-4803


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