Random Thoughts From Of Caracas

A Stormy Caracas skyline

Just back from Venezuela. I forgot the interface cable to my camera so I wasn't able to post anything while I was there. Thoughts and observations on Venezuela:

• The entire country has no concept of personal service. The Bolivarian revolution has bread a generation of workers that believe they're fully entitled and thus have no motivation to provide a quality product or service. They get paid one way or the other.

• While Hugo Chavez rants about empowering the poor, the Presidential Palace is surrounded by his homeless countrymen (and women) sleeping in cardboard boxes on the streets.

• While a complete loon, President Chavez is by far the most entertaining head of state there is. His multi-hour press conferences are just one long entertaining stream of consciousness that often delve into song, comedy and poetry.

• The Caracas skyline is marked by tall concrete buildings that now provide housing for the poor; sort of sky-rise slums.

• The Venezuelan military is probably the finest looking military I've ever seen. Soldiers, weapons, and equipment all maintained to a very high standard. As an ex-soldier I couldn't help but be impressed.

• At pennies for a gallon of gas Venezuela has the largest collection of 1970's massive V8 sedans that I've ever seen. It's not uncommon to see a Buick Riviera taxi cab.

• Motorbikes are everywhere, helmets are required. People wear bicycle helmets as they speed in and out of highway traffic at breakneck speeds. I have to imagine that motorcycle-related death is the leading cause of mortality in Venezuela.

• Venezuela has contributed more Miss Universes than any other county. That's the national trivia question asked by every taxi cab driver.

• The Latin diet will not get an endorsement from the American Heart Association.

• The parks are full of runners, cyclists, and bladers. Something that was unheard of 10-15 years ago.

• The Wonder Bra company must certainly be based in Venezuela.

Democracy Wins!

It was one of those times that I wish I had brought my camera and was free to take photos. We spent the night at the Opposition headquarters in Caracas awaiting the voting results from the referendum. Hundreds of students, press, and concerned others occupied a large, walled villa in a fashionable neighborhood. Outside the iron gates others waited in the streets, peering through the gates searching for some sign of how the vote is going.

As the night went on the crowds exponentially grew. The polls closed at 8:00 p.m. and in the subsequent hours more and more people occupied the streets surrounding the villa. We set our gear up in a darkened corner of the courtyard next to the Al Jeezera crew, sharing the same power outlet, and waited along with the rest.

By 1:00 a.m. optimism had grown along with the reveling crowds. The delay in the official announcement of the results was interpreted as good news for the pro-democracy students. Rumors abound of the military generals warning President Chavez to respect the results, and the police surrounding the neighborhood to protect the students from revenge-seeking Chavez supporters.


Finally at 1:15 a.m. the announcement came. The hushed crowds stacked in front of television sets, the world balancing on the head of a pin. All at once a thundering explosion of cheers rocked the night. The pro-democracy movement had defeated President Chavez’s sweeping constitutional reforms designed to move Venezuela to a full-totalitarian state.

The doors and the gates of the villa were thrown open and we were immediately swimming in a wave of screaming and crying people. We tried desperately to protect or delicate position with it’s crisscrossing net of cables precariously linking us to our satellite up-link as the people poured in around us.

The remainder of the night was spent doing chaotic interviews and 'live shots' from the middle of tens of thousands of celebrants. Screaming, crying, waving flags, hugs, fireworks, megaphones; all carrying on through out the remainder of the night. Democracy had won.

Marathon Press Confrence

We were invited to President Chavez’ press conference today. For those that have never been this is truly an event. We were told to be there at 11:00 a.m., Comandante Chavez didn’t show up until 2:15, and he didn’t stop speaking until over three hours later. The entire international press corps here in Caracas was completely wiped out as it dragged itself out of the Palace after the marathon session.

Chavez seems to have taken a page out of Fidel’s book with these long-winded speeches and press conferences. One of the CBC reporters commented, "He's been on the first question for an hour now, and has just now taken the second one".

During the “presser” President Chavez repeated his now-standard bashing of the United States and continued his specific criticism of CNN. In his speech yesterday President Chavez strongly threatened to kick us out of the country if CNN were seen to be trying to influence the vote in any way. We all agreed that it would be a very astute political move on his part if were to deport the “imperialist media” just prior to Sunday’s referendum vote.

Singing in Caracas

More of the same today; broadcasting from the patio of the hotel and staying away from the massive rallies downtown.

We watched President Chavez’ speech on Venezuelan television this evening. It was surreal in some respects. He spent the first fifteen minutes leading the crowd of tens of thousands of red-clad supporters in song, singing national songs as well as Christmas carols. It had to be one of the oddest things that I’ve ever seen.

The rest of the speech was spent bashing the United States, the King of Spain, Colombia's President Uribe, CNN, and other assorted interests. I fear that he has a sort of elevated idea of his country’s importance in the grand scheme of the world.

Room Service Please

Student protester getting ready for a confrontation with government security forces.

Today has been full of adventure. We were set to cover the massive opposition rally in downtown Caracas this morning but in the end we pulled back and chose not to broadcast from that location. Instead the day has been spent “shooting lives” from the roof of our hotel in an effort to remain impartial to the political fight that is bubbling around us. International media has been accused of taking sides and has come under some “scrutiny” from the Venezuelan government. We’re trying our best not to be culpable in any way.

I’m happy. I’m not getting gassed or shot with a water cannon, and we can get room service up here on the roof.

Protests 101

The first rule of covering any protest is that the security forces always win. At the end of the day you want to be on the winning side no matter whom you are cheering for. I failed to adhere to that rule and paid for it this afternoon.

We covered an illegal student protest just outside of the one of the major Caracas universities. Hundreds of students marched out from the campus gates and blocked a busy highway, all in full view of the awaiting and ultimately well prepared Venezuelan National Guard.

The security forces, after watching the students rant and rave for an hour or so, decided enough was enough and let fly several volleys of tear gas followed by blasts from a mobile water cannon. At that particular moment I was standing on the student side of the protest and got severely gassed and then hammered with stream of water.

I made my way back to the ranks of the police only then to be pelted by large rocks and bottles being thrown by the offended, albeit hastily retreating students. I’ve had better days.

Back To Venezuela

Heading back to Venezuela today to cover the country's referendum vote. This time I'll endeavor to bring all of the correct gear so that I can post photos.

Demonstrating For Democracy

We spent yesterday covering the student demonstrations taking place here in Caracas. These are marches that are considered illegal by the Venezuelan government because they do not have the necessary permissions, and subsequently are not tolerated very well by the security forces.

The students from one of the universities decided to march along (in) a major highway that cuts through the city. I stood there in horror witnessing these kids with hastily painted signs scurry about in four lanes of high-speed traffic yelling unfathomable slogans. The story here looked as if it was going to be the demonstrators getting flattened by speeding trucks.

We stood off to the side and filmed the students as they rallied support for their side of the upcoming referendum. Hundreds of these kids were marching for a pro-democracy movement, against a Socialist government that was demanding even greater Socialist reforms. How times change.

What's In A Name?

I spent yesterday walking around some of Caracas’ poorer neighborhoods shooting pictures and video with our cameraman. It was a great time working next to a professional and seeing what he’s looking at and how he frames his shots.

Later in the day he relayed a funny story to me about Venezuela’s President Chavez. Apparently El Comadante believes there are just too many peoples’ names in Venezuela and wants to pass a law (decree) that would make it illegal to name a child anything other than what is on his approved list of 200 or so names. I’m pretty sure “Hugo” made the list.

Welcome Back

I feel at home in Latin America, much more so than the Middle East. I think I’ve spent most of my adult life kicking around the countries down here, and when I arrived I felt a great sense of familiarity, almost a relief in a way.

Caracas is a city in turmoil right now. Both the city and the country of Venezuela as a whole are facing an election on a constitution amendment that would give current President Chavez almost unlimited powers. The streets are littered with “Si” or “No” propaganda as the people head towards the referendum. There have been marches both for and against, with more than just a little violence.

It will be interesting to see how this polemic comes out, but for the time being we’re covering various stories associated with the elections, and are getting plenty of opportunities to travel around the city to visit neighborhoods, both pro and anti- Chavez. The scenes are frantic with highly politically charged emotions that can only be experienced in Latin America. I had forgotten how passionate Latins are with their politics. Welcome back.

Caracas

I’m currently in Caracas, Venezuela covering the opposition rallies to the Chavez-proposed constitutional amendments. We spent the morning filming from within one of the rallies, but I didn’t have the opportunity to take any photos because I was busy doing what I get hired to do. Thousands of people milling around, shouting, chanting, and just being generally chaotic. We got what we needed and called it a day once the rally broke up.

When I got back to the hotel room I realized that I had left Atlanta in such a rush that I didn’t pack the USB cable that I use to download pictures from my camera to the MacBook. As a result the blog will be photo-less for a couple of days until I can get back to Atlanta.