Suspended Animation

/ March 21, 2013

In Venezuela, during this strange inter-regnum between Chávez and what comes next, beef and cement have become privileges. But these days, the mother of all luxuries is certainty.

Just ask Andrea.

Andrea is finishing her undergrad at Universidad Católica Andrés Bello. She was supposed to turn in her thesis last week, but since classes were suspended for several days, her faculty advisor was forced to re-shuffle the time-table. Now she’s trying to reschedule the celebration trip she meant to take this week and had to cancel, but she can’t peel her eyes off María Gabriela Chávez’ twitter feed, because elections will happen in 24 days and she’s obsessed.

She’s constantly interrupted by calls from her mother, Gloria, who keeps badgering her about selling the dollars they’d saved up to buy a car, but Andrea wants to hold off because, with every passing day, you can get more and more bolívares for every lechuga verde.

They want to buy a car because the ‘92 Honda Civic they share to get around has been in the shop since the beginning of March for transmission issues, but Sr. José, the owner of the car-shop, cannot give them a proper estimate on what repairs will cost because all spare parts are bought from abroad, and now is not a good time to set a price.

Sr. José’s son, Wilmer, works as a lighting technician for a show venue. He gets paid per gig, but the flamenco act that was scheduled to play for an international medical corporate event this week was cancelled, once news arrived that elections will happen in 24 days. Nobody wanted to travel to Venezuela given fears of social unrest.

Wilmer was banking on the gig in order to take his girlfriend, Jocelyn, to the coast this past weekend, the only time he can take off work, but figures it’s all for the better, because all exits to and from Caracas were closed on Friday due to a certain funeral.

Jocelyn, in the meantime, really wanted to go to the beach, but having missed four waitressing shifts at the sushi restaurant she works for due to funeral-related closings, a Saturday-night shift can probably make up for lost tips, which she needs.

Her mom, Gisela, who sells empanadas from a street stand in Chacaíto, had to stay home on Friday because schools were not functioning and her grandson Josué would need a babysitter that day.  Jocelyn really needs to pitch in, but ten days of Ley Seca have kept customers away, so the restaurant is empty, and Jocelyn’s tips will probably be scant as well.

The alcohol sales-ban, which will start again for this coming Semana Santa, also forced Ana Elisa to postpone her wedding, which she had paid in full and was set to happen that same Saturday. Days before, the National Guard visited the party venue and claimed they could not guarantee the safety of revellers, lest the Círculos Bolivarianos deem it insensitive. She’s now packing for her un-postponable honeymoon as she waits to hear back from the catering company on when would be a better time to get married, after the elections, of course.

Given the circumstances, Ana Elisa’s husband-to-be, Jorge Luis, is a bit reticent about going on the trip. He works as a budget planner for a local municipality. Due to financial uncertainties facing businesses who want to hold on to inventory since they have no idea how much it will cost to replenish, and also given the several days of sales they’ve had to forgo, tax contributions have been slower than usual this month, and he’s working overtime to try to shield municipal employees’ pay-packets from any kind of hit.

Jorge Luis’s work has been a circus for more than just that reason: all his budget allocations had been planned under the premise that municipal elections would be held in July. Now presidential elections will be held in 24 days. But a previously planned municipal change of government has been indefinitely postponed; he has to reprogram everything.

The reworked election schedule is kind of a bummer for Andrea, the college student, too: she’s already been accepted to a grad school program abroad, and was planning on updating her voter registration when the National Electoral Registry was opened up for changes. Except now nobody knows when that will happen, either.

For most people in the world, there might be two certainties in life: death and taxes. In this state of suspended animation that is La República Bolivariana de Venezuela, the only certainty in life is…uncertainty.

*Most of the people in this post are real, their names have been changed to preserve their privacy. “Jocelyn” is an composite of people I know of in very similar circumstances.

Related posts

112 thoughts on “Suspended Animation”

  1. Uncertainty… also known as “vivir viviendo”. That’s the new normal here. #LoCertifico

    Another great post from you, Emiliana. You’re getting better and better.

    Like

  3. Foreign correspondents, take note: this is how it’s done! #petpeeve

    (Thanks, Emiliana — you’re such a terrific addition to CC).

    Like

      • Emiliana, I want you to know that I think that your articles/posts are absolutely top notch, not to mention, spot on! I think you mentioned a few days ago that you’d never written something that had been published; well, let me tell you, your style of writing is very captivating, as well as making me feel as though I was there. Felicidades, y buena suerte!

        Like

  4. Like.
    Just a question though: Given the violence and homicide rates in Vzla, Caracas in particular, for YEARS, why would international convention planners choose Caracas for an international medical corporate event?

    Like

  6. When people live in a climate of pervading and persisting uncertainty that prevents them from organizing their lives, what they know is CHAOS !! ordinary people are averse to Chaos , it stresses them , it frustrastes them : Even if all Venezuelans from birth are exposed to Chaos, and have thus learned to some extent to administer chaos , the chaos we now live in is an unmanageable one, affecting almost all aspects of life. The only thing we know for certain is that chaos has us all “jod…dos” ( the vernacular si always more poignant) !!

    Like

  8. What the three ‘revolutionaries’ who read this blog may fail to appreciate is that as human beings grow up and take on responsibilities, the ability to plan becomes a necessary and important part of life. You take that away and you reduce everyone to a sort of forced infantilism of having to grab what you can when you can and not think too much about the future. It is hugely wasteful and socially corrosive. It turns people, ironically, principally into consumers, as the tasks associated with building communities require… Planning and predictability.

    Great post!

    Like

    • My understanding is, after talking to “revolutionaries” over the years, is that:

      Rule No. 1… is “Chavez will provide!!!”
      Rule No. 2 is “If not… refer to Rule No. 1 !!!”

      Obviously, this is a mental short-circuit that prevents the brain from operating as it was designed.

      Like

  9. You are phenomenal writer, Emiliana. Notably well-read.

    Just wanted to say that… I barely ever comment in here.

    Like

      • There are journalists which are great at communicating ideas or information with verbe and precision , there are others even better journalists that are great at communicating experiences which allow their readers to find the ideas behind the experience, you belong to the second category , congrats on your talent and for the joy and fun it brings us your appreciative readers in this blog !!

        Like

    • Emiliana fantastic post! During twelve years I I have been treating patients who have somatized in every which way the uncertainties of getting home safely, of planning a life, a vacation, a project… Everything is frozen in the parenthesis of “vamos a ver que pasa”y de los “depende de”. Jose Luis Vetencourt an eminent psychologist once said that we were suffering the effects of the phsychology of war. In our case being more insidious and subliminal because we don’t see the bombs. But the dangers and the anxiety of not knowing what comes next is causing all kinds of havoc in our ohysical & emotional lives. From fractured molars to ear infarcts… You name it.

      Like

  11. At least Andrea is reading a good twitter account ( María Gabriela Chávez,)’, most Venezuelans can even afford a car of any kind and it may get worst before it gets better.

    But what are y’all going to do, your Capriles is falling even more behind and his campaign is stuck in the MUD ( 18 points behind) being deserted by the the right and the middle. Does seem you only have two options, below: May I suggest a vacation to Doral, cause you really don’t want to fight do ya?

    A leaked document indicates that the right-wing candidate, Henrique Capriles Radonski, met for seven hours with the top brass of the Venezuelan ultra-right and discussed, intensively, how to proceed in the face of the “flood of people who follow Maduro.” Included in the group were members of the clergy, US advisors, and Spaniards.

    According to a dossier presented before the National Assembly by deputy Julio Chávez, the meeting dealt with two fundamental points: Not attending the April 14 elections, or designing an “honorable” exit for their candidate but leaving tensions and political chaos in his wake.
    In the first case, according to the document, the US agents, who held sway over the meeting, reasoned that “at the moment, you should plan on attending the elections, because millions of opposition voters require a compelling partisan orientation in the face of the ‘overwhelming power’ of the government.”

    They had to “plan a strategic exit because it will be very difficult to overcome the other candidate, Nicolás Maduro. Very well, so this exit should be based solidly on facts, with juridical elements, with international mobilization, with the help of the powerful media allied with the IAPA (Inter-American Press Association): US and Spanish media above all.”

    Further, the document states: “A group of experts in political tensions, chaos and destabilization must work to design an objective that will lead to an honorable exit for the candidate, but which will leave an unmanageable constitutional and juridical disturbance in its wake, something like leaving the nation without constitutional language.”

    The dossier continues: “In the hands of the experts in these traumas, Capriles will have a ‘graceful’ exit from the campaign.”

    One must take into account that for these crimes, in which many innocents will fall, the North American empire is implacable. Once more it will set in motion this category of terrible events which will be aimed at derailing the democratic direction of the republic. Commotions which we have already lived through in the past, or maybe much more refined ones, said the deputy.

    Among the destabilizing actions, marked with an underlined “Could be”:

    1. Electrical sabotages
    2. Food speculation and artificial shortages
    3. Airport accidents, and great tragedies like those of the Amuay refinery last year
    4. Introductions of viruses or terrible disease outbreaks
    5. Assassinations of opposition parliamentarians, as well as those of the Revolution
    6. Sabotage of the Caracas Metro subway
    7. But PRINCIPALLY, organizing some great massacre of followers of Capriles during some public act, provoked by themselves, which will “oblige” the candidate [Maduro] to not continue his campaign, which is “evidently opportunistic, bloody, and directed by an opprobrious régime, dominated by the criminal powers of Fidel Castro and international terrorism”.

    We alert all the people not to fall victim to provocations, and to remain vigilant, firm and serene in the face of the most terrible circumstances and adversities.

    thanks to sabina becker for the translations.

    Like

    • You know….I started posting as a joke trying to be as cartoonishly delusional as I could, but reality has a way of making satire irrelevant.

      Bled out. Peace out.

      Like

        • 1. Electrical sabotages
          2. Food speculation and artificial shortages
          3. Airport accidents, and great tragedies like those of the Amuay refinery last year
          4. Introductions of viruses or terrible disease outbreaks
          5. Assassinations of opposition parliamentarians, as well as those of the Revolution
          6. Sabotage of the Caracas Metro subway
          7. But PRINCIPALLY, organizing some great massacre of followers of Capriles
          VIII. Nuke Dreseden
          IV. Run off the damn pesty Cherokees
          X. Negro problem.
          XI. Locusts

          Like

    • Included in the group were members of the clergy, US advisors, and Spaniards.

      Huh? Love the addition of the last nationality. As always, appreciate the comedic interlude from Cort Greene, with valuable input from the “door at the end of the blind alley”.

      Hahaha
      #CuerdaDeLocos

      Like

    • If you can read through this whole thing without laughing you have some serious Shaolin Monk type of concentration.

      Like

    • “most Venezuelans can [sic] even afford a car of any kind”
      How come? After 14 years of Socialist Paradise on Earth, pray, do tell me: how come?
      The rest of your post is sheer BS.

      Like

    • Thank you for this information Cort! It is invaluable for Venezuelans to know that all the problems in their country are caused by the US, Spain and the opposition.

      Hopefully after this election they can be arrested once and for all. The Venezuelan opposition is so out of control, I think they even gave me food poisoning, I’ve been having the runs for the last three days which is terrible given how hard sabotage has made finding toilet paper!

      Like

      • I love the idea of how the US is trying to destabilize Venezuela, I mean, its as if Venezuela isn’t selling the States all of its Oil, which is pretty much all that the States wants, is for Venezuela to sell its oil to them… Why in the world would the US care about Venezuelan politics so long as Oil is being sold to the States? ?!?!?!?!?! so yes Venezuela cries Foul all the time against the states, but at the end of the day, the US still can buy Venezuelan oil… what I would love for the State’s to do is to NOT buy Venezuelan oil, I would love to see what the government in Venezuela would do… it would be priceless..

        Like

      • GAC: there is NO shortage of toilet paper in Venezuela, the poor are eating properly now and defecating in increasing quantities as a consequence. Your inability to find toilet paper is but a symptom of the triumph and successes of the Revolution.

        Are you a double-agent of the Empire, spreading such defamatory comments.

        No pasaran! (or no c*garan)

        Like

    • Dear Curt
      After reading :
      ”
      1. Electrical sabotages
      2. Food speculation and artificial shortages
      3. Airport accidents, and great tragedies like those of the Amuay refinery last year
      4. Introductions of viruses or terrible disease outbreaks
      5. Assassinations of opposition parliamentarians, as well as those of the Revolution
      6. Sabotage of the Caracas Metro subway… ”

      I am convinced! Man! Most of this has already happened under the PSUV! Since this is the responsibility of 14 years of mismanagement you have convinced me that PSUV is sponsored by the “North American empire” and that their leaders are but CIA agents, all of them. I am sure the Illuminati must be in it too! Surely this plan must be outlined in the “The Protocols of the Elders of Zion” too…

      Please!

      Like

    • Why it is ok to receive assessment on electoral matters by the likes of Cuba and not by experts belonging to other states?

      Moreover, and speaking as a lawyer here, how can you show that the document is in fact original and legit? Surely if such sabotage plans were in the pipe you would not write them down. Anyone having read the Nuremberg judgment (and read any history) would know not to put pen to paper on planned illegalities…

      Like

  12. Venezuela has always been the country of magical uncertainty.I say magical because the fact that everyday life is so rife with possibilities instead of certainties,there is created an almost permanent sense of wonder:)

    Living by one’s wits and not by careful planning can be quite empowering or it can be devastating.
    It creates a lifestyle that has always made life in Venezuela a bit more alive than elsewhere.But it also makes it frustrating and scarey.

    In the context of what is going on and what is possible, ordinary events lose their dominion.

    Like

    • I agree with you, I always keep in mind Miranda’s famous words “Bochinche, bochinche, esta gente no sabe hacer sino bochinche” . What he would say if he were alive today?

      Like

  13. We have long lived under “Eudomar’s law”: Como vaya viniendo, vamos viendo…

    Just that now we have that on steroids!.

    Like

  14. The building where I live has been without gas for the past three days. Increasingly insistent calls to the monopoly supplier, the state-run PDV-Gas, over the past three weeks have been met with obfuscation and procrastination. The man who drives the truck that is supposed to fill the building’s tank (the only person in the company it is possible to get any sense out of) had promised to come tomorrow. Now, he says that won’t be possible because, ‘there is no gas’.

    Strictly speaking, that’s not quite true. Venezuela, according to the late, lamented comandantepresidente, is sitting on 200 quintillion cubic feet of the stuff. Unfortunately, it’s all underground.

    Naturally, we’re curious to know when there might be some gas, given that we depend on it for cooking and hot water. ‘Oh,’ says the gas man, ‘don’t whatever you do tell them you use it to heat water. Another building tried that the other day and they were told the gas was only for cooking, not hot water, and buildings using it to heat water would not be given priority.’

    As the government slogan has it: under the revolution, the extraordinary becomes a daily event.

    Like

    • There is natural gas but its getting much more expensive to produce , there are two possible sources of offshore production , the eastern one which is much delayed and facing lots of problems and the repsol field off falcon which is still in early stages of development , the traditional anaco gas is petering out and getting more gas means drilling deeper holes which cost a lot of money Pdvsa doesnt have , so we are in for a long period of gas draught ! Meantime the demand is outstripping all available supply to industrial users also affecting their production.

      Like

      • I recall that lots of gas is imported from Colombia, and it was cut off for a while. Probably the government is behind paying the bill?

        Like

        • Venezuelan gas demand is split in two : eastern centre venezuela and western venezuela , colombian gas supply (which was supposed to end last year but was extended ) only meets part of western venezuelan demand , were shortages are critical . once the repsol offshore field goes on production western venezuela will be able to meet most of its demand. then colombian gas supply will be stopped and ideally reversed with venezuelan gas going to colombia but i rather doubt this latter part.

          Like

    • Chavez wanted to spend billions building a gas pipeline to Argentina, now it can’t even supply itself. What a total joke all of Hugo Chavez’s plans were.

      Like

    • Sorry to hear that donacobius.

      Perhaps you could convince Cort Greene to move in and hook him up to the gas system….

      Like

    • ‘Oh,’ says the gas man, ‘don’t whatever you do tell them you use it to heat water. Another building tried that the other day and they were told the gas was only for cooking, not hot water, and buildings using it to heat water would not be given priority.’

      Must be all those arrogant members of the Venezuelan middle class, according to a periodic commenter on these boards… (SIGH)

      Like

  16. Chavistas put the legacy of a dead man above the welfare of living Venezuelans.

    Next thing will be importing natural gas from the Unitied States. Oh no.

    Like

  17. Fidel dixit: (parafraseando) “… Aquel que tiene que pasar el dia entero buscandose un pollo que comer, que carajo va a tener energia, foco o prioridad en discutir y luchar por temas como libertad, justicia, democracia, prosperidad, progreso…..

    We are being played straight down the communist play book, and we are divided (rojos-no rojos) to obfuscate and distract us from the real puppet layer. The cubans.

    Eventually, the country assets wil be sucked dry, the cubans will fall at home and disperse, and the big oil will come back to buy leases on cents to the dollar…. (No loyal venezuelian know how to valuate, bid and regulate exploration and production.)

    That is why US and others are patiently waiting for the demise of Venezuela.

    Like

  18. Reblogged this on Un D1a en m1 Mente and commented:
    Comparto algo (en inglés) acerca de la certera incertidumbre que vivimos en mi país. Muy bien escrito, a mi parecer. Créditos a la autora del post, Emiliana Duarte.

    Like

  19. Thanks once again for your support but y’all were in a bigger mess back in the day before President Chavez and who said there were not problems and Venezuela is not socialist yet. Alan Woods has a saying and said it many times in Venezuela, to President Chavez and to the contra’s in the bureaucracy – “You can’t make half a revolution” and that’s what we have.

    Now for some Ska music and once again the writer of the article we are posting on is good, I will say that …nice twitter account also and good pic.

    Like

    • “You can’t make half a revolution”= “You must kill off everyone who disagrees with what you do, because otherwise they will throw you out when you’ve fucked everything up.”

      Like

    • Well, don’t really know what a K-Pop video has to do with anything being discussed on this page but…. damn, they are CUTE!

      Like

    • The “Shock Doctrine” was deliberately applied in Venezuela, advocated by certain USA economists, and it was a disaster throughout Latin America. Prices doubled overnight, resulting in a popular uprising, three attempted cough de tagnts, one of which was by Hugo Chavez. Things were indeed worse then. Do I have the history correct?

      Like

  20. Democracy is the certainty that There’s Life after Election Day… and before it.

    In fact that’s the reason they ***invented democracy in the first place*** and the only real reason to have Democracy. To insure that administrations change without having to lop off heads.

    Beware of inferior, fascist- and communist-inspired imitations. Specially those that spout the utter hogwash about ***The Will of the People*** which means absolutely nothing, one party-states and winner-takes-all, loser-loses-all systems.

    Democracy, missing completely from Venezuela since 1999. Everyone is waiting for some kind of unrest, to know who will be the arbitrageur and in what shape they are left after elections. That’s not Democracy. That’s not a Republic. Well, a “Banana” kind thereof, maybe.

    Like

    • “Specially those that spout the utter hogwash about ***The Will of the People*** which means absolutely nothing, one party-states and winner-takes-all, loser-loses-all systems.”

      A very profound point.

      Like

    • The greeks who presumably invented democracy werent all that keen on it , they saw it not as an end in itself but as a means to a goal which they called ‘isonomy´ which is such relationship of equality between rulers and ruled that the former cant abuse the freedoms of the latter . we moderns lost track of this greek piece of wizdom . the greeks felt that ultimately all systems including democracy became corrupted and turned abusive !! but they understood very well the corrupting influence of too much power!!

      Like

        • Quite right Gordo , Plato believed only philosophers should rule because their superior wisdom made them better rulers than ordinary people , again not the notion of someone who held democracy as the highest political principal . Most ancient philosophers where elitists , but theirs was an intellectual elitism not a plutocratic elitism and a rather austere one at that!

          Like

  23. Watch with Maduro this awkward military ceremony shooting off a canon at 4:30 pm each day to celebrate the announcement of Chavez death. Not the death, just the announcement.

    A Boy Scout troop would be better synchronized, better uniformed, and have a canon that does more than go poof. Lots of yelling for the dead commandante like they were trying to wake up Chavez. Maduro says it was bonita.

    Anybody watching must wonder if this is the best the Vzla military can do?

    Like

    • nigga please, you really think that’s the best Vzlan military can do?? no, no… behold the glorious bolivarian forces at their absolute best:

      Like

      • What beach would they possibly ever storm? Only an army invading someone storms a beach, the great respecter of sovereignty Venezuela would never invade anyone.

        They instead should practice building tunnels like the North Vietnamese, hiding from drones and making traps for the marines.

        Like

    • Lol that was hysterically funny. Seems like it could have been a Monty Python skit or something like that, sadly they were serious.

      Like

    • Lol that was hysterically funny. Seems like it could have been a Monty Python skit or something like that,, sadly they were serious.

      Like

      • Come on, these guys are making a mockery of military ceremony! Especially that 300 lb fighting man who is just standing about.

        That is what a real military ceremony looks like. Ever since Indian congress gave into the Muslims and allowed Pakistan to be created they’ve been performing this. Venezuelan army should take some tips!

        Like

    • The first thought that occurred to me was, “Is this the Venezuelan version of The Village People, but they’re all a cross (jajaja!) between Boy Scouts and goose-stepping Nazis?

      Like

  24. My greatest concern is that if the Venezuela military needs to prove itself, they will not fight against another country but will attack unarmed Venezuelan civilians. I would not put it past Maduro for him to celebrate and reward soldiers for killing civilians. Hell, Maduro just had a special ceremony for the diplomats evicted from the U.S.

    Like

  26. Well being an internationalist, I do try to keep up with not just politic’s but music, art and food.
    They do have great Venezuelan hamburgers in Doral though and I’m sorry if I disappoint.
    So here is Ska-P, the Spanish anarchist ska-punk band and please except the Mea Culpa> not bad for an ex-Catholic and blame the nuns they made me more of a human being growing up in DC..

    Like

    • Cort, you’ve finally convinced me. Life is good in Venezuela. When are you going to go live there and take advantage of all those maquetas, unfinished projects, and 96% agua potable? Btw, are you sure you weren’t brought up under the Catholic education system in Boston, rather than in D.C. (Father what’s-his-name, now retired/ living in the Vatican)?

      Like

    • Apparently cort doesn’t know those teleferico don’t run, I went to Merida hoping to get on it, I was told its been broken for a few years now….

      Like

  27. This post really shows the struggles of anybody trying to aspire to something like middle class. For a lot of the underclass, the benefits of Chavez still carry weight, and for many it can make up for parts of the problems, for others the overall concolusion is positive. A lot of people has also gotten filthy rich in the revolutionary chaos, both previously rich. And newly rich. But the middle class is really under extinction. What is 3000sf for an academically educated family provider reaching for a middle class life style? Either you are rich, or hope for the government to help you…

    Like

  28. Emiliana fantastic post! During twelve years I I have been treating patients of all walks of life, from all the political spectrum who have somatized in every which way the uncertainties of getting home safely, of planning a life, a vacation, a project… Everything is frozen in the parenthesis of “vamos a ver que pasa”y de los “depende de”. Jose Luis Vetencourt, an eminent psychologist once said that we were suffering the effects of the phsychology of war. In our case being more insidious and subliminal because we don’t see/hear the bombs. But the dangers and the anxiety of not knowing what comes next increasingly during 14 loooooong years is causing all kinds of havoc in our ohysical & emotional lives. Including chavistas. From fractured molars to ear infarcts… You name it. Nobody escapes from living in constant fear of losing their lives, their job, la bequita, making ends meet. Nobody…

    Like

  29. It’s funny when the Chavernment babbles about the “destabilization attempts of los lacayos del imperio”. What that f**k is supposed to be destabilized if there’s nothing stable to begin with?

    And yet the people just quietly endure this constant and never-ending sozobra. If we find ourselves inside a hole with s**t up to our necks and the level increases, we just stand on our toes and hope it stops going up…

    Awesome post, Emiliana :)

    Like

  31. Cool post! Couldn’t describe better what’s life for Venezuelans.

    Some people that had to cancel wedding celebrations just got married in Church and took off to their honey moons.

    Like

  33. Hello Emiliana,

    I just wanted to point out something which, strangely, all of the other commenters seem to have missed: Most people in Caracas would answer to your post with something like “Are you sure we live in the same city?” and most Venezuelans would ask whether life is really that good and simple in Caracas. Don’t take this as an offense, these are the kind of problems my friends have too, and mine are probably even simpler, but they are far from the issues of the great majority of caraqueños. Look around. Many live in crumbling houses, in crumbling neighbourhoods, while attending crumbling institutions. Few can afford a wedding party anywhere else but in their own house. Very very few can afford a honeymoon too far from Caracas (the “unpostponable” part hints that it’s not even in the country), or any honeymoon whatsoever. Most people in Caracas cannot afford a car. Most people in Caracas do not have dollars. Many, if not most, are missing basic resources like water and electricity for days at a time, and can barely afford the little food they can find in supermarkets. Most rely on questionable sources of healthcare. Most of the smartest students in Caracas cannot afford applying to grad school abroad, or to even stay for grad school at a public university. Those are the average caraqueños, and I feel a little disappointed that they are underrepresented in this type of discussion. I am sure you understand the demographics of your city, and I am sure you know your sample is not representative of its population, but nobody else pointed these things out so I felt that I had to do it.

    Like

    • Thank you for your comment, no offense taken. Of course I understand that Venezuelans have far greater problems than having to cancel a trip or not being able to plan a wedding (or buy ingredients for cake, for that matter). It would be the understatement of the century to say that Venezuelans face deep and grave issues when it comes to all facets of life, from meeting basic needs to assuring we don´t become victims of crime. But precisely BECAUSE we have so many urgent problems, so often in this country we all fall into the trap of belittling, or taking for granted, issues like uncertainty, which could be considered “simple” relative to larger struggles such as lack of health care or housing, or worse yet, exclusive complaints of a whiny middle-class. But the truth is, living in a constant state of inertia is just as big a social problem, to say nothing of the psychological implications it has on us. The point of the story was to illustrate that the ability to plan and make decisions based on anticipated outcomes has become a luxury in Venezuela, and I don´t think that´s normal. Whether or not the examples I used resonate immediately with a certain sector of the population is, I think, besides the point. You can substitute the “unpostponable honeymoon” with “going to get your pension from the seguro social” if you´d like, or “planning for grad school” with “saving up to add a platabanda to your ranchito.” I can assure you, the frustrations inherent in not being able to plan are universal. The state of uncertainty to which we Venezuelans have become accustomed does not discriminate between social classes or political affiliations. And that is what I consider tragic, that we have come to tolerate uncertainty as a way of life.

      Like

  34. What we must not forget is that this kind of uncertainty didnt always exist,, that life in the past was more manageable , more predictable,, you had moments of uncertainty but uncertainty wasnt as constant and all pervading as it has become now . those stories which Emiliana describes didnt happen 20 years ago or 30 years ago, Uncertainty has grown and spread making more and more lives close to unlivable . Finding medicines for your sick child , or a motor part for your broken down car , or letting your children go to a party ,didnt fill you with fear and dread or frustration . If the government was bad you trusted that next time arround a new better would be elected , no one viciously insulted you , degraded you , threatened you with violence if your didnt belong to the government party. You never felt hated or that your rulers felt you deserved to be hated and asked its followers to hate you. You could own property honestly earned and not fear that it would be confiscated at the whim of a despotic regime . Venezuelan society was disfunctional but you always hoped that little by little institutions would improve their operation and that eventually we would become a decent country to live in . Now thats all gone , you see crazed ignorant raving people holding the reins of power as if they never could let go of them , the whole infrastructure of civilized life is tumbling down in pieces: roads, bridges , electricity , gas , courts , laws , heavy industry , light industry nothing works as it should . Honestly can anyone say that peoples lives are more certain now that they used to be before Chavez ??.Why do young people leave the country?, why is there a growing population of expatriate venezuelans like many that write in this post ? is it because life has become better for everyone or just for those who toe the regimes line and which the regime courts to get the electoral support it needs to win elections at the cost of destroying the economy and the future development prospects of the country!!. . .

    Like

  36. An impressive share! I have just forwarded this onto a
    friend who had been doing a little homework on this. And he actually bought me dinner simply because I discovered it for him.
    .. lol. So let me reword this…. Thanks for the
    meal!! But yeah, thanx for spending the time to talk about this issue here on your web page.

    Like

Comments are closed.