yep, chavez lost the vote.
been hearing a lot of hoopla from a bunch of people before the vote went through. at the hostel, there were political junkies, activists, and journalists. there were also venezuelans with their own views out and about. not knowing who to believe, here´s what i heard on the street:
those for chavez say:
-he´s a great man, doing great things for the people of this country.
-there is free health care for everyone... even tourists! better get those pectoral implants before i leave.
-those without means can get a free meal. the poor people of this country benefit from chavez´s actions
those against chavez say:
-he´s a dumbass, always saying the same thing over and over.
-he´s a dictator, wants to be president for life...but how many dictators have free elections? and after he lost... he acknowledged this and told his supporters to be calm. doesn´t sound like a dictator to me.
hmmmm... when bush lost the election to gore back in the day, he demanded a recount and somehow won the bid for presidency. it came down to one state, florida.. just so happens his brother was govenor of florida at the time. hmmm... if it were my brother, i would do everything i could to ensure his victory. and not to mention going to war with iraq with farce reasons. aka weapons of mass distruction.
i´ll get off on my bush rant now. for the past month in venezuela, i´ve come across a slew of propaganda. from the spraypaint on buildings and mountain rocks, to the billboards with chavez´s facade, to the television smear ads(my favorite being a cartoon where the devil tricks a citizen into voting a certain way.)
i´d have to say that those for chavez had a lot more $ and people power behind it´s platform. i´m actually suprised that he lost. i´m sure he will come back with the same initiatives soon enough.
take care homies, next week i´ll probably be back with some crazy camping story.
-patrick
3 comments:
Hey, glad to see you are doing well. I haven't sent any e-mail because the f**king thing is acting up. Where is David when you need him. I love your blog and am thinking of setting up one myself. Peggy sends her love and kisses. Take care and behave. Love DAD.
yo patrick this is pretty cool that you were down there when this went down. From what i've read the potentially very beneficial reforms were marginalized in the mainstream media by focus on 'president-for-life' thing. Too bad Chavez had to include that in the referendum, it really made him easy to criticize/turn away possible votes from what i gathe
You are witness to part of a country's history! I'm kinda jealous that you are able to live life carefree with no obligations...but then I read your email about eating spaghetti and OJ from a street vendor and I say 'Nevermind'. HA!
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