I already told my story about the events of April, 11, 2002; but didn't said a word about what happened afterwards.On the comments of the previous entry I found myself in a discussion with a foreigner- Chavez supporter who accuses me of being a Carmona supporter (the man who was named president by the opposition during the days of 11,12 and 13 April, 2002). If he knew some Spanish he could also call me "golpista"(a “couper”), a favorite revolutionary insult. He made those accusations without really knowing my stances and experiences on the topic, of whom I’m ready to show now.
We almost didn't sleep during the night of April 11, 2002. We heard people celebrating that Chavez wasn't the president anymore; we were hearing stories about such a horrible day that seemed to end up not so bad.
First the demonstration and the killings, we still don't know how many people were killed that day, from whatever political side, doesn't matter to me. Then, those mystery hours without opposition TV Channels. Then, Chavez resignation. A few military, and the general Lucas Rincón saying on TV "Se le solicitó al presidente Hugo Chávez Frías su renuncia, la cual aceptó" ("We asked to the president Hugo Chávez Frías his resign, and he accepted"). Then the celebration / remembrance that we attended on the streets. And then the rumors.
We didn't quite understand the events then, and I still don't understand them now. The night of April 11, 2002 was the night of the rumors. The night that the phone in my house rang without stopping, and it brought the craziest stories ever and I will never know how many of them were true, part of the truth, or just plain rumors. "Chavez it’s in jail in La Tortuga" (La Tortuga is a small island of Venezuela), "He is trying to escape to Cuba" and so on.
The day after my mom and I, in one of our sometimes crazy and dangerous acts of curiosity, took the car and went to Caracas downtown just to see how the "situation" was. We heard on the news that you could still see bodies on the streets but we didn't saw a thing. Unusual empty streets and nothing else.
"Maybe we should approach to Miraflores palace" - She said (Miraflores is the government palace). When we were just a few blocks away we heard on the radio the famous "Decreto Carmona". That paper in short words, changed the official name of Venezuela (República Bolivariana de Venezuela) to the old name, the one the country had before Chavez constitution on 1999 (which was República de Venezuela); took the power out of the assembly and so on. Many, many things against democracy, against constitution. A radical anti-revolution act.
My mom and I first smiled, specially when we heard that we went back to our old name, was a quick flashback when we felt for the first time in three years by then that our old identity was being restored. But then, after 10 or 11 points of that paper, my mom and I decided to drive back home: something there just didn't sound right.
We almost didn't sleep during the night of April 11, 2002. We heard people celebrating that Chavez wasn't the president anymore; we were hearing stories about such a horrible day that seemed to end up not so bad.
First the demonstration and the killings, we still don't know how many people were killed that day, from whatever political side, doesn't matter to me. Then, those mystery hours without opposition TV Channels. Then, Chavez resignation. A few military, and the general Lucas Rincón saying on TV "Se le solicitó al presidente Hugo Chávez Frías su renuncia, la cual aceptó" ("We asked to the president Hugo Chávez Frías his resign, and he accepted"). Then the celebration / remembrance that we attended on the streets. And then the rumors.
We didn't quite understand the events then, and I still don't understand them now. The night of April 11, 2002 was the night of the rumors. The night that the phone in my house rang without stopping, and it brought the craziest stories ever and I will never know how many of them were true, part of the truth, or just plain rumors. "Chavez it’s in jail in La Tortuga" (La Tortuga is a small island of Venezuela), "He is trying to escape to Cuba" and so on.
The day after my mom and I, in one of our sometimes crazy and dangerous acts of curiosity, took the car and went to Caracas downtown just to see how the "situation" was. We heard on the news that you could still see bodies on the streets but we didn't saw a thing. Unusual empty streets and nothing else.
"Maybe we should approach to Miraflores palace" - She said (Miraflores is the government palace). When we were just a few blocks away we heard on the radio the famous "Decreto Carmona". That paper in short words, changed the official name of Venezuela (República Bolivariana de Venezuela) to the old name, the one the country had before Chavez constitution on 1999 (which was República de Venezuela); took the power out of the assembly and so on. Many, many things against democracy, against constitution. A radical anti-revolution act.
My mom and I first smiled, specially when we heard that we went back to our old name, was a quick flashback when we felt for the first time in three years by then that our old identity was being restored. But then, after 10 or 11 points of that paper, my mom and I decided to drive back home: something there just didn't sound right.