We didn’t had a clue about it. Until the chancellor appeared on TV announcing the president was ill and he had to face an emergency surgery. Nothing extraordinary so far, every single specimen of the human race gets sick, yes, even presidents. But then we got the last part of the line “an emergency surgery in Cuba” – In Cuba?. We got it, he was there when the symptoms aroused so if the surgery was a must and coming back to Venezuela for the procedure was dangerous; it was logical that he stayed in Cuba for the surgery. But then, after the surgery and now the danger is over, a long recovery period was announced, so long that we don’t even know when it is going to end. And our president is going to spend all that time not in Venezuela, not resting at the Government palace but... in Cuba. What the f...? Did we suddenly were left without a president? A well known opposition deputee: Maria Corina Machado; asked herself the same question. She reminded the assembly that our Constitution does not allow a president to stay abroad for an indifinite period (no exceptions); neither it does allow a president to rule us from abroad. Because hey... that’s called... what’s the world? Oh, yes, COLONIALISM. In cases such as this one, our constitution disposes to name the vicepresident, so he can asume temporarily presidential functions while the president can’t.
Amazingly, Maria Corina’ exhortation was rejected and against our Constitution and all laws of this republic; Chavez apparently is allowed to stay in Cuba for as long as he wants and to rule us from there. He has even signed a law there, but to make things more grave; the law appears to be signed in Caracas as he was there when he signed; which he wasn’t. So I don’t know where to start... it’s both a clear, wide, open violation of the Constitution and also a fraud, since the Revolution still keeps the goverment records, laws and decrees as if they were being done in Caracas when everyone knows (they let us know, they show us on TV) that all acts of government are being done in La Habana.
Caracas is not our capital city anymore. It’s La Habana. After 200 years of being an independent and a soveraign country; we are back to our colonialist days. We are a province of Cuba; and King’ Chavez rules from La Habana Palace. Am I the only one feeling back in 1750 or something?
This is one of many double speech and contradictions of the Revolution. The Revolution has always caracterized itself as a patriotic, independent, sovereign movement. But the fact is that they have done this to create two imaginary enemies: Spain and more than anything, United States. Two outside enemies to be blame of all their mistakes. Two figures of speech created to avoid responsabilities. Excuses to aproved laws such as one they aproved back in December on which they prohibit any external funding for civil society organizations which have “political activities”. Excuses to reduce their legitim opponents. To erase all possible transparency and control. To set the path free so they can do anything they want, such as moving the Venezuelan’ government to another country.
Of course, these events have also been the seed to spread many rumours; since the Revolution is never clear on its actions and its intentions, it is not clear why Chavez’ recovery must be indefinite and his diseased has never been extensely explained. There is people who say that Chavez health is worse than what we know. Rumours that go from Cancer to surgery complications. There is also one or two elucubrating with the idea that maybe Chavez he’s not sick at all, but he’s afraid something will happen if he stays in Venezuela. I do not give credit to any of those rumours.
What I know from this story is this: First, Chavez do not trust us. Chavez preffered to have his medical treatment in Cuban hands. We have also heard of many other sensitive issues on which Cubans have their hands on, and Venezuelans are not allowed to enter (for example, Cubans often perfom illlegal spionage of opposition figures in Venezuela). Second, and it is so obvious that I don’t know what I’m writing it. We are not independent. A Revolution that promised us independence, has given us the opposite. This Revolution took a country that could already be ruled by itself and that it had been done so for decades; and give it to Cubans. As simple as that.
Just for the record, I don’t have anything against Cubans. My mother’ family at the beggining of the XX’ century migrate from Spain to America. One part ended up in Cuba, and the other, us, in Venezuela. As things in Cuba got complicated, many of them arrived here in the 60’s. So I feel a certain bond with them. I don’t have anything against cultural influx of any place. I spend my weekends having dinner at an Iranian restaurant, have breakfast at the chinesse market, lunch at a Perubian restaurant, go to concerts organized by the Japanese Embassy, attend French lessons, watch the Salsa Casino dancers at UCV on a Sunday afternoon and lately, I have developed a strange love for Swedish food and Russian movies. I’m not strange. We, Venezuelans, are just like that. We love foreigners, we love strange and new things, we love to discover, we love to taste something we are not used to. We don’t mind hearing the Cuban accent here and there in Caracas.
We only wish we could hear more accents. That all those who once were welcome, would not be overlooked as “lackeys of the empire”. But I have even got the sense that many people here avoid to speak English in public. At the same time, we want to welcome the world, but always be respected by them. To be ruled from somewhere else (either be Cuba or anywhere else) it’s a plain lack of respect for all Venezuelans. It’s a humilliation. It’s a slap on our face. The worse part is that this is not coming only from the Cuban’ regime. It comes from our president itself.