El Chavista

Our host and his girlfriend are “Chavistas”, supporters of Chavez. Not from the beginning. But since the “Paro Petrolero”. That was in 2002, when the opponents of Chavez had carried out a strike in the oil industry. Many companies went bankrupt at that time, he and his girlfriend were laid off. His siblings also became unemployed. The only source of income at that time was the pension for all, introduced by Chavez. So he, his 3 brothers and his mother could survive. He is still grateful to Chavez for that. Since then he has been working in the IT department of the parliament.


It is not true that everyone who works in the public sector is a Chavez supporter. More than 60% of the employees of the parliament are Chavez opponents. He then criticized the one-sided information policy of the opposition press and television, which is largely in the hands of the opposition. Of course there is still a lot to do, and Chavez also makes mistakes, but he at least admits to them, informs about them and then corrects them. In general, he is the first president “to touch”, who informs the population. With “Halo Presidente”, the 5-hour broadcast every Sunday, in which Hugo Chavez usually speaks personally, he informs in detail about his activities and the results.


It occurs to me that I have often been positively surprised at how often precise figures are given in articles and publications, but also on signs. It does not say: 30,000 apartments will be built, but 31,177 apartments.


What he likes about Chavez is that he has put an end to real estate fraud. If you wanted to buy or build an apartment in Caracas, you had to pay a lot of money. Nothing happened. With this money then others but not the own dwelling were started, in order to show these to new potential customers, so that these also buy. After two years of waiting, the price was increased. Allegedly because of Inlation, increase in price of the building materials etc. With it Chavez made conclusion. He simply confiscated the building materials and partially expropriated the builders. Now they can’t afford to do anything so mean anymore.


The daily routine of our friend starts at half past five in the morning, he leaves the house at half past six to take the metro to work. He has to change trains twice, it’s more than an hour’s ride. In the evening, like most Caraceños, he is back home at six. Eat, watch TV, go to bed. On weekends he goes to the mountains or to the nearby sea. Out of the stinking and noisy juggernaut.