Japi's Blog

Let's hand Venezuela over to the educated

The recent events taking place in Venezuela have saddened me because of the loss of life and so many injured.  These events have also awed me as I've watched students stand up and have a voice in a country run by corrupt and tyrannical regime.

I've seen videos, photos, read blogposts and received emails related to everything that's happened and happening.  It's been scary to read and watch, but inspiring.  Of the emails I've received, my favorite is one sent to me by my father in Barinitas.  It was originally written by Ciro Cabrera and I've translated it below. 

It's a bit idealistic, but it's better (MUCH BETTER) than what the Venezuelans have right now:

Here's the original text in Spanish

==============

Everything we need to re-found a nation capable of uniting us to victory can be found In the (Venezuelan) Universities, our students and our professors.

We must allow our students to stay pure... without contaminating them!

In fact, I believe that if all this (the demonstrations against the closing of RCTV) ends up with Chavez stepping down, the professors and students from all over the country should take the reins of the government.  Lay down a new foundation of integrity since they represent the country's ALMA MATER.

It would be a blessing, for example, if all the economy schools in our universities took care of Venezuelans needs.

All the law schools took care of the justice we need.

All the medical, dental and pharmacy schools took care of our health needs.

All the engineering schools took care of our needs for shelter, infrastructure, agriculture, mining, traditional and alternative energy sources.

Our universities have everything.  And they are interconnected.

All the schools are specialized in urgent and important matters.  (attended by) Human beings who are pure and idealistic before being thrown into the machine that crushes moral and intelligence called the Venezuelan political parties.

The politicians and revolutionaries could take care of the local and municipal governments, during which time they should cleanse themselves and open their eyes to democracy.  Since not a single one of them is clean or has their eyes open.

Congress and Executive power in the hands of pure university students.

What do you think?

Ciro Cabrera

rctv

RCTV Cerrada Por Tirano (Venezuelan TV Station Closed by Tyrant)

As of last night (May 27, 2007), one of the most popular television stations in all of Venezuela was shut down by President Hugo Chavez and his socialist machine.  Flickr is replete with images showing the events of the last few days... just search for RCTV (Radio Caracas Television) and you will find several hundred images showing the demonstrations happening all over Venezuela opposing the closure as well as supporting freedom of speech (libertad de expresion). 

YouTube has over 8,000 videos when you search for RCTV.  My twitter account has numerous mentions of coming or going to these demonstrations.  Those who returned speak of the unity being displayed and the horrible treatment of the demonstrators by police and military.  Another terrible showing of freedoms being taken away.

RCTV has been the most popular television station among the poor in Venezuela.  In its 50+ years of existence, the programs produced by RCTV were well followed by the masses in the lower economic levels.  Now here come Hugo "freaking" Chavez, who has talked for years about helping the poor and finding ways of improving the lives of the citizens in Venezuela's lower classes, and shuts down one of their most popular entertainment avenues... it's irony in the real world!

Venezuela's poor population has increased in each of the years Chavez has been in power (as described in Andres Oppenheimer's latest book "Cuentos Chinos").  Oppenheimer also explains how the crime rate has dramatically increased in the same time frame.  Chavez has done an amazing job of fooling his followers into thinking that he has helped or is helping those who most need it.  When in fact, the country is falling deeper into debt and chaos as the middle class (generally the foundation of any healthy economy) continues to dwindle in size.

I feel very sad observing how my beautiful Venezuela has advanced a path of self-destruction in the last 10 years.  Now, I must confess that when Chavez first won the Presidency, I was very happy.  The political system that Venezuela had been stuck with since 1958 (when dictator Perez Jimenez was overthrown) was a fake democracy driven by corrupt greed.  I was pleased to see a change and was enthusiastic about the opportunity Chavez had of uniting the country and turning Venezuela into a flourishing nation to enter the new millennium.

It was utterly disappointing to observe how Chavez polarized the nation, ran the economy to the ground and destroyed every basic freedom Venezuelans had earned. 

I am still hopeful that someday Venezuelans everywhere will wake up and fight against such tyranny.  Unfortunately, many of us who are not living in Venezuela, are cowards and choose to live a more comfortable life (I include myself in this group).  And we may mentally excuse ourselves by stating that we must take care of our families and keep them safe.... but to this I say, what if Gandhi or Simon Bolivar or George Washington or any other leader the world has seen to lead whole nations out of tyranny had taken this path?  What would the world look like today if people like these didn't exist? 

All this said, I still don't convince myself to take the very dangerous step of being in Venezuela and help my fellow countrymen during such a difficult time in history. 

I hope to inspire someone who reads this to take those brave steps that I dare not take.  I will do my part of putting my small spotlight on the situation as it unfolds.

Thank you.

rctv

So glad to have Hunter Pence in the bigs!

Last year I blogged about how the Houston Astros needed to bring Hunter Pence up from their AA club, Corpus Christi Hooks.  In my opnion, if they would have brought him up... he would have helped them win at least one extra game (probably more) and that is all they needed to get into the playoffs.  But that's history.

This year, the Astros were smart enough to invite Pence to their spring training where he hit like a monster and played great outfield.  However, the Astros felt he needed a little AAA level experience.  He went to the AAA Round Rock Express where he continued his torrid pace.  At the same time, the Astros bats got off to a pretty bad start to the season.  I was very happy when they finally brought Hunter to the bigs on April 28.  He has done extremely well since that day. 

Hunter even had a streak of 7 straight at bats with a hit (in two games).  He is currenty hitting .348 with 21 singles, 5 doubles, 2 triples, 4 homeruns and 15 RBI's.  He has made several great plays in the huge and strange Minute Maid outfield. 

The intangibles he brings to the Astros are even more exciting, because he has so much enthusiasm that it is getting the other players pumped.  He has shown great respect for the game - which to me is extremely important.  Hunter is a welcome sight in a year that could be Craig Biggio's last.  Hunter will definitely help to carry the torch for Biggio to keep the Astros a class organization for many years to come.  A core group made up of Lance Berkman, Roy Oswalt, Carlos Lee, Brandon Bakke (currently on disabled list), Adam Everett and Hunter Pence will surely bring us close to winning it all soon!  Let's keep hoping.

Bloggers in Venezuela

I was pleasantly surprised this past week as I was twittering, to find a well organized blogging community in Venezuela.  I'm surprised by it because of the results shown in the last few elections.  My expectation was that the bloggers had either been quieted by the government or never really existed.  I don't really have any other reason for my surprise, maybe that just shows my ignorance of social behavior.

Having such a large and well-organized blogger community in countries (such as Venezuela) where human rights and injustice is an every-day thing is extremely important.  Giving individuals a voice creates a strong (much louder) voice in unison against an unjust system and eventually helps to turn the tide in the favor of a more just society.  It takes time, but it has to start one letter, one word, one voice at a time.

Here are the bloggers I've met so far.  Most of them are either in Venezuela or from Venezuela... but there are some from Chile, Spain, Colombia and Mexico.  Their themes range from political to sensual to humorous and everything in between.  Most of them are in Spanish (with some English mixed in sometimes).  If you read Spanish, I hope you enjoy these:

1.  Adrian Cachinero Vasiljevic in Madrid, Spain: http://gozkino.com/ (English)

2.  Adriana in Caracas, Venezuela: http://www.cosascotidianas.com/

3.  Adriana Gutierrez in Barquisimeto, Venezuela: http://adrigutierrez.blogspot.com/

4.  Aimee in Caracas: http://bellaaimee.blogspot.com/

5.  Alams Padron in Caracas: http://www.fotoparada.com/

6.  Anabelle in Bogota, Colombia: http://www.huellaspyp.com/

7.  Belkis Araque in Barquisimeto: http://belkisaraque.blogspot.com/

8.  Bombom in Caracas: http://www.bombom.com.ve/blog/

9.  Calendula in Puerto Ordaz, Venezuela: http://calendula.loquesea.org/

10. Cecilia in Madrid: http://laceci.blogspot.com/

11. Depeco in Caracas: http://depeco.blogspot.com/

12. Divina Cereza in Caracas: http://www.impulsosysentidos.com/

13. Edelweiss in Barquisimeto: http://edelweissvoice.wordpress.com/

14. La Mariposa Hily in Barquisimeto: http://mariposahippie.blogspot.com/

15. Francys Geisse Leon, a Venezuelan (Barquisimeto) in Florida:  http://francyskadas.wordpress.com/

16. Geraldine Macias in Mexico City: http://sombrasydebrayes.blogspot.com/

17. Cleo in Maracay, Venezuela: http://cleo285.blogspot.com/

18. Hugo Londoño in Caracas: http://www.qtpd.com/blog/

19. Ira1 in Caracas: http://unpocotocon.blogspot.com/

20. Karelia in Barquisimeto: http://explikme.com/

21. Khabiria in Caracas: http://www.gorditalinda.com/

22. Florecita Yucateca in Mexico City: http://www.florecitayucateca.com/

23. Mariana in Argentina: http://serenatadiurna.blogspot.com/

24. Marole (from Maracay) but lives in Florida: http://marole.blogspot.com/

25. Miguel Angel in Villahermosa, Mexico: http://webmaac.blogspot.com/

26. Minelia "La Tati" Manrique (from Maracay) lives in Miami: http://www.latati.com/blog/

27. Nairoby Prato from Barquisimeto: http://maenairo.blogspot.com/

28. Naky Soto in Caracas: http://www.zaperoqueando.blogspot.com/

29. Nany Leon in Caracas: http://www.nanynany.com/blog/

30. Rosa Jimenez Cano in Madrid: http://www.ociocritico.com/oc/wp/

31. Wari in Caracas: http://sinrazonaparente.blogspot.com/

32. Yiyo in Caracas: http://www.deafindieelephants.com/ (English and Spanish)

This list includes only the ones in my Twitter account.  If you visit their Web sites, you will see blogrolls that include many others.  A lot of these bloggers also have Flickr accounts, they plan meet-ups and are involved in their communities. 

Two things that jumped out at me when I created this list:

1. 28 out of the 32 bloggers are women
2. 7 out of the 32 bloggers are from (or live in) Barquisimeto, Venezuela.  Barquisimeto has less than half the population of Caracas.

Both of these revelations may just be a product of the blogger community which I've encountered, but I found them interesting just the same.

If you know of other Venezuelan or Spanish-Speaking bloggers, please post a comment with their info and I will add them to the list.

Si conoces algun bloggero Venezolano o de habla hispana que debe ser incluida(o) en este listado, enviame su informacion en los comentarios abajo y lo(s) agrego a al listado. Gracias.