What is happening in Venezuela?

by Danielle Mc Mahon

I must admit, before moving to Mexico I was not terribly politically aware. I paid attention when I had to vote and weighed up all the options. I had a general idea of the world politics but I was not an avid follower or somebody who really engaged in detailed political debates. It was not until I moved to Mexico and I saw the amount of corruption happening at the time of the 2012 presidential elections that I started to pay more attention to politics, more than slightly appalled by the way some countries in the world manipulated their people with regards to politics.
Since the death of Hugo Chavez last March, Venezuela has gone into decline, culminating in the riots which took place on the streets of the major Venezuelan cities this month. Before his death in March, Chavez had named Nicolás Maduro as his desired successor. Maduro was elected as president and Venezuelans have been suffering ever since. Maduro is said to lack the charisma of his predecessor as well as lacking the skills which constitute an impressive orator.
Venezuela is a country which has, what can only be described as a turbulent history. One of economic peaks and depressions, political coups, riots on the streets and since 1998 a socialist regime in operation.
This turbulence began in 1974 when a peak in the economy began to decline because of oil prices. Two consecutive presidents were jailed for corruption and embezzlement as Chavez staged a failed coup and was sentences to to years in jail.
In 1998 Hugo Chavez came to power with a socialist ideology promising to reduce poverty and corruption. Chavez' decision to appoint a new board of directors to Petroleos de Venezuela in 2002 saw people take to the streets in protest, his land reform in 2005 was implemented to eliminate large estates in Venezuela  with the aim of distributing this land among the Venezuelan population. In 2006 he was elected as president for a third term followed in 2007 by the nationalisation of key companies in Venezuela. His referendum for a socialist revolution was defeated that same year.
On the 5th of March 2013 Chavez passed away following a battle with cancer. The country of Venezuela went into a period of National mourning as Maduro stepped up to take the place of Chavez.
In October 2013 is became apparent that people were not particularly pleased with Maduro as president. People were suffering from shortages of basic goods such as milk, flour and other basics needed for cooking. Around this time Maduro begins to hit out at America as he claims that officials are trying to sabotage him. As you can imagine this has led to there being a rather tense atmosphere in Venezuela as the people become restless and are clearly unhappy.
The 12th of February 2014 marked National Youth Day in Venezuela. And so the trouble begins.
As students took to the streets in peaceful process, the media, which is heavily censored and controlled by the government, showed an image of obedient youths celebrating as their president made a speech about their strength and obedience as they follow his socialist movement. Later that day riots broke out, rumoured to have been started by opposition leader Leoplodo Lopez. Three youths were killed and the media in Venezuela did not broadcast this.
Young people took to the social networks which were quickly censored also as images were banned from the likes of twitter effectively blocking the outside word out.
Opposition leader Lopez was arrested last night as unrest continues on the streets of the major cities and thousands of citizens, fighting for the right to freedom of speech, an end corruption and to violence on Venezuelan streets,  are being injured by police as they through tears gas and hit back at the protesters.
As I said before I am not a huge fan of politics and I am not entirely sure about how well socialism works in some countries. I do agree with some of the basic principals of socialism and I do believe that it really does depend on the person who is running the show.
I also believe that sometimes socialism can be too much like striving to creative a Utopian society, of sorts. With regards to this I must say that this leads to a number of negative things; hunger for power, greed and discontent among the people.
 Venezuelans are suffering this month at the hands of their ruler as he calls protesters fascists and expels US officials from the country I think it is quite clear that something is not right, that perhaps Mr Maduro has become a little power hunger and by the sounds of it slightly paranoid.
I feel for the Venezuelan people who are fighting for what they believe in and who are being beaten down because of it. There were an estimated 25,000 homicides in Venezuela last year, people are living with milk, flour, toilet paper. Obviously something has to be done but when the government is controlling all media which comes in and goes out of the country what can be done.
I am writing this blog to support those who are fighting for what the believe in, for those who seek the freedom of speech, freedom to walk through the streets without fearing violence, for those who wish to live in country where corruption no longer exists. Some of these requests may seem unrealistic for some but I believe in the power of hope and strength, so this is for Venezuelans young and old who are fighting for the basic human rights and happiness.


Link to a video created by a young Venezuelan living in America, interesting watch:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=EFS6cP9auDc