Dear Mr. Chavez,
I am not sure where to start. You see, I lived in your unbelievable country for 14 months. I had the opportunity to travel to the amazing islands, beaches, to Angel falls; one of the natural wonders of the world. A country with green waves of forest, a country with beaches untouched and charismatic, a country with people who love to dance, sing and hope for a better time. A country I believe has the potential to be the Thailand and Maldives of the Western hemisphere, and yet, I hugely respect you not wanting to share this because you want Venezuela to be for Venezuelans and that is something that many of the westernized countries I have lived in, including my own, could learn from.
I worked with the most elitist and also with many of your supporters. Working at Escuela Campo Alegre, I had the opportunity to meet some of the most educated and professional people I have met in the field of education. Completing the project "Antes del fin," I worked with pilots, sociologists, photographers, artists, all who have contributed and will contribute more to your country. I dated a Chavista who idolized your views like you were a God, so much that I started to see some of them as potential truths for a better world, in ways.
I was fortunate enough to live in a posh area of Caracas, surrounded by green and beautiful housing. On the contrary, I was lucky enough to travel into the barrios to watch theatre and see how the other side lives. I am confident that you are a good influence on the people in the barrios. Their lives seemed comfortable and not much different from mine in Las Mercedes, but still something lingered. I ran through neighborhoods my colleagues were scared of during the half marathon. I regularly took public transportation both buses and the metro and walked around during the day.
And yet, I stand here wishing that it had been the other man who was elected. Why you might ask, if you have experienced some of the wonders of Venezuela? And why, if you hold socialist principles like you have stated?
The thing is, I was terrified. I was unconfident to let someone, I wanted to employ, a way to help out the underprivileged in your country, clean my house, because I felt that they would steal from me. And both times, they did. On top of this, I was robbed on the street for a $20 phone. If these were only my stories, you could say I was paranoid or stereotyping a country, but the horrors I heard exceed any of any other countries I have lived in or my friends have lived in. Double robberies within hours on the walk to work, babies lives being threatened, airport kidnappings, murders at pharmacies. And it is not okay that people live in fear; preferring to get in a taxi with someone who has been drinking, then a taxi driver who might kidnap them. It is not alright that I was terrified to take out my phone in public in fear that anyone might come up to me on the street and take it away. I was frustrated for my Spanish friend who could not take her son out for a walk during the day because another friend´s baby was held at gunpoint. This is not how people live; socialism or not. This is not what we "humans" call living.
They say you have 6 more years. It is your time to make Venezuela for Venezuelans. That means making it a place where people can take back the streets, take back the night and demonstrate everything that their country is to the world.
So, Mr. Chavez, I challenge you to rise to the occasion and make it the place people want to call home. You have a long way to go. 45% of your country does not believe you can do it.
For them and the rest of the world, I do hope you can.
Saludos,
Heather Onderick
I am not sure where to start. You see, I lived in your unbelievable country for 14 months. I had the opportunity to travel to the amazing islands, beaches, to Angel falls; one of the natural wonders of the world. A country with green waves of forest, a country with beaches untouched and charismatic, a country with people who love to dance, sing and hope for a better time. A country I believe has the potential to be the Thailand and Maldives of the Western hemisphere, and yet, I hugely respect you not wanting to share this because you want Venezuela to be for Venezuelans and that is something that many of the westernized countries I have lived in, including my own, could learn from.
I worked with the most elitist and also with many of your supporters. Working at Escuela Campo Alegre, I had the opportunity to meet some of the most educated and professional people I have met in the field of education. Completing the project "Antes del fin," I worked with pilots, sociologists, photographers, artists, all who have contributed and will contribute more to your country. I dated a Chavista who idolized your views like you were a God, so much that I started to see some of them as potential truths for a better world, in ways.
I was fortunate enough to live in a posh area of Caracas, surrounded by green and beautiful housing. On the contrary, I was lucky enough to travel into the barrios to watch theatre and see how the other side lives. I am confident that you are a good influence on the people in the barrios. Their lives seemed comfortable and not much different from mine in Las Mercedes, but still something lingered. I ran through neighborhoods my colleagues were scared of during the half marathon. I regularly took public transportation both buses and the metro and walked around during the day.
And yet, I stand here wishing that it had been the other man who was elected. Why you might ask, if you have experienced some of the wonders of Venezuela? And why, if you hold socialist principles like you have stated?
The thing is, I was terrified. I was unconfident to let someone, I wanted to employ, a way to help out the underprivileged in your country, clean my house, because I felt that they would steal from me. And both times, they did. On top of this, I was robbed on the street for a $20 phone. If these were only my stories, you could say I was paranoid or stereotyping a country, but the horrors I heard exceed any of any other countries I have lived in or my friends have lived in. Double robberies within hours on the walk to work, babies lives being threatened, airport kidnappings, murders at pharmacies. And it is not okay that people live in fear; preferring to get in a taxi with someone who has been drinking, then a taxi driver who might kidnap them. It is not alright that I was terrified to take out my phone in public in fear that anyone might come up to me on the street and take it away. I was frustrated for my Spanish friend who could not take her son out for a walk during the day because another friend´s baby was held at gunpoint. This is not how people live; socialism or not. This is not what we "humans" call living.
They say you have 6 more years. It is your time to make Venezuela for Venezuelans. That means making it a place where people can take back the streets, take back the night and demonstrate everything that their country is to the world.
So, Mr. Chavez, I challenge you to rise to the occasion and make it the place people want to call home. You have a long way to go. 45% of your country does not believe you can do it.
For them and the rest of the world, I do hope you can.
Saludos,
Heather Onderick
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