Posted on 10/01/2003 3:33:48 PM PDT by Tailgunner Joe
The fundamental reason given by the group now in power to go ahead with a “revolution” was the poverty suffered by the bulk of the population, while the few rich enjoyed wonderful homes, luxury cars, jewels and exotic foods.
This was not fair, said the “revolutionaries” ... this is why, in 1992, they tried twice to overthrow the democratically-elected government. They failed, but some 200 Venezuelans died, mostly poor and middle class. They did not die fighting on the side of the revolution but mostly as innocent bystanders or fighting against it. The leader of the rebels went to prison and the next democratic President, Rafael Caldera, let him out, thinking that he had learned his lesson.
After five years of Hugo Chavez' Presidency, the insurgent that failed ... the one who caused 200 innocent deaths in 1992 ... the one who was set free by Caldera and later became our elected President ... living conditions of the poor have certainly changed ... for the worse.
Today the poor are poorer, the children abandoned in the streets are more numerous, the unemployed are reaching historically record highs and crime is overpowering. Venezuelans are more impoverished now than only five years ago. Well, almost all Venezuelans. Because, there are some Venezuelans who never had it so good.
Who are they? Think hard… Yes, the ones in power.
Some days ago, a “minor” incident (as it was called) was half hidden from the press. A 34-year-old man ... father of two children aged 2 and 4 ... was shot dead by the bodyguards of a lady riding in her Mercedes Benz car. The bodyguards, it seems, shot the man, because he tried to steal something from the lady. A jewel, her watch, her purse, who knows… The brief newspaper report does not say.
During the modest funeral of the deceased, a few details emerged ... he was a street vendor, a modest buhonero. He had been a member of a group invading Edificio Los Andes (a private building in the Sabana Grande District of Caracas), under the protection of the government. This man was not an enemy of the revolution. He seemed to be a friend of the revolution. Yet, he was unemployed, he was under stress and he decided to take something from the rich, from the people that, according to President Chavez, had taken from him the wealth that rightly belonged to him. So… he tried to get back what was his… and he found death.
This is a case that apparently reinforces the reasons why there had to be a revolution against the oligarchs, against those who had all the money while the poor had nothing. Yes, the lady in the Mercedes Benz was clearly another oligarch ... she had jewels and she had money ... she had a Mercedes Benz and bodyguards ... she had privileges that the Venezuelan poor could never have. People like her and her family (the poor felt) had surely deprived them of the most basic needs ... there was nothing wrong with getting even ... but there was something the poor man did not know.
The lady owning the Mercedes Benz ... the lady he tried to mug ... the “oligarch” he tried to get even with, was Mrs. Gisela Rangel ... the daughter of the Vice President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, the Honorable Jose Vicente Rangel. The poor man tried to steal from the toughest member of the rich ... the new rich.
This is a true story … it suggests to me that, sometimes, a “revolution” is used by the not so pure of heart simply to become a member of the class they profess to despise … these people have merely climbed on the shoulders of the poor in order to be able to breathe the clean air of affluence. By doing so, they condemn the poor to stay below…
So, what else is new?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.