The referendum
Trip Start
Nov 29, 2007
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12
Trip End
Dec 30, 2007
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Merida,
Venezuela
Thursday, December 6, 2007
We arrived in Merida at 6 am on the morning of the big referendum. Merida is probably not the place that cautious officialdom would recommend at that time, because it is a university town and there have been violent protests in the past. It was very tranquil when we got there and has been so ever since.
On the way to Coro the balance of the slogans changed, with 'no' starting to catch up with 'si' and there were even some large banners hung above the road with statements like 'without fear we CAN vote no'. Interesting choice of words (the PODEMOS of 'can' is also an acronym of the opposition). There were no banners in Merida and the whole campaign seems less organised. Both parties seem to have restricted themselves to graffiti on walls, which will no doubt remain for years. (There are still campaign posters around for last year's unsuccessful presidential candidate.)
We spent the day wandering around town and trying to organise trips to the local attractions and Merida was very quiet. One tour agency declined to promise any trips at all because the future was so uncertain, but others seemed untroubled. It appears that the whole country was peaceful, a fact that drew international comment and congratulations from organisations such as the EU. That this continued after the referendum is no doubt due to the result. The fractured opposition narrowly won its first vote since Chavez came to power in 1998. The margin was just 1.4%, and 56% of the country voted.
Si con Chavez
I had thought that Chavez would not be too concerned by the result, having another six years in power to get his reforms through, but perhaps I was wrong in this. My impression of the campaign was that it was about Chavez. You voted 'si' with Chavez, or 'no'. It was his first electoral defeat, and he received something over 3m less votes than he obtained in last year's presidential election.To his credit, Chavez accepted the result, although he commented that this showed that Venezuela was democratic and that he was not a dictator, which most democratic politicians do not feel the need to assert. That depends on your critics though I guess. As best I can work it out, he said that he made a mistake in his timing and that the country was not yet ready for socialism, which to me has echoes of revolutionary van-guards. But that comment underscores the point about this referendum - Chavez himself talks about it as a vital step in the revolution to a socialist state, and its defeat is significant beyond the symbolism. The United States seems to have commented undiplomatically that the result was a 'good omen'. As to what it was an omen of, was left unstated.
I haven't followed the campaign as closely as I would have liked. The most interesting piece that I have read in the local media was a day or two after the result was announced. It was saying that generations to come would celebrate this day as the day when 'valoroso' Venezuelans said 'no' to things like indefinite reelection and the confiscation of private property. I've heard a lot about control of the media, but you can obviously slip the occasional hostile piece through.
