On January 23, 2010, two very different political marches took place. January 23 is an important date in Venezuelan history, as it was the day that the dictatorial regime of Marcos Pérez Jiménez (1952-1958) was overthrown. Fifty-two years have passed since then. Venezuelans from all parts of the country flocked to Caracas to show their support for the Chávez-led government or to march for changes to the current system.
The first of the marches, described as the "Red Tide," was made up of government supporters dressed in red. I was not present at this march, which happened simultaneously in a different part of town than the opposition march, for a few reasons. First, in this march they were celebrating no longer being under a dictatorship and forming part of the current socialist revolution, which aims to rid the country of imperialistic influences (such as the USA). Since I am from the US and tensions tend to be high at events such as these, it was in my best interest to stay far from the march. In addition, I recieved an email from the US Embassy in Caracas advising me to stay away.
I went with a group to observe the other march, a peaceful protest against some of the current government's policies. Unfortunately, many marchers were not permitted to enter Caracas (especially anti-government marchers) and their buses were forced to turn around and return to the city from which they had come. The slogan for this march was "Chávez, you're outta here!", a baseball reference. According to this article, the slogan came from a baseball game in Valencia in which students had it written on a sign and the National Guard confiscated the sign and jailed two of the students. Throughout the march's route, there were quite a few policemen and other security officers, which didn't help the already high tensions (if you're working as a policeman or are in the military, it is assumed that you are a government supporter) in the opposition march. Also, a government helicopter circled over the march a few times, which led to loud protests. I asked a friend why they were yelling at the helicopter and he explained that when there is a pro-government march or event, helicopters are not allowed to fly over them. However, since this was an opposition march, the same rules were not followed.
Policemen along the side of the road watching the march. The morning was extremely hot and humid and the majority of the opposition marchers wore hats and white shirts (representing peace). I was glad to be wearing a neutral green shirt so as not to be considered part of either group.
Since pictures are worth a thousand words, here is the march as seen through my camera.
"As a Venezuelan, I demand decent public services: drinking water, electricity, public hygiene, safety, employment. I demand respect..."
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"Freedom is a right, not an option."
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"This isn't life. Every day more Venezuelans die as victims of violence before the indifference of the government. We want to live in peace!"
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"No more power outages"
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"3 Strikes: lights, water, electricity. President, you're outta here!"
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This video is of a Chávez supporter (the man in the red shirt, waving the red flag) walking through a shopping center right by where the anti-government march ended. I was shocked that this man would intentionally put himself in the middle of this situation. It could've very easily become violent. You can see towards the middle of the video a part where he gets into an argument with an anti-chavista woman.
