Trigger Warning: graphic picture
Venezuela is a beautiful country, right next to Colombia and Brazil. Even when it’s located on the American continent, it is plagued with serious issues such as food shortage, water shortage, medicine shortage, electricity shortage, censorship and a 17-year-old dictatorship. According to the Freedom House Organization, we are the only country besides Cuba from the America that has been categorized (recently, by the way) as non-free:
As you could know, on December 6 of 2015, Venezuela went to the National Assembly Elections and the opposition got the absolute majority. This was admitted by the government, which was quite unexpected, but what came after wasn’t: nothing that the assembly ever did or said got done. According to the Venezuelan Constitution, everything has to go through the National Assembly, just like everything has to go through the Congress in the U.S., but the government decided either to ignore every single decision dictated by the National Assembly or to contradict it with a sentence from the TSJ (The Supreme Court of Justice) which is known for being corrupted and composed with judges that, at best, have been openly supportive of the government and at worst haven’t had a great past and even some criminal records like Iván Bastardo and Maikel Moreno. In case you’re curious, the TSJ contradicted 30 laws made by the National Assembly regarding the presentation from the president to the National Assembly of the National budget, the Control from the Government of the National Central Bank, the destitution of the TSJ judges, the liberation of the political prisoners, among others.
Now, 6 days ago, the TSJ declared the National Assembly as “disobedient” and released a sentence: From now on, the function of the National Assembly belongs to the TSJ. Translation: The National Assembly has no place in the Venezuelan Politics anymore.
One day after that, Luisa Ortega Díaz, General Attorney of the Republic, made a public declaration: the sentences 155 and 156 made by the TSJ were violating the constitutional order and democracy in the country. Everyone was shocked. Was she getting on our side? The answer is no. Many political leaders attribute that action to the attempt of the government to reflect an image of democracy internationally. Either way, right or wrong, there were “corrections of the sentences” that did not actually correct anything.
It’s important to mention too, that we were supposed to have a governor and major elections as well as a revocatory referendum, both with a deadline of last December, but they were postponed indefinitely.
So, the protests started again, just like we had them in February 2014, but this time it feels different. It is different. Back then, they were massive too, but now, people are fighting back. They throw gas at us, they throw water at us, they pull the tanks out, they shoot us, they take a beat at us, but we’re fighting back. While it started as a pacific protest just like it has always been, people are now actually defending themselves, by their own hands and some rocks, but as silly as it may sound to you, for us, it’s a statement: we’re no longer afraid, we want freedom.
Here are multiple videos of protests that are happening here.
While all of this is happening, not only are people (especially our opposition leaders and journalists) getting arrested and hurt in all kind of ways, but the Venezuelan media (private and public newspapers, TV channels and the radio) are under a complete censorship (as they have been for a couple of years) and transmit nothing of this whole situation.
Lastly, spread the word, make the media find out, make the world find out, and help us find the strength to continue. Next week is crucial. If the protests stay as active as they have been, then Venezuela will soon break the 17-year-old chains.
