The Revolution Will Not Be Televised (because cameras weren’t allowed past security =/).

Excuse my mini vacation! A combination of exhaustion, homework, and a finicky wireless set up has set me back a couple of week. But we’re back! Purging commence.

In 3 days I will have been here for 1 month. I’ve yet to find the lost days and nights that somehow got me here so fast, but I’m enjoying my progression. I feel like my mind has stretched beyond the limits that I thought were once there, and I’m also seeing the same kind of growth in my colleagues/fellow students/roommates/ friends, and it’s refreshing. I read somewhere that it takes a human being approximately 21 days to form a habit or become fully accustomed to a new setting. As I’m reaching for the 4 week mark, I can absolutely agree. Venezuela is home (as if I needed another one?).

So let’s go back. I left off giving some information about the Afro-Venezuelan sensibility and pushes for political and social inclusion. Since that post, I’ve had the opportunity to do a lot of reading. I’ve had my eyes on everything from UN Reports, dissertations, newspapers, speeches, etc. and I have much more to go. When I first began this blog, I expressed that while I had much to say and feel about my own sensibilities as an African American, I had no idea how to begin educating myself about the Afro-Venezuelan identity. Well my time here has afforded me the chance to spend 4 months engrossed in all things afrovenezolano, and my goodness, what an eye opener. While I knew that I would be walking into a huge bundle of information and experiences and ideas that have existed before my understanding of them, I wasn’t prepared for the ways in which afro-venezolanidad is tied so concretely to Venezuela’s political hoo-haa. Essentially, you cannot understand the history of afro-venezuelan identity and sensibility without understanding the history of the Bolivarian Revolution, current VZ politics, Chavista policies, UN/UNESCO influence (or a lack thereof), and for the sake of full inclusion, the nature of the African Diaspora as a whole. Luckily, I get to stick my hand in all of it. I can’t push my glasses up far enough!

I’m also noticing improvements in my Spanish speaking/writing skills. By no means have I escaped that wonderful “Oh she’s CLEARLY American” accent. But I’m getting there. Things come more easily, and I’m able to express myself in more complex ways without having to THINK about it so much before I say it. Let me also say that the Venezuelan accent is….something supernatural. What on Earth. I’ll never forget the day we got here when I asked a man in the airport about the taxi to the hotel, obviously thinking I’m all that because I said it in Spanish (perfect grammar by the way). Little did I know that his response would fly out of his mouth quicker than I could Google Translate. You know you’re getting better when you can ask the question AND dissect the answer.

So anyway, the point of this post. Right.

On Tuesday, our group went BACK to Caracas for a nice little overnight trip to the US Embassy. We were fortunate enough to have a briefing with the Head of Public Affairs on US Foreign Policy initiatives in Venezuela, among other things.

Needless to say, he gave us exactly what I expected: not-so-subtle anti-Chavez rhetoric. When asked about the current strains between the United States and Venezuela, what has caused it, and what can alleviate it, of course the conversation turned into a conversation about the former US Ambassador to Venezuela (who is now at UNC, by the way) and the discrepancies involving his removal from the country. He also briefly touched on the accusations that the US was involved in the 2002 coup attempt, and further accusations that the U.S. has military bases in Colombia. While the rough relationship between US Ambassadors and the Venezuelan government has definitely added fuel to the fire, this is not the biggest issue. For one thing, there is plenty of reason to believe that the U.S. had a hand (whether directly or indirectly is yet to be said) in the coup attempt, but I’ll leave that up to you to decide after your own research.

What is clear to me, however, is that as public officials representing the United States abroad, employees of the US Department of State, including those who work in US Embassies, are expected to represent and defend the interests and positions of the US in all areas. That’s exactly what we got. There were many statements that I disagreed with, based on my own understanding of US involvement in Latin America and Venezuelan politics specifically, but that’s neither here nor there. I’m grateful for the chance to visit the embassy (in all of its exclusivity sitting on a hill in the richest part of the country, overlooking Caracas amongst a community of wealthy that were a part of the elite that supported the overthrowing of Chavez. How’s THAT for irony?), because it gave me the chance to hear the tone of the United States directly, and see the manner in which the relationship between the US and Venezuela has become unbelievably complex, confusing, and contradictory. The more longstanding issues that Chavez takes with the United States (economic policies, coup attempts, imperialism as a general concept, etc) are constantly being reinforced by current events in the Americas, and I don’t see these issues being resolved anytime soon. I will say, however, that I’m enjoying the humor of knowing when I’m getting crafted answers.