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Avila Mountain is almost 3000 meters high. At one side of el Avila, there stands the Caribbean Sea and at other side stands the Caracas city. Caracas is the capital city of Venezuela. For the last decade, Caracas is the capital city of Chavez. It might sound new, but it has been 10 years since Chavez has taken the office. In the 10th year of his rule, Chavez, once more is trying to amend the constitution of Venezuela. As per the current constitution, he cannot be elected as the president again. However, he, probably "for the sake of the revolution" wants to be elected as a president for more than three times. Venezuelan people responded this demand with a "no" in the referendum held the year before. It appears that the issue will again be subject to referendum at the beginning of 2009. The president nowadays is not at all concerned about the global crisis. The agenda of Venezuela is occupied for the moment; there is an election called. President Chavez, following a long period in the office, seems to get the "syndrome of arrogance" just like all politicians. He has devoted all his energy to protect his position in the office rather than making a revolution.
Today let me talk about Venezuela. Maiquetia Airport lies on the Caribbean Sea side of El Avila. The road from the airport to the city center is only 30 kilometers. However, to arrive at the city center, you have to spend at least one and a half hour in the car. This is the first point to note about Venezuela. The traffic at the capital city is incredibly heavy; it is even worse than in Istanbul. And the reason is the car crowd in the city. Almost everyone has a car, predominantly SUVs. You know; those highly gas-consuming big jeeps are like the trademark of Venezuela. Why is it so? It is quite simple: being a producer country, oil is much cheaper than water in Venezuela - while the former is 9 US cents per liter, the latter is 55 cents per liter. This means that a 50-liter gas tank can be filled with 4.5 US dollars; i.e. approximately 7 YTL. In fact, there is not price for oil in Venezuela; it is almost free of charge. And they do not need to impose taxes on oil because of high oil revenues.
On the road to city center the second thing that almost instantly grabs the attention is the barrios. Colorful houses built over another, tied with stairs are lying along the road towards the city. Did you notice the contradiction? Can you fit the traffic obstructed by giant jeeps and the barrios in the same picture? Wealth at one side, poverty at another... Total area of the county is less then Turkey; around 1 million square kilometers. And the population is just 25 million around 5 million of which live in Caracas. It is like one-fifth of the population lives in the US when the welfare level is considered while the rest is faced with much worse conditions.
The third impression follows the first two: Highly luxurious houses in the city are not surrounded by thick walls, but by barbed and even live wires. When you look around, the security concerns strike your eyes at the first instance. Income gap between the two social groups makes life harder. When you combine these three points, you get to understand why Chaves was elected as being the scream of the poor but you also get confused. Let us see the reason of this confusion.
The ever-lastingly obstructed traffic problem in particular evokes two findings about the Bolivarian Socialism (El Socialismo Bolivariano) of Chavez. First, such low oil prices in turn ensure that rich people comfortably drives around with their SUVs. The resources of the public are transferred to the rich. But, why does the Bolivarian socialism pay for the SUV gasoline instead of transferring the resources to public transportation projects? Let's say, Chavez was not able to do this in the first 5-year period in the office. But why cannot we see any step towards this end at the end of the first decade of his rule? From this angle, one suspects the principles of Bolivarian socialism. Second, extremely low oil prices and such promotion of personal vehicle usage directly contribute to the global warming process. Then, why does the Bolivarian socialism take a step to fight "neoliberal global destruction policies" right in Venezuela? As we said before, we are quite confused.
What is the problem in Venezuela? The Bolivarian socialism has not entered the implementation phases yet. Many years have passed, but no "revolutionary" outcome has been observed. The lives of the people have not changed even slightly. Recovery was easy when oil price was 150 Dollars, but it is not now with 30 Dollar oil price. The current picture displays this: No time is left to make revolutions from trying to protect the office, i.e. revolution.
Course of life is the same everywhere. There is no weirdness unique for Turkey. Syndrome of arrogance can hunt any politician. Rulers, completely occupied by trying to preserve their rule, cannot find the time to make a revolution or change the world. Though bitter, this the reality.
This commentary was published in Referans daily on 16.12.2008
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