so after a long silence im going to try and update from way back. its lucky ive been keeping notes or i would be completely lost trying to write this. so i want to expand a bit about the cooperative that i visited as i think its an important aspect of what is going on here in venezuela. while i have mentioned the different aspects of the cooperative i havent mentioned how they came about. soon after chavez was elected alot of businesses did not want to conduct business with the government so the owners took their money and left the country abandoning both the factories and their workers. the workers were left out of pocket from wages and were now unemployed. this is when the government stepped in to help the abandoned workers set up the cooperatives and run the factories themselves. once the factories were set up the workers were able to sell their products for half the price as before. there were no differences in pay between any of the workers. each worker being paid the same and each worker taking part in meetings and together as a collective made the decisions for the factory. whatever profits were made were shared equally between all the workers and there was no boss, and no leader. the administrative structure of the cooperative changed annually and they elected a body to guide the cooperative. anyone was able to join the cooperative, but they needed to complete a course before being able to work. the age ranged from 24-75 years old. the textile factory had secured the job of supplying the military with their uniforms. these were previously made in china, but part of the reason for the cooperative was to provide workers with jobs.
within the shoe factory, this was initiated by chavez. there were now 56 workers and each had to learn how to make shoes and has been running for 4 years. they supply all the schools with their shoes and they are distributed throughout the country for free. one of the comrades on the brigade had his shoes mended by them for free. we were each given tshirts and magazines about what was going on there. they also had a health clinic on site which was part of a vast network of new health centres set up by the chavez government. within the new system they have 3 levels of health.
1st is preventative medicine. its called the barrio adentro programme. which basically means into the barrios. this 1st level of health care is the first port of call for anyone needing health care. they are in the most isolated areas and there are now about 8000 in venezuela. these are based on the cuban health model and while alot are still operated by cuban doctors, more and more venezuelans are taking over as it is a form of training as well. this service and all health services in venezuela are completely free. we had at least 3 comrades on the brigade who received treatment from various barrio adentros for free while here. one even receiving her yellow fever vaccinations. they are also involved in education programs such as healthy eating and running programmes in schools.
for anything more serious people are refered on to the next stage which was the 2nd level of their health system. which is primarily to take the strain off the overburdened hospitals. the clinic that was in the endogenous zone was one of the 2nd level clinics. here they had a mini ward environment with xray facilities, a trauma centre. most had rehab facilities attached to them this one was having their rehab facility built. they all have their own labs and various physio services. each has their own ambulance. in caracas alone there are 8 of these clinics and many more throughout the country.
and finaly there are the hospitals. these are primarilly for operations and serious emergencies. doctors are now primarily venezuelan but when these programs first started, no venezuelan doctor put their hand up. they were only concerned with economic factors and not the social health factor. now though they have started participating in the programmes after seeing the benefits. and again all these services are free. even the medicines and any followup care they may need.
there are about 120 endogenous zones throughout venezuela. these are set up and paid for by the givernment, but it is the people within the communities who decide what it is that they need. in the countryside, they provide education facilities about cattle and farming, because thats whats important there. they find people within the community who have the skills to eg... make shoes, sew, farm etc to teach. it is the community who are out there defending what they have gained, defending the advances they have made. the people decide and the government provides the funding. endogenous means that it starts from the inside, they learn, then they take it out to others. when there are problems they work as a community to sort them out quickly. people are taught how to build safe houses and where is a good place to build as in the past they have had problems with houses and people being swept away when there are big storms because of people building in dangerous places. the objective of the endogenous zone is to improve the standard of living of their communities through involving them in all aspects of the social, political, cultural and economic factors involed with these zones.the people who were fighting early on were fighting to gain their rights, now they are fighting to maintain and build on those.
and that my friends was the endogenous zone. and this is right after i arrived in caracas. jetlagged as anything but rearing to go. admittedly i was lagging by the end but if i thought i could rest i was mistaken. everyone had been invited to a bbq in one of the revolutionary barrios. i almost didn't go but in the end gave in to the idea of food and possibly a little drink...
we had a fantastic meal of meat, meat and some solid potato fare. fairly standard venezuelan cuizine i have found out. the vegans in the group had to to vegetarian to survive. there was no way they could maintain that diet here in venezuela. but we wound up staying fairly late drinking beer and rum which i have to say ive taken a liking to. some people were driven home but a group of us caught a late bus back. it had to be a group, as 1; you dont walk around caracas at nigth alone, 2;not while your drunk, and 3; not in a barrio. also the fact that in the past 70% of people on the brigade were either pickpocketed, mugged, or robbed of everything they owned. but all was well. and in fact this was the first crigade when nothing went wrong. except for a minor hickup for one person right at the end. but that was just asking to happen...
there has been a couple of things that have really surprised me here. 1 how expensive everything is, 2 how much consumer goods everyone has. they all go around with flash phones and huge sound system in their cars. and 3 how politicized everybody is. both within the brigade and the general population. the politidization that is. shouts of viva chavez follow us everywhere. admittedly a group of 30 white mostly australians do stick out liek sore thumbs and attract a fair amount of attention.. we have seen few other tourists or westerners. venezuela is still not very toursit orientated and in fact alot of people actually seem to resent us being there. but not everyone. we have met some amazing people. the roads and footpaths are a mess. there was a semi blind comrade who had to navigate the streets but he seemed to cope alright after a while. music comes from all directions at once and they like it loud. the political murals are everywhere and help to liven the city up. from revolutionary slogans to murals of che the sity is very colourful. it really adds character to an otherwise unattractive city. they are fascinating and the people are free to do them where ever they please. on my last day in caracas after the elections the mayors office had been completely vandalized. once just plane stone, it is now scrawled with writing all over the facade. it is a wonder that that could get away with it without anyone seeing or reporting them. but it is now the opposition who have the moyorship of caracas so maybe people not only didn't care but helped them do it. it will make for interesting times. but i will write about the elections later. as there was both good and bad. and the repercusions have already started.
so ill end on one of the most popular slogans in venezuela
PATRIA, SOCIALISMO O MUERTE.
