A celebratory march in Caracas

Saturday 5, June 2004

The opposition as expected did march today. It was scheduled to either demand results from the CNE, or to celebrate the activation of the Recall Election mechanism. We did celebrate the later one, happiness being on our side for once.



In spite of the persistent rain, the opposition did manage to start four different marches that met on Avenida Libertador, with a very respectable attendance (no matter what VTV said where suddenly the opposition march became a "news advance" as they managed to capture a rather empty trail end of a wet march, and surely not showing the picture above, same old story).

As Zapata drew in his daily El Nacional cartoon, two years of marches finally paid off. Two years of consistently outnumbering the chavista marches eventually forced these ones to consider an election. Which one, and how, is still unsettlingly an open question; but one way or the other within the next three months we will reach an electoral contest on Chavez.

What has been striking me is that some people seem to think that Thursday announcement had a je ne sais quoi "definitive" on Chavez. Not to mention those that might even consider again that Chavez might be a democrat after all. I will like to remind all of them that Chavez fake concession speech Thursday night took place as the embers of the morning violence were still glowing. As Fausto Maso points out in El Nacional today, if Chavez were that peace loving, that born again democrat it would have cost him nothing to dispatch a hundred National Guards from Miraflores to protect Caracas town hall, or the buildings of "El Nacional" or "Asi es la Noticia". Instead he let his supporters riot, barely checked by a very weakened Metropolitan Police. Until eventually a few Guards came more in reconnaissance than crowd control.

No, the sad fact is that Thursday night Chavez speech was a call to battle and the next months will be as fraught with tension as what took place since December. Simply, we have moved on a new play ground. Chavez, for his "signatures defeat" is seething more than ever, not to mention scores of his supporters (if you can read Spanish, visit Aporrea). His concession speech had more to do with the presence of international observers in Venezuela and the OAS general meeting in Ecuador to elect a new General Secretary. At least he can go to Quito as "the only American president that has accepted the challenge of a Recall Election", a source of possible embarrassment for other guys low in the polls and who have not been very supportive of Chavez.

But the opposition is not exempt from important duties. It must demonstrate that its unity was more than talk. It must demonstrate its fortitude and its unitary resolve. Not to mention the need to start offering an alternative to Chavez (that actually should not be too difficult, contrary to general belief as most people know "in the flesh" that Chavez only gives to his people and they resent that unmasked sectarianism).

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PS:
I will try to put together some summary tables over the next few days to help people understand the days to come. Meanwhile I am getting ready tomorrow to go to Yaracuy's march. Caracas was today but the rest of the country opposition celebrates Sunday. That will be my first Yaracuy march since the general strike of 2002-2003. Let's see how motivated we are over here.