Caracas has an extremely polarized political environment, which breeds tension. The city is fragmented into various poor/rich/middle-class zones called socioterritories. Tensions between these classes arise with each class wanting something different. In the city there are the tensions between the Chavistas and the opposition; however, it looks like the opposition just gets arrested these days, so this tension will die out if things are allowed to continue this way... There is a tension in the city itself, there are those who have become embedded in the oil city’s globalized economy, and then there are those who are marginalized and forced into poverty. There is tension between the government and all people, no matter their political orientation, in regard to shortages of food, water, electricity, and an abundance of crime—all citizens of Caracas are fervently pushing for an end to the aforementioned topics. The severe polarization in Venezuelan politics makes for no middle ground; there never seems to be any reasoning between the parties, each merely holds its position. In essence, there are those who want a drastic Bolivarian revolution, and there are the others who most definitely do not, yet nothing is fairly decided, Chavez dictates nearly all decisions. In relation to this there is the oil politics which always makes things difficult for Venezuela. For example, its primary export is oil and the US is one of its chief buyers. However, Chavez hates the “Imperialist US” and its capitalism, yet he is bound to it because of the oil revenues Venezuela would lose were it to stop exporting its resources to the US... Venezuela is in a mess right now…Check my other posts for details.
Image source: Leonardo Ramirez, Unnamed, day in photos, January 25, 2010, The Washington Post, Caracas, Venezuela. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/gallery/ (accessed April 1, 2010).
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