Venezuela

WHOLE COMMUNITIES RADIO

GOES TO THE WORLD SOCIAL FORUM IN CARACAS

In January 2006 Whole Communities Radio Project Director Barbara Bernstein joined WCRP training graduate Patrik Angstrom Poore in Venezuela, where Patrik has been working on a radio project since late 2005. Together with about 40 other Oregonians and 80,000 activists from all over the Americas and the rest of the world, Barbara and Patrik attended workshops, panels, protests and cultural events during the weeklong World Social Forum in Caracas. From there they headed into the Andes where they spent another week exploring the mountain villages and mountain peaks near the city of Merida high in the Andes.

At the World Social Forum, a panel of Indigenous Bolivian people talking about the potential for revolutionary change in their country now that indigenous leader, Evo Morales, has been elected president of Bolivia. The speaker is stressing that in Venezuela revolutionary change is coming from the top down, but in Bolivia change is happening from the bottom up.	A common site all over Caracas: stands selling T-shirts adorned with the face of president, Hugo Chavez. Another popular item at street stands are tiny leather-bound or paperback books of the Venezuelan constitution, embraced passionately by a majority of Venezuelans.
On a wall surrounding the school of fine arts in Caracas are two murals, one in full color, the other in black & white, that recount the entire of history of Venezuela.	Red cinder block structures and faceless highrises sprawl across the hills that rise to the east, south and west of Caracas. These are the barrios, where 80% of the population lives in poverty. The barrios are also the centers of converging social movements that helped elect Hugo Chavez president in 1998 and continue to be his base of support. 23 de Enero, where over 300,000 people live, is one of the most politically organized barrios. The last day of the WSF we took a tour of one its neighborhoods, where we met community activists and others who showed us how much life is improving for them under the present administration.
On our tour of 23 de Enero we met a shopkeeper who waxed enthusiastically about the Chavez government.	A street scene in 23 de Enero
A community radio station	The mountain town of San Raphael
Patrik hides behind a 20,000 Bolivar note upon arriving in the Andean town of Merida, after a 14 hour bus ride from Caracas.	Barbara gets ready to conduct an interview in Merida with an eco-tour guide.
At the top of the world's highest teleferico, a series of cable cars that run from Merida to the 15,000 foot peak of Pico Espejo (4,765 meters; 15,633 feet)	At the top of the world (or at least the top of Venezuela: Pico Bolivar (5,007 meters; 16,427 feet)