And Then There Was 1

Julian left Saturday morning. His going away party the night before was interesting, we actually had a member of the Nacional Gaurdia there. I was pretty apprehensive about the whole situation, because the Gaurdia was still armed with his pistol. Wisdom has taught me that guns + people + alcohol do not make a good mix. But the guy was actually pretty cool and smart enough to only drink beers and refused liqour. He did trip me out when he pulled out his gun, popped the clip, and unchambered the round (I swear I thought the gun was going to go off accidentally until this point) and used the empty chamber to open beers for everyone. We had an interesting discussion of race politics, his experience in Miami, his military experiences, and the troubles with Colombia. The most important things seemed to be the high level of societal desegration of ´races´, and the amount of freedom afforded to people after the revolution. He was shocked at the level of ´race politics´ that exist in Canada, that in Canada he wouldnt be considered ´white´, but ´hispanic, even though he has blue eyes.

With everyone gone, and me in Venezuela on my own I thought that my pace would be a bit slower, but rather the opposite. Saturday was a full day with the Women´s collective doing a vaccination clinic/political rally in the middle of La Vega. I swear Venezuelan´s know how to do politics, mid way through the rally it turned into a salsa block party with everyone dancing and singing. Also went into the clinic where the local Barrio Adentro Doctors were working. Tried to use one of their portable phones to make a call to Canada but it wouldn´t connect for some reason.

After lunch met up with Antoin´s Youth group and went up to the barrio Brisas Del Paraiso for a concert. It was amazing in that Urban Flow, the organizers, just set up a stage in one lane of the road and did a show for 3 hours. It was pretty guerilla style. I got to jump on stage with Familia Negra and tape their set - Amazing! The concert made me realize how much easier it would be to do community organizing if we could do things without needing thousands of permits and having to deal with all the red tape in Toronto. Imagine a community centre that could actually be used anytime by the community without having to get permission from the ´state´ or having to pay for it? I mean who actually is the highest authority in Canada, the people or the state? The obvious answer would be Canada is a democracy and thus the power lies with the people; but in reality, the power lies with the state because to even use ´public space´ or a ´park´, a citizen needs to get the approval and consent of the government. But why does a citizen need to get the approval of the state to use ´public´space, it´s not government space, its public space, a part of the public commons. My final question is why should the government have authority above the people on the peoples space? What is a government without it´s citizens? And why the hell does the public have to pay to use public space? Those kind of regulations and fees only advantage the rich while hurting your average working class citizen!

After that Familia Negra had a show at a club so we got cleaned up and went to that. The club was in a pretty secluded place but the music was amazing. Several people wore kefiyeh´s in soladarity with the Palestinian people. The music was pretty eclectic as well: a mix of techno, salsa, reggae, hiphop, and everything in between. We ended up leaving the club at 5 in the morning. With no buses and not being able to catch a taxi we had to walk half way down a mountain. I sure miss Toronto´s transit system, it really is one of the world´s best.

Sunday has been a day of recovery and preparing for my meeting with the International Women´s front tomorrow.

In Solidarity,
Pio

p.s. Just tried some ´sopa de pies de pollo´, chickent feet soup, I have a strong stomach and even I felt a little queasy after that. The broth was tasty though!
No Mas Pad A Pollo!