As a self-imposed rule I try to keep my blog positive and politics free but this post will be an exception. Even though I have Saturdays designated for guest bloggers and different subjects I felt that this couldn’t wait any longer.
I want to share with you about what is going on in my native country Venezuela. People keep asking me questions to find out what is happening due to the lack of news coverage that it has in the US people know something is happening but are not fully informed. It is my duty as a Venezuelan to spread the word, and even though I live far I can still help the cause by informing people of the situation. The situation is very sad, the human rights abuse and tortures committed to the students are horrifying, there have been officially about 8 deaths and over 137 people wounded (that we know of) and what shocks me the most is that the news in the US barely mentions it.
There are many, many, and when I say many I mean MANY articles going around in Facebook but I have picked a few that are in English and do a pretty good job of explaining the situation and I am sharing a couple of websites that are accurate and true.
I recommend you watch the video, it was made by a Venezuelan explaining with pictures what is happening in a nutshell (English Version)
(Youtube will ask you to confirm your birth date because some of the pictures of the way the police are treating the students protesting are shocking)
This article is written in a simple question & answer format to explain why this protest started, what is happening with the students, etc.
Other interesting articles:
(Talks of how the National Guard has been throwing tear gas at protesters and inside residential buildings! Where elderly, kids, and babies were suffocated by it, how they are shooting at unarmed students, etc)
Even though the protest started with students asking for more security in their Universities people have joined them. People are tired of living in one of the richest countries in the world due to the oil but that is not what it seems… there is a big lack of the basic foods (eggs, milk, chicken, etc) they have to wait in line for hours in order to buy if they find it (its shocking to see the empty shelves in the supermarkets), lack of medicine in the pharmacy and hospitals, the insecurity in the streets (the constant kidnaps and robberies), among many other things…
Due to the control from the government over the media (TV is not showing the news, the newspapers are not running, and they have tried to control the internet) the only way that the Venezuelans can keep one another aware of the situation is through Twitter (that has not been able to be blocked by the government, even though they have tried) and other social media. An example of this control from the government was that last week they kicked out of the country a reporter of CNN Spanish to avoid them from exposing the situation that the country is in.
There have been thousands of concentrations of people from Venezuela (& other countries that have shown their support) in different countries/cities. A good place to follow is on facebook & Twitter the page of
SOS Venezuela and if you read/speak Spanish the website of
www.lapatilla.com has articles that are official and true.
Sadly we couldn’t make it to the concentration of Venezuelans in Oregon because it was in Portland during the week last week and we live about 4-6 hours away L but that didn’t stop us from joining the cause. Many people from all over the world including various artists are joining our fight for freedom by taking pictures with a paper saying where they are from, that they are with Venezuela, and posting them in social media with the #SOSVenezuela #Prayforvenezuela and #Iamyourvoicevenezuela.
It is important for people to know the truth of what is happening and to pray for those students who have been killed and are being tortured at the moment.
I wanted to share with all of you around the world what a friend of mine wrote on facebook
“As you grow up, you realize something: What you see as bad news for another country or state doesn’t just end when you turn off the TV or finish reading an article…this is a reality. The horrible things going on in our world continues to go on, whether you know about it or not. Don’t be afraid to educate yourself about the horrors of what is happening around us..but also don’t become numb to news that doesn’t involve you directly. Even when the solution is not as simple as a donation or kind word, may your heart go out to those affected by the horrors of this world. Pray for them. Think of them often. And take action in the ways that you can.#prayforvenezuela” Lisa Smith
