Death Ideology

In questo video miliziani di Hamas rapiscono e trascinano a forza dei ragazzi per utilizzarli come scudi umani e proteggersi dal fuoco di Israele.
Dopo tutte le lacrime versate per i caduti dell'una e l'altra parte, nonostante il tagico bilancio delle morti tra i bambini, si alzano gli applausi di Ahmadinejad, Hamas ha fatto già sapere che la prima cosa che farà è riarmarsi per preparare nuovi attacchi e condurre Israele ancora una volta alla guerra.

Yon Struggle

November administrative polls just closed and in Venezuela they starts already to plan another electoral war. President Hugo Chavez has recently announced that through impulse of the Assemblea Nacional, probably in February, he will come out again with his proposal of constitutional reform with which another time he’ll try to make law the indefinitely eligibility of an elected President. The new proposal of constitutional reform come out nevertheless the denial of his first attempt only in the December 2007.
We meet Yon Goicoechea, student of the Catholic University, President of the Istituto Metropolitano de la Iuventute and leader of venezuelan student movement, starring of the 2007 unespected “NO”, reform which also would have provided, with the indefinitely eligibility as an elected President of Chavez, the nationalization of the central bank, property rights limitations and limited financing access for political partities except his PSUV.
Mr Goicoechea could you tell us how all has began?

All began during the political discussions in several country universities, which followed the decision to establish a relationship between different leaders of the University, a network between us to discuss the political situation.
It began like an academic exercise but then, after the closure of the RCTV, the biggest television channel in Venezuela, a private one, which was closed from President Chavez because not on the same “victory” line of him and because the TV was on the opposition on the Government, after the closure of the RCTV, we get together and went all of us in the streets to manifest our disagreement over the President decision, we realized the importance and the power that youth generations have in a society, so we decided to build a national student parliament and invited all of the Venezuelan university representatives.
In Venezuela we have this special situation that there are not far right extremists in the university representatives, in all the university representatives are of center-right, center-left or also center but always moderate, so it has been very easy to get all together against the amendment constitutional proposal; we decided to confront with the Chavez proposal and organized 45 demonstrations, marching in Caracas and simultaneously in other eight cities of Venezuela, 200.000 people marching with us in the biggest demonstration, 10.000 in the smallest.
We make us warrants of the referendum regularity, coming in the poll stations as observatories.

Which was the message you send to the country?

Liberty, the will to consider it a human phenomenon that comes beyond purely economic idea of freedom, I think that the nowadays liberalism, libertarian communication strategy in the world is wrong and this thing due to the excessive concentration over the economic phenomenon, it is important naturally that exists an economic system with liberty on the center, but liberty has to do also with the human nature, with the acknowledge that people can be different; we defend the value of liberty in his huge meaning of respect of the others idea. We defend freedom, rule of law, from the discrimination and the liberty of expression.
We defend the idea of reconciliation in Venezuela, we have a political system and a social one very polarized, we propose to the Venezuelan society to reconcile, we can think different but we are all human beings deserving respect.

Which was your communication strategy during the marches?

White hands. We had white coloured hands to symbolize two things. First of all that we were not corrupted, we had cleaned hands, we were not sons of the precedent political season. The very base of the chavism is the reject of the past, but we don’t come from the past, we are the future, I am twenty-four years old, Chavez when he gets to the power had fourty years and most of all, like him we don’t come from the past, condemning a corrupted past doesn’t mean to have a correct present. We are the Venezuelan future and we are not here to live as corrupt people. White hands to symbolize this but also the fact that we come in peace. We come to build dialogue, to build bridges over Venezuela because this is a divided country, not only politically but also socially: poverty, society exclusion, are factors that create different realities in the same country.

During marching days Chavez reaction was initially surprise, but then, after the December 2007 referendum result, voices get louder over the danger levels causing violent acts from radicals supporters of the President. How is the situation today?

There are always physical dangers. I’ve been aggressed physically and publically. In a conference I was holding, explosive has been found on the stage. I’ve been punched and I’ve got offense of any meanings, but violent people are a minority, radical chavists are a minority, majority of those who vote for Chavez aren’t violent, this is a pacific Country, here there has not been a war since a long time and this is proper to a pacific society, people reject violence, could be people that doesn’t agree with me or who hates me too but they reject anyhow physical aggression as a solution over the political diversities. Yes sometimes I have had fear, sometimes I have fear, but I’m totally sure it’s worth it: I want to live in my Country, I don’t want to go anywhere else, I want to be happy with my family here, I believe that it is my right having the hope it happens in my Country.


Which is the political situation in the Country after the local elections of November, many international observers thought the deuce could bring to a breathing space between government and opposition.

I think that the elections results have been balanced, because Chavez has won the majority of the States, but opposition, although in some cases divided, has won the most populous States and the most important cities, the capital include; in the popular vote there has been almost a balance, with the opposition advanced although minutely, but even if the result has been very balanced, it is the opposition which is gaining consensus, Chavez has lost space, before now he controlled everything, today he controls less States and furthermore the most important ones have passed to the opposition, the game does not consist in seeing who won more States but who is gaining consensus and we are gaining while Chavez is coming back.

How do you judge recent turning-point announced by Chavez who intends to come out again, as the first months of the year, with a new Constitutional amendment referendum proposal again, even if this time there will be one question only and it will be about the chance for him to stand again for indefinite times as President of Venezuela?

It’s a terrible error, because Venezuela could get ready to face the arriving global economical crisis, as everyone knows Venezuela is a petroleum export Country (third producer in the world), our economy is almost entirely based on petroleum and then on its price, thus the international crisis will hurt badly our society, because petroluem markets are slowing and we are selling petroleum at three months, so in the late 2009 we will see the stagnation results of these days. It is for this reason that Chavez needs to press his re-election now, becaues he could not be able to do it after.
We will have a very difficult social situation and the responsability of a government could be to think about solutions, to find the way to soothe problems. Besides we have already decided about the question he is re-proposing. It is constitutional illegitimate to re-propose an equal question in the same legislative period. But the State of law as well known needs beyond democratic institutions also magistrature independence, in Venezuela we have democratic institutions but it doesn’t exist magistrature independence and then there will be no Tribunal which raise the voice sentences the constitutional illegitimate of the Chavez proposal. Then we will vote again, but I believe in the Venezuelan people, Venezuelans, also who votes for Chavez, may want him as President but they don’t want him all life long, in the history of the Venezuela several Presidents have tried to but they have been always defeated, then Chavez with this new challenge do not faces only the opposition but the Venezuelan culture.

What will the student movement do now?

We will fight. We have already start working on demonstrations but we will propose them at the right time. It’s true that our society is strongly influenced by politics, in Venezuela all is politics, all is social politics, but we need the socialization of politics, people is tired of fights, ideology, electoral wars succeding since years, democracy isn’t only voting, obvious voting but even government responsability and its prerogative exercize.
I think that next February referendum is a heavy mistake, but we can not stop, there will come time to rest, but it is not this one, now we have to fight to enjoy that moment in the future and we must win because if Chavez won, basis principle of our Republic could be overturned. We chose to be a Republic, we have ratified several times, Republics are constituted by free and equal individuals, a revolution based on the re-election of a single President is a Monarchy, we have rejected this iussue for centuries, we will reject again.

Whatever it will be next referendum results are there any instability, any social conflicts explosion risks? On a side the Chavez last chance, on the other side a civil society that could be forced to Communism.

In the previous referendum proposal we decided on two different types of State, Communism and Democracy. This time we decide only on the President re-election, it is certainly an important decision, but it isn’t the same thing. I think that these elections are more dangerous for Chavez, because if he wins he will have only won the right to stand again and it doesn’t mean that he will be re-elected; but if he fails to win, his political season will definitely end in 2012.

Which role could the army hold in a critical moment?

In these years the army has been a stability factor since Chavez had to make a personal army, outside the traditional chain of command, he is unpopular inside the military rooms. In the town with most density of militaries PSUV Chavez party has gone down by 25%. I think that the army would foil any attempts to rig the vote or to impose solutions that will not respect electoral results.
Certainly it isn’t enough, we have to fight. I don’t think that we have to fight and win because the fear of Chavez, I don’t believe that it will be possible for him to succeed in changing Venezuela in a Communist country, peopole doesn’t want it, then it isn’t very clear yet what does it means his “21st century socialism”.

Chavez take as an instance of his politics the ‘misiones’ institution, created in his welfare political vision, what are the results?

In some cases results are good but it is the project sustainability that lack, it isn’t sufficient. Take as an instance the misione Robinson, literacy of the poors, it could not be told it isn’t a good thing, but it could be tell that it isn’t sufficient, we need an educational national plan and not some spotting initiatives, we need to create quality, to train youth generations, literacy rate isn’t enough! We have resources to do it, we are a developing country but we are not a poor conuntry. These are not anymore Fidel’s Cuba times!

These missions hire mediacal staff from Castro’s Cuba.

Yes it is here that they are hired, as the first two years results have been satisfied for our medical staff training, but now the starting push is vanishing also in that missions where cuban medical staff still works, we are asking ourselves about the usefulness.
As an instance is the misione Barrio Adentro created to give an health care but good to cure a cold and a little bit more, we need always hospital! It isn’t wrong to give someone supplementary welfare, but it can not be the one, the misiones can not be the fulcrum of a welfare politics, they can be useful to manage the emergencies but then there is the need of a National politics giving services to citizens, whether those services could be offered from the State or privately it depends by points of view, but we haven’t a public nor a private system, this of Chavez is only ideology: people will always need hospital.

As the student movement what could ever be the way to come out of ideology and the never ending battle climate?

I think that it is necessary to come back to principles. We must understand that the way to come out of poverty does not pass through oil, it passes through work, instruction and will. There is the need of participation to understand that there aren’t easy solutions, one only man can not be the answer to a social problem, solidariety is a value like it is to give the chance to all to pick up results of own work and will. So it is born individual responsability but so it is born also collective responsability.

By thanking you, finally Mr Goicoechea, a personal and private question: which is for you the meaning of the word Liberty?

...I had a Professor, a Professor well known here, he told us so: equal words of freedom does not exist, but every human being feels the same when he hears that word.


Giampiero Ricci