The election day was February 12th, a Sunday. To vote here you need a cedula, basically an ID card. The lines were huge at the voting centers, mostly schools. I wasn't able to see much of the voting process since I don't have a cedula. What I do know, however, is that this election got a lot of people very excited. There was lots of talk on twitter and facebook about it both before and after. The winner was Henrique Capriles Radonski, who's biography I'm posting a link to here. Scroll down for the English version. I didn't know a whole lot about the candidates before the election but after watching the debate back in November I had decided that Capriles was my favorite. Turns out many Venezuelans feel the same way. His campaign slogan is "hay un camino" , "there is a way". Many people are very ready to see Chavez out of office, and Capriles is the path to get there.
After voting, the voter's pinky finger is dipped in ink so that they can't vote again. Apparently it's like super ink so it can't be washed off easily. That whole day it was interesting to see peoples purple fingers. Instead of the red "I voted" stickers like we have in the U.S., the mark of "I voted" is the purple pinky finger. I found a marker and colored mine so when people jokingly asked me if I voted I could hold up my finger too.
Around election time I took various screen shots of both pro and anti Chavez remarks I saw on facebook and twitter. Mostly anti because almost all that I see online are anti. That being said, Chavez does have many supporters. Here are some of those screenshots.
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| In line! Exercising my right to vote as a Venezuelan! Without fear! I believe in my country! |
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| Lots of people in the line at Nuevo Mundo! (his voting center) The fear has ended! |
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| If you haven't exercised your right to vote, get up, bring your cedula and do it for your country, for the future, for your family, for your kids, the country needs us! |
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| "The future president of Venezuela" "That would be a blessing for Venezuela!" Pro-Chavez commenter: And I don't understand the first word hah if it was sueño it would be" I dream"..Christina Gutierrez if you're reading this please inform me? "I dream? that that doesn't happen" "To Dream doesn't cost anything" |
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| Pro-Chavez message in the Gran Sabana |
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| The attitude many have about the police: "tell us, what were they like?" |
Well hopefully this was semi-informative. It's going to be really interesting to see what happens with the election in October. Chavez's health is not good, I'm not sure if he's returned yet but he was in Cuba for at least two weeks having surgery and being treated for his cancer. He makes regular radio and newspaper announcements about his health being good and that he is recovering wonderfully. I've asked a few people what they think would happen if he died. Most are of the opinion that that would actually be very bad. He has built the government up to be just him, there is really no vice president or anyone to take over for him. He wants to be completely in control, and is. If he dies the government could very well collapse.
Gladys was telling me the other day about how whenever there are elections, in the months leading up to it there are many bank robberies. She said that without fail in the six months before you'll hear about bank robberies very regularly. Election campaigns cost money and the candidates' financial records aren't checked or if they are, it's from within their campaign and the dirty money is overlooked.
I probably won't post again before this, I'm leaving on Tuesday for Aruba! I'm meeting my family there, spending a few days on the beach and going scuba diving, and then we're all coming down here for Holy Week. They'll be here from the night before Palm Sunday until the day before Easter, Holy Saturday. It's going to be awesome, I'm really excited.
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