[News] Racism Sin Vergüenza in the Venezuelan Counter-Revolution

[Anti-Imperialist News]

  Racism Sin Vergüenza in the Venezuelan Counter-Revolution

<http://venezuelanalysis.com/printmail/10547>http://venezuelanalysis.com/analysis/10547 
<http://venezuelanalysis.com/print/10547>
(and to see the photos)
<http://venezuelanalysis.com/print/10547>

By Arlene Eisen - Venezuelanalysis.com, March 27th 2014


It's late morning in Caracas. February 12. From the restaurant inside 
the hotel around the corner from Plaza Venezuela we can hear chanting, 
but it's too muffled to understand. Are they yelling "Maduro Salida" or 
"Maduro/burro Salida"[1] 
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or something else? From the window, we can see people, almost all 
smiling white people, streaming down the street to join the first huge 
anti-government demonstration that signaled the onset of the current 
outrages in Venezuela.

Olga, the restaurant's manager, has tan skin, died blond hair and brown 
eyes. She is one of the 42% of Venezuelans who self-identified as white 
in the latest Census.[2] 
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 From behind the counter, she usually greets people without a smile. She 
barks orders to the Indigenous woman in the kitchen. Today she is 
laughing as she glances at a cartoon in one of Caracas' many virulently 
anti-government newspapers. I ask her if there are any interesting 
stories in the paper. She shrugs but the question unleashes a tirade 
about how she hates Chavismo.

"Why?" I try to sound neutral.

Olga explains that Chavismo has brought the "riff raff, brutes, thugs 
and criminals into the city." She is emphatic. "Caracas is now flooded 
with uncultured animals who make life miserable for civilized people." 
She concludes,  "Afterall, look at the crime, the insecurity, the 
murders!" It's likely that Olga is one of the many Venezuelans 
influenced by cartoons like this one by Kiko Rodriguez. It is one of the 
more repulsive depictions of Chavez that not only expresses time-worn 
racist contempt for people of African descent, but it also foments fear 
and hatred.

The title is "Miko Mandante", meaning "Ape Commander" to mock the 
affectionate title "Mi Comandante" used by masses of Venezuelan 
people.[3] 
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During her rant, Olga never mentioned the race of Venezuela's poor, or 
the extreme poor, who in 2003 were 30% of the population and by 2011 
were only 6.8%.[4] 
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Chavismo's accomplishments, especially in reducing poverty, are 
significant because of the near total correlation between class and race 
in Venezuela. That is, nearly all the wealthy and bourgeois people are 
phenotypically European, while nearly all those in poverty who live in 
the countryside or shacks on the sides of hills in the city are Black 
and Brown. Demonization, animalization  and criminalization of people of 
African and Indigenous descent are themes both deeply embedded and 
flagrantly visible in the culture and institutions of Venezuelan 
society. White supremacy endures in Venezuela often resembling the 
United States and other settler colonial countries founded on conquest 
and slavery. [5] 
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*Revolution against Racism*

While the roots of white supremacy run deep,  the Bolivarian Revolution 
has seriously improved the lives of Venezuela's majority---who are 
people of color. [6] 
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  Unlike the days of Venezuela's dictatorships who served Standard Oil 
and the U.S. State Department, since 2001, voter registration is 97%. An 
array of legal tools---including Land Reform, a new Constitution written 
by a Constituent Assembly, the Organic Law Against Racial 
Discrimination---chip away at discrimination and promote mass 
participation in government, and in the various communes, councils, 
collectives and cooperatives. These are the structures of peoples' 
power---including some 30,000 communal councils[7] 
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to ensure that once-marginalized people become the protagonists of their 
futures and nurture their dignity.

A significant share of the country's patrimony, income from oil, is no 
longer siphoned off to the U.S. or to the old white Venezuelan elite. 
Between 1997 and 2011 the portion of Venezuela's wealth going to the 
richest 20% decreased from 53% to 44%[8] 
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a statistic that indicates more about the elite's loss of power than 
impoverishment. At the end of 2013, the/ Guardian /reported that the 
poverty rate had dropped by 20% , the largest decline in poverty in the 
Americas for 2012, and one of the largest in the world.[9] 
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Oil revenues pay for new homes for the poor, schools where every primary 
student gets a free laptop, new universities with open admission, health 
clinics, and jobs. It also funds programs against domestic violence and 
transgenic seeds and a host of other campaigns for social justice.

Venezuela's oil money also has financed infrastructure designed to end 
the physical isolation and marginalization of African Descendants and 
Indigenous people. Set your search engine to "MetroCable San Agustín" to 
find photos and details of how Chavez' revolutionary government spent 
$300 million to build a futuristic funicular. It eliminates hours of 
climbing on foot up and down treacherous mountain sides to reach jobs, 
schools, health clinics and other vital destinations. For tens of 
thousands of shack dwellers of San Agustin---most of whom are African 
descendants-- MetroCable and new housing construction on the hill 
demonstrate that the Bolivarian revolution will incorporate them.

Hugo Chavez, Venezuela's first President with African and Indigenous 
ancestors, spoke proudly about his thick lips and kinky hair. His 
refusal to follow the traditional path for Venezuela's "morenos" towards 
/enblanquemiento*[10]* 
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continues to evoke endless mockery and contempt from the white and 
white-influenced establishment. Rayma, a well-known cartoonist who is 
featured daily in /El Universal, /published on July 18, 2013, another 
cartoon designed to evoke the same contempt and hatred as the one by 
Kiko Rodriguez shown above.

She too wins mass circulation and international prizes for her racist 
caricatures. The Cartoonists for Peace, Sampsonia Way, Humanitarian News 
and most significantly Freedom House have supported her. A visit to the 
Freedom House website informs the public that the organization has an 
annual budget of $46 million, some of which comes from the U.S. State 
Department. Its Board of Directors includes a number with close ties to 
the State Department, USAID, AIPAC, Morgan Stanley and other imperialist 
entities.[11] 
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In spite of the mockery, Chavez' embrace of  Venezuelans' African and 
Indigenous heritage included more than symbolism. He practiced 
solidarity with Black and Brown people on a world scale by leading an 
anti-imperialist struggle for self-determination of Southern nations. He 
also provided material aid with no strings attached to Black and 
Indigenous people in the United States, Haiti and Columbia and many 
other countries. For example, in 2011, a joint Cuban-Venezuelan project 
saw the opening of the first high school in Western Sahara's refugee 
camps. More recently, Venezuela and Cuba extended Miracle Mission 
International to the West Bank, Palestine to provide free eye 
surgery.[12] 
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*The Counter-Revolution---Four Dimensions of Racism*

In Venezuela, the revolutionary struggle to end white supremacy and for 
self-determination is a slow slog, complicated by two forces: One, the 
white elites, backed by U.S. imperialism, and many of the middle class 
who support them, cling tenaciously to their power and privilege. Two, 
the denial by whites, "morenos"[13] 
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and nearly everyone else that racism persists. As a result, galvanizing 
a mass movement against white supremacy has been difficult. On the other 
hand, the current counter-revolutionary movement in the streets has 
become the darling of the corporate press both inside and outside 
Venezuela. None of the coverage mentions that the racism pervading this 
movement could rival that found in the Ku Klux Klan or any other of the 
white supremacist formations that pepper U.S. history. Yet racism is one 
of the main engines and expression of the counter-revolution.

1. Destroying progress made by African Descendants and Indigenous People

The counter-revolutionary movement[14] 
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that has been in the streets since early February has demonstrated that 
one of its main objectives is to restore unbridled white privilege to 
Venezuela. Cartoons, editorials, posters, graffiti continuously blame 
Venezuela's economic problems---both real and distorted---on the 
government's "squandering" the nation's oil resources on the "rabble" 
both inside and outside Venezuela. Roberto Weil published this cartoon 
in one of Caracas' major dailies, /Tal Cual/ on March 8.

It not only falsely implies that masses of Venezuelans are starving. It 
also implies that the government prioritizes arming "criminals" on 
motorcycles and corrupt army officers over feeding people. It 
encapsulates the narrative of the counter-revolutionary forces in the 
battle for the minds of most Venezuelan people who currently reject 
their message. More importantly, it manufactures a "justification" for 
more decisive U.S. intervention.

Here's a photoshopped depiction retweeted with #SOSVenezuela that 
recycles the trope of incompetent animals in government positions who 
are manipulated by crafty (white) Cuban leaders out to steal Venezuela's 
wealth.

Repeatedly, the privately-owned anti-government media has reflected and 
reenforced disregard and contempt for Venezuela's Black and Brown 
people. For example, two years ago, the major daily, /Tal Qual, /ran a 
cartoon, again by Roberto Weil.

The man with the beret, presumably a Chavista, declares, "Enough of 
white supremacy, now we have Afrodescendant water." The cartoon 
ridicules and trivializes the campaign against white supremacy led by 
the Network of Afrodescendants in Venezuela and supported by the 
government. It also mocks and undermines public support for the 
government's program of bringing clean water to the /barrios/ that 
previously had none.

Congressman Modesto Ruiz[15] 
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an African Descendant,  was one of the main authors of the Law against 
Racial Discrimination. He, as well as members of African Descendant 
civil society organizations and other officials urged that Weil and /Tal 
Qual's /publisher be charged in court with violating the law.  Yet, to 
date, the newspaper continues with it's virulent anti-government 
drumbeat and Weil proceeds as one of Venezuela's most widely reproduced 
cartoonists. His twitter account claims 155,000 followers and floods the 
twitter sphere with militant support for Maria Corina Machado (a 
right-wing extremist leader reminiscent of Sarah Palin) and the rest of 
the extremists promoting anti-government lies, racism and violence.[16] 
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2. Anti-communism, Xenophobia and Racism in an anti-Cuban Stew

Graffiti, the twitter sphere, television and print media perpetuate a 
concoction of racist, anti-communist and xenophobic lies that Black 
Cubans have invaded Venezuela to consolidate Raul Castro's control over 
the Venezuelan government and economy. Posters at right-wing 
demonstrations and photos of Black people in military uniform are 
retweeted thousands of times to arouse and manipulate fear of Black 
people, especially foreign (Cuban) Black people. On March 16, 2014, a 
woman named Alexandra Misel tweeted this photo with the caption, "Are 
these pure Afrodescendants from Barlovento (region of Venezuela with 
high concentration of African Descendants) or are they from Havana?"

The next day, March 17,  she tweeted the same photo, but with a new, 
more alarmist caption, "Invading troops dressed like National Guard."

Then, on March 23 a tweeter with the name "Alexgonzalezlu" pasted 
Misel's photo to another one that manipulates white people's fear of 
Black (Cuban) people attacking "our white youth." This image is 
reminiscent of the notorious trope of the white damsel in distress, 
threatened with rape by a Black man.

For centuries, fear of Black men as rapists and Black people as killers 
has been stoked time and time again to rationalize lynching, racist 
repression and other genocidal campaigns.

The photos below of mock lynchings by anti-government thugs follow in 
this horribly familiar white supremacist tradition. They were taken in 
the heart of the wealthy Chacao municipality of Caracas and posted March 
5, 2014 by News24.com <http://news24.com/>

Maria Corina Machado fans these flames by repeating the lament that 
Venezuelans have lost their dignity to the "Cuban occupation." They must 
be expelled.

It is also important to note that white supremacist attempts to motivate 
and mobilize the overthrow of a legal government are far from 
consistent. They manipulate fear by raising the specter of the Black 
Cuban invaders. But if that trope isn't enough, they also call on the 
traditional slave masters' narrative of the "lazy" Black man, who is 
"good for nothing and might as well be dead." On March 16, the caption 
on this unidentified photo was tweeted by politicon at politicono

It claimed, "The main activity of Cubans in their towns is hanging out."

 From the comments under these tweets, it is obvious that these 
Venezuelan white supremacists have no way of distinguishing an African 
descendant who is Cuban from one who is Venezuelan. Although they 
sometimes claim their violent, possibly genocidal intentions, are aimed 
at Cubans, their practice of decapitating motorcyclists and shooting 
their Bolivarian "enemies" indicates that the same racism that fuels 
anti-Cuban threats is also harnessed to galvanize their fascist putchist 
terror campaign against Chavistas.

3. Criminalizing African Descendants,  Indigenous People and their 
Organizations

White peoples' criminalization and fear of Black and Brown people date 
back to the first rebellions by Indigenous and enslaved people in the 
1500's. For the last decades, African Descendants  and Indigenous people 
have been invisible to the viewers of privately-owned TV stations, 
except when they appear as servants or criminals.  The Bolivarian 
government disbanded local police forces that used to racially profile, 
murder and harass African Descendants. Yet a struggle against some 
racial profiling continues, including that which is a product of 
endo-racism among African Descendants. The Bolivarian government has 
also taken steps to reform prisons and establish alternatives to 
incarceration and mobilize local communities to prevent crime.[17] 
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However, from the echo chamber of Venezuela's privately-owned media and 
the U.S. corporate press, we hear that fear of crime and the 
government's "inaction" in the face of crime motivates thousands of 
people to demand that Maduro resign. Given the virulence of racism in 
Venezuela, it is likely that many people, especially middle class 
whites, will continue to link crime (and laziness) with Blackness. The 
prolific alexgonzalezlu, tweeted this photo on March 11 to dramatize the 
man's supposed criminality and laziness.

In addition, today's counter-revolutionary narrative manipulates racist 
white and middle class fear by directing it against the "colectivos". 
They claim that Chavista grassroots collectives---the organizations that 
provide a space and structure for previously marginalized people to lead 
and participate in political education, cultural work and sports---are 
actually paramilitary arms of the "Maduro Dictatorship." This racist 
myth accomplishes two counter-revolutionary objectives. First, it 
undermines a revolutionary institution, the communal council, that, for 
the first time, gives people of color a voice in politics and how 
resources will be spent. The second counter-revolutionary objective 
inverts reality. It blames the "colectivos" for intimidation and 
violence, rather than the middle class youth who build and maintain 
barricades, vandalize public property and universities and kill those 
who try to cross or dismantle barricades.[18] 
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4. Distortion and Glorification of Gochismo

During the 1930's, when white Venezuelan intellectuals promoted a white 
supremacist ideology that led to exclusion of all but European 
immigrants, they pointed to the Andes and Mérida as "The grand reservoir 
of the white race for the Republic." [19] 
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For some, Gocho identity as hard-working mountaineers emerged in direct 
contrast to the perceived laziness of coastal slaves and their pride was 
never fully separate from caste superiority. In the 20^th century, seven 
of Venezuela's presidents (including dictators) came from the Gocho 
region.[20] 
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The epitome of these white supremacist presidents was nicknamed "El 
Gocho". He was Carlos Andres Pérez who imposed the 1989 neo-liberal 
program that forced 70% of Venezuelans into poverty and the subsequent 
insurrection that eventually brought Chavez to power.

To clarify: all residents of the Andean states of Mérida and Tachira are 
sometimes referred to as Gochos. However, the counter-revolutionary 
Gochos are concentrated in the cities of San Cristobal and Mérida while 
rural residents form the majority of the states' voters and have elected 
Chavista governors.

Yet images of macho white people, outfitted with makeshift rifles, 
pistols, Molotov cocktails, slingshots and other military equipment fill 
the screens of thousands of tweeters.  The captions brag. For example, 
under a photo of a muscular, military-styled white man wearing pants 
from a uniform and a white t-shirt and holding an automatic rifle, the 
caption reads, "Get back, I am Gocho" (#S.O.S.Venezuela at Alexgonzalezlu 
<mailto:#S.O.S.Venezuela at Alexgonzalezlu>, Feb 23) Others feature flaming 
bulky barricades with captions like, "Caracas copying the Gocho 
model."And "Release the Gocho inside you."

Ciccariello implies that the superiority complex of the mythic Gochos 
fuels the putchist actions we see today at the barricades in Mérida and 
Tachira.  It is also likely that right-wing extremists like Maria Corina 
Machado have hyped the violent courage of the Gochos for their own 
political purposes. At rallies and press conferences, she never fails to 
associate herself with the heroism of the Gochos of San Cristobal and 
Merida---the first barricaders and most persistently violent of the 
counter-revolutionary movement. Her poster features her wearing a 
signature white t-shirt claiming "we are all Tachira". It labels her, 
"The Lady of Iron"---the woman who aims to overthrow the government and 
expel all Cubans from Venezuela so that real (white) Venezuelans may 
recover their dignity.[21] 
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*Solidarity with African Descendants, Indigenous People and the 
Bolivarian Revolution *

One resident of the working class zone of El Valle in southern Caracas 
told Ciccariello that those who burn barricades live "in the tall 
apartment blocks that line the main avenue and think they are better 
than the barrio." They act with total disregard for the lives of poor 
and working class Black and Brown people by charging tolls at 
barricades, making it impossible for people to travel to work, school, 
hospital and by destroying public facilities that poor people rely on.

So far, the vast majority of Venezuelan people---especially African 
Descendants and Indigenous people, have rejected both the politics and 
strategy of the counter-revolutionary movement. It is not just that the 
anti-government forces are "out of touch". They do not hide their racist 
agenda. A Bloomberg News article reported a bus driver's observation, 
"It's rich people trying to get back lost economic perks. The slums 
won't join them."[22] 
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But lack of popular support has never stopped the United States from 
intervening on the side of cooperative right-wing elites and white 
supremacists. The prevailing mass deception perpetrated by corporate 
media both here and in Venezuela has been much too effective. In the 
U.S., they have largely succeeded in putting a democratic face on the 
racist, essentially fascist, movement in the streets of Venezuela.  
Traditionally anti-racist coalitions have ignored Venezuela. It is time 
we stand in solidarity with the majority of people in Venezuela and 
voice strong opposition to U.S. --sponsored coups or any intervention on 
the side of the counter-revolution.

/Thanks to Nelmir Guzman. /


------------------------------------------------------------------------

[1] 
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This is a call for the current President to leave or resign. The 
anti-government media and counter-revolutionaries frequently mock 
President Maduro's supposed lack of education and refer to him as a donkey.

[2] 
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http://www.ine.gov.ve/CENSO2011/documentos/pdf/ResultadosBasicosCenso2011.pdf 
The Census found that 3.5% of the country's 27,227,930 people 
self-identified as Black or Afrodescendant; 2.7% as Indigenous and 49.9% 
as "Moreno". On the other hand, Professor Jesus Chucho Garcia, a 
founding leader of Venezuela's movement of Afrodescendants and former 
Ambassador to Angola insists that at least 30% or 8 million people are 
Afrodescendants and the number may reach as high as 60%.

[3] 
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The cartoonist, Kiko Rodriguez, left his birthplace in Cuba for Ecuador 
in 2000. He won the First Annual Latin American Illustration Competition 
with this cartoon, which was widely circulated in the private press of 
Venezuela and other countries. This award is a step towards lucrative 
acceptance into the New York Art World. http://www.ai-ap.com/cfe/faq/

[4] 
<file:///C:/Users/Usuario/AppData/Local/Microsoft/Windows/Temporary%20Internet%20Files/Content.IE5/JD6XT4QR/Racism%2520Sin%2520Verg%C3%BCenza%25203_26_13%5b1%5d.docx#_ednref4> 
Data on reduction in poverty rates, unemployment, infant mortality and 
inequality and increase in education, access to clean water is 
summarized by Derek Ide in 
http://www.blackagendareport.com/content/radical-resistance-propagating-... 
<http://www.blackagendareport.com/content/radical-resistance-propagating-imperialism-latinoa-student-organizations-and-venezuela>

[5] 
<file:///C:/Users/Usuario/AppData/Local/Microsoft/Windows/Temporary%20Internet%20Files/Content.IE5/JD6XT4QR/Racism%2520Sin%2520Verg%C3%BCenza%25203_26_13%5b1%5d.docx#_ednref5>  
Here's a sample of research on white supremacy and racism in Venezuela.  
Jesús María Herrera Salas. "The Political Economy of Racism in 
Venezuela" /Latin American Perspectives. Vol 32. No. 2(March 2005) pp. 
72-91 /For a detailed discussion of how the foreign oil corporations, 
especially Standard Oil, manipulated and exacerbated racism in Venezuela 
beginning in 1918, see Miguel Tinker Salas. /The Enduring Legacy: Oil 
Culture and Society in Venezuela./ 2009. Durham: Duke University Press. 
2009. Beatriz Aiffil, anthropology professor and spokesperson for 
African Descendants discussed the racism of the fascist right in 
Venezuela before the current upheavals. See 
http://www.noticierodigital.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=965608 
<http://www.noticierodigital.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=965608%C2%A0> 
Also, feminist scholars have written about endo-racism among Venezuelan 
women. See Elizabeth Gackstetter Nichols. "Descent Girls with Good Hair: 
Beauty, Morality and Race in Venezuela." /Feminist Theory/. Vol.14 #2  
(Aug. 2013) pp. 171-185.  And Lauren Gulbas. "Embodying Racism: Race, 
Rhinoplasty and Self Esteem in Venezuela." /Journal of Qualitative 
Health Research/. Vol. 23 #3 (March 2013) pp. 326-335

[6] 
<file:///C:/Users/Usuario/AppData/Local/Microsoft/Windows/Temporary%20Internet%20Files/Content.IE5/JD6XT4QR/Racism%2520Sin%2520Verg%C3%BCenza%25203_26_13%5b1%5d.docx#_ednref6> 
. See, for example, http://venezuelanalysis.com/analysis/7513 for a 
statistical overview of the economy and 
http://venezuelanalysis.com/analysis/10092 on accomplishments of the 
health care system;

[7] 
<file:///C:/Users/Usuario/AppData/Local/Microsoft/Windows/Temporary%20Internet%20Files/Content.IE5/JD6XT4QR/Racism%2520Sin%2520Verg%C3%BCenza%25203_26_13%5b1%5d.docx#_ednref7> 
http://venezuelanalysis.com/analysis/5971

[8] 
<file:///C:/Users/Usuario/AppData/Local/Microsoft/Windows/Temporary%20Internet%20Files/Content.IE5/JD6XT4QR/Racism%2520Sin%2520Verg%C3%BCenza%25203_26_13%5b1%5d.docx#_ednref8> 
Derek Ide. 
http://www.blackagendareport.com/content/radical-resistance-propagating-imperialism-latinoa-student-organizations-and-venezuela

[9] 
<file:///C:/Users/Usuario/AppData/Local/Microsoft/Windows/Temporary%20Internet%20Files/Content.IE5/JD6XT4QR/Racism%2520Sin%2520Verg%C3%BCenza%25203_26_13%5b1%5d.docx#_ednref9> 
. Mark Weisbrot. "Sorry Venezuela Haters: This Economy is not the Greece 
of Latin America" http://venezuelanalysis.com/analysis/10155  See also, 
http://venezuelanalysis.com/analysis/10221  for details on reduction of 
extreme poverty.

[10] 
<file:///C:/Users/Usuario/AppData/Local/Microsoft/Windows/Temporary%20Internet%20Files/Content.IE5/JD6XT4QR/Racism%2520Sin%2520Verg%C3%BCenza%25203_26_13%5b1%5d.docx#_ednref10> 
The process of whitening the Venezuelan race.

[11] 
<file:///C:/Users/Usuario/AppData/Local/Microsoft/Windows/Temporary%20Internet%20Files/Content.IE5/JD6XT4QR/Racism%2520Sin%2520Verg%C3%BCenza%25203_26_13%5b1%5d.docx#_ednref11> 
For years, Rayma has received support from pro-US organizations who are 
convinced that the "Chavez Dictatorship threatens her life." Yet, she 
endures, thrives and continues to publish viciously racist cartoons. 
http://www.freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-press/2012/venezuela#.UzOxiK1dX9I. 
For Amnesty International's support of Rayma, go to 
http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/AMR53/003/2013/en/5b4f4b82-4835-41b4-a48a-c30e5ec5d9e8/amr530032013en.html

[12] 
<file:///C:/Users/Usuario/AppData/Local/Microsoft/Windows/Temporary%20Internet%20Files/Content.IE5/JD6XT4QR/Racism%2520Sin%2520Verg%C3%BCenza%25203_26_13%5b1%5d.docx#_ednref12> 
http://venezuelanalysis.com/analysis/10257

[13] 
<file:///C:/Users/Usuario/AppData/Local/Microsoft/Windows/Temporary%20Internet%20Files/Content.IE5/JD6XT4QR/Racism%2520Sin%2520Verg%C3%BCenza%25203_26_13%5b1%5d.docx#_ednref13> 
. Literally, brown or dark-skinned people---a category that makes 
African descendants, Indigenous people and their descendants invisible. 
Everyone is a "mestizo", according to Venezuela's hegemonic narrative 
and assumed equal as long as they accept European standards of beauty, 
behavior and value.

[14] 
<file:///C:/Users/Usuario/AppData/Local/Microsoft/Windows/Temporary%20Internet%20Files/Content.IE5/JD6XT4QR/Racism%2520Sin%2520Verg%C3%BCenza%25203_26_13%5b1%5d.docx#_ednref14> 
. Author's note: After reading VA's article by James Petras and the 
interview with Raul Capote, I have decided not to use the term 
"opposition" to identify the forces attempting an illegal coup to oust 
the Maduro government and overthrow the Bolivarian Revolution. It grants 
them too much legitimacy.

[15] 
<file:///C:/Users/Usuario/AppData/Local/Microsoft/Windows/Temporary%20Internet%20Files/Content.IE5/JD6XT4QR/Racism%2520Sin%2520Verg%C3%BCenza%25203_26_13%5b1%5d.docx#_ednref15> 
For an interview with Modesto Ruiz about the racism of this cartoon, see 
"African Descendants and Racism in Venezuelan Private Media" initially 
published in /Ciudad Caracas, / March 28, 2012 and translated by Tamara 
Pearson in http://venezuelanalysis.com/analysis/6897

[16] 
<file:///C:/Users/Usuario/AppData/Local/Microsoft/Windows/Temporary%20Internet%20Files/Content.IE5/JD6XT4QR/Racism%2520Sin%2520Verg%C3%BCenza%25203_26_13%5b1%5d.docx#_ednref16> 
https://twitter.com/WEIL_caricatura Weil's racist attacks have made him 
famous. He worked with US Embassy in Caracas to memorialize Daniel Pearl 
http://usembassyve.org/?d=6205.

[17] 
<file:///C:/Users/Usuario/AppData/Local/Microsoft/Windows/Temporary%20Internet%20Files/Content.IE5/JD6XT4QR/Racism%2520Sin%2520Verg%C3%BCenza%25203_26_13%5b1%5d.docx#_ednref17> 
 From author's interview with Amilcar Carvagal, Director of the Office 
for Culture and Solidarity, BRV Ministry of People's Power for Foreign 
Affairs. Feb 5, 2014.

[18] 
<file:///C:/Users/Usuario/AppData/Local/Microsoft/Windows/Temporary%20Internet%20Files/Content.IE5/JD6XT4QR/Racism%2520Sin%2520Verg%C3%BCenza%25203_26_13%5b1%5d.docx#_ednref18> 
Clodovaldo Hernandez. "Colectivos are Synonymous with Organization, Not 
Violence". March 18,2014, translated and reprinted by Venezuela Analysis 
at http://venezuelanalysis.com/print/10499

[19] 
<file:///C:/Users/Usuario/AppData/Local/Microsoft/Windows/Temporary%20Internet%20Files/Content.IE5/JD6XT4QR/Racism%2520Sin%2520Verg%C3%BCenza%25203_26_13%5b1%5d.docx#_ednref19> 
Miguel Tinker Salas p. 2725 of 6242 in Kindle Edition.

[20] 
<file:///C:/Users/Usuario/AppData/Local/Microsoft/Windows/Temporary%20Internet%20Files/Content.IE5/JD6XT4QR/Racism%2520Sin%2520Verg%C3%BCenza%25203_26_13%5b1%5d.docx#_ednref20> 
George Ciccariello-Maher. "Venezuelan Jacobins"  3/14/2014. 
http://venezuelanalysis.com/analysis/10482

[21] 
<file:///C:/Users/Usuario/AppData/Local/Microsoft/Windows/Temporary%20Internet%20Files/Content.IE5/JD6XT4QR/Racism%2520Sin%2520Verg%C3%BCenza%25203_26_13%5b1%5d.docx#_ednref21> 
. Maria Corina Machado is a daughter of one of the wealthiest families 
in Venezuela. She was involved in the 2002 coup attempt against Chavez 
and received money from the National Endowment for Democracy to run an 
anti-Chavez petition campaign. She was elected to the National Assembly 
in 2010 and on March 25, 2014, the Assembly voted to strip her of her 
immunity. Her arrest appears imminent. There are many recordings of her 
speeches that encourage violence to force the resignation of Maduro and 
she violated official government policy in her speech at the recent OAS 
meeting.

[22] 
<file:///C:/Users/Usuario/AppData/Local/Microsoft/Windows/Temporary%20Internet%20Files/Content.IE5/JD6XT4QR/Racism%2520Sin%2520Verg%C3%BCenza%25203_26_13%5b1%5d.docx#_ednref22> 
Anatoly Kurmanaev and Corina Pons. "Middle Class Protesting Venezuela 
Shortages Drive Poor to Maduro." 
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-03-13/middle-class-protesting-venezuela-shortages-drive-poor-to-maduro.html 


-- 
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