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href="https://venezuelanalysis.com/analysis/13270">https://venezuelanalysis.com/analysis/13270</a></font>
<h1 id="reader-title">Strange Fruit: Venezuela has an Opposition
that Nobody Should Support</h1>
<div id="reader-credits" class="credits">By Chris Gilbert - July
29th 2017</div>
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<p><em>Bolivarian University Professor Chris
Gilbert addresses the racism and white
supremacy of the Venezuelan opposition in
light of recent lynchings against Black
and Brown Venezuelans accused of being
"Chavistas" or "thieves" by opposition
militants. The most emblematic of these
cases </em><em>was the public lynching of
Afro-Venezuelan Orlando Figuera on May 20.
Figuera was stabbed six times, doused in
gasoline, and burned alive by opposition
protesters in the eastern Caracas
neighborhood of Altamira. He died in
hospital ten days later. Other prominent
cases include that of <a
href="https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/13158">Danny
Subero</a>, <a
href="https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/13135">Pedro
Josue Carrillo</a>, as well as a pair of
<a
href="https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/13206">youths</a>
in Lara state. </em></p>
<p>No American, if that means a person from
the United States, should support the
Venezuelan opposition. Why? The question can
be made this simple: Which side in the
Venezuelan conflict produces "Strange fruit
hanging from the poplar trees… a fruit for
the crows to pluck"? </p>
<p>I refer, of course, to the fact that in a
number of well-documented instances
Venezuelan opposition forces have burned
black people alive. This horrible fact
should be enough to decide the issue for
those in the United States when they think
about which of the two sides to support in
the struggle.</p>
<p>Yet it seems to be not so clear for some
people. For them perhaps (paraphrasing the
claim that Nicaraguan dictator Anastasio
Somoza was "a son of a bitch, but our son of
a bitch") the Venezuelan opposition is made
up of "our" racists, "our" lynchers, and
"our" neo-Klansmen. For them perhaps, these
racist-lynchers-neoKlansmen are just doing
what needs to be done to bring democracy to
Venezuela. </p>
<p>I don’t see it that way, of course. Perhaps
it is somewhat easier for me, since I live
in Venezuela. Who would want to have such
people running the show where you try to
make a home? </p>
<p>Years ago, in an effort to combat the
double standard and bad faith by which
people ignore the impact of events in a
distant place, contemporary artist Martha
Rosler made montages that put the
US’s Vietnam War atrocities right in
people’s living rooms. Proper housewives and
even stuffy First Ladies stand by while
children are shown burned by napalm and
mangled by bombings. <br>
</p>
<p>Rosler's method was perhaps naïve, but it
still serves to get the point across. No one
in any country should endorse a group that
employs such terror. Yet this point should
be especially clear for those in a country
that has its own well documented memories of
strange fruit – memories that are
continually revived through vivid echoes in
the present. </p>
<p>Many who favor the opposition will cite
President Nicolás Maduro’s unpopularity and
allege his incompetence. Yet this, too, is
to employ a silly double standard and strong
dose of bad faith. Supposing Maduro and his
government were unpopular and incompetent,
how, then, would they differ from any number
of governments that nobody ever thinks of
bringing down through lynchings and
burnings? </p>
<p>They will also say: But Venezuelans don’t
have access to the medicine and food they
need. This is true but sadly also applies to
the people of Haiti, Yemen, Chad and even
many parts of the United States. Yet the
real question is: What makes one think that
the lynchers, racists and their apologists
are going to bring food and medicine to the
people of Venezuela? </p>
<p>Venezuela has real problems, no doubt. It
has been hit by a severe economic crisis.
Its government is not socialist, so it
cannot distribute resources evenly through
central planning, meaning that rich people
are the only ones who live completely at
ease. </p>
<p>Generally, the government has tried to
muddle its way through the crisis, getting
funds through deals with international
corporations and distributing large numbers
of food bags. This is not a very pretty
picture, but it is actually considerably
better than the practices of most
governments worldwide. </p>
<p>Most important, the Venezuelan government
is not white supremacist, it does not employ
terror tactics, and it does not lynch
people. That is where the real red line is,
which nobody should cross. We should also
not let the media, the US government, or any
important international institution cross
it. And we should criticize the hell out of
them when they do. </p>
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<div class="moz-signature">-- <br>
Freedom Archives
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San Francisco, CA 94110
415 863.9977
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