Students Ignite Venezuela

For many years now we, the opposition, had been under the delusion that we represented the majority of Venezuelans. The wrong impression that most people care about private property, education, freedom of speech and other liberties which are so basic to some of us. The reality is that most people, what we call “el pueblo”, do not have access to good, sturdy shelter; that most people don’t own a home, or car, or business to defend. How can one can care about what they teach your child in school if you have to consider the safety of the place, the availability of money to buy school supplies, the dangerous commute to and from through the barrio? It’s hard to care about freedom of speech on an empty stomach.

Until now we had be unable to reach this majority because they are too busy just trying to survive. But the assault against the students by government troops resulting in death and injuries resonates with the entire country because even in the humblest family there is a son or daughter, a niece or nephew, a cousin or grandchild that is going to university.

The students have ignited our country and brought the Venezuelan people together after fifteen years of polarization. Since the brutal attack on student protesters on February 11th, there have been marches, meetings, barricades and other forms of peaceful demonstrations every single day flooding the streets with people holding signs demanding the release of political prisoners, better wages, solution to food shortages, a decrease in delinquency and the resolution to an infinity of problems we all face daily. What started as an action to defend and support the students has become a national movement to change our lives, our destiny.

What has been inspiring for me, and much of the country, is the organization and tenacity these adolescents have displayed since that initial event. They are on the streets in different states across the country, making a statement, raising their voices, hands and signs against a government that tries to silence their bravery with bullets and tear gas. They have achieved what no politician has been able to achieve since the first appearance of Hugo Chavez Frias. Our youth have united us once again and made us feel proud to be Venezuelans.

The students have found creative ways to get around the strict censorship the government has imposed on TV stations, newspapers and even internet communication channels. They stay connected to each other through Whattapp and Zello and divulge their message or plans to the masses through Twitter, Facebook and videos on Youtube. When the government tried to limit communication through Zello by blocking the information the company (Zello) simply developed an update which undid their work. With so much technology at our fingertips, we have all become reporters, journalists, photographers capturing the aggression of the government against peaceful but disgruntled people.

We have been on the streets now for seventeen days, non stop. During the day some of us may work, or watch the kids, or buy the food but we will also find the time to step out into our streets to defend our students, to carry a iron post to a barricade, to participate in a march, to assist an information meeting. As long as the students stay on the streets, they will inspires the rest of the country to fight alongside them.