This is Bethany's latest post:
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The political situation and my safety
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The political situation and my safety
Hello everyone, of you have been reading my notes or are remotely in touch with me you know that I am spending an exchange year in Venezuela. Venezuela is very politically unstable right now because the President, Hugo Chavez wants to turn the country socialist. On Sunday there will be a vote on a reform of the constitution which proposes among other things: restrictions of internet access, government control of schools, children would be under the government´s total authority, a mandatory dress code, no drinking alcohol in public, the list goes on. There have been many demonstrations in the cities of Venezuela against the constitutional reform, and since marches and protests are illegal, the army has put these protests down with force, resulting in countless injuries and many deaths. During the lead up to the elections there have been rumours of numbers of things: that Chavez will cancel the elections before hand and enforce military rule, that he will do so after, that the army will put down any marches with even more violence, etc. Everyone is scared and everyone is keyed up. So where does this leave a US exchange student?
Here are my plans for the elections as laid out to me by my host family. Classes ended today at 10:00 in the morning when the army came and took over the school for the elections (it´s a voting center). Let me tell you that nothing wakes you up in the morning like fully uniformed men carrying kalishnikovs in your school´s cafeteria. For the next two or three days I will be here in my house in Carrizal, but I won´t be allowed to leave our enclosed compound because it´s too dangerous for people with light skin and eyes. On Friday or Saturday my host parents will drop me and my host sister off at my host aunt´s house in Caracas, and will then go to vote about six hours away in the town they used to live in. From what it seems like to me, there will be deaths in Caracas. I will be packed and ready to go to the airport if Rotary decides to pull us out. Rotary in the United States, however is now negotiating with Rotary in Venezuela and my parents to see if they want to get us out before the elections. I´m fairly certain of my own personal safety at this point, but I´m also fairly certain that I´ll either breath tear gas for the first time in my life, or, I hope to god no, see my first murder. Keep me in your prayers, and I´ll keep you updated.
Lots of love,
Bethany
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My daughter's safety has been on my mind non-stop. I have been pushing for her to come home for about a week now, especially since she got sick (she may have Chron's disease). I'm sure it sounds selfish because you all know how much I miss her. There's a little bit of that going on (about .05%) but the rest is pure "Mom Gut" telling me she's not safe and she needs to leave that place.
She's having a very, very hard time because she's become so attached to the place and the people. And if she decides to leave herself, Rotary won't place her somewhere else to finish out the year. If Rotary decides to pull her, they will likely place her somewhere else. It's a sticky situation and meanwhile, the tension and threats of violence increase. On Monday a demonstrator was killed in a town 2 over from Bethany's. Please keep her (and us) in your thoughts and prayers. Hopefully she'll be home for Christmas.
Here are my plans for the elections as laid out to me by my host family. Classes ended today at 10:00 in the morning when the army came and took over the school for the elections (it´s a voting center). Let me tell you that nothing wakes you up in the morning like fully uniformed men carrying kalishnikovs in your school´s cafeteria. For the next two or three days I will be here in my house in Carrizal, but I won´t be allowed to leave our enclosed compound because it´s too dangerous for people with light skin and eyes. On Friday or Saturday my host parents will drop me and my host sister off at my host aunt´s house in Caracas, and will then go to vote about six hours away in the town they used to live in. From what it seems like to me, there will be deaths in Caracas. I will be packed and ready to go to the airport if Rotary decides to pull us out. Rotary in the United States, however is now negotiating with Rotary in Venezuela and my parents to see if they want to get us out before the elections. I´m fairly certain of my own personal safety at this point, but I´m also fairly certain that I´ll either breath tear gas for the first time in my life, or, I hope to god no, see my first murder. Keep me in your prayers, and I´ll keep you updated.
Lots of love,
Bethany
*************************************************************************************
My daughter's safety has been on my mind non-stop. I have been pushing for her to come home for about a week now, especially since she got sick (she may have Chron's disease). I'm sure it sounds selfish because you all know how much I miss her. There's a little bit of that going on (about .05%) but the rest is pure "Mom Gut" telling me she's not safe and she needs to leave that place.
She's having a very, very hard time because she's become so attached to the place and the people. And if she decides to leave herself, Rotary won't place her somewhere else to finish out the year. If Rotary decides to pull her, they will likely place her somewhere else. It's a sticky situation and meanwhile, the tension and threats of violence increase. On Monday a demonstrator was killed in a town 2 over from Bethany's. Please keep her (and us) in your thoughts and prayers. Hopefully she'll be home for Christmas.
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