Chavist constituency is concentrated in the poorest population

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Rabin Azuaje is almost 70-years-old, but he still walks with energetic steps. As he walks up and down the alleys of the 23 de Enero neighborhood, the old-timer drama teacher remembers the years before President Hugo Chávez came to power. “This was a sort of an experimental area for governors such as Carlos Andrés Pérez (1974-1979; 1989–1993) and Rafael Caldera (1969-1974 and 1994–1999) to practice their repression”, says Azuaje, communist activist since he was 12 years old. “All kinds of weapons were tested on us”.

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The 23 de Enero neighborhood, as well as the other poor communities of Caracas, was  a fort of the resistance against the administration of the traditional parties AD and Copei. “The poor never had voice. Everyone could vote, but our needs were not observed”, says Azuaje. “With Chávez, for the first time a president built houses for the needy citizens. We started realizing that we were the majority of the people, and that our interests should rule the country.”

Azuaje’s perception materializes in INE’s (National Institute of Statistics) figures. Until 1998, 50.8% of the population was considered poor and 20.3% extremely poor. Twelve years later, these rates fell, respectively, to 31.9% and 8.6%. That is to say: 71.1% of the inhabitants were poor or miserable when the present administration came to power; 43% of these people are better off now. More than 30% of the population changed their social stratum. That’s not a small amount.

Recent study of UNECLAC (United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean) showed that, nowadays, Venezuela is the country with the lowest rates of social inequality in Latin America, having a Gini index of 0.394 – the closer to zero, the lesser the social inequality. The inheritance that Chávez received from the other conservative governments was much worse: a Gini index of 0.487.

One of the most important instruments to promote income distribution was the raise of the minimum wage. When Chávez won the 1998 election, the minimum wage was equivalent to 182 dollars. It will be almost 480 dollars next September. If considered with the food stamps that given to all employees, the salary will equivalent to close to 700 dollars – the biggest in Latin America according to ILO (International Labour Organization), followed by Argentina (530 dollars). Brazil (350 dollars) is 9th on the list.

Another important element of the Chavist repertory, in labor issues, was the fall in unemployment.  The rate was 14.5% during the transition to Chávez’s government, in February 1999. During the political crisis of 2002-2003, when the opposition tried to overthrow the government and paralyzed the country’s economy through a lockout, almost 20% of the Venezuelans were unemployed.  In the past few months, this rate has fallen down to 7.5%, despite the world crisis. Of the existing job positions, 56% are formal, more than the 49% in 1998.

To understand the social and economic reasons of the poor population’s devotion to Chávez, besides analyzing income and employment rates, it`s necessary to consider the enormous investments the president has made in social welfare programs. In the 12 years before his government, 73.5 billion dollars were spent on this area. The number went up to 468.6 billion dollars between 1999 and 2011.

Worship

It’s not unusual in Caracas to see flags and posters with the face of the “Commander”, all in the color that identifies the Chavists: red. Downtown, there are several stores that sell pins, mugs and even plastic dolls that look like the president, repeat his speeches and sing the same songs he sings.

Every time the president challenges the “esquálidos” (in Spanish the word means “filthy”, “neglected”, and also “feeble”), he’s celebrated and copied by his followers. An example happened to the presidential candidate Henrique Capriles, who is running of the Democratic Unity Roundtable (MUD), when he was walking down the streets of La Guaira, in the state of Vargas, last June. A resident received him holding a framed picture of Hugo Chávez. “Acá somos todos rojos rojitos [here we are all reddish red], provoked the Chavist in front of the cameras, making the blue candidate uncomfortable.

Alex´s story

Dozens of miles away from there, in a room on the third floor of the Rómulo Gallegos Center for Latin American Studies (Celarg), Alex Valbuena, 54-years-old, teaches a class about “Doña Barbara”, the well known novel by the former Venezuelan president. The book, published in 1929, opposes civilization and the roughness of the countryside. It talks about people who are victims of destiny, but that stay brave and strong. “He talks about Venezuela”, summarizes the teacher.

Valbuena explains that he decided to take a deep look at the book eight years ago, as soon as he learned to read and write. Back then, I worked as a security guard in the building where Gallegos once lived, in the Altamira neighborhood – one of the wealthiest in the Venezuelan capital. “A new world opened up when I was able to understand those words”, he says. “If it wasn´t for the educational programs, I would probably still be working my night shifts”.

The social welfare missions began in 2003 and are the basis that sustains Cháves’ government. The success of the programs mentioned by Valbuena were verified by international institutions and Venezuela was considered an illiteracy-free territory in 2006. In 2003, the country had 1.6 million illiterates – they all learned to read and write in two years. 65% of the first group of people that learned to read and write through Mission Robinson enrolled in Mission Robinson II, according to government’s figures.

Valbunea credits Chávez for this transformation. Like him, millions of other Venezuelans who are better off now, after the 14 years of the Chavist administration, will vote for the continuation of his project.  “He gave me the basics, which no other government even tried to do. Why would I vote for anyone else?”, asks the teacher, who is currently taking a masters in Literature.

Translation: Kelly Cristina Spinelli