Summary Judgment

Al Fin de Semana

I´m still getting used to life in Caracas, so I´ll save my observations on how life here is different from NYC once I really feel like I´m more of a caraqueño (Caracas-ite)

Things at work are great, but definitely among the more challenging things I´ve ever done. Not only am I struggling to quickly learn the ins and outs of complicated financial transactions...but I´m doing so from the perspective of a smaller market outside of the United States. So the foundation of knowledge I have, which is limited to begin with, isn´t entirely relevant. Oh, and I´m learning everything in Spanish. While I know enough to interact with people on the street or to buy a coffee (which is so deliciously strong here!), I´m floundering when it comes to understanding how corporate stock buybacks cause the stock to lose economic and political rights as compared to non-corporate stockholders.

But enough of the boring stuff...on to the protests! As Dan has more completely explained, there are a plethora of student protests in Caracas now, challenging President Hugo Chavez´s decision to close the nation´s oldest and most popular television station. I´ve seen a handful of protests to date, but as I type this, there is a HUGE pro-government protest literally at the end of my street. Thousands of Chavistas are dressed in red shirts, waving signs and singing songs. One catchy one goes ¨Ooh! Ah! Chavez no se va!¨ This means that Chavez will not leave power. If my research is correct, that was the chant during the brief coup in 2002, where Chavez was removed from power for a couple of days (and the impetus for closing RCTV, because he said that they promoted the coup.)

I´m cautiously observing from afar, because of the ¨anti-Imperialist¨element of the protests. George Bush and America have both come up in the chants I´ve heard, so I´m doing my best to watch what´s happening while honoring the promise I made to my mother before arriving...not to appear on CNN!

That said, I´m off to take some photos and maybe some video of the protests. I have to be careful because there are rumors that CIA agents are infiltrating the rallys...and I couldn´t look more American if I were wearing a cowboy hat and draped in the stars and stripes. My boss has already said that I need to get a baseball cap for Caracas´local team. Perhaps I´ll go back to the mall for that today.

In the meantime...¡Viva Venezuela!

posted by Jim @ 11:54 AM