Socialism of Hugo Chavez in Venezuela

It's hard for middle-class professionals who care about the poor in Venezuela, to leave the country. Two young professionals go to centers to see the socialism in action.

Socialism of Hugo Chavez in Venezuela Host: Back at the children’s hospital. For an oil-rich country, the public hospitals here can seem very run-down. Yurani is doing her rounds she loves working here, but worries that some patients suffer unnecessarily. Yurani: I feel sometimes that people who shouldn’t die dies. People who could be rescued, they are not. And I can’t do that anything for that, I feel that I can’t do anything because I don’t have the medicine, I don’t have resources. Host: But today Yurani has good news for one of her patients, seven month-old Lina here with his mom, Lina. Lina is well enough to go home picking Lina baby up her mom Betty. Betty fled the troubles in neighboring Colombia. She’s now a Venezuelan citizen, thanks to a Chavez reform. Stories like hers, a strong argument for doctors to stay. Betty lives in a squat in Caracas with her six children, her grandchildren, her husband, her sister and her nephew. She’s learnt to read, thanks to a Chavez government scheme, and her family now has more free healthcare. She has high praise for doctors like Yurani, and the service they provide. Betty Roblez: My grandson was in the children’s hospital for 13 days and he received good attention, like the tests which were done and his food. The doctors were taking good care of him and doing the follow up, interacting with the relatives to know how the baby was doing. He got his treatment without interruption. In my opinion it has improved 100% because now there are things that we didn’t have before. Host: Betty’s daughter says it’s Hugo Chavez who has helped improve their lives so much. Linola Fontalvo: I don’t see him as a bad president but a good one. Nothing is perfect, but I wouldn’t say that everything is falling apart either. He has done many good things for us, for all Venezuelans. Host: Betty and Lina aren’t alone in supporting Chavez it's rare you hear a word spoken against him here in the barrios. The rich, with their dollar accounts and Miami villas, find it easy to leave. For middle class professionals who care about the poor it’s a tougher dilemma. So could Yurani and Florencio be convinced? We brought them along to see socialism in action. Supporters say places like this community centre in Caracas’s biggest slum bring much needed services to the poorest. Yurani and Florencio get a full guided tour and some hard-sell on how Chavez is making life better for the people. Built on a derelict site, the centre houses a modern health clinic, workers’ co-operatives, adult education classes and a subsidized supermarket. It's all funded directly by a Petroleum Ministry rich on high oil prices. The director, a former teacher, is a true believer. Omar Orsini: Until not long ago all that oil money was used to benefit the rich, they enjoyed all the resources and the majority could only see the leftovers or small bits of that wealth. What we want is to have a society where everyone improves. Host: Alongside the free services and training, there are classes on socialism. And there are Cuban revolutionaries here too. The nurse leading the morning exercises for the elderly, for example, and this doctor, one of over 3,000 in the country. And these textile workers, according to the government, are ‘combat troops’ in the ‘battle against capitalism’. Omar: Sometimes we use some expressions more linked to the military field than to the political field. However, that is not surprising because we believe that politics and the military share the same ground but that politics is just another means to achieve our goals. That is part of the war that we have. Host: Our two doctors are impressed with the Centre. But there are concerns too. Yurani: Good they have nice clinics they have resources very clean, very pretty. Why, I don’t understand, the government can do this with these new clinics and they can’t do the same with the hospitals, with the old ones where I work, where Florencio works. Host: For Florencio, the worry is that centers like these are as much about indoctrination as education. Florencio: For example, when I was talking to them, then one fellow started to argue with Yurani, and he said, well, because we have white and you have black those are the only two conditions you are against the revolution or you are for the revolutionary persons. And I don’t think that’s quite real. Life is made of grey tones. Host: It’s not all regurgitated Castro here. Chavez supporters say they’re trying to find a ‘third way’, a distinctly Venezuelan response to globalization their model not so much Castro as Simon Bolivar, the man who liberated much of Latin America from Spanish rule. His former house is one of Venezuela’s big tourist attractions with around 400,000 visitors a year. According to curator Bertha Vasquez, Bolivar is as much a part of the present as the past. Bertha Vasquez: Bolivar creates a link with our past heroes’ ideas. He has brought us back to our Venezuelan roots, helping us understand that before Bolivar there were nationalists and independence ideas. Host: Bolivar’s image has escaped onto the streets, where it’s almost as prevalent as that of Chavez. The government cites him often as inspiration for its policies. Andres Izarra: The ideals for which Bolivar fought are pretty much well alive. We’re still fighting for social justice, we’re still fighting to be equal, we’re still fighting to be independent, and we’re still fighting to have sovereignty over our own natural resources. And the same with the struggle to be able to come to a united Latin America, United South America, that can stand itself up in front of the world.