By Rachel Morenz
Early last Wednesday morning, I arrived at el Pedagoacuteico, the pedagogic university in Matuiacuten, Venezuela, where I am currently an assistant English literature and drama teacher. The main gates to the university were closed.
A crowd of students and professors congregated around the entrance. I worked my way through the crowd to a rack of newspapers displayed outside a small empanada stand. The front page of one of the five newspapers held the news I had longed to hear for months: Obama had won! I let out a small yelp of joy and looked around for someone with whom to share the good news.
I wanted to grab the student at my side clad in tight jeans and impeccable make-up and exclaim, "My country has a new president! Obama is our new president!" But I restrained myself.
The gates to el Pedagóico were shut that morning due to a student march against a repressive police force. A student wearing a red ¨PSUV¨ (United Socialist Party of Venezuela) t-shirt stood elevated on a small platform, speaking in rapid and loud Spanish, encouraging the mass of students in front of him to join in the march. I realized there was no way my 7 a.m. Introduction to Literature class was going to happen, and understandably, Obama was not the first thing on everyone's mind.
However, I would be lying if I reported a general disinterest in the Venezuelan community where I live about the new U.S. president-elect. Many of the Venezuelans I know are curious, excited and some are even fascinated by Obama.
One of the most frequent questions I receive from friends, housemates and even store clerks is, "How do you feel about having a black president?" "Completely fine," I reply.
These inquiries have made it apparent to me that the way the rest of the world, or at least Venezuela, views U.S. race relations may have been more negative than I knew. The deleterious aspects of our history and culture are definitely no secret.
Obama´s win demonstrates the reality of changed race relations in the U.S. - not that they are now perfect, but that there is hope and real possibility for change, that history can be progressive and need not repeat itself. Poignantly, this hope reaches beyond U.S. borders. One of my Venezuelan friends told me with gripping sincerity, ¨Obama brings us hope too.¨
Why would Obama bring hope to Venezuela? For one, his election highlights what can be achieved in a healthy democracy, a moving example for a country currently trying to build a strong participative democracy with their fairly new 1999 constitution but which is governed by a president with authoritarian tendencies.
Obama´s election also brings hope for the improvement of U.S.-Venezuelan relations. This summer, Chavez ordered the American ambassador out of Venezuela and pulled his ambassador from Washington.
But when Obama enters the White House, Chavez says he is willing to begin talks with the U.S. again, something that could benefit both countries´ governments and people of the "pueblo," ordinary citizens.
Still, just as the current socialist movement in Venezuela (the Bolivarian Revolution) was not responsible for Obama´s victory, "Yes we can," is by no means going to solve all of Venezuela´s problems.
Venezuela is its own sovereign nation, with internal problems difficult to understand unless one is a citizen of the country.
It is my hope that Obama´s foreign policy toward Venezuela will be one in which he listens, speaks and acts firmly, but lays big sticks aside. Or, as Chavez said shortly before Obama was elected, ¨We hope that he tunes into the frequency of the world and convinces the U.S. hawks that it is impossible to dominate the planet.¨
