Christiana Schiavoni and Venezuela

Ed. Notes- I am not a fan of Facebook, but every once in awhile I am surprised. This is one of those times. Christina Schiavoni is one of those rare people who "walk the talk." We go back a long way with her, dating back to our days on the WhyHunger Board where we first came in contact with Christina. When we formed KIDS, she was one of our original board members and continues to serve all these years later. She is currently working on her an advanced degree at The Hague. Christina is deeply involved with the political upheavals taking place in Venezuela and has written many articles some of which have appeared in our publications. She currently is in Venezuela and once again we look to her to take us out of our comfort zone and join her on the barricades!

Dear friends,

It was just brought to my attention that there’s been a warning for US citizens not to travel to Venezuela, so I wanted to break my Facebook (fb) strike of several months to say that I’m OK. I’m very OK. If you’re not poor and/or darker-skinned here right now, you’re fine. Which means a minority of folks – including yours truly – are fine, while the majority are indeed open targets for attacks by violent right-wing mobs – simply for audaciously asserting that poor working-class people here have basic rights, including the right to participate in their political system.

This Sunday is a big day for Venezuelans. They will get to vote for members of a constituent assembly that will revise the constitution in a highly participatory manner, just as in 1999 when citizens collectively drafted their new constitution through a similar process. The 1999 constitution is ground-breaking in many ways, including laying the legal foundations for food sovereignty, among many other huge advances. But almost two decades later, some additions and revisions are due, including protecting – and deepening - social programs and mechanisms of popular power that did not exist in 1999. So that’s what’s going on here on the one hand. It’s very exciting and inspiring!

And one the other hand, Venezuela is receiving overt threats of (further) intervention from Trump, from members of Congress, from the State Dept. and CIA, and from other powers allied with the US; imports of food and medicine are being cut off and/or blocked (constituting blatant crimes against humanity); radical elements of the opposition are receiving external support to wreak havoc, including burning people (poor/brown/chavista) alive (no exaggeration, unfortunately - a number of these have been recorded on video); and the situation here is being warped by the media like never before. Honestly, I do fear for my friends and loved ones here right now, and for the population as a whole.

So yeah, I’m fine, but things are not. Venezuela needs solidarity and support. Please reject the BS coming from the media and US government and stand with the majority of the people here.

And on a personal level, I want to apologize to many of you for being out of touch. I was going through some personal hard stuff over the past few months (having nothing to do with my being in Venezuela) and it was extra hard to keep up with life – even fb! I see something like 80+ messages in my inbox – so please be patient with me as I catch up in the coming weeks. I also have loads of photos, etc. to share from my inspiring months here in Venezuela.

So more to come!

Love and solidarity,

Christina Schiavoni