Venezuela: Much ado about golf courses
September 4, 2006
However, in the capital of Venezuela itself there was rather a reserved response to the declaration of the radical chavist. Confrontation of the «red» mayor of Caracas and opposing alcaldes of two capital eastern districts – Chacao and Baruta, inhabited by the wealthiest part of the city population, is very well known. Declaration of Barreto is another challenge to the right-wing, as all the mentioned golf clubs are located in Chacao and Baruta. The neighbouring to the golf clubs area is inhabited by the Venezuelan elite, there are numerous embassies, including the embassy of the United States. Somebody, playing into Barreto's hand, recollected the laws of 1931 that were violated while constructing the houses and embassies in the zones of golf clubs and threatened to pull down the «illegal structures».
At the same time absolute majority of the Venezuelans sensibly appreciated the declaration of Barreto. Vice-president J.V. Rangel declared that the government did not share the aspirations of the Caracas Mayor and respected private property. Leader of the right-wing party «Primero Justicia» J. Borges expressed the opinion that Barreto's declaration acted as a «smoke screen» to deviate the public attention from, firstly, scandalous military jail-break of the main coordinator of 2002 strike C. Ortega and, secondly, from a lengthy foreign tour of the President Chavez (usually the opposition carefully counts how much the President spent on the tour and how much he «handed out to the right and left»).
As for the «inhabitants of the city slums and tramps» they do not cherish special hopes in connection with declaration of Barreto: they understand that even the most modest tiny flat at the capital most expensive lands will be beyond their means.