lunes, 3 de marzo de 2014

A sincere apology, a correction and a comment

Ms. Rebecca Hanson has called my attention, and rightly so, to an error made by in my post : http://lasarmasdecoronel.blogspot.com/2014/03/the-pro-autoritarian-bias-among-some-us.html.
In that post I  wrongly attributed to her a portion of an article written by another author on the same topic. This does not happen to me often but this time it did. What Ms Hanson said in her article that discussed the Venezuelan protests was:
 (See: http://venezuelablog.tumblr.com/post/77823347017/venezuelan-protests-from-the-view-of-western-Caracas for the complete article).
"To fully appreciate these changes, however, we need to also appreciate the geographical limits of the opposition protests. Taking into account where protests are not occurring, and why, is important in understanding what they represent for residents who do not live in the zones where protests have erupted.
These protests have not engulfed the entire country or even the entire capital, despite coverage and photographs that might suggest otherwise. Recent articles in Ultimas Noticias have declared the western side of the city, which normally grabs headlines for its high homicide rates, as tranquil and quiet in comparison to the east.
I live and conduct research in Catia, a massive grouping of working and lower-class barrios in the western section of the city that have long been considered a Chavista stronghold. Though I had heard about the violence that erupted on Youth Day, when clashes first came to a head in Caracas, I had to go into the city center to find evidence of protests......". 

Again I apologize to Ms Hanson. If she can find some other errors I will be more than glad to apologize because my objective is not to confuse but to debate.

The thrust of Ms. Hanson article is similar to the one I mis- attributed to her. It has to do with her opinion that the protests are geographically limited to the well-to-do parts of Caracas, which would prove that the popular sectors are not involved in them.
This is what I find highly misleading. The protests in most poorer sections of Western Caracas are limited largely due to the action of urban, armed thugs, the Colectivos, who have their "headquarters" in those areas and terrorize the neighborhoods. But in the poorer sections of Eastern Caracas, such as Petare, they do take place. They are also taking place nation wide, not only in Caracas.  in the barrios of Valencia, in Puerto Ordaz, in Maracaibo, in Barquisimeto and particularly in the Andean cities of San Cristobal and Merida. . The protests in central Caracas are full of poorer Venezuelans. The students belong to the poor and the middle classes alike. It is true, however, that the leadership is mostly middle class, which should not be  surprising.
While I regret the error, which was not intentional, I find no reason change my posture, as expressed in the post cited above.  

No hay comentarios:

Publicar un comentario