Economics With A Face

I thought we were there in plenty of time but we due to long lines that were apparently the fault of a computer malfunction, we ended up having to run to the gate to catch the flight that departed at 12:30. In line in front of us was a Columbian woman now living in Miami who was returning to visit her sisters. We were on the same plane, as our flight required a short stopover in Bogota, Columbia. She told us that it was a shame that we were skipping Columbia in our travels. An hour and a half later we were in Bogotá and changed planes to head into Caracas. When we started our decent Venezuela looked beautiful from the air. Beaches, forests, and a blue Caribbean ocean made it look like paradise. As we were landing though I started to get a bit of the same feeling I had when we were flying into Cuba. With all the tension between the two countries (Chavez was saying at a UN meeting just a month ago that the U.S. was going to bomb Caracas and take their oil fields) I wondered if there was going to be any hassle getting through immigrations and customs with U.S. passports.

It turned out to be easy. We sailed through immigration and custom stopping just long enough for immigration to stamp our passports and for customs to welcome us to Venezuela. The airport was also one of the most modern and clean I had seen in my life (Vladimir later told us that the international terminal we were in had just been completed.)

Friend Vladimir was waiting at the airport with a sign that read “Mork” so he was easy to spot. It was really nice to see a familiar face. On the way back to his office (formerly his parents house, which is where we were going to be staying) we talked about the plans for the week. Earlier in the day he had attended the premier of Guevara: Anatomía de un Mito, a movie that was about the myth of Che Guevara. At the showing he had met a variety of interesting people, a few of whom we may meet up with later on in the week.

He also explained about the road that linked Caracas with the airport. At the time of its construction in the 1950’s it was a major engineering feat. Crossing the mountains that lie between Caracas and the sea, it cut the commute time from hours down to 30 minutes. Today it is in need of maintenance like many things in the city. But it still did its job of getting us to the capital.

During the ride we talked about a variety of subjects. One of particular interest was Chavez’s recent war against private schools. Despite the fact that inflation is leading to annual price increases in the high teens, Chavez has imposed price controls on tuition that are making it difficult for private schools to survive. Affected by inflation just like everyone else in the country, schools are forced to find ways around the price controls, like charging extra for English or other other non-core classes. Obviously, what is being taught in private schools isn’t under the control of the government and that is something that Chavez fears.

It was hard to get a feel for the city in the dark, but the numerous skyscrapers stood out. We passed by Plaza Altamira, now commonly referred to as Liberty Plaza, after a woman protesting was shot and killed and many others wounded by Chavez supporters the day after the referendum in August 2004.

Once at the house we met Vladimir’s son, also named Vladimir, and got settled our room. It is amazingly generous for their family to put us up like this. We toured the neighborhood walking before we called it a night. It looks like a beautiful place. It was interesting though, a nice restaurant near the house looked deserted, and this was on a Saturday night. Possibly an insight into how well people are doing economically.

Back at the house Vladimir left for home and Em and I called it a night after another long day of traveling. Hard to believe we’ve made it to Caracas and are now in South America.