Tales from Venezuela: Rochester IMC in the Thick of the Bolivarian Revolution

Rochester Indymedia journalists Dawn Zuppelli, Andy Dillon and their daughter Zarha, left Rochester in late November in order to cover the elections in Venezuela and get the hell away from the cold of Western New York.

According to their blog, Tales from Venezuela is "an effort to Document our Travels in Venezuela this Winter. We take off November 22, 2006 and will spend the first few weeks in Caracas to participate in Election Coverage. A new Indymedia has been Launched by folks in Venezuela to cover the election, we hope to network with these IMCistas."

Elections in Venezuela:
Andy, in their latest post titled Continuation of the Bolivarian Project Reaffirmed, stated that, "As most of the Polls predicted, Chavez won by a wide margin on Sunday December 3rd. I think many were surprised by how peacefully things proceeded. There were periodic rumors on Friday and Saturday that violence had broken out and the some of the more aggressive of the opposition would sabotage voting centers. But there was nothing to these rumors." See their entries Gringos in the MiraFlores, Political Fireworks, and Que Paso? for more about the elections.

Pineapples, Sandals, and Shopping:
Dawn elaborated on the barriers of language and culture while shopping for food in a post titled ?como se dice..?, while Zarha wrote about her love of pineapples and her sandals—"My sandals are cool, if it weren't for them my feet would be REALLY uncomfortable. Well they already were, since we walked so much and Andy and Dawn seemed to be immune to the torture of walking."

A Cowboy in Caracas: Reflections on the Venezuelan Democratic Revolution:
The Triad's host in Caracas, Charlie Hardy, spoke about poverty, power and the immense popularity of the Bolivarian Revolution in Venezuela to a Global Exchange Delegation. You can hear the first half hour here and the second half hour here.

Multimedia/Links: Photos | Cowboy in Caracas | Venezuela Solidarity Network | Venezuelan Analysis | Hands Off Venezuela! | Friends of Brad Will | Upside Down World | Expedition Mexico