Hace unos dos o tres meses dejĂ© de publicar en Hive. ÂżLa razĂłn? Me quedĂ© sin celular đ â âPor segunda vez đ«© â âPero con algo de paciencia pude recuperarlo por reparaciĂłn. Asi que aquĂ estoy âde nuevoâ, para seguir construyendo identidad y disfrutar de la oportunidad que brinda este ecosistema a todo el que se proponga aprovecharla. â âEsta es la octava entrega donde continĂșo relatando en primera persona (y en formato mĂĄs o menos autobiogrĂĄfico) mi paso por los años mĂĄs oscuros de la crisis social, polĂtica y econĂłmica que atravesĂł Venezuela entre 2014 y 2021, asĂ como los subterfugios y malabares que tuve que hacer para poder sobrevivir sin emigrar. â âAquĂ continĂșa Ă©ste relato. Sin maquillaje y sin IA. â â___
âPuedes leer el capĂtulo anterior haciendo clic en Ă©ste enlace đ
https://ecency.com/@moito/contenido-original-cuando-el-paraiso-c09d61cf42c39
âAño 2014. â âTrabajar como teleoperador en Call Center (nocturno) tenĂa sus ventajas... y sus desventajas. â âEn las horas mĂĄs tranquilas âcuando nadie llamabaâ podĂa leer un libro, navegar en internet, escuchar mĂșsica y hablar largo y tendido con alguno de mis compañeros. â âPero, en esas ocasiones donde el silencio y la inercia parecĂan apoderarse de la noche y hacerme sentir como una ostra, el aburrimiento alcanzaba dimensiones astronĂłmicas.
La empresa ofrecĂa dos servicios de atenciĂłn al cliente. El primero, PĂĄginas Amarillas o GuĂas TelefĂłnicas, mejor conocido como Servicio 113 de Movistar âal que yo pertenecĂaâ y Soporte TĂ©cnico para clientes de Banesco. Este Ășltimo lo integraba un grupo numeroso de teleoperadores que cumplĂa sus jornadas en el cubĂculo u oficina contigua a la nuestra. â âDe esa experiencia derivaron dos fenĂłmenos: mi adicciĂłn al cafĂ© y un fastidioso y persistente trastorno de sueño que dislocĂł mi reloj circadiano. Ambos me persiguen hasta hoy.
â â 1er Acto: LAS GUARIMBAS. â âEntre 2013 y 2014 las medidas tomadas por el gobierno ocasionaron un terremoto en la economĂa. En paralelo, lejos de la tranquilidad y el confort de la oficina, con el vaivĂ©n de la cotidianidad, las calles de Caracas se caldeaban peligrosamente. â âPor un lado, el gobierno encabezado por NicolĂĄs Maduro hacĂa esplĂ©ndidas demostraciones de incompetencia y teatralidad. Nunca en mi vida vi actuaciones pĂșblicas tan torpes y brutas como las de ese sujeto. â âPor el otro, la oposiciĂłn polĂtica solo actuaba precipitadamente y con irracional desesperaciĂłn promoviendo un cambio inmediato de administraciĂłn sin presentar un plan claro para la sociedad.
Solamente salir del gobierno y ya. AsĂ de simple. Como si de ese modo todo se iba a arreglar al dĂa siguiente. Entre pugnas de poder absurdas y una poblaciĂłn cada vez mĂĄs vulnerable.
â âPor allĂĄ por febrero de 2014, un dirigente de oposiciĂłn llamado Leopoldo LĂłpez convocĂł una protesta nacional anti- gobierno. Astutamente NicolĂĄs Maduro encontrĂł la manera de criminalizar aquellas manifestaciones y Leopoldo fue detenido, procesado y encarcelado a la velocidad de la luz. Fue el primer paso a la multiplicaciĂłn de presos polĂticos. â
FotografĂa de Jhostin Peraza en Pexels
La represiĂłn era la Ășnica ley para quienes estaban en desacuerdo con la lĂnea y proceder oficial lo cualâ desatĂł una fiera social que se prolongĂł durante todo el 2014 y los años siguientes. Proliferaron y se popularizaron las "guarimbas": un tĂ©rmino empleado para acuñar protestas y los vandalismos en que Ă©stas degeneraron. En su punto mĂĄs volĂĄtil, algunas partes de Caracas eran autĂ©nticos frentes de guerra.
Un episodio escalofriante. â A algĂșn desquiciado sin madre ni padre (engendrado por una cabra, supongo) se le ocurriĂł la diabĂłlica idea -en el contexto de las protestas- de colocar guayas sujetas por los extremos a postes ubicados a un lado y otro de intersecciones concurridas, quedando atravesadas en la calle a la altura de la cabeza de una persona promedio. â No fueron pocos los casos de decapitaciones accidentales por motorizados incautos que, sin percatarse, se abalanzaban hacia una muerte horrible
â âSegundo Acto: LA GUERRA ECONĂMICA. â âLa economĂa se trastornĂł por completo. â âPrimero, por ciertas medidas adoptadas por la administraciĂłn de Barack Obama para cerrarle el grifo a los recursos que ingresaban al paĂs por importaciĂłn petrolera y asĂ forzar una salida del gobierno. Segundo, por la ola de corrupciĂłn y apropiaciĂłn de bienes esenciales por quienes tenĂan acceso al poder. â âY tercero, por la agitaciĂłn polĂtica y el golpe real de esas medidas en el ciclo de la economĂa. â âY asĂ fue como el oficialismo encontrĂł la excusa perfecta para justificar el desastre nacional. A partir de entonces, todo lo que pasaba en Venezuela era culpa del imperialismo y las medidas econĂłmicas criminales. Con ese cuento lograron adormecer a medio mundo. â âPara muchos, eso significĂł lo mismo que decir que los problemas de mi casa son culpa del vecino â âPoco despuĂ©s se robĂł el show el inevitable enfrentamiento entre el Gobierno y la propiedad privada, escribiendo un capĂtulo adicional en toda esta espiral de locura. En lo sucesivo, ser empresario era, tĂ©cnicamente, un delito. â â***ÂżY quiĂ©n pagĂł el precio mas alto?*** La gente comĂșn como usted y yo. â âAmas de casa, empleados pĂșblicos, padres de familia, estudiantes universitarios, artesanos, emprendedores, comerciantes... niños, personas con discapacidad, mujeres embarazadas o lactantes y adultos mayores. Nos tocĂł pasar el amargo trago de una desgracia de la que no tenĂamos ni idea... Sin clemencia.
Otro episodio bizarro
Durante una protesta, un hombre perdiĂł la vida al ser identificado como simpatizante del gobierno. ÂżLa razĂłn? â Llevar puesta una franela roja. Su peor desgracia fue coincidir con la zona de protestas de grupos de oposiciĂłn, donde algunos elementos extremistas provocaron una turba excitada que acabĂł asesinĂĄndolo mediante rociarle gasolina y prenderle fuego vivo. â âEstuvo en UCI por algĂșn tiempo pero la gravedad de sus quemaduras prolongaron su agonĂa hasta que muriĂł poco despuĂ©s en un hospital.
â
âEl acaparamiento y la escasez relucieron en todo su esplendor, y la inflaciĂłn corriĂł como agua, azotando a diestra y siniestra. Muchos, desesperados por la incertidumbre y la perpetuidad innegociable de un gobierno que, en teorĂa, decĂa ser del pueblo âpero en la prĂĄctica, solo lo usaba para atornillarse en el poder y reprimir toda forma de disensiĂłnâ decidieron irse del paĂs sin saber a dĂłnde ni a quĂ©. â âY luego, un dĂa cualquiera, anunciaron por todos los medios de comunicaciĂłn que el gobierno comenzarĂa un programa de regulaciĂłn en la distribuciĂłn de alimentos para que el acceso a la cesta bĂĄsica fuese mĂĄs "justo y equitativo". â âAquel protocolo de "distribuciĂłn equitativa" se justificaba debido a la "guerra econĂłmica". â âDesde entonces, algunos artĂculos de primera necesidad se venderĂan en cantidades limitadas por persona. El pretexto, repetido una y otra vez era, segĂșn: garantizar el derecho a la alimentaciĂłn. â âLa medida se aplicĂł aquel año inicialmente a un grupo de alimentos muy puntual: harina de maĂz, arroz, spaghetti, azĂșcar, leche, aceite y cafĂ©. Solo se podĂan comprar cuatro unidades âpor kiloâ cada semana. Los demĂĄs productos quedaban libres de restricciĂłn. â âO eso fue lo que nos hicieron creer. Muchos creĂmos que esas medidas llegarĂan hasta allĂ. Pero aquello avanzĂł y avanzĂł hasta tomar proporciones de pesadilla. â âAĂșn faltaba lo peor.
â â âContinĂșa en el prĂłximo capĂtulo...
About two or three months ago, I stopped posting on Hive. The reason? I lost my cell phone đ â âFor the second time đ«© â âBut with a little patience, I was able to get it back after it was repaired. So here I amâagainâto continue building my identity and enjoying the opportunity this ecosystem offers to anyone who sets out to take advantage of it. â âThis is the eighth installment in which I continue to recount in the first person (and in a more or less autobiographical format) my experience during the darkest years of the social, political, and economic crisis that Venezuela went through between 2014 and 2021, as well as the tricks and juggling acts I had to perform to survive without emigrating. â âThis story continues here. No embellishments and no AI. â â___
You can read the previous chapter by clicking this link đ
https://ecency.com/@moito/contenido-original-cuando-el-paraiso-c09d61cf42c39
The year 2014. â âWorking as a call center agent (night shift) had its advantages... and its disadvantages. â âDuring the quietest hoursâwhen no one was callingâI could read a book, surf the internet, listen to music, and chat at length with one of my coworkers. â âBut on those occasions when silence and inertia seemed to take over the night and make me feel like an oyster, boredom reached astronomical proportions.
The company offered two customer service lines. The first was Yellow Pages or Telephone Directories, better known as Movistarâs 113 Serviceâwhich I was part ofâand Technical Support for Banesco customers. The latter consisted of a large group of call center agents who worked their shifts in the cubicle or office next to ours.
â
âTwo things came out of that experience: my addiction to coffee and an annoying, persistent sleep disorder that threw my circadian rhythm out of whack. Both still haunt me to this day.
â â Act 1: THE GUARIMBAS. â âBetween 2013 and 2014, the measures taken by the government caused an economic earthquake. At the same time, far from the tranquility and comfort of the office, amid the ebb and flow of daily life, the streets of Caracas were heating up dangerously. â âOn the one hand, the government led by NicolĂĄs Maduro put on spectacular displays of incompetence and theatrics. Never in my life have I seen public performances as clumsy and crude as those of that man. â âOn the other hand, the political opposition acted only rashly and with irrational desperation, pushing for an immediate change in administration without presenting a clear plan for society.
Just get rid of the governmentâthatâs it. Itâs that simple. As if that would fix everything overnight. Amid absurd power struggles and an increasingly vulnerable population.
â âBack in February 2014, an opposition leader named Leopoldo LĂłpez called for a nationwide anti-government protest. Shrewdly, NicolĂĄs Maduro found a way to criminalize those demonstrations, and Leopoldo was arrested, prosecuted, and imprisoned at lightning speed. It was the first step toward a surge in the number of political prisoners. â
Photo by Jhostin Peraza on Pexels
Repression was the only âlawâ for those who disagreed with the official line and policy, which sparked a social upheaval that lasted throughout 2014 and the following years. âGuarimbasâ proliferated and became widespread: a term used to describe protests and the acts of vandalism into which they degenerated. At their most volatile, some parts of Caracas were veritable battlefields.
A chilling episode. â Some deranged individual with no mother or father (sired by a goat, I suppose) came up with the diabolical ideaâin the context of the protestsâto string cables attached at both ends to poles on either side of busy intersections, leaving them stretched across the street at the head height of an average person. â There were quite a few cases of accidental decapitations involving unsuspecting motorcyclists who, without realizing it, careened toward a horrible death
âAct Two: THE ECONOMIC WAR. â âThe economy was completely thrown into turmoil. â âFirst, due to certain measures adopted by the Barack Obama administration to cut off the flow of resources entering the country through oil imports and thus force the government out of power. Second, due to the wave of corruption and the misappropriation of essential goods by those in power. â âAnd third, due to political unrest and the actual impact of those measures on the economic cycle. â âAnd thatâs how the ruling party found the perfect excuse to justify the national disaster. From then on, everything that happened in Venezuela was blamed on imperialism and criminal economic measures. With that story, they managed to lull half the world into complacency. â âFor many, that was tantamount to saying that the problems in my house are the neighborâs fault. â âShortly afterward, the inevitable clash between the government and private property stole the show, adding yet another chapter to this whole spiral of madness. From then on, being a business owner was, technically, a crime. â âAnd who paid the highest price? Ordinary people like you and me. â âHousewives, public employees, parents, college students, artisans, entrepreneurs, merchants⊠children, people with disabilities, pregnant or nursing women, and the elderly. We had to swallow the bitter pill of a tragedy we knew nothing about⊠Without mercy.
Another bizarre episode
During a protest, a man lost his life after being identified as a government sympathizer. The reason? â He was wearing a red T-shirt. His worst misfortune was finding himself in the area where opposition groups were protesting, where some extremists incited an angry mob that ended up murdering him by dousing him with gasoline and setting him on fire while he was still alive. â âHe was in the ICU for some time, but the severity of his burns prolonged his agony until he died shortly afterward in a hospital.
â
âHoarding and shortages reigned supreme, and inflation ran rampant, lashing out left and right. Many, driven to despair by the uncertainty and the unyielding permanence of a government that, in theory, claimed to be of the peopleâbut in practice, only used them to cling to power and suppress all forms of dissentâdecided to leave the country without knowing where to go or what to do.
â
âAnd then, one day, the media announced that the government would begin a program to regulate food distribution so that access to basic food staples would be more âfair and equitable.â
â
âThat âequitable distributionâ protocol was justified on the grounds of the âeconomic war.â
â
âFrom then on, certain basic necessities would be sold in limited quantities per person. The pretext, repeated over and over again, was, supposedly, to guarantee the right to food.
â
âThat year, the measure was initially applied to a very specific group of foods: cornmeal, rice, spaghetti, sugar, milk, oil, and coffee. You could only buy four unitsâper kiloâeach week. All other products remained unrestricted.
â
âOr so they led us to believe. Many of us thought those measures would stop there. But it kept escalating until it reached nightmarish proportions.
â
âThe worst was yet to come.
â â âContinued in the next chapter...
Portada: EdiciĂłn en Canva FotografĂa del banner es de mi propiedad Banner diseñado y editado con Inshot y Canva Pro TraducciĂłn al InglĂ©s: DeepL App Publicado con Ecency App
âCover: Edited in Canva The banner photo is my own Banner designed and edited with Inshot and Canva Pro Translated into English: DeepL App Published with the Ecency App â
