Venezuela. What a country! In the name of cheese, I hope that the producers of Red Dawn manage to work in some sympathetic Bolivarians. Outside government offices in Chacao, the Socialist Party has put up these red posters of revolutionary heroes. It kinda sorta looks like something outta the last post, no?
They also, of course, warn against the empire. The below mural reads, “The Empire’s new toy: easy to use, totally manipulable.” Made me proud to be an American!
More revolutionary art below the fold.
“Under socialism, the great works are done by you,” reads the below. Judging from the traffic, socialism could charge more for gasoline, and great works done by the Department of Transportation might not hurt, either.
Of course, the opposite of socialism is capitalism, and capitalism kills.
Which is why the Bolivarian missions are here to help, “Making the extraordinary into the everyday.”
Venezuela is not alone, however. It is merely a small part of the Bolivarian Alliance, for “in union, there is strength.”
Of course, the ever present advertisements kind of ruin the whole socialist-moderne thing. Especially the one's for Levi's Texas Shop. That said, the murals (and less formal graffiti) are fascinating.
More to come.
"“The Empire’s new toy: easy to use, totally manipulable.”"
Hardt and Negri have really gotten their hands into _everything_!
Posted by: Randy McDonald | November 23, 2009 at 10:03 PM
I dunno, Randy. When Hugo refers to the Empire, he means the American Empire in a real muscly non-metaphorical sense, you know, guns, bombs, and ICSID. Far from whassisname and the other guy.
You're hanging with a bad crowd up there!
BTW, could you explain what in the name of God those two were trying to argue? I felt like I was reading a bad translation from the original Armenian.
Posted by: Noel Maurer | November 23, 2009 at 10:47 PM
Noel,
What's going on with the energy crisis I hear about going on in Venezuela? I mean, oil exporting nation? WTF?
Steve
Posted by: Steven Rogers | November 25, 2009 at 03:19 PM
Hey Noel, can I ask you an alternative history related favour? I am currently assembling sources for a timeline based on the premise that Columbus sails for England. I was wondering if there were any works that immediately strike you as useful or necessary for me to read, and if you could point me in their direction?
Posted by: King-Walters | November 27, 2009 at 06:44 PM
In retrospect, that question was both ridiculously broad and overly presumptuous. Might I ask the more reasonable question of what sources you would recommend for colonial-era Latin America?
Posted by: King-Walters | December 03, 2009 at 03:27 PM
Sure. Best place to start is Volume 1 of the Cambridge History of Latin America. Burkholder and Johnson, Colonial Latin America, is another good introductory text. Is that what you're looking for?
Posted by: Noel Maurer | December 03, 2009 at 06:20 PM
Yes, I think it is. Thanks.
Posted by: King-Walters | December 09, 2009 at 08:37 AM