I've been avoiding updates about Barinas. It's mostly of interest to
those who know the College and want the details and the details don't
make for easy reading even for those in the know. But a few other
people want to know what's going on, so let me try my best to re-cap
the situation in the simplest way possible.
A residential College
which is an experimental technical university with a practical action
approach to education was given 650 hectares of land by government
back in the late '80s or early '90s for teaching purposes. The
College, part of an international non-governmental educational
network of 12 or 13 colleges has run into difficulties over the past
number of years, most likely due to poor management and leadership
(which has been based in Caracas, an hour's flight away) and partly
to the political climate in the Venezuela (21st century
socialism). As a result, there are few international students and
practically all student places are funded by the Ministry of
Education although the level of funding has been variable and
payments often delayed. In some years operating costs have had to be
met though selling off assets. Most students are from relatively
poor backgrounds. Funding for this academic year has been in serious
doubt for many months.
Just as this academic
year was about to begin the Barinas regional level National Institute
of Lands (INTI) issued legal papers staking a claim to all the
agricultural land of the College with a view to giving it to 4
co-operatives for productive use. The regional INTI did this without
the knowledge of the Minister or INTI at the national level and
without informing the local Mayor. All these parties are of course
Chavista and dedicated to implementing 21st century
socialism. Exactly why the action was taken is too complicated to
get into and remains the subject of speculation. A number of
families moved on to 6 hectares of the land but contrary to some
comments have done nothing so far other than plant the Venezuelan
flag and camp – there are no houses and we see few people. There
are concerns the legal action is not technically legal because the
measure to 'rescue' land can only be applied to certain’ types’
of land and the College land is not one of those’ types’. But
what the action did initiate was a defence of the existing order of
things. And this is where it all starts to get complicated.
Actions to address the
legal claims included calling on the international network of
college/college students and alumni, to tweet Chavez to help 'save
the school'. The College Board opened discussions with INTI and the
Ministry of Education at the national level. The start of the
academic year was postponed both because of the legal action and
because there was no money to run the school. At the local level,
the Student Association President and a few local students opened
discussions with the local Mayor (Chavez' political party). The
upshot of this was that just over a week ago, INTI, the Ministry of
Education, the local mayor and various advisers arrived at the
College for a meeting with all the parties. They gave lectures on
socialism and decided to establish what they call 'mesas de trabajo'
to make a study of the situation and take views and 'evidence' from
all parties before submitting a report to El Comandante Chavez for a
decision. He is now in Cuba for medical check-ups following his
chemotheraphy treatment. And no-one seems to be asking why the land
claim issue is now one and the same as the College funding issue.
The future of the College in it's totality is now at stake.
Meanwhile, back at the
farm, as they say, the situation is, shall we say, muddy! There is
no Principal in place at the College (the last one lasted 5 months).
Students have been told not to return for the new term until
November! We were told the mesas de trabajo business would run for
about 2 weeks continuously. What we got was 2 days of work. Then a
national holiday – I think a day to celebrate indigenous people –
interrupted things. The day after that a storm had taken out the
bridge so the important regional level parties could not get from the
state capital Barinas out to the sticks in Pedraza. That lasted 2
days. One table, the 'international' mesa for international students
and volunteers, ie, me, never met at all. Then the weekend came.
Nothing seems to have happened at all this week. There was a meeting
with the local mayor and the students on the weekend. No one really
seems to know what's happening with this process. In the meantime,
rumours abound. The one that seems to have gained most ground is that
the College and land will be taken over by government for a public
university. The College Board (an NGO) will disappear (that is it
doing a deal with the government is also a variation on this rumour).
The co-operatives or ‘landless peasants’ as they are sometimes
referred to, named in the court order, are said not to be so landless
and they too will be removed. No-one knows when or how it will all
happen. And since it's a rumour no-one can be sure if it will
happen.
As
of last Friday, professional staff the College had not been paid for
a month and few people here have savings that can cover a gap in
salary like that. The atmosphere is tense although there is a great
capacity to find humour in the situation. But now we see all kinds
of uncoordinated and almost desperate action by students and staff
(who were already divided along pro and anti Chavista lines). The
Student President is garnering support from the National Union of
Students and through this national newspapers are getting a whiff of
things – yesterday a journalist from one of the national papers
spoke to several of us. They are running a story in their weekend
edition. Some staff have signed a petition addressed to the Governor
seeking assurances that if the College is taken over by government
they will keep their jobs. Another group of teachers is talking about
going to meet with the state Governor (one Mr Chavez, brother of El
Presidente) to highlight the impossible position they are now in.
The College Board in Caracas seems not to communicate with the
school, and if does, whoever is getting those communications is
keeping schtum! It communicates little with the International Board
of the College and they in turn communicate with no-one actually
staying in the College.
At a more mundane
level, the kitchen has run out of most food and there is no money for
more. Most meals for the past 4 days have consisted of spaghetti, the
only staple left in the larder. And it is not always served with meat
sauce, or indeed any sauce! Portions are getting smaller. Yesterday
breakfast was a piece of flat bread and a dessert spoonful of grated
cheese. It is reported that staff are no longer going to be provided
breakfast or supper. The 4 Haitian students here have demanded a
meeting with the town Mayor to complain about the food which is not
only silly but selfish – we're all in the same boat. No-one is
going hungry so long as they like spaghetti! And amid all this
activity and rumour milling still nothing concrete seems to happen
and no-one seems to know what's going on..........seems to me like
it's all a great distraction from whatever is really going on!
Padraza, 18 October 2011
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