Heated debate ensued at DePaul Thursday night as students, faculty and guests discussed the ongoing protests in Venezuela.
The forum began with a presentation given by a few students who have ties to the country and support the protesters. Included were videos showing alleged human rights violations, slides detailing censorship of anti-government media, and government corruption, all of which painted a bleak picture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and pro-government forces.
“The response of the government has led to many human rights violations,” Luisela Alvaray, an associate professor in the College of Communications who moderated the event, said. “It is a serious issue and it hasn’t been informed to the rest of the world in all its magnitude because of the media blackout, which is why the students approached me to set up this forum to discuss the Venezuelan problem.”
However, debate became much more divided when the discussion was opened to the audience. While the crowd largely supported the protesters, there were a few vocal dissenters within the audience.
One gentleman, a professor from Purdue University, poked holes into various parts of the presentation, citing among other things that Venezuela has had 17 elections since former president Hugo Chavez took over in 1998, all of which have been won by supporters of the Chavismo.
The subject brought out the passions of both sides. Even before the event started, there were men affiliated with the Hands Off Venezuela organization outside Arts and Letters Hall handing out leaflets advocating against United States intervention in the conflict. Many supporting the Maduro government believe that the United States is plotting to overthrow it, and opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez has indeed called for the president’s resignation.
However, the students were adamant that they do not want intervention of any kind.
“We just want every country to acknowledge that there is a violation of human rights in Venezuela,” DePaul senior Andrea Adjunta said. “We aren’t afraid of the oppression of our government; we’re afraid of the silence of the world.”
Since the presentation reflected the protesters’ point of view, a few audience members showed up in order for the other side to be heard as well.
“To show only one side of this argument is kind of why we showed up today, to have the other side represented,” UIC student Jim Rudd said.
Many who oppose the protests brought up the situation before Venezuela’s Bolivarian Revolution, where poverty and inequality were extremely high. Over the past decade, the rate of poverty has continued to decline, and inequality in the country is now the lowest in Latin America.
After much discussion, it was clear that Venezuela is divided. According to the presenters, cooperation and understanding, not government oppression, are necessary for a solution.
“I want a country that can be tolerant, whether they are left, right, or independent. That cannot happen when one side is a calling the other terrorists,” said Hardy Adjunta, a sophomore who plans to transfer to DePaul next year from Moraine Valley Community College.
With both sides being heard, Andrea Adjunta believes that the event went well.
“It’s refreshing to have this dialogue between all of us, so I think it went pretty good actually,” she said.