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What the .... does that have to do with my comment?
How can I be chavista when I have lived outside of Venezuela for 20 years?
You are so brainwashed that you think anybody you disagree with (doesn't say that Venezuela is s...) is a chavista
Seems like a fair question to me?
I dunno, you are the one who said you had a cousin that worked as a palace guard when Chavez was temporarily overthrown in 2002 right? To me your tone sounded a bit sympathetic, but, maybe no? If I'm making an assumption than I appologize. Besides, you don't have to "live" in Venezuela to be "Chavista" or pro Chavez, lot's of latinos everywhere around the world worship the ground that he walked on. They tried to embalm him "in state" in Venezuela for god sakes.....like Lenin or something.
Venezuela is a beautiful country in it's natural beauty and I'm sure that their are lot's of wonderful people there. However, the impression you gave is because you visited for a 3 week vacation and nothing happened to you, or that you suppose that because some women "stared at her purse" when leaving a bakery and wasn't robbed....well, how bad could it be. You gave me the impression that you "knew-it-all" about what the reality was like on the ground in Venezuela adfter being there on the ground, physically for only 3 weeks....a bit pompous no? besides you accused myself and others of using scare tactics, were just trying to inform people.
In the face of myriads of others, including myself who've mentioned otherwise. Some of which have spent more time in Venezuela than you have, I'd say that makes them a resident authority, not you. Now to be fair, regarding Venezuela, I personally have never been to Venezuela, although my comments were based upon conversations that I had regularly and daily over the phone with my counterparts in our Caracas office.....exactly as they relayed the situation on the ground to me, I had no reason to believe they were lying to me? However, some of the other users here, a few I believe have lived in Venezuela a number of years.
The thing is: I read comment after comment after comment of all these "amatuer travel experts" on different threads about different latin american countries who like to point out how everyone is wrong about situations on the ground in certain countries, when their observations are based on merely their own opinions and limited observations of having only visited as a tourist for a few weeks or even only days. I have a problem with that.
People such as myself, and a few others here who've lived here in latin-america for quite a number of years, every day, putting their pants on and rolling their sleeves up just like everyone else. To me opinions from people like that bear more weight and deserve real consideration about situations on the ground and the way things are. And not necessarily foreign nationals of various countries either, because they have a tendency to be biased, after all, nobody likes discussing the "dirty laundry" and "nitty gritty" of how it can really be, we have a vested interest, we want to make it all sound great! Good, honest, unabashed observation, that isn't ojective about what it's "really" like living here...... experiences, for good or for worst.
So I get tired of people talking about "how it's all just exaggeration and it's not really like this or like that" when their observations are only based on a mere 5 day stay to some resort hotel in a Beach city somewhere. That's not living here, that's not living it every day, their observations frankly don't merit much based upon the subject.
You gave me the impression that you "knew-it-all" about what the reality was like on the ground in Venezuela after being there on the ground, physically for only 3 weeks....a bit pompous no? besides you accused myself and others of using scare tactics, were just trying to inform people.
In the face of myriads of others, including myself who've mentioned otherwise. Some of which have spent more time in Venezuela than you have, I'd say that makes them a resident authority, not you. Now to be fair, regarding Venezuela, I personally have never been to Venezuela, although my comments were based upon conversations that I had regularly and daily over the phone with my counterparts in our Caracas office.....exactly as they relayed the situation on the ground to me, I had no reason to believe they were lying to me? However, some of the other users here, a few I believe have lived in Venezuela a number of years.
How old are you?
You are completely contradicting yourself
You talked to co-workers on the phone?
I talked to my family (brother, childhood friends, cousins, uncles, etc.) while drinking beer with them in Venezuela
But you think you know more than me.
Just another example of the misinformation about Venezuela
Quote:
Originally Posted by EricOldTime
The thing is: I read comment after comment after comment of all these "amatuer travel experts" on different threads about different latin american countries who like to point out how everyone is wrong about situations on the ground in certain countries, when their observations are based on merely their own opinions and limited observations of having only visited as a tourist for a few weeks or even only days. I have a problem with that.
How old are you?
You are completely contradicting yourself
You talked to co-workers on the phone?
I talked to my family (brother, childhood friends, cousins, uncles, etc.) while drinking beer with them in Venezuela
But you think you know more than me.
Just another example of the misinformation about Venezuela
You are describing yourself
My observations on not based upon my opinions, your wrong, my observations are based upon eye-witness accounts from co-workers that are Venezuela, living in Venezuela, I already said that.. Besides, I said, to be fair, I've never been there, that's not opinion, that's fact. I clarified that from the beginning. However the sources I spoke with there, this was for more than 1 year on a virtual daily basis. Unfortunately, I haven't spoken to any of them since because our Caracas office has been closed.
I don't presume to know more than anyone, only what I've been told, yet you only visited for 3 weeks, and yet you made vague statements trying to make a point that somehow "Venezuela isn't as bad as what everyone else is making it out to be." well a large percentage of folks don't share those same views.
My point is that many on this forum, they visit somewhere in latin-america for a few days or a few weeks and then presume to tell everyone else who's lived down here for years how it's all just talk, exagerrations, it's not really that bad....yet, none of them have ever lived on the ground here and had to get up, day after day and experience life here on a continual basis, yourself included. I mean, we are continuosly subjected to this time and time again on this forum. It's amazing how much people know about what everyday life is like in these countries, only after having visited for a week or two.
The vast majority of people who I've spoken with about Venezuela, who either "live" there or "have" lived there for quite some time don't seem to agree with your "hurried" analysis about Venezuela. You only visited for 3 weeks, yet you discount the observations and views of many who've lived here for long extended periods of time as just "scare tactics" and then come up with lame comparisons like the one with the women and her purse.
My observations on not based upon my opinions, your wrong, my observations are based upon eye-witness accounts from co-workers that are Venezuela, living in Venezuela, I already said that.
Let me guess .... you have never met those co-workers in person
Let me guess .... you have never met those co-workers in person
Met them twice, on two business trips they made here to Argentina. othern than that, phone calls and live conference calls using Skype.... We had a small office there, a total of about 12 people.
Met them twice, on two business trips they made here to Argentina. othern than that, phone calls and live conference calls using Skype.... We had a small office there, a total of about 12 people.
Should I even tell you how many times I've "met" the members of my family?
I'm guessing I've met my brother over 5000 times.
I lived in Venezuela until I was 16, moved to the US in 1994
no, it wasn't a nice country before Chavez took over, that's the reason why Chavez won the election in 1998 with something like 70% of the votes.
You are gonna find LOTS of people in the opposition today that voted in for Chavez in 1998.
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