Moving to Venezuela? not sure where to post this

[AmericanSocialist]

Sorry if this is the wrong section, but I am wondering if its possible for an American to migrate to Venezuela. I want to move there and be around the poor and working class and join their struggles. I have long wanted to get out of America. I know it is naive, but I feel like I want my life to be something other than it is. So I am wondering if this is possible. Does anyone have experience in Venezuela?

[flobdob]

I want to move there and be around the poor and working class and join their struggles.

You're in the USA, a country with 8.8% unemployment, deep inequalities and one of the strongest imperialist war machines in the world. You're already around the poor and working class - you simply need to join the struggle.

The greatest act of solidarity you can make with Venezuela or any other revolutionary movement is to fight your own imperialism at home. Bring imperialism's chickens home to roost - that is the task of revolutionaries in an imperialist country. There are parties in the US who recognise this task - such as the PSL (http://www.pslweb.org) - get in contact with them and get involved!

[AmericanSocialist]

I feel you, but In america we are so backwards. We have religious extremist who are far right, the left has no power. I rather be around people that are not afraid to use the term socialism. To place it simply I just want adventure in my life and away from this ignorant science ignoring community.

[thesadmafioso]

Yeah, I'm sorry but that idea is really without any sense to it. There are more than enough problems to be dealt with in the US, you certainly need not run off to Venezuela to be a part of the struggle against capitalism. If anything, you are more use to the international proletariat in the US, as our working class is in desperate need of organization and mobilization.

[Dogs On Acid]

Join the Zapatistas.

I'm going to stay with them for a few months once I finish my education. I have a friend who joined them for about 6 months but had to come back because she was pregnant.

[Fulanito de Tal]

Sorry if this is the wrong section, but I am wondering if its possible for an American to migrate to Venezuela. I want to move there and be around the poor and working class and join their struggles. I have long wanted to get out of America. I know it is naive, but I feel like I want my life to be something other than it is. So I am wondering if this is possible. Does anyone have experience in Venezuela?

...and I'm moving to Cuba to join the revolution. :lol:

Don't bs! You're moving to Venezuela to live it up! You're going to go outside and see neighborhoods, talk to people with their own opinions, and eat good as fuck food.

Trying to pretend like you're making a sacrifice...:glare:

[AmericanSocialist]

Of course It would be nice to have a new scenery, but I want to be amongst socialist. I am not trying to pretend im making a sacrifice, I am indeed making a sacrifice in terms of being comforted and 'safe' in the familiar if i were to stay here and the shaky and unsecure state of Venezuela would be a bit difficult to adjust.

[Fulanito de Tal]

Of course It would be nice to have a new scenery, but I want to be amongst socialist. I am not trying to pretend im making a sacrifice, I am indeed making a sacrifice in terms of being comforted and 'safe' in the familiar if i were to stay here and the shaky and unsecure state of Venezuela would be a bit difficult to adjust.

I know. I was playing with you. Go be happy and live it up. I'll be jealous!

[Ocean Seal]

Sorry if this is the wrong section, but I am wondering if its possible for an American to migrate to Venezuela. I want to move there and be around the poor and working class and join their struggles. I have long wanted to get out of America. I know it is naive, but I feel like I want my life to be something other than it is. So I am wondering if this is possible. Does anyone have experience in Venezuela?
I would think that it would be rather easy to do so. I know that Americans living in Peru don't really have too much of a hard time getting in, and I would think that Americans will encounter few countries that will refuse to take them. Venezuela however might be one of those few countries based on the US-Venezuela tensions.

However, aside from getting in, you might encounter a few other problems

You may not have been vaccinated for all the diseases that come with a tropical environment.

Do you speak/read/write Spanish?

and lastly keep in mind that finding a job in Latin America is typically more difficult than in the United States and though Venezuela might be progressive chances are you will be at a lower living standard with a more assholish boss.

But with all that in regard, good luck on your journey, eat good food, visit nice places and make lots of friends.

[Nothing Human Is Alien]

Join the Zapatistas.

I'm going to stay with them for a few months once I finish my education.

Are you going to persuade them to take up your advocacy for gun control?

[Nothing Human Is Alien]

I would think that Americans will encounter few countries that will refuse to take them.

Actually, it can be quite difficult to get a visa that allows you to work in a foreign country unless you have special skills or a job already waiting for you (for example, teaching English, which usually requires a 4-year degree).

You can enter a large number of countries as a tourist, but that doesn't allow you to work. If you can find a job, it will likely be a shitty one, with no protections. And if you're caught overstaying and/or working, you are subject to arrest, imprisonment, deportation and permanent banning from the country in question.

A notable exception is Cambodia, where you can buy a 12-month "work visa" (that doesn't actually require you to work) at the airport upon arrival for a few dollars, and renew it as many times as you need. Among the best work you may be able to find there however is a job in a for-profit English academy where you'll be treated like shit for around $3 an hour.

[Dogs On Acid]

Are you going to persuade them to take up your advocacy for gun control?

Off topic much?

[Nothing Human Is Alien]

Not really. You made several posts arguing for gun control just before proclaiming your intention to go hang out with an armed group and suggesting that the OP do the same.

[Dogs On Acid]

Not really. You made several posts arguing for gun control just before proclaiming your intention to go hang out with an armed group and suggesting that the OP do the same.

EZLN is the armed group and they aren't civilians, they're an Army. :laugh:

There are tens of thousand of Zapatistas, and they don't carry guns, because they are regular people, duh!

[Nothing Human Is Alien]

The EZLN is the Zapatista Army of National Liberation. It's an armed group formed by "civilians" (not professional military elements). If every member doesn't have a firearm it's because of (1) a lack of firearms &/or (2) a change in strategy. Of course there are unarmed members of all armies, and not everyone who lives in an area under the influence of a particular army is a member.

But, yeah you think it's OK for army members to have firearms but not "civilians"? Thanks for showing your true colors again.

[Rusty Shackleford]

Every country has their far right. Venezuela has one that attempted a coup in '02, Greece and pretty much all european FSU republics and warsaw pact nations have massive nationalist movements. The lowlands have Geert, the french have le penn, the brits have the BNP and UKIP, Ireland has the UVF and other loyalists, Colombia and Mexico have paramilitaries that are basically like Freikorps. Cuba has problems with gusano terrorists.

Just because the media and everything in the US is reactionary doesnt mean struggle is hopeless. The Russian Empire was one of the most reactionary, and all you read was reaction and even in the face of that and a huge war, the deposed the Tsar and formally ended the monarchy with a hail of bullets.

In Cuba, Batista used the army to terrorize the people and was backed by the US, that didnt stop a revolution. Not even one that came on a leaky ass boat with missing letters.

In China, communists were beheaded en masse in the 20s and had to march something like 8 thousand miles in pretty much one year and lost hundreds of thousands only to come back in a decade and defeat the prop imperialists.

So, leaving america for the "better places" is pretty much abandoning the struggle here. There is much to be done, and i would suggest that if it is a political motivation, turn it into work in the US.

[Dogs On Acid]

The EZLN is the Zapatista Army of National Liberation. It's an armed group formed by "civilians" (not professional military elements). If every member doesn't have a firearm it's because of (1) a lack of firearms &/or (2) a change in strategy. Of course there are unarmed members of all armies, and not everyone who lives in an area under the influence of a particular army is a member.

But, yeah you think it's OK for army members to have firearms but not "civilians"? Thanks for showing your true colors again.

According to international humanitarian law a civilian is a person who is not a member of his or her country's armed forces or other militia.

[hatzel]

I know I'm kind of several posts late, but:


We have religious extremist who are far right, the left has no power.

And I'm sure that America's leftists running off to pastures new is really going to strengthen that weak leftist movement...saying 'I want to leave the place where the left is still weak and go to a place where the left is already strong' is pretty much just abandoning any semblance of that whole educate, organise, agitate thing, and instead just scurrying off to where somebody has already done the tough work for you. By all means, go to Venezuela if you want, but the political 'push' factors you have cited are irrelevant; the 'pull' from the other side may, however, be legitimate.

[RadioRaheem84]

Why is everyone browbeating someone who wants to leave the nation for better "pastures"?

The situation in the States is stressful and sometimes feels hopeless. It isn't like some mass organizing is going to happen anytime soon too and if so, the State is massively powerful enough to crush it.

If he wants to leave for Venezuela because there is some semblance of leftist social change there, then we should respect his decision and give him some advice instead of calling him or her a class traitor.

Living in Venezuela without papers, without a college degree, and without knowing the language will be super tough though. I would only say that it would be wise to stay here until you've achieved all three. Also, Caracas is a heavily crime ridden city.

[Dogs On Acid]

Like RadioRaheem84 said, get yourself an education and learn some Spanish. You just have to know the basics, you will assimilate the rest of the language naturally while your there.

[NoOneIsIllegal]

Nobody likes a quitter. It's called "class struggle" for a reason.
(Yes, taken quite out of context, but I hope you see what I'm getting at. Don't be a tool)

[Dogs On Acid]

Leave the man alone.

[CHE with an AK]

http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j318/Tredcrow/Che.jpg

[RadioRaheem84]

Che left Argentina to fight for struggles elsewhere.

Yes, the US is the heart of the capitalist machine but it also has the fiercest military machine ever assembled.