by Arthur Simoni
Daily Lobo
A seemingly innocent and informative lecture about the current crisis in Venezuela sponsored by the Student Organization for Latin American Studies erupted into a heated debate Thursday night at Dane Smith Hall.
Charles Hardy, a former Catholic priest and missionary who has lived in Venezuela for 17 years, presented his lecture, "Crisis in Venezuela; Populist Hugo Chavez Faces off Against the Nation's Elite" and gave his viewpoints of the current political situation and an attempted April 12 coup.
A group of students, several of whom were Venezuela natives, refuted Hardy's claims and at one point were shouted down by another group supporting Hardy's views.
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One student expressed "indignation" that S.O.L.A.S. would bring the voice of a non-Venezuelan to speak about conditions in Venezuela. She said S.O.L.A.S. was acting irresponsibly and that it would be more appropriate to sponsor a forum on the subject.
Eventually, S.O.L.A.S representative Justin Delacour came to the microphone and asked the group to show respect for the speaker.
"I take full responsibility for S.O.L.A.S. organizing this," a visibly upset Delacour said. "I don't feel at all guilty for organizing this, I put a lot of energy to bring this speaker here."
Afterward, he met with the group of upset students and said he would welcome a speaker to present their side of the Venezuelan argument.
Hardy lived in Venezuela for 17 years and is a former Catholic priest who first moved to the country as a missionary.
"For me, living in Venezuela was like being hit over the head with a hammer," he said.
Hardy said that the present coup, was being supported by the corporate elite and that the poor people of color supported Chavez. He said that the Venezuelan media, owned by the white upper class, played a big part in the coup by controlling what was said about Chavez and only presented one side of the story.
He said that before Chavez was elected, the nation's upper class was living like kings.
"A lot of people lost their privileges and these are the people that are upset with Chavez," Hardy said. "Chavez has alienated the businessman, the Church and the press."
He showed examples of newspapers being censored with complete blanks where text normally would have been and called for the alternative press to report that the poor people and people of color of Venezuela were behind Chavez.
After the attempted coup and Chavez's return to power, the United Nations asked for dialogue to continue with coup leaders. Hardy added that corporate interests behind the coup were not at all pleased with the U.N.'s request.
Hardy then began taking audience questions and the argument began.
Some students expressed concern that they were mislead by the S.O.L.A.S. fliers promoting the event, while others shouted, "Viva Chavez" in support of Hardy.
Erica Atkins, a junior biochemistry major and native of Caracas, Venezuela said she was outraged by the presentation.
"I thought it was going to be about both sides," Atkins said. "What angered me was the statement that every poor person and every black person supports Hugo Chavez. Being from Venezuela and black and knowing that this was not the case, enraged me."
