Public universities under siege in Venezuela
I am a university professor in Venezuela and things here are bad. I request anonymity because dissent has its price in Venezuela. By not actively supporting El Proceso one becomes guilty, things become worse if I actually speak out against it...
The situation in the nation's public universities has become very serious as all indications are the government intends to intervene the autonomous universities of Venezuela. The weapon being used right now is financial strangulation of the universities and an attempt to divide the community along the lines of Professors on one side, staff and students on the other. The Ministry of Education has handed down money only to be spent on the salaries of staff, but not docents. This is in direct violation of the university's autonomy, since by law it is the university that decides how its budget should be spent. The government wants a list of professors that did not work during January alleging they observed the opposition strike against the government. Why single out Professors if it was evident a considerable percentage of staff and students did not come either? There were also other reasons for not showing up at work such as the social strife, gasoline shortage and its impact on public transportation. Such action is government intervention in the University's affairs and has elicited a categorical condemnation from all academic sectors save a small minority allied with the government. Ironically the government owes most universities over 5 months of their budget, forcing drastic measures to keep the institutions open and running in detriment of academic standards.
While there have always been issues of violation of the university's autonomy during past governments, never have intentions been as clear and concrete as now. In the nation's non-autonomous universities authorities are designated by the government and in all of these institutions chavistas have been awarded directive posts. The autonomous universities are not so easily dominated and in recent internal elections government backed candidates have for the most part been defeated. Given their minority the chavista groups have resorted to strong arm tactics such as threats and harassment, certainly unusual for campus political activities. They receive support, direct and indirect from the government and government supporters, including people from outside the university.
Two years ago, in elections for new authorities in the nation's largest university, the Universidad Central de Venezuela (UCV), the government backed candidates were defeated. Some months later a small group of students took over the campus council office by force and stayed there for a number of weeks, all the while receiving logistical support from the central government. Their vandalism was accompanied by violence, including pipe bombs, fist-fights, gunfire, tear-gas and fireworks. They demanded, amongst other things, that the newly elected authorities be declared illegitimate and a new government be installed in the UCV. Their use of violence and ensuing disruption of academic life was totally unacceptable. The bitter taste this episode left was detrimental to the renegade's cause as in the most recent student council elections, groups representing the government party suffered resounding defeats in most UCV schools. Far from being discouraged the plotting has continued and in the past weeks many events throughout the country point to a coordinated offense against the nation's autonomous public universities and here is a small sample: In the Lisandro Alvarado University in Barquisimeto informants are finger pointing at professors that allegedly observed the strike, and the names of those on the government's Intervention Directive are vox populi. In the Carabobo University of Valencia a group of chavista students have taken partial control of the institution's transportation services, using the buses to support government and government party activities. The authorities even resorted to deflating vehicle tires and removing key parts from the engines so as to keep unauthorized hands from using the buses. The students are actively calling for State Intervention of the university. In Maracay a group of students and staff from the Pedagogic University marched through the city in the name of academic autonomy and when they were about to enter the campus of the Central University they were attacked by a group of chavista staff, students and even professors. Rocks and other missiles were hurled at the peaceful protesters, forcing disbandment of the march and police intervention to separate the two groups. In eastern Venezuela a group of government supporters assaulted the Registrar's office of the Universidad de Oriente, burning all academic records.
The pressure is building up and certainly agrees with the recent Presidential promise of a government offensive during this year. The sustained take over of public institutions by the government and its followers has been a very evident throughout all public administration as political allegiance reigns over technical or professional expertise, with disastrous results. The collapse of research and activities in the Ministries of the Environment, Agriculture, and Health are poignant examples. The financial tourniquet around the Venezuelan Institute of Scientific Research (IVIC), the dismantling of the research institute of the state oil company and elimination of support for oil related research in the universities only corroborate Venezuelan State disregard for academic and intellectual activities.
The disastrous results ensuing from intervention by this government in institutions where research and academia are involved are too obvious and represent a grim warning of what could happen to the autonomous universities if the Chavez government has its way.