Troubled homeland weighs on Venezuelans
www.stltoday.com By Dan O'Neill Of the Post-Dispatch 02/28/2003 09:23 PM
"Venezuela is still very close to my heart all the time," says Cardinals utility player Miguel Cairo. He lives with his wife and son in Bakersfield, Calif., but has family in Venezuela. (Chris Lee/P-D)
JUPITER, Fla. - Spring training camp can be an intoxicating place. Baseball increments that mature into a major-league season take place every day. One is easily lost in the surreal, sun-soaked surroundings.
But the troubled world from which some players come, the world in which their families and friends reside, is never entirely out of focus.
"I don't think about it when I'm playing baseball; you get away from it here," said nonroster catcher Alex Delgado, who is from Palmarejo, Venezuela. "But it is always on my mind when I'm not playing. I feel sorry for my family."
The Cardinals have four players in camp from Venezuela, including Delgado, nonroster catcher Luis Rodriguez, catcher Steve Torrealba and utility player Miguel Cairo.
Venezuela, a South American country of 24 million people, is in economic ruin after a two-month oil strike aimed at ousting President Hugo Chavez failed. Venezuela is the world's fifth-largest oil exporter and a major supplier for the United States. A coalition of labor and business leaders has been unable to unseat Chavez, who has the support of the armed forces.
Trying to lend support
Cairo went back to Venezuela to play winter ball but had to leave prematurely. Baseball players participated in a general strike on Dec. 2, and the league shut down altogether. Cairo returned to his residence in Bakersfield, Calif., on Dec. 15.
"There were a lot of robberies and everything taking place, a lot of bad stuff going on," Cairo said. "It's kind of bad for Venezuelan people. My family is doing fine right now, but it could be any moment that everything could get worse."
Delgado arrived at spring training a day late because he had problems getting a visa - but he was one of the lucky ones. Some players remain stuck in Venezuela, where immigration offices and consulates have intermittently closed.
"They were open for two days, so if you were a ballplayer, you could get a visa then, but they just closed again," Delgado said.
The families of Rodriguez and Delgado are dependent on the oil business for their livelihood. In response to the strikes and shutdowns that have crippled the Venezuelan economy, Chavez has fired about 16,000 of the 33,000 employees in the oil industry.
Rodriguez's family lives in Maracaibo, the oil capitol of the country. His father is a longtime employee of an oil company and had risen through the ranks to the position of supervisor. His salary is about $400,000 bolivar a month, slightly more than $250 dollars.
"He has worked his tail off his whole life to get that job," Rodriguez said. "A lot of people would like to have that job."
But with companies shutting down, with hostility rising between Chavez and his opposition, with commerce in a stranglehold, good jobs are relative. The oil company that Rodriguez's father works for has been closed since November.
Rodriguez, 31, never has drawn a big-league paycheck. He spent the last nine years playing for American League organizations, including the last four with the Red Sox. He lives in Tampa, Fla., year-round, and he supports his wife and two children on a minor-league salary that ranges from $30,000 to $40,000 a year.
Along with his parents, he has two brothers and two sisters in Maracaibo, including a younger brother trying to attend college. "I have to send money to them as much as I can," Rodriguez said. "If you send $200, it's almost what my dad makes in a month, so I do what I can. But I have to take care of things here, too. We have to eat, too, but I don't want to see my family in Venezuela suffer.
"My brother is going to college, but it's not like here, where you stay in (the dormitories) and just go to schools. He is at home with my parents and there is no work. So when I got my refund in taxes, I sent them a little bit to keep him in school."
"You can't get around"
Delgado also has two brothers and two sisters. His family also works in the oil industry, and they have been without work for more than two months. Not only are there no jobs, there is little oil available for purchase. At some gas stations, hundreds of drivers are in lines stretching for several miles. And some of those fortunate enough to get gas turn around and sell it at inflated prices.
"You can't get around," Delgado said. "You have to get in line for gas for two days. You see people sleeping in their cars to be in line to get gas. It's very hard. It's one of the richest oil companies in the world, and still we have to get in line to get gas. I feel sad when I see what is happening. For the players it's a little easier. Everyone knows you and lets you in to get gas. But for other people, it's really hard."
Delgado, 32, has played the bulk of his career in the minor leagues. He has a wife and a 5-year old daughter to support, but he sends money to his family back home whenever possible. The strikes have affected all businesses. Delgado and his brother own a sports bar in Palmarejo, but the tappers ran dry.
"At one point all the beer companies and everything were closed, we couldn't get any beer or liquor," he said. "It's everything. Groceries were out for a month. There are long lines to get any rice or sugar. It's really bad."
With the sound of mitts popping and bats cracking, with palm trees swaying in a warm coastal breeze, the Venezuelans can get lost in the business of baseball. But they fear the worst is yet to come in their home country. Earlier this week, the diplomatic embassies for Columbia and Spain were bombed. There have been clashes, robberies and shootings. While the economy continues to deteriorate, the danger appears to be escalating.
"People are afraid to go out on the streets, especially in Caracas," Delgado said. "I don't like to go to Caracas. It's dangerous to go there."
Cairo, 28, and his wife, Nicole, who is from California, have a 20-month old son. Cairo plans to return next winter to see his family and to raise spirits the best way he knows how - by playing ball.
"Venezuela is still very close to my heart all the time," said Cairo, who was second in the National League in pinch-hits (19) last season. "That's where I was born, that's where I grew up and that's where I became a baseball player.
"People know who I am when I go home to Venezuela. ... People see you play, especially the kids, and it makes them happy. You want to try to be a role model and give the younger kids something to follow."