Venezuela lagging on reform

Caracas-raised Cesar, 41, believes Hugo Chávez’s pro-gay statements and actions are nothing more than political stunts to garner support from Venezuela’s gay and lesbian community.

Chávez made these statements not because society is asking for this change. Chávez is very smart, his proposals are politically motivated, Cesar said.

Chávez was elected president of Venezuela in 1998 with a mandate to assist Venezuela’s poor majority, and was re-elected in 2000 and 2006.

Chávez had tried to take control of the country with a failed coup attempt in 1992, an incident for which he spent two years in jail.

A year after his election victory, Chávez redrafted the Venezuelan constitution, increasing the presidential term from five to six years. Three years later he expressed regret on his weekly television program, Aló Presidente, that an anti-discrimination clause on the basis of sexuality was omitted from the new constitution.

In 2007 Chávez proposed amendments to the constitution. The amendments included changes that would potentially serve Chávez’s agenda such as the abolition of presidential term limits and increasing the presidential term from six to seven years, and amendments that appealed to voters such as reducing the working week from 44 to 36 hours and outlawing discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.

Chávez argued these reforms were needed to implement his socialist agenda.

For a country to include in their constitution an anti-discrimination clause on the basis of sexuality is a significant step for gay equality rights. Venezuelan gay activist Heisler Vaamonde said, regarding such a clause in 2005, Under no circumstances could we be discriminated against, such as [over] the issue of gay marriage.

The proposed amendments were passed by the Venezuelan National Assembly. However, when put to a referendum, the Venezuelan population voted against the changes: Chávez’s first loss since becoming president.

The amendments were voted upon as a package and not individually. He [Chávez] only really wanted laws affecting him to be approved, Cesar said.

Cesar argues that Venezuelans do not want a socialist country and associate socialism with Cuba’s Fidel Castro. He said that you cannot offer gay rights on the one hand and on the other make yourself a socialist leader for seven years without re-election.

We associate socialism with Cuba. Venezuela is not poor. We are oil-rich, said Cesar.
Culturally Venezuelan society has yet to embrace homosexuality completely. However, Caracas does have a gay infrastructure with gay bars and a keen activist movement.

Nobody ever acknowledges being gay in Venezuela. Nobody would admit to it. If you act -˜girly’, people assume you’re gay, Cesar said.

The interview with the Star was particularly difficult for Cesar. In Venezuela, politics is related to everything. When I left the country I hoped that I could finally put political discussions to rest.

Cesar has been working in Australia as an accountant for a year, initially in Melbourne and now Sydney.

I chose Australia because accounting is a profession in demand here and there is a strong economy, he said.

I wasn’t expecting purely gay suburbs like Darlinghurst. I like Sydney -” it’s natural, spontaneous. You don’t have to hide.