Chavez Takes Class War To Venezuela's Golf Courses By Andrew Cawthorne
CARACAS (Reuters) - At the Caracas
Country Club, the clip of golf balls and chatter of birdsong contrast with
the cacophony of city life beyond the palm tree-lined confines of one of
Venezuela's oldest and wealthiest clubs.
But golfers' peace and quiet are under unprecedented
threat since socialist President Hugo Chavez openly expressed his disgust
for their "bourgeois" sport, which grew with the South American nation's oil
industry in the 20th century.
His diatribe, and the ensuing national debate over
golf, are symptomatic of the polarization of Venezuelan society since Chavez
came to power 10 years ago promising a revolution.
Drawing his popularity from the poor majority, Chavez
has stirred class resentments with rhetoric reminiscent of his Cuban mentor
Fidel Castro. In private, opponents use derisive, class-based terms too for
Chavez and his supporters.
Of golf, Chavez declared recently in the city of
Maracay: "I think it is a bourgeois sport and there's no justification for
having a golf course in the middle of a city where there is so much housing
need for the people."
Even though there are slums, you have 30 hectares so a
little group of bourgeois and petit-bourgeois people can go and play golf
... They are so lazy, they use carts!" he mocked.
Although a lover of sports, especially baseball,
Chavez' comments brought into the open -- and instantly politicized -- the
decline of golf facilities in Venezuela. Various courses have shut in recent
years, and others may go the same way if authorities decide to put Chavez'
words into action.
The Venezuelan Golf Federation says the country has
lost seven courses in the last few years, mainly those run by state
authorities, including oil firm PDVSA, that have opted to put funds
elsewhere or use the land for other things.
That leaves 23 courses around the country. Many of
them were originally created for foreign oil workers.
MORE RADICAL THAN CASTRO
While declining to be drawn into a public spat with
Chavez, golf federation president Julio Torres notes other socialist nations
like China and Cuba are going the opposite way."
Venezuelan golfers are feeling a bit of pressure and
discomfort because of the closures," he told Reuters."China, a partner of
Venezuela and a communist country, has more than 300 courses, another 100 in
construction, and about 300,000 golfers. Cuba is building more courses, for
tourists."
Given that Castro was famously photographed playing
golf with fellow Argentine revolutionary Ernesto "Che" Guevara in the early
days of his rule, Chavez appears to have gone one step further than his
mentor on this issue.
Denying golf was an exclusive game in Venezuela,
Torres said clubs were making big efforts to popularize the sport by
ensuring some courses were open to the public -- 9 of the 23, he said -- and
running charitable training projects.
Back at the Caracas Country Club, 21-year-old
administration student Alejandro Sequeira resents the "bourgeois" tag stuck
on him and other friends who play golf."
I'm a student, from the middle class, nothing special.
Golf is not just for millionaires," he said, teeing off onto manicured grass
at the first hole."
He (Chavez) is looking for an excuse to mess with the
people he considers upper-class and elite. But many of the people playing
golf are businessmen with links to the government. So they're just insulting
themselves really."
Workers at the course, like 80-year-old caddy Carlos
Mejia who has been dragging golf clubs for half a century, are horrified at
the threat hanging over the sport in Venezuela.
Mejia said he and scores of others would have no other
way to make a living, and he doubted if the soft soil under the Caracas
course would sustain large-scale building anyway.
A few blocks away, though, where two unemployed
friends were hawking electrical parts in the middle of traffic jams, there
was less sympathy."
Look, those rich people had power for decades, and
they chose not to help people like us," said Manuel Salerno, taking a break
from trying to sell a few plugs."
I don't agree with the rhetoric of hatred, but I have
to be honest -- I don't feel sorry for them. How can I?"
