Martine nailed it right on in her comment to my last post: it’s been a most surreal week.

From what I can gather, the vast majority of Venezuelans demand an election in order to oust the democratically-elected president. This is apparently due to the fact that Chavez, a collaborator of Castro, wishes to turn Venezuela into a communist country. My Venezuelan coworkers tell me that they appreciate the meritocracy that their country currently is, but that after his election, Chavez publicly fired the senior executives of major companies like the oil company only to replace them with his own acolytes, this to promote government control of up-to-then private enterprise.

The national strike goes on, with more and more people joining in and businesses shutting down, hoping to choke the economy enough to force Chavez out. This isn’t the first national strike held in Venezuela, but it’s the longest one and the one with the highest participation rate. Increasingly people are hoping that this could be the one, and join in. It’s now been going on too long for them to turn back.

Today, tankers transporting oil, Venezuela’s main export, refused to leave the country and blocked the port, preventing any other ship to leave with goods. First there was one ship, then when I had lunch by the sea we could see five of them blocking the way out, then last I heard there were eleven. The navy were supposed to take them over but have apparently refused the order.

Meanwhile, tensions mounted as both pro- and anti-Chavez factions took to the streets of Caracas.

While all this has been going on, I’ve been spending most of my time in a beautiful resort, complete with gym, facials and evening poolside cocktail parties with live jazz bands. This is why it’s been so surreal. It’s strange to find myself in such an oasis of peace, knowing that right outside these walls, the country is caving in. In the lap of so much luxury, I feel guilty to be longing for home, but I have to admit I am.

Still, Venezuela is a beautiful country, and I hope this strike will be successful.