Invisible Walls and Protests in Venezuela · Global Voices
Juan Arellano

The Berlin wall was not just physical. There was also an idealogical wall that prevented people from seeing reality clearly. The East Germans were told that the Wall protected the population from Fascist elements conspiring to prevent the peoples’ will from building a socialist state, so it was officially called “The Wall of Anti-Fascist Protection”.
Venezuelan urbanist Carmen Beatriz Fernández [es] writes for Sesión de Control (“Control Session”) and draws a parallel [es] between Germany during the Cold War and contemporary Venezuela:
A state of generalized discouragement covers the country today. Discouragement can blind us from seeing the opportunity of our wall's collapse… In Venezuela there are 15 protests every day, probably more than any other country in the world. There are protests in Caucagua because a bridge fell, protests in the Carpintero neighborhood because a stray bullet killed a girl, protests in Villa de Cura because people demand decent housing. […]
In Caucagua, Villa de Cura, and El Carpintero, people believe that they are protesting different issues. Some of the protesters still have a wall of ideas that prevents them from seeing the reality of a model that collapsed. It is the job of the leadership to make them understand and liberate them from their personal wall. It is not about organizing the protest, it is about accompanying it…