With the same megaphone that years before was delivered to the communities to empower themselves at the communication level, by ideas of Hugo chavez“I asked for serenity, I explained that the gates would soon open so that the people could go to meet their Commander again”, thus related the Minister for Culture, Ernesto Villegas, those hours that elapsed on March 6, 2013.
Through a letter published this Tuesday on the social network instagramVillegas recalled the moment when the people took the remains of Commander Hugo chavez to the Palace of the Academies, in Fort Tiuna, in Caracas.
He recounted that that “loudspeaker had stickers from the Bolivarian Communication and Information System, in the launch of which we had distributed thousands among popular communities,” he said, while highlighting his skepticism about some actions in life, but “it was the first of many times that I have believed I perceived the hand of Chávez behind inexplicable prodigies in this decade”.
It should be remembered that Hugo Chávez asked that “efforts to communicate do not remain locked in the television screen, in the boundaries of the programs or in the letters of the newspapers.”
With these words, Minister Villegas refers to that idea of the revolutionary leader, who was determined to give power to the communicative people, and what better way to do it than by giving them megaphones so that the communities themselves, in the midst of media silence, could transmit their truths. .
Millions for 10 days
“The coffin entered the Military Academy. Behind him, the large gates were closed with difficulty, since that was not the will of the crowd that had brought him in an avalanche from the Military Hospital, some 11 km from there. Time was required to reopen them and let millions pass through, in line, for 10 more days,” Villegas wrote.
That March 6, wrapped in a sea of followers and tricolor flags, the funeral procession of President Hugo Chávez arrived at the Military Academy, where a burning chapel was installed to honor him until the day of his burial.
For Villegas, the sea of people who said goodbye to their leader that day, which remained engraved in the hearts of the revolutionaries, was impressive.
“Guided by some officers, I went up some stairs, passed as best I could through a narrow window and, standing on the ledge, I could see an impressive crowd that was lost to sight,” he said.
He recalled that in the expression of the crowd one could see the sadness that “was giving way to frustration and anger on their faces.”
Villegas commented that the crowd was heated, because between the anger and pain they wanted to continue next to the car that transported the body of Commander Chávez, so I took the initiative to go up some stairs and ask the people to calm down that they could soon enter .
“The words began to take effect. The gates stopped creaking. Reason prevailed, ”he added.
Treasure and reminder of those hours
And as a work of destiny, “years later the colonel-poet Vivas gave me that megaphone. Since then I treasure it as a symbol and reminder of those hours that passed today #6Mar exactly 10 years “, he concluded.
Below is the full story written by Ernesto Villegas, Minister for Culture, and published on Instagram:
The coffin entered the Military Academy. Behind him, the large gates were closed with difficulty, since that was not the will of the crowd that had brought him in an avalanche from the Military Hospital, some 11 km from there. Time was required to reopen them and let millions through, in line, for 10 more days. “We want to go in!” they thundered as the gates creaked threateningly inwards. Guided by some officers, I went up some stairs, passed as best I could through a narrow window and, standing on the ledge, I could see an impressive crowd that was lost to sight. The sadness was giving way on their faces to frustration and anger. “We want to enter,” they insisted. Next to me was Pablo Siris, a fellow Uruguayan journalist who joined the team of this new Minister of Communication and Information, appointed by Chávez four months ago. Together with us three soldiers. One of them, the staff officer of the Academy, was – I will find out later – an accomplished poet who now wears the insignia of a Colonel, Manuel Vivas. Another, a general whose name I don’t remember, who sent a subordinate to look for a megaphone. But the device did not work. My words and gestures calling for calm were of little use. Nobody was listening. This is how we spent endless minutes. Then, in the distance, another megaphone erupted from the crowd. Overhead people passed it from hand to hand to the edge of the ledge where we were perched. Once in mine, I asked for serenity, I explained that the gates would soon open so that the people could go to meet their Commander again. The words began to take effect. The gates stopped creaking. Reason prevailed. The loudspeaker had stickers of the Bolivarian Communication and Information System, in the launch of which we had distributed thousands among popular communities. Usually skeptical, it was the first of many times that I have believed that I perceived Chávez’s hand behind inexplicable wonders in this decade. Years later the colonel-poet Vivas gave me that megaphone. Since then I treasure it as a symbol and reminder of those hours that passed today #6Mar exactly 10 years ago.
