Chatting and laughing, Maria Abreu strolled with her friends under the Christmas lights adorning a boulevard in the Venezuelan capital, Caracas. Anything, she said, not to think of the threat of war with the United States.
Having weathered decades of political and economic crisis, Venezuelans have turned avoidance into an art. The only alternative to succumbing to anxiety.
“I’d rather not think about it,” Abreu, an 18-year-old athlete, told AFP of the prospect of the United States attacking her country.
“And if it’s going to happen, let it happen. We live day by day,” she shrugged.
Venezuelans have lived in fear of military action for months, since the United States under President Donald Trump deployed a mighty naval fleet in the Caribbean and started sinking alleged drug-smuggling boats.
With over 100 people killed so far, US forces are now also seizing tankers transporting sanctioned Venezuelan oil under a blockade announced by Trump.
Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro claims the United States seeks to oust him, and many of his compatriots fear this could mean mainland strikes, even an invasion.
It is part of the everyday conversation, though always in whispers in a country where thousands were arrested for protesting Maduro’s widely disputed claim to reelection in 2024.
– ‘Trying to ignore’ –
Maduro declared the Christmas season open in October, stating it was to defend his people’s “right to happiness.”
He regularly invites Venezuelans to “party,” and a clip of him proclaiming “no war, yes peace” in English has been set to electronic music that the leader dances to at every rally, all broadcast on state TV.
In the “party” spirit, the Paseo Los Proceres (Walkway of the Heroes) national monument in Caracas is so lit up one could forget the constant power blackouts that daily beset most of the economic crisis-riddled country.
In the complex dotted with trees and white statues of Independence heroes, couples take photos, children play ball and eat sweets.
Shopping malls are similarly buzzing with December cheer and shopfronts are fully stocked and brightly lit to entice countless window-shoppers — most of whose wallets have been flattened by hyperinflation.
“We’re trying to ignore that we’ve got a ton of political problems…We’re trying to celebrate,” Mara Mendoza, a 21-year-old art student said at a Caracas mall.
Yorelis Acosta, a clinical and social psychologist, fears Venezuela will end up with a mental health pandemic stemming from “high levels of anxiety, stress, hopelessness, sleep disorders, irritability.”
To cope, Venezuelans “try to find some emotional stability within the crisis,” she told AFP.
“Denial, avoidance, resignation are defense mechanisms,” added Acosta.
– Un “escape” –
Elsewhere in the capital, the biggest baseball stadium is filled to be brim for a night game between two popular teams.
“The situation isn’t good — economically, socially…but here you forget about that,” said baseball fan Magda Acosta as she cheered her team despite an insurmountable lag. It doesn’t really matter.
“To live here you have to get away every now and then by doing something else,” the 52-year-old shopkeeper told AFP.
Even in the stadium, politics are never far from mind.
One fan, Luis Enrique Albarran, 66, condemned Washington’s actions against his country and Trump’s claims that Venezuela stole US-owned oil.
“They have no right to expropriate (what) belongs to us,” he protested, soon drowned out by the roar of fans as the match was decided.
Carleimy Gonzalez, 38, said she was dealing with her anxiety in her own way: faith in divine intervention.
“One has to breathe… God’s timing is perfect,” she said.
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