Venezuela: bringing information technology to the people

Venezuela: bringing information technology to the people. An interview with Ireland Trotman, a facilitator at the Ramon Ismael Ramos Infocentre in Caracas. One of the most important aspects of a revolution is that it can give everybody access to ordinary, normal things: the things which, to the privileged people, are so indispensable that they hardly notice that most people on our planet do not have them. Climbing the steep streets of the 23 de Enero barrio in West Caracas, we noticed the newly installed metal tubes, rising up the side of each house in small straight vertical lines in contrast to the irregularities of the mountainside and the self-built dwellings. Piped gas, for cooking. Further up, we walked by a recently built two-storey octagonal building; though its open doorway we saw several people waiting to see a doctor: patients who had no need to worry about the cost of their diagnosis and treatment. The beautifully painted murals that we passed did not boast of these mundane achievements; they celebrated the people's heroes, Simon Bolivar and Che Guevara, and expressed solidarity with people around the world fighting against US imperialism."