Caracas, Venezuela – In a small square in central Caracas, Victor Rodriguez pauses at a giant mural of a figure draped in teal green. It’s the man he credits with giving him the opportunity to become an artist: former President Hugo Chavez. Rodriguez, who paints under the name Forastero, helped create the image for the late Venezuelan leader's birthday on July 28.
He says Chavez opened up new spaces for art and culture, giving artists from poorer neighbourhoods opportunities they never had before. But today, Forastero is dismayed. He worries about the future of such art.
He is anti-imperialist,” Forastero told Al Jazeera. Monumental images of Chavez and other figures linked to his political movement, chavismo, used to be common. But now, graffiti, murals and billboards are being painted over or taken down.
The Palace of Justice, once flanked by twin portraits of Chavez and the 19th-century revolutionary Simon Bolivar, has seen both images covered up. In their place, there are new blue banners, emblazoned with the slogan "Venezuela renace" or "Venezuela reborn". The changes come as Venezuela undergoes a period of political change after nearly three decades of chavista rule.
Since the United States launched a military operation to abduct and imprison then-President Nicolas Maduro in January, the country has been under intense pressure to reimagine its socialist government. For some Venezuelans, the cosmetic changes are happening faster than any substantial ones. Some don’t want any changes at all.
Forastero sees maintaining his murals as a way of pushing back against the US influence in his government.
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