The @naky chronicles

One of the great things about new media is discovering new voices, people who wouldn’t get heard if the public sphere was still in the hands of the...

Internet star, made in chavismo
Internet must-read

One of the great things about new media is discovering new voices, people who wouldn’t get heard if the public sphere was still in the hands of the stiffs who reign over the op-ed pages in El Nacional and El Universal, with their stuffy Carlos Blancos and their Manuel Felipe Sierras leaving no space for the real talent.

That’s just one long-winded introduction to Naky Soto’s latest piece in Prodavinci. In it, Naky chronicles Caracas – or the ordeal that living and shopping in Caracas has become. She picks up a Central American academic at the airport who had the misfortune of losing her bags, only to discover a city of neglectful parents, urine-filled public bathrooms, animal-print thongs, and baby dolls. She doesn’t stop at the rant, though. She puts it all in perspective.

The money quote:

“Es cruel sonreírle a quien te maltrata, porque de no hacerlo las consecuencias pueden ser peores. Es un exabrupto negociar la prestación de un buen servicio partiendo de la sumisión. Cada transacción comercial que realizamos fue un golpe a la decencia: porque les sobra gente, porque no les interesa atenderte, no les interesa que vuelvas, porque aún la crisis no ha cuestionado su poder. El poder de una caja registradora que podría no sumar nada si decidimos no tolerar sus insultos.

Fuimos atropelladas varias veces, verbal y gestualmente. Para mí, es un registro más de un extenso mapa de barbaries, para ella es una fotografía dolorosa de una ciudad que desconocía y a la que dudo le interese regresar.”

Read the whole thing. And if you hunger for more, then brace yourself for this.