Gringo Go Home!

On June 2012, I took a trip to Venezuela for the first time in over 10 years. My husband and I were questioned and searched multiple times when we arrived on Venezuelan soil. In addition, our American passports were carefully scrutinized. Upon exiting the airport, the humidity and hot sun made everything feel so familiar.

However, during my car ride from the airport, I was able to appreciate how much the country had really changed. The streets of Venezuela were full of writings, some of it promoting the government's Misiones social program, and some were expressing anti-American ideals. There was one particular mural that caught my attention and I just had to snap a picture.

 

Mural in Caracas, Venezuela - June 26, 2012
 

The mural shows an American eagle with a scroll that read "GRINGO GO HOME" which in lay terms means: Americans, leave our country. One can also see what appears to be fists of the Venezuelan people up as a signal of protest against the eagle that is coming to attack them.

This picture pretty much summarizes the sentiments of many Venezuelans. For many years, president Hugo Chavez instilled into the people of Venezuela that America is an evil empire that is trying to take over the world and invade the country. The anti-American attitude has grown in the last 15 years and it continues to grow under president Maduro.

In a March 2007 rally in Argentina, president Hugo Chavez perfectly summarized the reasons behind his demise of the American presence in Latin America. If you would like to get a better understanding of what "gringo go home" represents to the Venezuelan people, feel free to see an excerpt of his speech in the following link: Hugo Chavez Rally in Argentina 2007.

There is definitely some irony to this outlook as Venezuela continues to be one of the largest suppliers of oil to the United States and most of its products are imported from America.