country where the ruling party and the opposition have virtually the same flow of votes, many families have been torn by politics and tensions have led to even bloody episodes in the streets.
Husbands and wives, brothers and sisters, parents and children are in opposing camps, some supporting Nicolás Maduro, elected by Chávez as his successor, and others turning to the opposition, which accuses the socialist government of appealing to fraud and intimidation to Preserve the presidency by a margin of 1.49% votes.
In the National Assembly itself, the discord produced a confrontation with blows last month, when pro-government legislators obfuscated because the opposition did not recognize Maduro's electoral victory.
Politics is an old obsession of Venezuelans, which was accentuated after the arrival of Chavez to power, with his claims that the opposition was made up of "squalid" and the efforts of his political rivals to remove him by a coup and a referendum . Many, however, say that tensions reached a level not seen since the failed coup in 2002, which briefly distanced Chávez from power.
If you add to this a government campaign against the opposition after the elections, many Venezuelans are forced to seek a difficult balance between their personal relationships and firm political convictions.
"In all Chavista families you will always get an opponent," said Mirla Pérez, a social work professor who studies family relations at the Central University of Venezuela. "When that happens, there is conflict. It is a permanent tension that is released only by not talking. "
Divisions within families often follow generational lines.
On one side are the parents, who vividly remember the problems that the country was experiencing before the arrival of Chávez, with inflation, devaluation of the currency, crime and political instability. While those problems persist, and, in fact, could have worsened under Chávez, the leader's supporters highlight their social programs and take pride in their nationalist rhetoric.
In the other corner are the most educated adult children, who see the failures of Chávez, not his achievements.
Pastrano has two children, José, 43, a transport safety consultant, and Mauri, 47, who works in a government medical laboratory.
"What is the socialism they are talking about?" Mauri asked one recent night. "They say they are socialists, but they do not go up to the neighborhoods to help the community."
His father Edwin seconded him. He said the government does nothing to fight crime, improve roads or clean the piles of garbage that clog drains.
José Pastano's eye was trembling as he listened and tried to intervene.
But his father, 71, began to have trouble breathing, leaned back in his seat and took his chest, trembling.
"I need to calm down," he said, while his wife accompanied him to his room. End of the discussion, at least for that night.
Scenes like this are repeated even among the most renowned families in Venezuela.
Information Minister Ernesto Villegas frequently criticizes the government's detractors, while his brother Vladimir is a well-known journalist, critical of the ruling party and who recently announced that he will take over Globovisión's management, the last remaining opposition channel in the country.
We must "navigate in the middle of a very polarized, divided country, with a situation of political animosity quite complicated," said Vladimir Villegas, noting that he always had a very good relationship with his brother despite political differences.
"Now, with the minister, I hope to have the best relations," he said.
In another case, one of the most important youth militants of the organizations that supported the opposition candidate Henrique Capriles is the daughter of former state governor Didalco Bolívar, leader of a party that is part of the governing coalition.
"I love my father, but I share the vision of the country of Capriles," said Manuela Bolívar.
A constant element of family discussions is the passion many feel for the charismatic Chavez, who became practically a member plus the family. Since his death, the ruling party insists on the slogan that all Venezuelans are Chávez's children.
"The relationship that the Venezuelan popular family has had with the president is not a working relationship, nor a relationship of power," said Professor Pérez. "It's a family relationship."
He added that his own family is divided.
"I had a tremendous discussion with my mother," he said, because "he compared the feeling he has for the death of Chavez with the feeling he had after the death of my brother."
Angélica Ramírez, a 22-year-old university student from the eastern state of Bolívar, says she stopped talking to a Chavista cousin and did not want to visit her grandparents after last month's election for fear of strong political arguments.
"On April 15, I did not go to my grandmother's house because there was no respect for my point of view," he said.
"As long as the issue is not touched in the house, we are all well," he added.
"(But) the topic is touched and they start with quite aggressive messages, quite threatening."
His relatives did not want to be interviewed.
In the midst of so much polarization, Inés Pastano, 68, is an exception, because it is not played by anyone.
She said her husband suffers from high blood pressure and cardiac arrhythmia, and that he does not support the tensions generated by political differences. The woman walked to the center of the living room and then to the side.
"Chavistas are here," he said.
Then he crossed to the other side of the room. "And those who support the opposition over here."
Then he planted himself again in the center.
"I am here, precisely in the middle".
RE: Some Families are Facing Real Political Divisions