Viva Revoluçao! The Uprising in Cha de Igreja

Viva Revoluçao! The Uprising in Cha de Igreja

So it was election day on Sunday, and in its aftermath, I actually got to witness a little revolution. A real life rebel uprising…albeit on a small scale. Ironically, the “revolution” was undertaken by members from both the losing and winning parties…together. To better understand the significance, here’s a little bit of back story.

The country’s main political parties are PAICV and MpD. The island of Santiago, and it’s capital city of Praia (which is home to more than half of the total population of Cape Verde) is maioria (predominantly) PAICV. The majority of all the other islands are MpD. Thus, you can make the generalization, as many Cape Verdians do, that PAICV is only interested in governing and helping Praia and Santiago, while neglecting the necessidades (needs) of those living on the other, less populated islands. Indeed, many Cape Verdians living outside of Santiago feel that PAICV and the inhabitants of Praia are, essentially, ot paix (a different country).

In America, under the system of the House of Representatives, states are allotted a certain number of delegates in congress, proportional to their population. As far as I can tell from limited research and talking to neighbors, there is nothing in the Cape Verdian constitution that provides for the same. Accordingly (as far as I can tell), in the Cape Verdian parliament there is a disproportionate share of representatives from Praia and Santiago, and very few people in government that are championing the causes of Cape Verdians living in Santo Antao, Sau Nicolau, Maio, Fogo, Boavista, Brava and Sal. So it follows that nearly all the kamera presidents and members of the Assmblea Municipal (sort of like city council) for the all the conselhos (counties) on Santo Antao are MpD. In Ribeira Grande, MpD has help sway for the past 15 years. PAICV did however campaign hard here on Santo Antao, and are striving to make inroads on the outer isles.

To that end, approximately 2 months ago, The Luta Contra Pobreza (a PAICV government sponsored group established to help fight poverty in Cape Verde) sent a water-well digging machine and its crew to the valley where Cha de Igreja is located. Their goal, according to PAICV representatives, was to test drill throughout the valley for suitable well sites, and eventually, to dig three new wells which would augment the (occasionally insufficient) current amount of water that Cha de Igreja, Cruzinha, Mocha and Ribeira Alta receive. The gesture was a clear attempt to curry favor with the local electorate, and over the past two months the machine had dug 2 test sites, none of which proved to be a suitable location for a well. The machine and its crew however, and the efforts of the PAICV party were warmly received.

Well as I said, Sunday was Election Day. Despite the well diggers, the T-shirts and caps and flags and really loud techno music (or perhaps because of the really loud techno music), PAICV lost. Apparently, it wasn’t even close. Within minutes of the announcement of the election results, the head of my local Associacao (who happens to be PAICV) got a call from PAICV party headquarters in Praia informing him that the well digging machine and its crew were to be removed from Rebeira de Mocha (the name of our Ribeira here), the following morning and sent to the valley of Paul, where PAICV had eked out a miraculous victory, ending a 15 year reign of MpD kamera presidents there. Yes, they were sending a truck The Very Next Morning. The party official claimed that the previous test sites were fruitless and that any further efforts were wasteful. We in the Ribeira would have to continue to get by on what water we have, the wells would be dug in Paul. (It should be noted that as much as 75% of the rain that falls on the island of Santo Antao, does so in the valley of Paul. They don’t have any water shortages there, and there certainly isn’t any need for new wells to be dug.)

Well, word spread. And fast. By 8pm on election night (the results were announced at about 6pm) there was a band of about 15 men stomping through the streets of Cha di Igreja, waving their MpD flags and shouting, and telling anybody who’d listen about the well machine’s imminent departure, and about what they perceived to be PAICV’s kaxtig (punishment) for the people of Ribeira Grande for having once again elected MpD candidates. By 10pm, the group had grown to about 30 young men, and they’d grown more angry. Among their numbers were several people who had, only hours earlier, voted for the PAICV candidates. At 11pm, I watched from my balcony as a group of about 45 men, wielding axes, shovels, and enxadas (spades) began walking up the Ribeira to where the well digging machine was. I ran downstairs and asked the leader of the group what they were planning on doing. He said “No ti te be faze un revloucao!” (We’re going to start a revolution!) A little alarmed, I asked if they were planning on hurting anyone and he assured me that no, they were instead going to take the machine hostage…by destroying the part of the road that the truck would have to take to pick up the well drill, thus preventing it’s removal. Fearing I’d miss out on what could be a very interesting night, I let them get a little bit ahead of me and then followed about 15 minutes behind them.

True to their word, they made the hour long trek in bright moonlight to the drill site and, after each having a couple of pretty stiff drinks, they proceeded to methodically destroy the little side road with their picks and spades. (It should be noted that when I say “road,” what I mean is a barely discernable path through the sand and rock. It’s not like they were tearing up cobblestones or asphalt.) The more ambitious members of the revolution rolled humongous boulders into a circle around the machine, while others dug a series of trenches around the machinery. Two huge drums of gasoline, stored there to run the machines, were buried out of site. (For any concerned US government representatives who might be reading…fear not…I didn’t participate and was nowhere near these activities…choosing instead to watch by moonlight from the cliff above.)

Anyway, all of this was completed in less than two hours, at which point the celebrating began. The revolutionaries marched triumphantly back to Cha di Igreja, clapping, chanting, and singing the MpD song the entire way. Upon their arrival in town a madrugada (at about 3:30 in the morning) they proceeded to faze volta (walk back and forth around town) while popping their flags and chanting. They stopped briefly in the plaza to toast themselves with some more grogue, at which point a tambor (large snare drum) was produced from nowhere, and they decided to march to Cruzinha and spread word of their accomplishments. I went to bed and slept well until 5am, when the entire drunken group, plus about 10 more people they’d picked up in Cruzinha, returned…still chanting and waving their flags, but stumbling now more than marching. They finally ran out of steam sometime around 6, and when I left my house Monday morning to feed my pig, I noticed three or four members of the revolution sleeping it off in the plaza.

Anyway, I love social anthropology, and this was pretty amazing thing to see. Politics aside, the leader of this little rebel uprising is a pretty good friend of mine here, and I asked him yesterday what they had accomplished, and what he thought would happen now?

He said: “Who knows. Maybe the machine will stay and make the wells they promised us. Maybe they’ll come with big trucks and take it. Who can say? But we need those wells. We need that water to survive. And when the government won’t listen us…when they won’t take care of us…it’s our responsibility to try and take matters into our own hands.” Then he added, rather eloquently, “The history of America has taught us that much at least.”

UPDATE:
Word really does travel fast. So yesterday (Tuesday) 2 radio journalists arrived in Cha de Igreja to conduct interviews regarding this situation, and this morning their report aired on the Cape Verdian National Radio station. The reporter detailed the back story and the events of Sunday night, then let one of the participants of the uprising speak anonymously for a minute or two about why they did what they did. Basically, he told them the same thing he told me. According to the report, government officials are “investigating the matter,” and will make a decision regarding the drill in the upcoming week.