Only ONE game of the Copa America in Caracas.... Want to know why?

"Ciudad Universitaria, Caracas"

The Ciudad Universitaria de Caracas, built to the design of the architect Carlos Raúl Villanueva, between 1940 and 1960, is an outstanding example of the Modern Movement in architecture. The university campus integrates the large number of buildings and functions into a clearly articulated ensemble, including masterpieces of modern architecture and visual arts, such as the Aula Magna with the "Clouds" of Alexander Calder, the Olympic Stadium, and the Covered Plaza.

The Olympic stadium in Caracas (as well as the whole "Ciudad Universitaria") was declared by the UNESCO as World Heritage and is considered a masterpiece of modern city planning, architecture and art.

Reconditioned for the Copa America, the stadium was scheduled to host only 2 games: The Semi-Final and the game for the third place. However, at the last minute the goverment decided to change the Semi-Final game to the city of Maracaibo without giving an apparent excuse:



Olympic Stadium: The goverment spend over $30M dollars to fix up this stadium for the Copa America 2007. However, why not use it?. The stadium sits over 30,000 visitors.

So... why is this beautiful stadium home to only one game of the Copa America. Caracas is the most important city in Venezuela; isn't it?

I will tell you why.
In fact, the Mayor of Caracas will tell you that (sort of).

Yesterday the Ciudad Universitaria was taken over by the military. Today several students were arrested for protesting peacefully with their hands painted in white and yelling "Freedom". Right outside of the stadium.

But the most shocking moment came when the Mayor of Caracas and his bodyguards attacked a professor from a very well known and respected school (UCAB) who was watching the game; according to the Mayor, "he had insulted him".

The funny part is... this is all on video, check out the ABUSE OF POWER by the Mayor and his bodyguards; if you can understand Spanish you can also listen to his lies as well as the declarations (to Globovision) of Mexican and Uruguayan visitors who were sitting right next to the professor that was attacked. You don't have to believe me, see it for yourself:








Uruguay beat Mexico 3 vs 1. But the highlight of the game was the "episode" of Juan Barreto. The National guard had to step in and escort him out of the stadium because the 30,000 visitors were standing up yelling "FUERA! FUERA!". The pyrotechnic show the goverment put up during the game didn't cover the chants of "RCTV!!!" , "Freedom!!" and "Y va a caaaeeer..." from resounding on the stadium during the whole encounter.

You might remember the Mayor of Caracas from an episode last year when he made sexist remarks: "You can't trust an animal that bleeds every month when it hasn't been injured, the woman". Or maybe you might have heard of him after he attacked 2 members of the opposition in a "Mayors Committee" he hosted.

This is the reason the Copa America was not played in Caracas, the goverment was scared of whatever could happen.
Ladies and gentlemen: Welcome to Caracas.