Oh man, I can't even imagine what you must be going through right now. I read with particular interest how the education system was gutted; that seems to always be one of the first pillars to go, because an educated populace is a dangerous one. The arts are usually second.
I won't offer empty platitudes, but I'm always impressed with how you conduct yourself and keep yourself moving forward. You've shown a lot of determination and pride.
Thanks, @wwwiebe.
I value your words. They actually messed up with the arts too. That's a subject I've been meaning to write about for a long time, but have not been able to out all my ideas in order. Artists have always needed State/government support. Here they even created a holiwood-like studio/production company: La Villa del Cine. Venezuela started to produce in one year more movied they even made in a decade. Of course, all those movies had to be cleared by the government's censors. They had to deal with topics that favored the revolution directly (biopics about Samora, Bolivar, Miranda, for instance) or that were totally neutral or detached from political content. At the local level, we have all kinds of cultores populares (singers, dancers, painters, sculptors...) working on comissioned pieces to please the government's events and crowds.
It is a disgusting thing what they have done with our culture. So much so I have developed some visceral aversion to anything labeled folkloric or popular