Tuesday, January 5, 2016. In Venezuela, it has become very popular to venerate or worship the saint thugs or the calé court; creating much controversy today. This cult begins with Ismael Sanchez, a criminal considered to be some sort of “Robin Hood”; who stole from the rich to give to the poor people in his community. In the seventies, Ismael lived in the neighborhood El Guarataro, in the parish San Juan of Caracas and was known as the “Terror of Guarataro”.
Ismael’s grave is located in the ancient cemetery of Caracas, where devotees visit and ask for protection taking candles, tobacco and rum; countless believers have been spotted marching towards the tomb to ask not to get mugged in the streets, police man seeking a spiritual shelter for the dangers that lurk their job, even women who are being assaulted by their husbands.
In the esoteric stores throughout Venezuela, you can see the plaster busts of Ismael and all representatives of the cult such as: la Chama Isabel, el Chino, Petróleo Crudo, Félix Azuaje, la Cleo, Rigoberto Martínez, Luis, Antonio, Miguelito, el Muelita, among others; giving growing popularity to the believe of the existence of these so called “saints”, who help people to claim the evil they did in life, and to find eternal rest.
The psychologist Hermelinda Pichardo, graduated from the former Soviet Union; said that those social groups who have been most disadvantaged seek to figures that represent themselves, that idol who tends to them and solves their problems. “it´s logical to think that Venezuelan groups in certain religions, are able to see a person who despite being antisocial; part of his life journey would have been to favor these disadvantaged social groups”, said Pichardo.
The Venezuelan thug saints can carry many negative consequences; alleged the spiritualist Fernando Marquez saying “they bring many consequences because when these spirits fall within the body of a person who is “medium”, they leave many repercussions. When they come down they start asking for drugs, guns and alcohol; leaving people drugged or intoxicated.”
At this time, Venezuela lives in a society where crime has been unleashed disproportionately; and the veneration of deceased criminals has won an important place in many religious cults practiced in the country. On the one hand, criminals can take refuge and get value for their misdeeds with “divine protection”; and on the other, the common citizen worships the thug court for protection of the same crimes.
ALFA