The 23 de Enero Campaign refers to a small amount of direct action in Caracas, Venezuela in 1981 in an effort to help improve a neighbourhood dominated by state housing.
Background
Following the privatisation of waste collection services at the neighbourhood of 23 de Enero in Caracas, the site of the largest state housing project in the country. The newly privatised service failed to properly collect waste as rotting household waste began to pile up in the street, threatening a public health crisis.
Events
On 19 December 1981 Earles Gutierrez, his brother, and two friends stopped a garbage truck driving through el 23 de Enero by stepping out into the street in front of it. Gutierrez then forcefully, took control of the vehicle and told the driver to go to the police station to report the hijacking. Before the police arrived, they knocked on doors calling on neighbors to join their action. When the police arrived, they found a crowd of mostly women surrounding the garbage truck demanding that the city clean up the neighborhood. Over the next few days, people began to steal garbage trucks and refused to give them back until the neighbourhoods were properly maintained.
After holding the trucks for a month, on 19 January 1982, community members—youth, guerrilla veterans, and stay-at-home women—met with high-level officials of various public service institutions in an elementary school to discuss the problem. At the end of the meeting, the officials had agreed to meet the residents’ demands and devote their resources to cleaning up the neighborhood.
Results
Within days, public workers began removing tons of trash from the neighborhood, repaving roads, fixing elevators, rewiring power lines, and installing phone service. The successful campaign led to a shift in emphasis of public service in Venezuela politics.