The sum of all fears
By Aleksander Boyd
Harvey Keitel said once in a TV commercial "you either learn to overcome
your fears or spend your life on your knees". Indeed fear is one of the
most moving sentiments experienced by mankind. In order to overcome my fears
I should start my wording them. First and foremost I fear for my family, a telephone
call at midnight to learn that one of my beloved ones has been killed, thanks
to Chavez' smashing idea of converting the formerly rowdy police forces into
sitting ducks preventing the little balance that existed between them and common
criminals, triggers my anxiety. Then there is the latent possibility of them
being kicked out of our small farm (7 acres) owing to presidential rants against
landowners, such thought is quite disturbing. Education is another crime; people
whom do not speak the slang characteristic of the assorted rabble supporting
the president can arouse suspicion. Ergo conversations in chavista-dominated
areas ought to be kept to the bare minimum. Allow me to remind you that nowadays
being white is considered an affront to the Bolivarian dream, which makes them
worthy of attacks.
Similarly, the revoking referendum fuels my angst. It is a known fact that Hugo
Chavez has no intentions whatsoever of suffering an electoral defeat whatever
he may have said in international tribunes. He has been flirting with the concept
of becoming a contemporary hero of Latin America since he was a tot and convincing
him about how harmful his megalomaniac dream is, is an impossible task. That
alone can be perceived as a declaration of war for Venezuelan society does not
seem to be content with the idea of having him in the presidency until 2007.
I read in horror constant reports about the deteriorating conditions of the
country at all levels and the growing restlessness among otherwise calmed people.
The utter ignorance of facts and the lack of interest portrayed by the international
community is another reason for panic. I keep debating on the reasons why we
do not want Chavez as president anymore, the importance of having fresh and
clear elections, the total rejection that most Venezuelans feel towards opposition
politicos, however it has proven to be a lost cause. Europeans continue to judge
us from a medieval perspective, in their eyes we are nothing but a group of
Indians in a rather funny struggle to decide which cacique will rule our destinies
next. The more chaotic the dispute the better for some to get good "contracts".
Prime example is Mr Jack Kemp involved in a $1 billion transaction to supply
millions of barrels of crude oil to the U.S. Free Market Petroleum LLC is putting
the deal together with the involvement of Mr Kemp, a former U.S. congressman
and the Republican Party's vice-presidential candidate in 1996.
Another case is the refusal by most of the international news agencies to show
the Venezuelan crisis from our perspective. Meaning not by ours the stance of
John Doe who sells counterfeited products in downtown Caracas but rather the
thousands of dismissed workers from PDVSA, the victims of crime and land invasions
at the hands of government sponsored thugs, the unemployed graduates from universities
whom have no prospects of earning a decent living, the flood victims of Vargas,
the sick and handicapped persons, the nurses and doctors in hospital whom have
to work wonders without medical supplies, the humiliated army corps whom have
to obey orders from Cuban "advisers" invited by the president. All
these people ought to have a revealing version of the crisis.
Summarizing, there is very little I can do at this moment in time to overcome
my fears. Feelings of uselessness invade me constantly; it is so frustrating
to see one's family as characters of such pandemonium. What can we do? What
argument have we got to put forward to convince Hugo Chavez, his sycophants
and the world at large that Venezuela cannot survive under his mandate? The
word on the street is that my countrymen will not spend their lives on their
knees, would someone react to that?
send this article to a friend >>