By Luis Manuel Aguana
It is attributed to former Venezuelan
President Raimundo Andueza Palacios (1846-1900) the unfortunate phrase that
history has proven true: "The
National Treasure is like the Guaire River, everyone has the right to put their
pichagua, what is discussed is the size”. In my opinion, some web writers
have misinterpreted this phrase. I think Andueza didn't mean to put any part of
the body in the water, but a container to take it (remember that at that time
the Guaire River was clean). The word "pichagua", very Venezuelan, is
a derivative of the famous indigenous "totuma" or "tapara"
used to collect water or plate to eat.
All Venezuelans had the right, according to
Andueza, to reach into public money. What was discussed was the size of the
container, because the river provided enough water for everyone. The question
was who had more right than another to drink more. The answer: the one with the
biggest pigeon. And that is usually the one who has the power. That's how it's
interpreted in Venezuela. Unfortunately, that phrase remained structured in the
political DNA of those who have governed Venezuela since that moment.
We Venezuelans have witnessed the most
unusual. Andueza could never have imagined that the size of the pichagua of
those who succeeded him would dry up the entire river of that National Treasure
that he assertively compared to the Guaire River. Nor did anyone imagine that
the discussion of the size of the pichagua would affect him beyond the gossip
of thieves lumbering among themselves who were fighting for power. The river
was too big until they dried it up and nobody could drink any more.
Nations that consider themselves developed
today have a cultural code that structurally limits corruption. That has been
an evil of humanity, and we Venezuelans are not the only ones to suffer from
it. Corruption, apart from the ethical and moral aspects involved, makes the
distribution of what belongs to everyone less efficient. And I believe that
what has happened in Venezuela is the best global example of how catastrophic
the consequences can be when there is a total absence of controls for this
evil. Consequences that are not only economic, but also political, and as we
have been able to realize with the tragedy that consumes us, profoundly social.
From this it can clearly be deduced that
whatever comes in the future, after coming out of this gang of thieves who lead
the power in Venezuela, they have to be much better in that department. And not
only do they have to be, but they also have to look like Caesar's wife. That's
why you note the recently published ones that point to the corruption that is
being uncovered on the side of the official opposition (see in Spanish ¿Dónde
están los reales, Guaidó? in https://prensaamerica.com/2019/11/periodista-manuel-isidro-molina-donde-estan-los-reales-guaido/) indicate that
things would not change substantially in the future. But it also tells us a lot
about why things have not yet changed in favor of Venezuelans after January 23,
2019, and on the contrary, have worsened much more.
Journalist Molina's denunciation was an open secret. And the problem is
not that there may be corruption in the opposition ranks. That's the least of
it! What is serious is that the Government of the President in Charge is not acting
with the transparency it should by handling, at its discretion and with
absolutely no control of the comptroller's office, the funds it has received
from abroad and those that have been recovering from the regime. Who is
carrying out administrative control and giving an account of those funds to the
Venezuelans? That is what the President in Charge and the collegiate government
of the National Assembly must answer. It cannot be that there is one morality
for the regime and another very different one for the opposition. In that we
agree with the article by journalist Molina.
But what cannot be swallowed is the attempt to suggest that it is the
illegitimate National Constituent Assembly of the regime's thieves that puts
control over it. That is, Molina's proposal is that a gang of crooks put
control of another but of the opposition. End of the world! Corruption has
gotten everything out of control. There are no credible institutions because
there are no credible people anymore. The credible leaders have been dying and
the new ones are entangled in scandals like the one denounced by the journalist
Molina.
A country without institutions as Venezuela has historically been, has
only been sustained with the moral credibility of the few Venezuelans who in
good time lent their services for a Venezuela of the future. People like
Arnoldo Gabaldón Carrillo and Luis Razetti in medicine, Juan Pablo Pérez
Alfonzo in oil, Vicente Emilio Sojo and Teresa Carreño in music, José González
Lander in engineering, are just a few examples of the fact that regardless of
the institutional situation of the country, there were Venezuelans who
dedicated their lives to serving others, without expecting anything in return,
beyond the work accomplished. Are these types of Venezuelans finished? I don't
believe it. I dare say there may even be better ones right now. But there must
be the right environment for that to flourish and multiply. And those who are
responsible for building that ecosystem, it seems, are still bidding to get
out.
It will be impossible to rebuild Venezuela if the leadership that seeks
to replace the one that exists is exactly the same or worse than the one that
exists. It is a very simple mathematics and a basic rule of executive
management: you will not compose what was broken by using those who broke it.
And if those you call to do so are business partners of those who were, the
result will be the same or worse. And that is what we are currently
contemplating with the administration of the President in Charge.
Hence the call of many voices of conscience that have asked the
President in charge to separate himself from all partisan militancy, as well as
from the group of parties of the National Assembly, and to form a Government of
National Unity with all the representative factors of society, including those
that from the opposition have opposed him, especially with those people that
Venezuelans now consider to be of unquestionable and irrefutable ethical and
moral condition. That is fundamental! They exist in all fields, economic,
political, and social.
That transcendental decision would strengthen his presidency, give
direction and firmness to this loquacious woman who has gone 11 months without
results, without counting on the positive message of a change of direction to
the International Community, giving a sign to Venezuelans of wanting to solve
our problem, and closing the way to those who want to use his presidency for
corruption. A unified luxury Cabinet would find in hours (if not minutes) a
solution and a forceful action to the problem of Maduro's usurpation.
Difficult? We Venezuelans are having a harder time. Already the
"pichagua" was broken and the corruption did not leave another way to
Juan Guaidó.
Caracas,
November 28, 2019
Email: luismanuel.aguana@gmail.com
Twitter:@laguana
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