In recent days, in an interview on Mingo TV, Mingo and Erika asked Dr. Blanca Rosa Mármol de León and myself about our letter to the Child Jesus. At that time I asked for a return to what we were before entering the destructive maelstrom of these 25 years. In other words, something like asking the Baby Jesus to put us in a time machine, and undo everything that has happened as if nothing had happened here, as if returning to what we were before. But the destruction did happen and we changed. But after all that has happened, it would be impossible to go back to what we were (see in Spanish, Mingo TeVe, Letter to the Child Jesus, Arrímate al Mingo, 12-16-2024, in https://youtu.be/SEmVWR0ij9o?t=2347).
And certainly Mingo and Erika's question was natural, what would we ask Baby Jesus precisely in this time of such uncertainty? At the approach of this Christmas Eve, perhaps that answer was selfish, because indeed, before getting fully into the Venezuelan political reality 22 years ago, I was in a completely different situation. I had nothing to do with something as far away from my professional activity as politics, as well as the rest of Venezuelans, beyond what the newspapers said. My interests were in a much more personal sense, less public, oriented to the professional and private. And to that I had dedicated the best efforts of my technical career, including an expensive executive education.
When I found it more difficult to return to a professional “normality” after having participated in one of the most emblematic episodes of the time, as it was to have joined the protest in Plaza Altamira of those brave people who in December 2002 proudly risked their lives and their professional careers in favor of the technical institutionality of C.A. Metro de Caracas, deciding to accompany them to the end, as they say now. I admired that level of detachment of people who, with an extraordinary trajectory, risked their safety and did not remain silent in the face of the destruction of their institution. Such was the courage of the founders of AC Familiametro. Today I honor them because they are the essence of the Venezuela we have to recover and the reason why I will never regret being in tune with that feeling, full of a deep love for the institutional rescue of Venezuela.
But life is as it is and the struggle became long. I never expected -like everyone else- after 2002, that this would happen beyond Chávez's 2004 recall. And you see, the regime imposed 20 more years of misery on us. Every December, in one way or another, we all ask for things to improve, for there to be no political prisoners, for whom the regime has never had the slightest Christian humanity. And we have spent all these years asking God, especially every December, in our letters to Baby Jesus, to put an end to this misfortune that has been going on for decades.
After so many years of asking and asking, I ask myself, could it be that we are doing things wrong? And that reminds me of the story of the victim who asked God for his life after a great flood, riding on the roof of his house, with the waters rising every second. They came to rescue him by air and water and he said he was waiting for God to rescue him. And when he finally drowned, he asked God in heaven why he had not been rescued, and God said, “What do you mean? I sent you a helicopter and a boat, and you wouldn't get on it.”
All the times we were a demonstrable majority, read April 11, 2002 with the resignation and fall of Chávez for hours; in 2004 with the electoral fraud of the CNE in the Revocatory and in practically all elections since that year; the overwhelming majority of the opposition in 2015 in the National Assembly, with which we could have done something and we did not do it; with a decisive Popular Consultation in 2017 until reaching an Interim Presidency of the opposition in 2019, with an entire International Community backing it, headed by the USA, could count as life-saving opportunities that God has sent to this suffering people to rise up, and those who in one way or another we have elected at the time as leaders, have wasted each opportunity one by one.
But God, through his infinite patience, still has us still alive, even though the flood water is now reaching our noses. The most recent opportunity that God has sent us is now in the hands of María Corina Machado (MCM) and Edmundo González Urrutia (EGU). Now my letter to the Baby Jesus will not be to ask Him to rescue us again, but so that we take advantage of the opportunity He is sending us again, as it should be. And that has nothing to do with Him but with us.
But MCM and EGU cannot do it alone. WE WILL ALL HAVE TO DO IT. Imagine that we are all riding on the roof of that flooded house, with the water rising every second, and they arrive with a big boat. You can't expect that boat to get out of there by itself if we don't all move. They managed to put it in place with a lot of effort, the rest we will have to do, rowing together to get out of there, even to prevent the boat from sinking.
But I have the impression that many believe or expect MCM and EGU to do the job alone. That's how we Venezuelans are. Let someone come to the rescue and that's it. If that is so, this misfortune will remain, or worse, it will happen to us again, and God will claim us not only because we did not get on the boat he sent us, but because we were killed by stupidity and selfishness. At this moment, whatever the MCM and EGU plan for January -or before- for the rescue, it must be open to ask for the active presence of all, because that will be the last call to the bus of freedom. And whoever does not show up will drown....
Years ago I thought that every Christmas was the darkest we had ever lived. Not all these years had passed to corroborate me how wrong I was. In all those Christmases I prayed and prayed to Baby Jesus for the end of this regime. But now I believe that the attitude must be different. It must be the same as that of the thirty-fifth President of the United States, John F. Kennedy, almost 63 years ago, in his inaugural address on January 20, 1961: “So, my fellow Americans: ask, not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country” (see JFK's Inaugural Address, in https://discursosparalahistoria.wordpress.com/2010/01/25/discurso-inaugural-john-f-kennedy/).
And you may wonder why especially now. In the most beautiful Venezuelan Christmas story of all times, and representative of our Venezuelanness, written by José Rafael Pocaterra, it is extraordinarily described that God's favor is earned by GIVING, NOT ASKING. “De cómo Panchito Mandefuá fue a cenar con el Niño Jesús” is a touching story that shows the essence of who we Venezuelans really are, describing the story of a street child, who having nothing to eat at Christmas, shared before dying the only thing he had in his pockets to avoid the punishment of a little girl.
That lively, responsive character, to face life with personality, and above all to help those in need without having how, giving as far as it hurts, describes us as a people. That detached and profound gesture of Panchito was what really won him the sympathy of God, inviting him to the Supper with the Child Jesus, the greatest honor granted to any Christian (see José Rafael Pocaterra, Cuentos Grotescos, De cómo Panchito Mandefuá fue a cenar con el Niño Jesús, 1922, in https://www.ciudadvalencia.com.ve/nuestros-cuentos-de-navidad-panchito-mandefua-de-jose-rafael-pocaterra/).
If we do not get anything out of this lesson of Panchito Mandefuá, after more than 100 years of that story, and all our republican history, the last one to turn off the light, and please for next year, for shame, let us not ask for anything more in our Letter to Baby Jesus with respect to this regime. Otherwise, let us take advantage of the opportunity that God is giving us to put an end to the tragedy. Think about it this Christmas Eve, because that will be our best gift?
My best wishes to all of you for having the best possible Merry Christmas in the world in these troubled times of uncertainty, and especially to those whom I have had the honor to count as my readers during this hard Year of the Lord 2024. God bless you...
Caracas, December 23, 2024
Blog:
TIC’s & Derechos Humanos, https://ticsddhh.blogspot.com/
Email:
luismanuel.aguana@gmail.com
Twitter:@laguana
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