By Luis Manuel Aguana
A great Venezuelan, Antonio Sánchez García,
published an excellent article last September asking, "Where are the Gonzalo Barrios, the Pérez Díaz, the Moisés
Moleiro, the Pompeyo Márquez of the Great National Meeting that Venezuelans are
crying out for? (see in Spanish Antonio Sánchez García, La defunción
de lo político, in tl.gd/n_1sr0qdq). I
replied that this was a good cry of anguish to seek what is so lacking in
Venezuela, which is nothing but leadership at the level of the circumstance.
And precisely at this crucial moment when the best drivers are needed, they
seem to be nowhere to be found, leaving Venezuela lost on the road.
In order to answer the question that is the
title of this note, it is necessary to ask whoever knows where to drive to this
country full of difficulties. Seneca used to say "If you don't know where
your boat is going, no wind will be favorable to you".
The Latin expression that is
the title of this note comes from a Christian story that all of us who are
involved in politics should always remember: "Quo vadis is a Latin phrase that means "Where are you going?
The phrase is linked to a Christian tradition that revolves around Saint Peter.
According to the Acts of Peter, the Emperor Nero in the year 64 started a
persecution against Christians. Fearful that something bad might happen to him,
Peter escapes from Rome on the Appian Way, but on the way he meets Jesus Christ
who was carrying a cross. When Peter saw him, he asked him: "Quo vadis
Domine" (Where are you going, Lord?) to which Christ replied: "Romam
vado iterum crucifigi" ("I am going to Rome to be crucified
again"). Peter, ashamed of his attitude, returns to Rome to continue his
ministry, being subsequently martyred and crucified upside down" (see Quo vadis? https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quo_vadis%3F).
Jesus Christ knew what He
came to the world for and what He had to do. Hence his firmness in answering
the disciple that he had lost not only the way but also the faith, making him
ashamed, putting him back on the right path. And that path, if one is clear,
should not even cause fear because one has the conviction of what is right,
despite the risks involved. Alberto Carnevalli had this very clear when he
wrote the document wrote in Spanish "A la Rebelión Civil llama Acción
Democrática", dated December 24, 1952, after the fraud of Pérez Jiménez
(see http://pararescatarelporvenir.blogspot.com/2013/11/a-la-rebelion-civil-llama-accion.html) being Secretary General of AD in the clandestine.
I wrote in a note in 2013 (see in Spanish Rebelión
Civil, in https://ticsddhh.blogspot.com/2013/11/rebelion-civil.html) that Carnevali had enough morals to make that call. He said that he
was not only risking his life, but that he had drawn a line between what was
and was not acceptable for a country. After more than six years, I reiterate
that I cannot imagine Alberto Carnevali calling for another electoral game of
the dictatorship after this fraud in the open of a perfectly characterized
regime. That is why we must learn from history and from the political morality
of the real leaders. Sanchez Garcia is right to wonder where those country
drivers are.
The search for the right leadership is an issue
that has concerned me (not to say passionately) for all these years. The
reasons why it was born and what conditions must be in place for it to manifest
itself. I don't believe that there aren't men and women willing to assume that
task, but what makes them not take that fundamental step?
In a 2012 note, I wrote that these leaders were
there (see in Spanish La búsqueda del liderazgo perdido, in http://ticsddhh.blogspot.com/2012/11/la-busqueda-del-liderazgo-perdido.html) but which would manifest
themselves in time as the crisis deepened, as it is indeed doing. But at this
point in the destruction they still don't come out! Why? If there were risk
investment banks in the political field, they would be interested in some
projects (without blushing I would say that ours at ANCO is one of them,
particularly in the interior). But these projects will never come out in the
current state of economic and political, but above all moral prostration in
which the country finds itself. Doing politics in Venezuela has become a
business.
In today's Venezuela no one bets but the
winning horse that can have the power tomorrow. The financiers bet on Leopoldo,
Maria Corina, Henry Ramos (although the latter seems to finance himself). No
one invests in projects with new faces and new proposals because the very
reason why politics is made, which is the welfare of all, has been lost. In the
past it was simpler, the parties came out of the ideals -and pockets- of their
militants. Now they come out of the pockets of investors. That should be
intolerable for anyone who wants to do politics with a big "P" in
Venezuela.
I'm not losing hope that that will change. I am
aware of the existence, because I have known them, of characters like those
mentioned by Sánchez García in his article, both inside and outside Venezuela,
despite the difficulties. One of them, Hinderburgo Becerra, brother of
struggles and beloved son of the Guárico State, died on the way during the
quarantine, waiting for that change. Honourable people with a political
vocation and who do not have the visibility that money gives to the useless
exhibition that is seen every day on the surface through social networks. But
the parties get tired of selling people that this is what they have. And the
unfortunate thing is that those people will not solve Venezuela's crisis and
will end up by force of facts in the dustbin of this country's history.
My last note in 2018 was dedicated to the
leadership of those boys who now wield power, and I entitled it “For an
effective leadership in 2019” (https://ticsddhh.blogspot.com/p/for-effective-leadership-in-2019_31.html). There I dared to give some
advice based on an extraordinary work by Forbes magazine. More than a year and
a half has passed and none of those recommendations have been fulfilled, so I
doubt that anything that comes out of it will be successful. The body of values
indispensable to take Venezuela somewhere is absolutely necessary in those who
are at the forefront of this struggle. If we don't push them or find ways to
get those who have them into the arena, this crisis will be a bad dream
compared to the one that will come our way in the foreseeable future. Those of
us who think we are aware of this problem must continue to insist in order to
have an answer as clear as the one given by Jesus Christ to Peter on the Appian
Way, even if we all come out martyred and crucified like him, with our heads
down
Caracas, 9 de Junio de 2020
Email: luismanuel.aguana@gmail.com
Twitter:@laguana
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