To Human Rights Activists
There is nothing more stupid for any government than to imprison a human rights activist. In addition to the well-known categorical repudiation from the whole world, from all and sundry, and especially from international bodies in the midst of a political negotiation, it confirms the denunciation he makes, without taking into account that this same Human Rights activist can fight for his freedom when things turn around for that government and those responsible are imprisoned. It was not for nothing that in the 70s the military of the Southern Cone dictatorships were called gorillas: a lot of muscle and little brains.
What did Javier Tarazona and his Fundaredes team denounce that everybody did not know? That the regime works and is a partner of the Colombian guerrilla? That there is the presence of armed irregulars of all kinds and nationalities, not only of the FARC and the ELN in 19 of the 24 federal entities of Venezuela? Perhaps what was missing was the photo presented by Tarazona in his denunciation, which made the gorillas of the regime react, showing former Minister Ramón Rodríguez Chacín and his wife with members of the high command of the ELN guerrilla, among them Nicolás Rodríguez Bautista, alias "Gabino", Antonio García and Pablo Beltrán. Could it be that this is unknown to the intelligence agencies of countries outside Venezuela that make an exhaustive follow-up of the armed movements of the regime's partners? That a small Venezuelan NGO limited in resources, like all those operating in our country, beats the most informed intelligence agencies in the world in terms of information? Let's see.
A few days ago, on June 29, 2021, CSIS (Center for Strategic and International Studies) released a report titled “Attack on Colombian President Shows the Insecurity Borne of Venezuela’s Criminal Sanctuary” (see report in https://www.csis.org/analysis/attack-colombian-president-shows-insecurity-borne-venezuelas-criminal-sanctuary) where it mentions “Colombian guerrillas have had a presence in Venezuela since at least the 1980s. According to Fundaredes, a Venezuelan nongovernmental organization (NGO) that researches security topics, a panoply of irregular armed groups operates in Venezuela—9 different fronts of the FARC and 10 different fronts of the ELN, two of the best known guerrilla groups, the Bolivarian Forces of Liberation, the Popular Liberation Army, the Rastrojos, the Urabeños, and the United Self-Defences of Colombia, among others. Their operations range across an equally impressive list of territories. Of Venezuela’s 24 states, 19 count an active guerrilla presence”.
And further on he points out the serious problem of governance of the Venezuelan State that places the government of the country in the hands of irregulars: “The presence of guerrilla groups has deepened the state of lawlessness and accelerated the withering of Venezuela’s institutions under Maduro, whose authority has dissolved in the hinterlands beyond Caracas. Indeed, even in the seat of national power—Caracas—Maduro’s authority has disintegrated as he has encountered difficulties reestablishing control over territory held by criminal groups. For instance, in recent months, the El Coqui gang in the neighborhood of La Vega has made abundantly clear to Maduro that the neighborhood is off limits while building a micro-state in the heart of the country’s power center. Police incursions into La Vega have resulted in bloody standoffs and hours-long shootouts”.
Beyond the Fundaredes reference in the report -which could be the real reason for the gorillas to imprison Tarazona and his group- the report details the collapse of a State that does not control its territory and that to do so has to use practices like those of Vito Corleone's mafia, selling territorial control to franchises of armed capos throughout the country. And of course appointing franchise operators like Rodriguez Chacin for that job. Unfortunately for the regime, outside Venezuela this definition of a country is not tolerated, so, among other things, the report concludes that “The Venezuelan state has largely abandoned all attempts to govern the country’s vast territory. Authority abhors a vacuum, and irregular armed groups and Colombian guerrillas have long filled the void—the worst possible combination for regional stability”. So Venezuela's solution lies elsewhere.
And the latter is perhaps the reason why the United States abandoned us to our fate, preferring to go and solve something in Nicaragua, leaving the Venezuelan opposition to settle for the crumbs of an election of Mayors and Governors. And if that is what they wanted, then that is what they will get. But at a very high cost for them and to a certain extent for Venezuelans: the disappearance of the interim government after these elections. (see in Spanish PanamPost: EEUU empuja a la oposición a las elecciones para liquidar el interinato, en https://panampost.com/jose-gregorio-martinez/2021/07/04/eeuu-oposicion-elecciones-liquidar-interinato/) with the consequent recognition of Maduro as the country's authority. I do not know if the US will return the recognition as legitimate government to the Maduro regime, but everything points to that after November 21 because the official opposition recognized them by going with them to an election, how about that? We are left without the goat and without the rope. Never before has a country had such a degrading, mediocre and treacherous opposition.
But why a cost for Venezuelans? Because the blow to the national opposition morale will be tremendous. Guaidó may aspire to the governorship of Vargas -now misnamed La Guaira- where I hope he will not get a single vote because of that betrayal. But neither will he or any of that complicit opposition because we will not go to those illicit elections. If the official opposition believes that what they did will bring them votes, forget about it. In fact, I think they will have to look for something else. I hope they have made good use of the rumbas they gave for Joe Biden's candidacy in the US, to the detriment of the US President who had created the sanctions they are now negotiating.
After such a dark picture, the arbitrary detention of Javier Tarazona and his companions reminded me of the fictional classic of American literature "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee, immortalized by the movie of the same name starring Gregory Peck. A white lawyer, Athicus Finch, defending a person of color against everyone in the American South in the 1930s. Today that would be called a human rights advocate, fighting for the rights of an ethnic minority. It took a lot of courage to do that at the time.
According to one of the lessons of Atticus Finch (see in Spanish, Rocío Camarena, 5 lecciones de Atticus Fich en “Matar a un ruiseñor”, in https://www.altonivel.com.mx/liderazgo/management/55556-5-lecciones-de-atticus-finch-en-matar-a-un-ruisenor/), there is "...a very important life principle when you give your children a gun and explain to them that they can shoot many things but never a nightingale." "Nightingales do nothing but create music for us to enjoy. They don't eat people's gardens, they don't make nests in barns, they do nothing but sing their hearts out for us. That's why it's a sin to kill a mockingbird." Atticus alludes to his defendant and his neighbor who "do nothing but help people and that is why his generous heart must not be hurt in any way, neither he nor all the generous people that exist in the world". Those are by definition the defenders of Human Rights. It is not only a sin to attack them or kill them in their functions, like the nightingales in the aforementioned novel, but another crime against Humanity committed by the regime against Venezuelans.
Today, July 5th, special day of nationality, when the 7 provinces of the General Captaincy of Venezuela declare their independence from Spain in the name of Almighty God, we can only ask the Most High to protect our mockingbirds and to raise many more like them to take a brave step forward to forge the new Independence of Venezuela. Amen...
Caracas, July 5, 2021
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