To the León Mármol family
"A man is flesh and bones, but also a
certain number of years. He is matter and process. So is the fruit and the bird
and the stone. Matter is space and time; the latter exist as forms of the
former."
The magic stones (1945)
Carlos Augusto León (1914-1997)
It would not be fair to bid farewell to a companion in the struggle for freedom and democracy such as Vladimir Enrique León Bencomo without showing the world the two most outstanding facets of his life: that of a scientist and that of a social fighter for liberties, who, out of so much love for his country, dared to debate social, electoral, political and constitutional issues with such skill and depth that many of us would like to have, to the point that his life companion and wife, Dr. Blanca Rosa Mármol de León, Magistrate Emeritus of the Supreme Court of Justice, awarded him the family "title" of Litigating Physicist, which in my opinion he wore more proudly than the very same TSJ. Blanca Rosa Mármol de León, Magistrate Emeritus of the Supreme Court of Justice, granted him the family "title" of Physicist Litigator, which in my opinion he carried with much more pride than the very PhD in Physics granted to him by Yale University. Such would be the moral and intellectual stature of this Venezuelan who yesterday gave his life to the Creator.
I will not tire of repeating that the most valuable lives have been left on this difficult and winding road for the restitution of our freedoms. In spite of his age and his terrible illness, Vladimir had an enviable lucidity for the analysis of political problems, being a fundamental factor for the drafting of fair, balanced and proportional Electoral Bases, which the Alianza Nacional Constituyente Originaria, ANCO, proposes to the country for the convocation of a National Constituent Assembly.
It is very difficult to see in these times a scientist of Vladimir Leon's level with such a high sense of social sensitivity, and perhaps it was precisely these characteristics that made him vibrate in the same frequency and direction of the project for Venezuela that we presented to the Nation many years ago. As a good researcher he dissected it in its fundamental parts and contrasted it with reality, arriving at the same conclusion as ours of the need for a change of proportions for Venezuela. I can still remember the emotional impact it caused him when he first learned about the project, and his subsequent commitment beyond the ordinary. I later understood that this was how he took personally the causes he truly believed in.
But my personal coincidence with this exceptional Venezuelan was not only because we shared a common project for this country, but also a vision of the technical and scientific versus the political and social. Many years ago, before I met the León Mármol family, I wrote an article in this blog entitled "The social responsibility of those who know". (see note in Spanish, in https://ticsddhh.blogspot.com/2011/06/la-responsabilidad-social-de-los-que.html).
That note seems to have been written so that God would show me later that there were people with the profile I described there, introducing me to Vladimir Leon and his wife, when I wrote the following in 2011: When we say, leave it to those who know how to handle things it is not because that is out of context. It is one thing to know how to stick a nail in a wall and quite another to know where to stick it. The one who knows how to hammer the nail, the politician determines where to do it. And not only does he determine where on the wall, but also when, if that should be the wall or if the nail should or should not be stuck. Politics is as important as technical knowledge and we have not studied it and exercised it as it should be! Those who know have not been given the opportunity to hit the nail, which is the technique, and the orientation of where to hit it, which is the policy, has been lost. Both skills are indispensable for this to work. But if those of us who know how to hit the nail do not want to do it, because that is someone else's problem, or because that is getting involved in politics, we will all be screwed. And if those who are responsible for it do not understand that the nails are stuck by those who know how to do it and do not know where they should be stuck, then we will not only be screwed, but crucified. And thus, even if we leave this government, this country will not be able to be rebuilt.
And if someone was clear about this concept long before knowing it, that was Dr. in Physics, Vladimir Leon, who, starting from an eminently technical background like his, illuminated for us the path of fundamental political skill, sharing a vision of how to apply our concepts to a political country that still does not fully understand our proposal, although the force of the facts will force it to do so later on. Vladimir assumed that commitment of knowledge from the first moment he knew about the project, demonstrating that he had that social responsibility of those who know, taking a step forward and assuming that this is not someone else's problem, but ours, his and all of ours, committing himself until the end of his life in that crusade, with a lucidity that did not diminish with time.
Many who knew him better than me would say that Vladimir's imprint and way of seeing life was inherited from his father, the distinguished Venezuelan poet Carlos Augusto León (1914-1997), as well as his ideological inclination. According to those who know his work, the poet Carlos Augusto León was "one of the most representative poets of committed poetry in his country, always in favor of popular causes and in defense of underprivileged groups" (see Carlos Augusto León, poet of the Venezuelan people, in https://buzos.com.mx/noticiaVer/carlos-augusto-leon-poeta-del-pueblo-venezolano).
But I believe that this is not so. I can attest to the admiration for Vladimir of all of us who knew him, long before we knew of his important ancestry. He may have inherited, like everyone else, important traits from his parents. But despite the specific weight that always represents a father figure of such importance for any person, Vladimir knew how to transcend in his own world, shining with his own light in scientific activities recognized worldwide, in IDEA, IVIC and INTEVEP, demonstrating in deeds his own ability and essence to the world, but at the same time becoming custodian of the wonderful heritage that meant and still means the work of his father for Venezuela. That in itself is a reason for inspiration and respect for all of us who knew and appreciated him.
But his life and work could not be better understood in its ethical and moral essence, without his inseparable life partner, Blanca Rosa, just as the existence of the example of an impeccable life that she represents for all Venezuelans, cannot be understood without Vladimir. That mutual ethical and moral reference is precisely what both of them leave us, of a whole exemplary life of service for the new generations, and which we desperately need for the new Venezuela that will necessarily have to be born after the tragedy.
As a physicist, I suppose that Vladimir appreciated better than anyone the first sentence of his father that heads this note: "A man is flesh and bones, but also a certain number of years. He is matter and process...". But a man is also more than that. Is spirit, is inspiration, is pain, is joy, is passion. All that is also in process. I believe that Vladimir showed his father with the example of his life, that not everything is the cold and impregnable physics, and that it is necessary to litigate also to live it in all its extension... Thank you for teaching us also that, my dear friend. God will have no better help than yours so that all of us that you left behind can soon live in freedom...
Caracas, July 7, 2024
Blog:
TIC’s & Derechos Humanos, https://ticsddhh.blogspot.com/
Email: luismanuel.aguana@gmail.com
Twitter:@laguana
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