Greetings, everyone
I keep having problems to post (Still without a phone). A lot is going on right now and I have not been able to post accordingly. Besides the current political chaos, which in my city (Cumaná) has turned bloody, some personal issues have been affecting our daily life. The most recent one, my youngest brother's leaving the country.
A couple of days ago I received confirmation that Jesús Ramón had made it safely to Lima, Perú. Jesús is three years younger than me, that makes him 43. He has 4 children (that I know of), two of them under 4.
I know it was a difficult decision for him because for some time he supported the government. He had been living for many years in the barrios of Caracas and I know that for most poor people in urban areas the revolution represented a door to the satisfaction of their expectation. However, after a while he realized that the promises came at a high cost and the poor remained poor. In fact, they became poorer. People like my brother, who refused to pursue a college career and chose to rather live life as it came and who at some point felt he was actually doing better than his professional peers, experienced first hand what it means to not be able to provide for his children.
It was a matter of survival and no matter how much he worked, and he knows how to work hard, no amount of decent money earned would ever be enough. My brother learned all kinds of trades: from plumbing to electricity, to masonry and alluminum door/window-making, all of this he taught himself to do. Lately, he was working as a baker/pastry chef.
I am sure that with all his talents he will succeed anywhere else. Best of luck, little brother!
Jesús (left) and Aarón (right) my two brothers in exile. They joined my son, José Andrés and many cousins and nephews/nieces.
Thanks for your visit
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@hlezama,
Hey Henrry. I've been obsessively following the developments in Venezuela, willing that bastard to just get on a plane to Cuba. For a while, it felt close.
This is not over. At the very least, the US will now massively pressure all other countries to replicate its sanctions. It may also sanction Cuba. At some point, the Generals will have no choice.
Don't believe for a second that Maduro's government is not in utter chaos. And don't believe for a second that a ton of rank and file soldiers are not considering switching sides. But it's dangerous ... as once one crosses the Rubicon, there's no turning back. A bullet awaits anyone who jumps ship too soon.
What I'd really like to see is a couple of Generals in control of areas AWAY from Caracas switch sides.
I'm thinking about you, brother. Keep your family and yourself safe.
Quill
Thanks, brother.
The anguish and frustration we feel is comparable, to use a hot referencie, to that of the living at the battle of Winterfell.
It is aggravated by the absence of a defining héroe or heroes. We can't trust or expect anything from high ranking military. They arepa burried in corruption shit. They have been killing the people they swore to defend.
@hlezama,
I know it seems like a nightmare from which you cannot awake ... but the situation cannot, and will not, go on for much longer. The bottom line is that, at this point, the US cannot let Maduro remain in power without looking completely impotent. Trump's cabinet is even evoking the 'Monroe Doctrine.' Trump will not tolerate Russia's intrusion into its hemisphere and it will not permit the creation of a second 'Cuban exception' in it's own backyard.
Good, bad or indifferent ... this is now a showdown between Maduro and Trump. Trump WILL NOT capitulate. And Russia? Putin is not stupid ... just as he argues that the Ukraine is in Russia's "near-abroad" (strategic sphere of influence), he knows full well that Venezuela is in America's.
All the Lefty protests and pants-peeing in the world will not change this reality. Venezuela has become an incredibly destabilizing force in the region and no South or Central American country can ignore the peril it presents ... irrespective of what politicians say in public.
The US doesn't have to invade (nor does it want to). All it has to do is park an aircraft carrier battle group off the coast of Venezuela and say it will provide weapons and training to the Venezuelan opposition. Once there is even a hint of a credible threat, the Venezuelan Generals will begin negotiating like crazy for amnesty. The reality is that the US could reduce Venezuela's "complex defensive military capacity" to almost nothing (with very few causalities) within a matter of hours.
Mate, just keep everyone alive ... and hold on for a little bit longer.
Quill
Due to the politics in South Africa I 'lost' my daughter to Canada. We visit but it is never the same and those grandchildren are so desperately far away.
I empathise with you over your brother having to leave and pray for your safety and being able to provide for your children.
Only those who have experienced the forced separation of family members can understand what it feels like.
By now, from the family members you saw in that picture, I have 4 nieces in 4 different countries (Puerto Rico, Colombia, Brasil and Perú). My wife has more than 15 young relatives in exile and some more packing.
It is a family tragedy of unprecedented proportions. Even if things went well for all of them, getting the family back together, at least keeping the links alive will be near imposible.
Little by little a new generation will grow feeling unrelated to (too distant from) their original family.
Most of our elder will die without seeing their children and grandchildren by their side.
This is a crime for which no politician or military should get pardonedThank you very much, @justjoy.
Very tumultuous times over where you are. I pray for your safety in the times of chaos.
I hope your brother finds security for his family.
Thanks you very much. We are all rooting for him. Those who still remain here are subject to randomness. You see the videos of police repression in the last two days and you can conclude life and/or death is just a lottery
Be strong man!
Thanks.
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