The Bolivarian Revolution is everything to me. Even if I don’t like it, at this point it would it be stupid to deny that fact. The Bolivarian Revolution defines the way I live, the food that comes to my table, the things I can buy and I cannot, the places I can go and the places I can’t visit without putting my life in risk. It also haves a word on the time I have, on the information I see, on the people I relate to. It even can say something about my mood, that it can fall from a perfect happiness to an unbearable anxiety if one of those announces, rumors, news, or analysis enter my ears. The Bolivarian Revolution also haves a very strong weight on my aspirations, on the things I can desire to have and I cannot, on the future I can dream of and the future I fear of.
But my relationship with the Bolivarian Revolution is unequal, is an unrequited love. While the Revolution is everything to me, I am nothing to them. I often wonder who I am to them really? I started by being an “escuálido” (a shark, an insult Chavez often used in the early years), and an oligarch. Well, I’m actually a daughter of what they call “the old oligarchy”.
From there, I passed to be many things: a traitor, a lackey of the empire, a fascist (a pro-Chavez woman actually called me that way in the subway, when we were returning of a student protest), an (my URL address? Anyone?) antipatriotic, and; when the student movement arise and I was part of it, I was part of the ones called “rich kids”.
I will not be considered, just as I am, for any of the Revolutionary social programs; and If I request something I would have to wear a red t-shirt for getting it. And if one day I simply go and disappear, it won’t make a difference. They will be thankful, that another after another counter revolutionary is leaving them alone.
Julia, you have once again exposed the human element of the revolution which is often lost on those of us who observe from the outside, often on an academic --rather than a direct personal-- level. When it's framed this way, the hypocrisy is quite astounding, that a revolution claiming to be of the "pueblo" is yet strikingly selective when it comes to defining who belongs to said "pueblo." Those who benefit most from the revolution might be better qualified as the "pueblo presidente." Saludos.
ResponderEliminarJajajajaja... pueblo- presidente...can I steal that term? I think that term or the idea of it could be useful for a future entry. It should be obvious for everybody that the exclusion in Venezuela does not only comes from economical conditions but also from the government itself. It has two directions, I'm lucky to really really feel just the second one. I have heard of people who are victims of both directions, at the same time.
ResponderEliminarI like how you put it, it's everything to you (since it affects every facet of your life) and you're nothing to them. Merry Christmas to you Julia and your family!
ResponderEliminar