2012: Still in the Fight

We would all like to have a crystal ball to see what will happen in Venezuela in 2012. It is truly hard to explain what each of us has lived through in this Land of Grace in recent years. They have been hard years, turbulent years, full of uncertainty. Years of many rumors and of many real problems that have changed our lives and nearly wiped out the famous “quality of life” that is so fashionable in some countries.

I always remember that when I entered the Universidad Central de Venezuela to study journalism, I was very drawn to the work of war correspondents, and several times I thought about becoming one.

As it turned out, God had other plans for me. On February 4, 1992 (the day of the coup attempt), my boyfriend (who was very near Channel 8 that day) asked for my hand in marriage. He got such a scare that he decided not to wait any longer! We were married three months later, and by November 27 I had a big belly (with my first son). I will never forget when President Carlos Andrés Pérez said on TV that everything was normal. My husband and I (who had nothing in the pantry because it was the end of the month) went down to do our grocery shopping, and while we were standing in line at the store, the F-16s flew right over us, firing at one another, and the bullets were falling right beside us. How exciting, right?

We ran back upstairs to take shelter in the apartment, and I, with my reporter’s blood, went out on the balcony to take pictures until my husband came and put me in the bathtub to protect me from stray bullets.

On top of all this, five months earlier I had been through my fourth armed robbery, and the robber cocked the gun against my temple to shoot, but thank God he didn’t (that very day I had picked up my first pregnancy test, which came out positive).

As if that weren’t enough, since my husband and I love children, we had six kids in eight years (by C-section). Most people (including some doctors) called us irresponsible and said all sorts of things to us. That was a lot of fun too, worse than a war! Then began the eternal odyssey of finding and paying for milk, diapers, schools and food (and as they grow, you have to spend more and more and more).

So my dream of being a war correspondent has come true, in a way. And to top it all off, exactly a year ago I started writing for a national newspaper, and it has been another war to write, every week, in 3,500 characters (and I love to talk!), articles that offer hope in these difficult times, something very few people talk about. I have my fans, people who write to encourage me and ask me please not to throw in the towel; and I have people who hate me, who insult me, who write me terrible things because they disagree with many of my views. It takes all kinds to make a world. And that is wonderful.

That’s life. God had me born in this Land of Grace, which I love madly, and here I will go on living and writing. I know 2012 will be a complicated, turbulent and, yes, fun year. Personally, I love a busy life, because it doesn’t let you think about yourself or get depressed (there’s a reason why, in Venezuela, women especially, we have one of the lowest suicide rates in the world). Besides, there is nothing more boring than a life without excitement.

So in 2012, let’s try to enjoy life and not lose our joy, in spite of everything, giving the best of ourselves in our daily work to our wonderful country, which is counting so much on our efforts. And think of yourselves as the protagonists of a wonderful war, in which we are fighting to achieve full Peace and Justice for all.

Take care, my dear Venezuelan fighters. I love you very much, and always remember one thing: whatever happens, here we will keep working with a Patience, Hope and Joy that nothing and no one can take from us, because God and the Blessed Virgin of Coromoto are with us!