Murders in Small Print

I was very struck when I read the essay that won the “Third Metropolitan School Contest for Human Rights,” written by a 17-year-old girl (Isabel Virginia Alfonzo García) from Colegio Caniguá in the El Hatillo municipality, who conveys in her lines the terrible problem of crime we live with every day in this country. The title of the essay is: “Now the Headlines Are Smaller.”

The young woman writes that “for many Venezuelans, daily life has become the worst of fears: we leave our homes afraid we will not come back, because of the insecurity that reigns in the streets. The most important right, the right to life, has been downgraded. Are we no longer rational, conscious beings, moved only by the instinct to survive?… How can it be that in my country such an important right, the right that is the basis of all the others, is violated in this way?… My father tells me that when he was my age, it was unusual to read in the press about someone being murdered, and that when such a tragedy happened, the news usually deserved the front page and a big headline. Now the headlines are smaller and not necessarily on the front page, because the murder of a person in Venezuela today is not news.”

How painful to read this sad reality from a young woman who is just beginning life! That is when you understand why so many have left, “escaping” from this great national tragedy, a tragedy that is first and foremost the responsibility of the state, the president and the authorities. They say they are doing everything possible to solve the problem, but sadly we see that the high crime rates continue.

Isabel goes on in her essay: “THOU SHALT NOT KILL is the fifth commandment of God’s Law. It commands us to respect our own life and that of others, down to the smallest details. Human life must be respected because it is sacred, a gift of God… What I do not understand is how, in my country, attacks on human life reach such a high level. How is it that in my country they KILL so many when there are sacred and human laws that protect people’s lives?… And who is to blame? Most people would blame the murders on the government’s ineffectiveness, but the truth is that Venezuelan society has degraded and lost its values to the point of reaching the most wretched levels of human quality, where it is common to kill to obtain material goods such as cell phones, giving them an unthinkable, enormously high value: the value of a human life… Perhaps ‘who is to blame?’ is not the right question, but rather ‘how can we solve and change the reality we are facing?’ Because it is not a matter of putting words on paper but of making them happen, of each of us being agents of change, seeking a better country, a Venezuela in which the headlines about murders are not in small print, but in large print…”

Yes, Isabel, the answer is that each one of us must be an agent of change to achieve a better country; but there must also be efficient support from the state and its authorities, because the task ahead is very arduous. This is an issue where the unity of every sector of the country is vital in order to achieve results at the root, including a great education for peace in every sector of society.

And to you, young people, who have lived through so many problems that have made you mature and realize that without a serious personal commitment to building a better country we will get nowhere: don’t lose hope! Many of you are here to be part of that new generation that will lead us forward. That is why the serious and committed participation of everyone in every civic act that can help improve the future of our nation is so important.

I congratulate the young people who promoted this contest (http://seguridadyderecho.com/organizacion/ddhh) and all the young Venezuelans who are preparing themselves and fighting so that our Homeland may set out on the road to Justice and Peace. Forward, young people! The future of our Homeland is in your hands!

P.S.: You can read the winning essay at this link, on a blog by young high school graduates who promote reading and writing: http://escribejoven.blogspot.com/2011/11/ahora-los-encabezados-son-mas-pequenos.html