Will We Achieve Our Dream?

“Dream, and you will fall short.” This is one of the phrases that has marked my life most, and I always try to put it into practice when I feel things are getting hard.

Some people call dreamers naive, but every dreamer I have known has reached goals higher than the ones they set for themselves, and has managed to leave a mark on the society they live in, even if a tiny mark, but a mark nonetheless.

Since I love to dream, and in order to keep moving forward with my life in this country with so many problems, I sat down a few days ago and wrote a short list of what I dream of for my beloved homeland.

I repeat the word “beloved” constantly because my love for Venezuela is immense. And it is immense because in the years God has allowed me to live, I have met thousands of valuable Venezuelans (from every political, religious, social, academic, professional, labor, cultural and military sector, and more), who give me the total and absolute conviction that my dreams can indeed come true.

What do I dream of for my country? First of all, I dream of a peaceful country, where only the police have weapons. Police who are well educated, well trained and well paid. Let being a police officer be something to aspire to! Let us want our children to be police officers, and be at ease because they won’t be killed in the street!

A country where we can leave the doors of our homes open so we can share a cup of coffee or an arepa, at any hour and with anyone; where we can talk about our joys, our worries, the projects and plans we have to improve the problems each of us faces in our community, working together with the help of the Government.

I dream of an irreproachable justice system, where the “normal” corruption of the courts and the scandalous corruption in the highest circles come to an end. I dream that there will be no political prisoners; of prisons that are decent, clean and humane, where only the guards carry weapons, where prisoners are helped to turn their lives around and leave as good citizens.

I dream of a country that has become a tourism powerhouse because, I’m just saying, can you tell me where there are better beaches than Venezuela’s? A tourism powerhouse with excellent infrastructure and with helpful, friendly, efficient Venezuelans… That last part we already have, and in abundance.

And it is possible, it really is, because if there is one thing many of us Venezuelans have learned these past years, it is to work hard, to work without rest, to be willing to do whatever it takes to see our country improve.

I dream that our marvelous natural resources will be used to develop the nation, to create companies with plenty of jobs, where business owners apply the Social Doctrine of the Church, and not a savage capitalism or a socialism riddled with corruption.

I dream of a country where we have roads and transportation that bring us into the twenty-first century; with efficient public services that don’t leave us without electricity and water every so often; with decent housing for everyone in well-planned places, where we can have access to good jobs and good schools for our children and young people.

I dream of quality education, accessible to all, that teaches human, family and civic values. I dream of well-equipped hospitals full of our wonderful Venezuelan doctors and nurses, so well protected and so well paid that they would not even think of leaving for a private clinic or going abroad.

But can so many dreams come true? Of course they can! Because here there is no shortage of human and material resources to make them happen. Here there is no shortage of young people (young in years and young in spirit), and talent of every kind. Here there is no shortage of fortitude, patience, experience… What we have plenty of is the will to work, without minding if we wring out every last drop of ourselves, to build a country without crime, unemployment, violations of the law or of human rights, corruption, inefficiency…

Here what we have plenty of is Will and Hope to push forward, to build a truly great homeland with a future that has room for all our dear fellow Venezuelans, without hatred and with peace!

And you, what do you dream of for Venezuela? Dream, and you will see that you fall short. But do everything within your reach to make what you dream come true. If we put our dreams together and put them into practice (each of us in whatever we have to do), we will fall short of the marvelous country we can build together, and we will at last live as brothers and sisters in a nation with progress, justice and peace for all.