Reasons to Stay in Venezuela
First of all, I am deeply grateful for all the emails I received last week offering condolences on my grandmother’s death and thanking me for my column “When an Immigrant Dies.” Every message was very moving. What stood out was love for this country, and the welcome and open-heartedness of Venezuelans, who not only received with open arms those who came to these lands, but also married and mingled with them, creating a racial and cultural blend that has enriched our country in a unique way.
A Venezuelan woman, the daughter of immigrants, who emigrated to Ecuador wrote to me: “I am amazed and, marveled? that people like you are still in Venezuela and still believe in it. My faith is not yours, whether fortunately or unfortunately, I don’t know. I am aware that not all of us can leave, or want to leave, and, as that famous phrase goes, ‘…the last one out, turn off the lights…’ Would it be too much to ask that, when you have the time and are in the mood, you share your reasons for staying in a country that is sinking, as fortunately did not happen to your Lebanese grandmother’s country, instead of jumping into the first lifeboat you find and rowing toward safer and more promising shores?”
Today I write: What are my reasons for staying in Venezuela?
One of the things that binds me most to this country is that we Venezuelans are igualados, people who treat everyone as an equal. What do I mean by that? So you understand it well, let me tell you something about a Venezuelan friend who went into exile in Colombia. He says that one day he went to visit a lady, and while he was waiting for her he started chatting with the cook. When the lady of the house arrived, she was furious and sent the maid back to the kitchen. He asked her why she had done that, and she answered: “Because my servants are forbidden to talk with visitors. The problem is that you Venezuelans treat everybody as your equal.” Something similar happened to me in Santo Domingo and to my sister-in-law in Mexico. There is nothing more wonderful than feeling that everyone beside you is your fellow Venezuelan, your brother or sister (whether street sweeper, firefighter, butcher or anyone else). That is how it is for the majority of the population, even though a few small groups have tried to sow hatred and division.
Another thing that binds you to this country is the climate, the mountains (personally, I cannot live without El Ávila), the beaches… You may say that’s silly, but I know for a fact that there are immigrants who have tried to go back to their countries of origin and have come back here because they couldn’t get used to the climate.
Another very important reason that binds me to Venezuela, and gives me immense hope of a way out of this labyrinth, is that there are a great many talented people here (from every social, political and economic class) who are studying and working for a better future for all. Some cannot leave, and others of us do not want to. I personally know hundreds of organizations and foundations, and thousands of people, who have been working for many years, silently and tirelessly, for those most in need and to lay solid foundations rooted in values. We are already seeing the fruits, and we will see many more, because we have a generation of young people worth more than gold.
Another thing that binds me strongly to my Homeland is our Venezuelan Church. The work it has done over many years, and especially in this last decade, is impressive. I am a witness to the tireless work of all our bishops, of thousands of priests, men and women religious, missionaries and lay people who are dedicated to bringing the word of God and sowing Christian values, unity and peace in every corner of Venezuela. I could not leave my country and abandon my Church and my people!
Above all this, and for many other reasons, I have an immense faith and a hope against all odds that assures me that no last light will be switched off here. On the contrary, a light will come out of Venezuela that will illuminate many people throughout the world, with the great example of faith, prayer, patience, perseverance, fortitude, sacrifice, detachment, solidarity, honesty, work, unity and peace that many mil- lions of Venezuelans are giving at this crucial moment in our history.
I will close with a few lines a reader wrote to me from Germany: “I always say that I will go back to Venezuela even if I’m seventy (I’m fifty-one now), and I’ll work until I’m ninety or more. I hope you and your family will help us! And that there will be a mindset of all working together to rebuild a country with effort and determination. It’s going to be hard… but not impossible.”
And so it will be: hard, but not impossible. Count on those of us who are staying, because we are giving everything down to the marrow to have a country that can once again welcome with open arms anyone who wants to be here. We count on your prayers, that God may give us the fortitude to keep going, and you will see that the lights will be great, very great: lights of Truth, Freedom, Justice and Peace for all Venezuelans.