We Have to Be Strong!

One of the things that has most stirred my admiration in recent years is the fortitude with which millions of Venezuelans have faced this crucial chapter of our country’s history.

And I am not talking only about adults. I am especially struck by the strength of so many children and young people. They have had to live through very hard times, with many difficulties, uncertainty, hatred and division, and great danger to their lives.

In spite of that, you still see them playing and smiling, like the children they are, or going to their parties to enjoy their youth. These admirable new generations have their feet firmly on the ground, and they know their future depends on what each of them can contribute to society.

Many of them are very clear about the great mission that lies ahead of them in the country where they have been given to live. We have seen many of these children and young people laugh, sing and dance; but we have also seen them suffer and cry. Yes, cry! Because they are tired of so much uncertainty, so many lies, so much hatred, so much violence, so much injustice… They, like all of us, want a quiet life, a normal life, a life in peace!

I believe it is the hard times that have made many of our children and young people, and the not-so-young, as strong as oaks today. The other day I was thinking about that strength, and I found it hard to understand. It seems that the more blows we take, the stronger we become. I was also thinking that this strength did not come to us overnight. It has taken years of patience, of perseverance, of work, of carrying on, of falling and getting back up, of moving forward little by little; but above all, of continuing to fight with joy and hope, even with everything against us.

I will never tire of thinking about, and repeating, what a friend who lives abroad told me a few months ago: “You are all fighting so hard, with so many problems, and yet I see you happy.” And how could we not be happy, when we are fighting for our country, for a better future for all these children and young people who stir our souls every time we see them worried about their future? How could we not give all of them hope and encouragement? How could we not fight for them?

I want to share with you part of a motivational talk that the Austrian psychiatrist Viktor Frankl is said to have given to thirty-six men in the Nazi camp at Auschwitz on December 24, 1944 (it was thirty degrees below zero, and they had no heating and no shoes).

These are his words: “A man who is aware of his responsibility toward another human being will never throw his life away. If you know the why of your existence, you will be able to bear almost any how. They may put an end to our lives, but no power on earth can tear from us what we have already lived. I beg you to face the gravity of our situation with courage. We cannot take refuge in the past to soothe the horrors of the present. Think about it: we are facing a challenge, the challenge of going on living. We can do one of two things: turn this experience into a victory, or simply vegetate and stop being persons. Even here we must hold on, sheltered by hope in the future. It does not matter that we expect nothing from life. What truly matters is what life expects from us. We need not be ashamed of our tears, for they show our courage to face injustice. Forget pleasure, forget revenge, forget cowardice… The only thing we must keep in mind is our will to go on. Will is a matter of fact, not a matter of faith. For we do not invent the meaning of our lives; we discover it. Each of us has a task reserved for us to fulfill. And each of us answers for that obligation with our own life.”

I will only end by saying that every day I am prouder to be Venezuelan. Every day I am prouder of so many millions of Venezuelans (from every sector of society) who, from the moment they get up until they go to bed, fight day after day, with integrity, with a thousand problems ahead of them, to provide for their families and to help this country move forward on a path of values, integrity, work, truth, unity and peace… There are more on that path than on the other. Many more!

I ask God with all my heart to help us carry on with great fortitude in these difficult times we have been given to live. And I ask that we never lose the patience to keep sowing reconciliation, peace and joy at every moment, even as we claim our rights. Because only in this way can we build a better future for all our dear fellow Venezuelans.