don’t you remember?

A sleepy morning. Slow movements for daily things; drinking water included. Some thoughts come around and wondering begins… 

We used to speak of human behavior, we used to amuse ourselves with the argument of self-multiplicity: the one that implies there are several us we carry within, and those us: any day; anyhow, can do some kind of reckoning and establish positions. So one day we may wake up feeling peaceful even in our worst moment, and we may feel right by feeling wrong at it. We may not accept it, there could be a new reckoning, or not, or yes and it will happen again and again until we lose our minds (and ourselves) and become crazier… or wiser. The thing is, I long for those talks. We became busy and not because of our jobs, we still do the same we started about ten years ago; boring, yes, and it never got better, but we had time, time for talking, imagining, wondering ourselves (like I said) and each other (like you used to) 

It was about five years ago. I stored some articles for a later reading. We chatted about them a while. I remember it was about five years ago because I was just, let’s say, cleaning the drawer I’m now selling (and hoping to sell it soon) when I’ve found the articles. I remember I was going to buy Harina PAN that day; it was something new, lots of opinions facing each other: people in the city could buy only two packs per week and depending on the last number of your cédula, Thursdays in my case. Some people saw it as the entrance of communism here, but it’s always a debate. There are those who think this began with Chávez, others claim it began even before him and many others point Maduro as the big responsible, but the thing is either who it was it to blame, the situation became worse for almost everyone. 

I waited on a line for almost four hours. I saw two women fighting because (let’s see if I can make myself understood) one of them tried unsuccessfully to usurp the other one’s place in the line by doing one of the many tricks there are for, which was in this case: I was already here, don’t you remember? [I think it’s important to understand that when I write usurp I don’t mean that the woman already in the line were removed, not. When I say usurp it means that the other woman deceived the rest of the people already there by lying about her presence in it]And of course that made the other woman angry, but not always a person is willing to fight a usurper for that, some people just get numb at the fact there can be someone getting inside the line by doing such a thing (we have a verb for expressing this an action and it is called colearse, but colearse might be confusing if the Spanish interpreter is not a Venezuelan one, this is the problem with our beautiful language, so I just hope you get the picture of what I’m telling here) I for example get very angry but I won’t start a fight for it, and it always happens. It gets more maddening with the waiting and if this waiting is outdoors, people get heat… which means angrier. It could also rain, but at last I got my two packs of our classical corn flour. 

Lines have spread throughout the city, the country. There were few things one could buy without waiting hours on them. It got worse when the riots started and everything we´ve said to each other was about that. I remember we started arguing because we kind of liked to foresee what it could happen next and we both wanted our argument to prevail. 

We both got wrong, short, next never stopped being now and, as now, it’s been cruel. There came a time in which we couldn’t buy us a drink like we used to. We changed it for coffee and sooner than we thought it got unaffordable too. We’ve been texting ever since. You´ve always sent me drugstores where I can find some pills and I’ve tried always sending you supermarkets where some products could be found. Now we just take one another for insulting, to then ask for an apology, to then laugh, to then remember… like I am doing now. I’m getting rid of all these papers, these articles, they’re making me sneeze too much and I still have to clean the drawer…

Making it happen

North Korea has had elections all this time. We’ve had them too, next ones will be on April 22^nd. There were many who waited for a final agreement but it seems it won’t be such after all, at least there wasn’t yesterday. Some were hoping for a peaceful resolution and some others just salivated for what it was. After few hours from the announcement, another one and already rehearsed was broadcasted: the election date. Today, we’re breathing through confusion: is it the fact that the opposition have refused signing the agreement, a stronger possible refreshed coalition? Will they postulate a candidate? Will such be picked from a consensus? What will they tell the people? This is in case they decide to go in spite of all this lack of warranties from doing so. On the other hand, there’s this sort of alliance who lobbies abroad for support, actually it looks it’s working, at least that’s the impression we get from social network. Will it be so? Perhaps but I’m personally hearing some other claims on the streets…

The president has just founded a new political party, just as Chavez did. Becoming a politician of the twenty first century is a matter of stage performance, at least we’re getting used to it; unfortunately. A candidate won’t debate (we’ve never seen it, not someone younger than forty as I recall) A candidate will tell jokes (and sadly that’s where truths, if there’s any, may come from) will dance (despite of our sadness) will get fat (in front of the hunger) will become rich (in the faces of the poor) and all in the name of progress, peace and revolution. Our tropical version of Orwell’s Big Brother…

Some opposition parties were excluded from the electoral card; let’s say they’re not fulfilling the requirements of rigor, only if the president does: everything is possible at his desire, except the welfare of the Venezuelans and this is the reason I’m putting some words here: the people on the streets are so used to the crisis and so used to the president, that they’re just hoping for the best and expecting the worst… and it doesn’t mean they’re supporting him, they just can’t come up with something else despite the voices of twitter. I read an article which title was something like how to annul a person: and how is it done? with crumbs, crumbs of healthcare, crumbs of food supply, crumbs of entertaining, crumbs of jobs, crumbs of persona, crumbs of thinking through an ideology, new meaning for old words, new words also, new terms as to speak. They are many… but not all. There’re also people who work more, think more, and struggles as hard as they can just not to succumb before the promises and speeches of the president, his people, and politicians in general… and these are the people who are not just hoping… but making it happen. 

tales to believe

It went by about an hour after having lunch I guess. I was getting kind of sleepy. There was no internet service, well, there was really, but let’s say it was coming and going; like a tennis ball thrown to a wall. I think the word is intermittent, the internet service was intermittent. Despite of it, I could see some news meanwhile. I read some about a problem with the platform of Banco de Venezuela (so if you´ve followed some of this writings, or any of the news from here, you may have a picture of how banking has been even before this incident) We don’t know when will it be restored: they’re working on it (working hard, of course) It was a sabotage – I heard – it is always a sabotage, anyone can be guilty except the people who actually work at it. The same thing happens with the electricity: several cities of the country experience a daily blackout of an hour at least. Why? Sabotage, the empire (which means United States) and la derecha; among others, – and this is a little bit what I would like to imply – according to the spokesmen of the government, they are pretty much leftists, they claim it with pride, call themselves Marxists; worship Fidel Castro as a sort of deity, just like they’ve been doing it with Chávez but at least Chávez is Venezuelan. According to them left means awesome and right means evil, and as any epic duel evil must be defeated every battle (which we’re having everyday every time) like the electricity service, which important buildings are being watched by the army (because we’ll prevail from any intent of sabotage –curiously the sabotage always tend to happen – and whoever the guilty is we’ll find it) or the bank platform, where so many people have their money literally trapped until they solve it (until they struggle with this plan the evil has organized from the empire through la derecha; the opposition)  

      

This is romantic and it makes the population romantic too. Probably it is why so many of us, even the ones from the right, just hope for a kind of hero who save us all, like it actually were an epic duel, so it’s not only the supporters of the government, this is in everyone’s mind. 

Last year the opposition called for a plebiscite in which people answered whether they agreed or not with a new president election. It didn’t happen then, it is happening now, but the call was made this time by the government, so the opposition are not ok with it. They were ok with the call from last year, but last year the government wasn’t sure they would win. Now they are, and that’s why nothing came up from the negotiations of Dominican Republic. Well, something surely came up, but the citizens won’t know about, not now at least; there’s so much money to accommodate yet and perhaps it has something to do with the sabotage, or not, perhaps this is just another epic battle where the right (of this left) shall overcome… again, while we still get poorer and politicians tweet and journalists (like they were politicians too) lie, and since we don’t have news to trust… instead we have tales to believe.