I am Venezuelan, born and raised. I came to the States to follow my dreams of becoming a filmmaker, and it just so happened to be before my country went to total sh*t. You see, my country has the world's worst economy, the world's most dangerous city – my hometown, yay – and probably the world's dumbest and most incompetent President.
On Thursday September 1st, a big march was organized so people could stand up and express their dissatisfaction with the government. There have been very mixed feelings about that, so let's talk about it.
There are, basically, three sides, three feelings about Thursday's march. There are those who are feeling overoptimistic, and think that thanks to this march, President Maduro will crap his pants and quit the job right away, the government will return all of the stolen money that they got over the years, and groceries and medicine will instantly reappear on the shelves.
Naturally, this did not happened, and proved to me once again that some Venezuelans are simply so choked with hope, that they don't really see the world how it really is.
The second group is pretty much the opposite of the first one. Plagued with negativity and hopelessness, this is a group that thinks the march was completely useless and that people should have stayed in the streets for days, march to the Presidential Palace, knock down the door, and throw Maduro out the window.
Of course, that didn't and would've never happened, but the real problem is that there were some who actually expected it to happen, and think everything was a waste of time and that Venezuelans don't have the guts to kick Maduro out.
I am somewhere in the middle, in the third group. Venezuela isn't going through an Arab Spring, nor is it a first-world country where the government actually listens to its people and aims to make things better based on popular opinion. Nevertheless, I never had any hopes for the march to make much of a difference, and here's why: experience.
The only real hope I had was that, in the end, not much people got hurt by the government monkeys and that we got at least some international attention. Both happened, so I'm as satisfied as I could realistically be.
No, I didn't expect the march to make Maduro reconsider, as I'm sure he's well aware of the people's distaste of him. No, I didn't expect people to charge against the Palace gates and riot inside, because the ones with the guns are the government monkeys, not us.
And no, I didn't expect anything else than people marching to happen yesterday, because that was the whole point. More than a million people flooded the longest street of Caracas on Thursday, so I wouldn't call that a total defeat.
Still, Venezuelans – particularly those around my age – need to understand that martyrdom isn't the most viable option, because there's nobody who's willing to do it; and there's nothing wrong with that. Just by thinking of how heartbroken my family would be if I died at the hands of a monkey with a shotgun, I don't feel like sacrificing myself anymore, and I bet you wouldn't either. And that's perfectly fine, you know? You're not a coward for not wanting to die; and besides, experience has taught us that dying in a march doesn't really make a difference with the government – RIP Roberto Redman.
What's to conclude of all of this? Nothing, really. I only ask you to think and reconsider. Put aside your anger, frustration, impatience and impotence and ask yourself: what did you expect?
Peace out.
