What we learn from others

What we learn from others | Daily Tribune

The Venezuela story only seeped into our consciousness after the United States took matters in its own hands and bombed its main military hub in Caracas. The massive explosions shook more than the capital city — they resounded across the world and reached our islands that are also embroiled in their own little drama.

Who knew that for three decades now, Venezuelans had been suffering under the leadership of their now deposed president Nicolas Maduro? All we could see of that Latin American country was a parade of perfectly turned-out ladies on the global pageant circuit.

Just as United Kingdom Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he and his government would “shed no tears” for the shocking end of the Maduro regime, Venezuelans both inside and outside that troubled country reacted mostly with rejoicing for their “freedom” from a leader whom they called brutal and corrupt.

On the other hand, China, Russia and neighboring Latin American countries (that US President Donald Trump had lumped with Venezuela under “narco terrorism”) have reacted with condemnation for the strike and subsequent capture of Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, whom sources revealed was regarded as “a political operator in her own right” and a “key architect of Maduro’s political survival.”

It is hard to tell at this point if the emotional reactions of Venezuelans who had escaped what they described as the horrors inflicted on their country by Maduro is propaganda to support the American takeover. The truth will undoubtedly surface at some point, but right now, these Venezuelans are setting misconceptions straight.

For Instagram account @kalemyname, what happened to Venezuela “needed to be done.”

Starting off his explainer with a reaction to those throwing their support behind the deposed leader, he said he would not go into the legality of the actions taken to remove Maduro and his wife bodily from the country.

“I’m so happy that it happened. I’m so happy for the people of Venezuela. For 30 long years, no one was coming to the rescue,” he said.

Venezuela used to be a place where people could go to school, buy food and feel safe, he said.

“Then one day the boss of that country called Nicolas Maduro decided he wanted all the power for himself. He made the rules good only for himself and his friends. If people said this was not fair, we are hungry, we want a better life, he wouldn’t listen. If they protested, he would kill them. Many people disappeared, many were killed or hurt just for disagreeing with him. Millions of Venezuelans decided to leave their country just to survive.”

“Then today another awful man who wants all power to himself decides to take him down. But at least in this country we can be talking s*it about him and it would be okay; we would not be killed for it,” he said. “It’s not going to change overnight, there is some rough road ahead, but today there is hope. People in Venezuela are happy because after three decades of absolute hell, there is finally hope.”

It’s a big world we live in. Sometimes we are given hints like in that Jack Ryan movie years ago, a clip of which surfaced following Maduro’s capture. The actor John Krasinski explained in that supposedly fictional story how Venezuela’s vast natural resources could attract unwanted interests, which could either make or break a nation. He talked of its leaders practically selling off its assets to interests like Russia and China and how self-interest among its leaders could cause a country to fall in on itself. Using weakness and instability to their advantage, outside powers may easily take these failed states for their own purposes.

Sounds eerily familiar?

Perhaps in these crucial times, the signs we are being given are worth the attention of our desperate, infighting leaders who are more concerned about their own political survival than the welfare and health of the nation.