Horror. Fright. Terror. Fear. Consternation.
There are not enough synonyms to describe what I felt on July 30th. After all the marches, after all the students who have been killed, after I have been personally chased by collectives and National Guards and have been scared for my own life… They did it. But how? When did this become the Venezuela I was born?
Right now we are living in a total alarmed state. We aren’t sure what is going to happen next. The whole country is shaken up. Two opposition leaders, Leopoldo López and Antonio Ledezma have been sent back to jail, and we haven’t heard anything from them, not even their families members know where they are.
(Photo by JUAN BARRETO/AFP/Getty Images)
S0 if this happens to two-high born right wing politicians, what could happen to my neighbor? What could happen to my teacher? What could happen to my father? Could this be the start of another Peréz Jimenez era?
Is the dictatorship really starting right now, as you are drinking a coffee or watching a movie in a democratic country? It is. Because they are stripping us of our basic rights.
It’s a secret out loud. Even the Smartmatic company said it. Those 8 million votes don’t exist — it’s all fake. There was nothing but empty voting centers. And although we have received support from different countries, it’s simply not enough.
This Sunday was hell. National Guards were around my neighborhood, throwing tear gas at people who were protesting. They stole my cousin’s bike and the 0ther one was illegally sent to prison just because he looked like a “guarimbero” (a popular name given to the people who riots). But, now that I think about it, what we lived was nothing compared to what happened to others.
Teenagers as young as 13 were vile murdered. And they were mocked. (SENSITIVE IMAGES)
I’m not a high-class person. I don’ t live in the fancy part of the city. I live in a bad neighborhood. When I was 14 years old a classmate was shot and killed. Most of my childhood friends are in graves. None of them make it to 20 years old. I know what violence is. But I also know what it’s like to have dreams of a better life. To walk without fear. To be able to stand in a corner without thinking “What If I get shot or robbed?”
I have been working so hard ever since I’m a kid, learning new languages, doing well on school just with one goal: Leaving this place.
And to have all your dreams and hopes taken by a sick man called Nicolás Maduro has hurt me more than anything in the world.
