Chapter 1 has been posted, and so we begin a new chapter tomorrow. I do hope despite some of the difficult stories you can begin to see the purpose behind telling them. During our time together as we worked on this book, Patrick has often said “You owe me big time”. Whether said in jest or not, it created in me the need to respond with “I am owed a life”! I was not just displaced, I lost everything, including who I was born to be.
The purpose of this book is to indicate what happens when we do not demand accountability from those in charge of the systems in place. When we don’t ask questions, when we just let things happen, we create a world which allows stories like mine worldwide to happen. The insatiable need for money and power and the lengths to which some people will go to protect their empire is the reason I have a story to tell. I firmly believe it is time for a revolution, but this time without weapons. A revolution demanding truth; we must stop protecting those who have lied to us, their lies have not helped us. We have proven time and again that violence only begets violence. All of our wars have not brought us peace, quite the opposite actually. Peace cannot be found at the end of a gun. To me this is a crime of the highest order, that so many brave people fought, lost their lives or came home broken only to discover the war is ongoing.
I recently saw an interview with Guaido, who when asked if he was afraid said very calmly “no”. This gave me reason to pause and begin asking why. Why would he not be afraid? Why hasn’t he been imprisoned? Where did he come from? And why is our country so eager to help him? What about Maduro? Is there any truth to what he’s saying? I am not implying I have an opinion about what is happening in Venezuela, I do not have enough information, nor do you. Nor am I showing support for either man, only suggesting that we ask some serious questions about the situation because we do not have the whole story.
I am living in a place that is dealing in part with the consequences of that particular situation, so it is making me ask. It seems to me that this is exactly what Che Guevara was fighting for – accountability from those who were taking so freely from the countries in South America while the people in those countries starved. It seems to me that nothing has improved for the people here, they are still the victims of greed, empoverished by foreign governments.
In order for you to truly understand what I am saying you have to see what I’m seeing, hear the voices of the people living here. The longer I am here, the deeper the understanding.
There was no one protecting me growing up, no one giving me hope, no one easing the pain. I learned to go inside, and for this I was rewarded in my adult life with discovering the truth about what happened to me. If I do not fight back now, then what was it all for. If I do not speak up for that truth, my life loses it purpose. If I do not fight for my parents and my right to have this life, then I am a coward.
I am afraid and I don’t mind saying so. I have often wondered as I lay awake at night if I am strong enough to handle the possible consequences of telling my story. Could I endure what happened to me as a child again as an adult? If I am honest, I would have to say no; facing that pain is not something I feel capable of. But I also know this understanding is irrelevant, the truth is more important and the reason for the book. This conviction is gaining momentum the longer I am here, my roots becoming more firmly embedded. First as a child and now as a woman I face the truth I am without a country, without a home and without family. I am the lost daughter of Che Guevara.
0 Comments