I am a lucky guy. I have a great family. I was brought up in what was still a moderately functional country: Venezuela. I received a good education and attended the best school I could back home.
Then I left, did my studies and research in several countries, and eventually established myself in France. My departure coincided with the a major escalation of many problems that would lead to the worst years in the country’s history. I believe that most of those problems have their origin in the bad faith of some individuals, but we have also had our fair share of bad luck. This post is not about politics, though.
Part of my luck is that I don’t have to live through those events directly, but living them abroad is a strange experience, to say the least. One thing is homesickness, which on its own can be pretty bad; another is getting bad news all the time on top of that. I could probably make a list of one major terrible event for every year I’ve been away. This year, the occasion is a major earthquake in my home state and neighboring regions. My family is safe and my hometown didn’t suffer major damages or losses, but the news and images coming from Caracas and La Guaira are devastating.
Over the years, I’ve adopted a sort of resignation when it comes to Venezuela. It’s not that I don’t want good things to happen. Of course I do. I’ve simply found some peace in accepting that there’s very little I can do from here. Believe me, I’m not giving advice here, and I genuinely admire people who remain hopeful. I’m not proud nor ashamed of it, this is simply what has helped me. Part of that was leaving my personal social media in 2024 (guess what? After a terrible event).
In this kind of context it’s almost impossible to concentrate or work under these circumstances for most people, and I’m no exception. Doing nothing only makes me more anxious. What helps me is just writing. I remember poet José Lezama Lima’s last words to Reinaldo Arenas (Cuban writer and dissident): “Remember that our only salvation lies in the word; write.”