Saint Cynicism

 By: Luisana Colomine

An impertinent cough cuts for endless minutes the speech of the Colombian President, Juan Manuel Santos, on February 8th in the García Herreros slum of Cúcuta. "It went off the old road," he says, in the midst of the choke and sipping a sip of water. It would have been better having said, "I went down the path" to adapt the idiom to the jargon imposed by his fellow countrymen in matters of the extraction smuggling...

Santos and his gang presented themselves on that stage as the living stamp of efficiency and brotherhood. It made me laugh to see them because that place where they made their performance is one of the poorest neighborhoods in Cúcuta. It would have been advisable having made that show in "La Parada", on the Simón Bolívar Bridge, and a forced passage for thousands of Colombians and Venezuelans: There, misery gains ground to life; there, where they sell without shame the Venezuelan products, the Venezuelan banknotes, the Venezuelan oil.

All that theater was to talk about the Venezuelan migrants: "It's a problem we're not used to, we do not have any experience and we must learn."

But Colombia takes advantage of everything, and the Finance Minister of that country, Mauricio Cárdenas, sure that the government of President Maduro is close to falling, puts a price on what he calls a rescue plan of about 60 billion dollars for which he has already made contact with international credit agents. That is to say that the bachaqueo (food and medicines smuggling) is no longer just with petrol and other Venezuelan items: Now it is also with the migrants. That is what they call a "Humanitarian work".

Had Venezuela requested international credits to keep the millions of Colombians who came fleeing from internal conflicts, perhaps it would have solved part of its economic problem. But Bolívar's Motherland only met the international conventions giving shelter to refugees, displaced and illegal and now have housing, health and education.

With this migratory excuse, Santos joins the threats against Venezuela. He joins the chorus with Mexico, Brazil, Argentine and Peru to feed what I'd prefer to call a "Population void" to a "Diaspora". They seduce the foreigner, they recognize their university degrees (Chávez reduced the academic gap that in those countries is growing), they incorporate them into the professional offer and fill the gaps in diverse social and productive sectors.

Perhaps we should "Charm" and make our people fall in love again; and take the word Motherland from those advertising jingles to make them feel again loved, warm and alive: head over feet ... As José Vicente Abreu wrote (from his novel "Toma Mi Lanza Bañada de Plata" - Take my Sword Filled in Silver- , 1973) "... And you say Motherland only in place of your name to identify yourself. "

However, Santos didn't have just a coughing attack. Santos had an attack of a"Saint" cynicism.

 

Read the Full Article in Spanish, here: https://www.aporrea.org/actualidad/a259378.html

English Version: María Eugenia Acero Colomine

Email: acerocolomine@gmail.com

Twitter: @Andesenfrungen

Blog: http://fantasiasneurastenicas.blogspot.com