Aporrea Internacional: They're Lying to You, Nico

They’re lying to you, Nico

By: Antonio Machuca

Perhaps you will have the chance to read this article, or perhaps someone will tell you about it, and if you don't end up hearing about it, I won't stop informing you - as I always do - even if it is unimportant to you, but it is of great value to the CAUSE.

At any rate, I'll still be around and telling stories, trying to understand, because some selfish positions can fit into a project as beautiful as the one we are building.

This type of piece isn't typical of me because of the confusing egotism that it can show; but I'm going to chance it with this anecdote, to try so you understand: there are things that are not okay and because I still feel, when I see you sermonizing, that you are and are going to be one of the greatest forces of this time, and that there is a lot that we could change, were it not for capitalism's rickety weapons, so well-positioned and influential that now, in the midst of the battle to organise, they don't let regular PEOPLE get near you.

I remember Nico, that we crossed paths many times before your very complex government work and there was always an acknowledgment of our attachment when meeting; but after becoming chancellor for this place, they're few, but the times they've happened, the obvious gratification on both parts has been reciprocal and I won't mention all of them, because it would devolve into pretension; because it would recall what we were and - we'd realize - what we are no longer.

Since you have a good memory, perhaps I can list some.

The most powerful one that I remember is when you sent for me - I believe - to play Pedro Camejo, "Negro Primero", at the Pantheon; and I said, "I believe" because I had never gotten so many exhortations to attend a presidential event, and they didn't even ask me for identification; they practically carried me to the spot where I would wait to go on-stage and when the presidential entourage arrived, I felt your searching gaze and I smiled at your distant wave - for this I say that I believe you sent for me, and that in that moment no one could refuse your orders. What I am sure about is that I felt that the affection was mutual.

At the close of the performance you broke protocol, the bodyguards got worried (you know my phenotype is a little excessive for bourgeois manners), I fondly remember the noticeable warmth.

Another moment of gratification - in spite of the sorrow - was at the memorial service for the Commander. You went out to soothe the people in their grief, which blanketed the surroundings of the Military Academy; I was doing the same and we ran into each other on an improvised stage where someone - without caring what we felt - said out loud so that you would hear, that his attendance in that space (or something similar) was because all he wanted was to get his house. When you turned to respond, you were faced with my own interjection and, by chance, we felt our kinship.

And so as not to be too outdated, as a president: in the home of the National System of Orchestras - in deep bankruptcy - I remember asking you for a hug and all of the attendees of the event were cultural figures; they were amazed, and they silently admired our connection, as though to say "Look at the black guy, he's friends with the president."

And so on, at the Catia Theatre, I was reciting poetry - from pure mojo - and you joined us playing instruments, and it was all warmth. At the Diego Ibarra Square, me, a poet and you, my friend; and so I felt your power embrace me. I mention all of this so that you know how close I was to you and never had anything to demand, even knowing that I could have done so.

At that point, already I knew that someone wanted to keep me away from you; I never said anything. I thought that one day you would ask what was going on with me, that all of the arrivistes were around and that the only one missing was me.

Someone is making sure that we are not as I have described; I have told you this and they kept me away from you, and with a lot of deceptive practices, they manage it; and I, despite knowing it - and who - have never mentioned this unpleasant situation to you, although I believe that one day I will; even if it is when there is no longer an ability to fulfill our promise and begin to do what up to this point we haven't been able to. What I regret most is, in this moment, not to be able to be at your side and show you that someone is lying to you and because of this, I can't help you on this path of adversity.

But if we run into each other, it's possible that we try a path with results different from those we're getting, because MOTHERLAND OR DEATH, WE WILL WIN AND EVER ONWARD TO VICTORY!

I DON'T WANT TO LIVE WITHOUT A MOTHERLAND!

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