Two things I won't miss

I just came back from my Honey Moon – that, and my Wedding can count as the best moments of my life but of that, we’ll talk later. We ask my mother in law about a cousin we couldn’t see at the wedding. She tell us she was kidnapped with her husband two days before our wedding, to be released the same night. She was too upset to get out, thus she couldn’t made it. The phone rings, and the person at the other side tell us about another cousin who was robbed inside his own house the night before. The robbers entered the house pretending they were delivering a gift. Next, they tie up everyone and took everything they could: TV’s, computers and the family’ car. 

A couple of days later after hearing such stories, I met my girlfriends for lunch. They haven’t see me since the wedding and the table is filled with funny anecdotes about one of the girls who got drunk, how cute my dress was and every single detail I could tell them about my Honeymoon. When we laugh remembering the part when we were singing Shakira' old hits, one girl – lets call her Adela – interrupts – “Well, I was gone by then” – “That’s right!” – Another friend adds – “I wonder why you left the party so early…” – “Well, you know my mom” – Adela explains – “Just a day before, a man was shoot to death right under my mother’ eyes. So she’s more paranoid than ever” – We all nodded in sign of approval. I tell them that as selfish as it might sound, I don’t want to keep talking about it, I want to keep the happy atmosphere we had before.

Cristina, another friend, agrees-  “There are two conversation topics I can’t stand: insecurity and emigration” – She says. I clear my throat “Well Cristina… I’m sorry” – “Yeah, yeah… I know” – She answers, resigned. My husband got into grad school and I’m going abroad with him. For at least two years we won’t be in Venezuela. It is not a permanent thing, but is relevant enough. Many things can change in two years, things here change so fast, for better and for worse. And after two years living somewhere else, somewhere entirely different, I know that we will return as two completely different individuals than what we are now. You can say that people never change, even less adults. But I have already said good bye to enough friends to know that once they put their feet and their routines in a foreign land, even if they don’t want to, they change. Same will happen to us now.

After lunch, we return to my old office – Side note: once my husband was admitted, I quit my job: every day now is filled with calls and paperwork related to our departure, we have to focus on that now. The accountant asks one of us to go with her to the supermarket. By some miracle, today there is milk available. She wants to buy some for her but also some for her daughter in law. Every person is only allowed to buy one or two packages of milk. Cristina goes with her. I save all the wedding photos my friends brought me in my hard-drive and say good bye.

Lately, as understandable, I have had all kinds of opposite emotions at the same time. I’m happy and excited for the fabulous moments I have lived lately, and for those I’m about to live. At the same time, comes all the nostalgia for leaving my home, and parents. I lived with them for 27 years, it is not easy to leave them behind. And it is a little bit harder when this includes, also, to move to a place so far away, available only through a couple of planes. I’m trilled about this moving and proud of my husband’ achievements. But this includes to start from scratch in a new land.

When I look at my country, I don’t know where to look. What to take and what to keep. People talk a lot about politics and economics and all those big and complicated things people like to talk to think about themselves as smart people. They talk about Venezuela’ situation, Venezuela’ crisis. They make rough analysis about Capriles’ chances to win or Chavez unknown’ disease. But as you have seen, in our daily life, the Venezuelan “crisis” can roughly be only about two major issues: insecurity and shortages.

Those are two things my country including everyone around me is suffering. Two things not even my wedding could overpass. Two things that worry me daily. Out of the million things I will miss – perhaps I’ll talk about it next – those are two things I surely won’t.  

The 2012 French Vote: the Venezuelan representative

After voting for president a few weeks ago, last Saturday for the first time ever I was allowed to vote for a Representative to the French National Assembly.  And it was quite a tale of woe, worthy of a Venezuelan "telenovela".

The French electoral law has changed and in the new redistricting 11 circuits were created so French citizens residing overseas and registered to vote at French embassies, like yours truly, would have for the first time direct representatives.  11 out of 577 may be small but is a good start, and a privilege accorded to very few citizens of any country.

The new circuits are huge (mine, the number 2, covers from Mexico to Patagonia) and campaigning is difficult.  Internet is thus at a premium, and not for campaigning purpose alone (with Skype big time), but also because French citizens duly registered with an e-mail have been allowed to vote through Internet.  Indeed, if you live in Yaracuy the need to go to Caracas is a chore: you may do it for president but may balk for other votes.  I think that one's Representative is more important than one's President, at least in normal countries, and thus I did not vote through Internet, cherishing too much the physical ceremony of sliding my ballot in an envelope, putting it into the glass voting case and listening to the "a voté", he has voted.

Inquiring before hand, I learned that the right which is favored in my circuit (Sarkozy won with 54% and in Caracas by 3 to 1 almost) was going divided, and there is the drama.  See, like many Parliaments, major political parties try to reward political operators with safe parliamentary seats.  And for the second district the UMP sent someone who lives in France but who "travels a lot through Latin America" I was told and thus he is supposed to know our problems.  It backfired badly and may cost the UMP what was supposedly going to be a safe seat.

The problem is that the right has been dominating the area and over the years it has placed a lot of people in the diverse organizations serving our community (we do vote for our regional delegates, who in turn elect our senators in France, less powerful figures than in the US but still significative).  Thus over the decades there has been a lot of people acquiring the necessary weight to run for office, from Rio Grande to Patagonia) and the sudden arrival of a certain Drouhaud was not taken lightly (we call them "parachuté" for the dropped on quality).  Thus came the candidacy of Mrs Lindemann, a notable figure of the French community in Brazil.  Her supporters have been threatened by the UMP, many of them, I was told, asked to return their party card, in addition to other insults.  But the insurgency prospered anyway.

I got an earful last Saturday since you can hang around the voting station and chit chat with all sorts of people as long as you please.  The divisions between the French community in Venezuela has gone as far as people not talking to each other anymore. Having good acquaintances in both sides you can imagine what I heard.  I, for one, went the dissident way because I think that Paris UMP leadership was dead wrong on that one.  Indeed, I do know personally on how tight the community is, on how elected locals, right or left, work together for the community problems.  Sending what is a total stranger, but, oh so sponsored by French business, was a major mistake pitting against each other the French folks that reside permanently now overseas against those who come only for a few years to make a buck and vote for their party rather than their kindred.

Unfortunately Drouhaud did win, barely, with 22% to 16% for Lindemann for whom I voted.  After all, there are chavista mind sets everywhere and plenty of folks will vote the official UMP (or official Socialist as there are plenty of impositions from that side too in France, all sharing in the bad habits).  What is worse is that as a consequence of the division, the leftists candidates made quite a serious inroad and their total combined is higher than the right total so far.  Still, considering that participation over all was around half of the presidential vote a month ago, the seat is not safe yet for the Socialists.

Coronado speaking on the left

I, for one, will not vote for Drouhaud.  Besides resenting the imposition, I did happen to be in Caracas when the Socialist candidate visited.  His name is Sergio Coronado, born in Chile just before Pinochet, raised as an exile in France, and now French citizen.  In a way he is no better than Drouhaud since he has been living in Colombia for about three years if I understand well.  But at least he lives there, even if provisionally.  Also, he is running on the Ecologist Movement ticket which is supported by the Socialist Party which elected Hollande president a month ago.

I was invited by my socialist friends to attend his electoral meeting, a small affair where not 30 showed up, myself being probably the lone provincial folk. My friends did know I voted for Sarkozy, but that was no obstacle in our community.  Coronado is OK, articulate, does not buy Chavez, and is in fact very aware of his dismal environmental record.  The only thing I can criticize him from that reunion is that he sneaked out to smoke which for a member of the ecologist movement of France should be a No-No.

Thus I will vote for Sergio Coronado in the second round ballot, because at least he will not be coming to Venezuela to peddle French goods to the chavista government.  I think he will be more concerned about our fate here than Drouhaud would, as I sense that this last one will be more concerned in what goods Chavez is willing to buy from France.  In other words, he will become a salesman for the French business that supported his run and he will have no trouble to kiss chavista ass as needed.  I may be wrong but I have not heard anything that would prove otherwise whereas Coronado did express his many criticism to the current regime in public.

It is always discomforting for me to note over and over, again and again, that the main stream Socialist have been more critical of Chavez overall than the French UMP  (Ramonet and others should not be included as they are in the left fringes that worship chavismo, Melanchon heading that trend these days).  It is always good to remember that Liberation was the first critical paper in France, as early as 2003 if memory serves me well.  Le Monde started later but never looked back whereas Le Figaro at this point still manages to publish bland pieces on Venezuela and Chavez.  Drouhaud reads Le Figaro whereas Coronado and myself read Libé and Le Monde.  My endorsement is thus clear.