I am in Bali in a beautiful cafe, drinking a V60 coffee and letting my words flow in my MacPro. Yet my head is on the other side of the world, trying to figure out how I can help or enjoy my reality while all of this is happening. All my personas are trying to understand how to navigate every moment, I have not posted anything on my Instagram because I feel like I should not enjoy or show the amazing time I am having on this trip, surrounded by an amazing group of people. Because of the elections in Venezuela (please watch my video on Instagram if you want to know more).
Social media is part of my job and one of the things that I love to do on a daily basis as well as my normal work teaching dancing, organising and growing the school. Internally I am really struggling to get through my normal activities. Part of this article is me trying to figure out a way to understand this discrepancy that I am going through.
Millions of Venezuelans all over the world might be in a similar situation, and for most of them, there is only one thing to do which is that you can’t stop working. Especially the people back home, they do not need or have mental space to focus on worrying about what is happening, they can only get back to work to produce, grow and keep improving their ventures. Of course, it is clear that without money you can’t eat or plan anything for the future. Thus, there is no space to worry about who the president is.
For me, in Australia, in a place of privilege away from war, crime and repression, it seems more obvious that you would not need to work that hard if your country were in a better position, where your circumstances are a clear indicator of prosperity. In Australia, the biggest news that they worried about last week that I found on several media channels, was some potholes on a highway that, according to the community, could be deadly. That news was beside the images of repression that the Venezuelan opposition was getting from our army, police and other forces from the current government in Venezuela. Many Australians would not know or understand what is actually happening. It was like my impotence when I asked one of my students from Israel about all the recent conflicts that just happened a few months ago. She had just opened the floodgates and was still trying to process all the horrible circumstances of the many people living in her country in war times. In that way I have an option, I can write, I can communicate, and I can work. I can try to stay working and producing as well as keep informing everyone who wants to listen in my communities and the communities that I belong to in the best way I can. I can do that.
Fear is what comes to my mind when I talk to a lot of the people from my country. They are going back to work, but the government have implemented strong and loud repressive mechanisms that are silencing a great deal of the population. Implementing random checkpoints where they illegally check anyone’s phone, where the government and media speech is focused on showing what they have done to people who are sharing sensitive information against the government. I know this does not sound like freedom of speech is a thing in Venezuela. I hope that was already clear by now, I thought things were calming down, but I don’t think they are.
Understanding how technology works and how much freedom it offers in so many ways. I think a lot of those who are scared are also just quiet at the moment. A lot of these special apps like WhatsApp with encrypted messages and self-deleting messaging as well as VPN companies that make your connection impossible or at least very hard and expensive to block are means that a lot of Venezuelans are using.
Indeed, Maduro signed a resolution presented by The National Commission of Telecommunications (CONATEL) to take social network X, formerly known as Twitter, out of circulation for 10 days, from time to time to smooth things over. Meanwhile, Venezuelans are coming back to work because most people in Venezuela live day to day. I think Venezuelans like me, are in a very privileged situation and to keep working and living is essential to move forward but at the same time keep creating awareness around what is happening. Let’s keep communicating to each other and our communities the realities of our country. I feel fear, for myself and my family, for a couple of videos that I posted on my Instagram, I can’t even imagine what others in Venezuela are feeling.
Life keeps going and I am safe and have the opportunity to keep moving and producing beyond. It is important that I keep creating ways to move and prosper regardless of what is happening, I am no less Venezuelan for keeping my life and for creating spaces to create a better reality for me. I want to be able to create, communicate and share ways to improve each other’s lives, and this page is part of that. The fact that I can open myself to communicate my ideas, processes and ways of living my life is a real testimonial that existing has a lot more than fear. I am scared of being alone despite being surrounded by amazing people and I am working on it. I am working on improving different aspects of my day. I make mistakes and I do not know it all. Yet, I am learning so much, by sitting here to think of ways to respect the world while respecting myself, creating boundaries and platforms to express, at the same time I bring awareness of what is happening in my internal world as well as in my external world. For all this, I need to make sure that I spend time listening to the noise, not noise… Listening to the voices in me that have something to communicate, so I can find better ways to navigate this amazing world that I live in.
Yes, my life continues and even though I am scared and I don’t want to overshow how I keep moving forward in my life away, I won’t hide. I will keep moving and creating because of what we do and I am proud of it. In my heart, I am super clear that we are a strong united VENEZUELA.
Gracias for reading,
Pedro
Synopsis:
The article expresses the author’s emotional conflict and sense of privilege while enjoying life in Bali, contrasting it with the turmoil in Venezuela. The author grapples with the dilemma of sharing joyful moments on social media during a time of political unrest in his home country.
It also reflects on the fear and repression faced by Venezuelans and the responsibility of those in safer environments to keep working, creating, and raising awareness about their homeland’s struggles. It’s a thoughtful piece on navigating dual realities and maintaining a connection to one’s roots.