Ronald Reagan and Saint Ignatius

When I need inspiration at work, I usually stare to the wall. However, I realized that watching a green infinite field isn't exactly the source of happiness. It would be if the green fabric turned into a beautiful landscape. But that's not the chase.

So I've decided to put two images of people that I consider referents in my life: Ronald Reagan and Saint Ignatius of Loyola. Being a Libertarian-Conservative as I am, it's hard to not lend tribute to the great Ronnie. It reminds me that at some point of recent history there were politicians that didn't believe in statism and at the same time understand the crusade that means fighting against communism.

On the other hand, Saint Ignatius of Loyola represents my spiritual leader, since I've studied in Jesuit institutions my whole life. Saint Ignatius is not only a great icon of Catholicism but a clear mind character that symbolises the values of a possible world.

Why don't share with them my little space of work?

Vinotinto making history

Needless to say, Venezuelan soccer continues to lead a pad filled by progress. Venezuelan girls of the sub-17 soccer national team beat their counterpart from New Zealand. Beautiful. For sure, Maleike and Viso are two of athletes that deserve highlight.

Whatever happens now, the task of this girls is already completed. Congratulations!

Here, enjoy a little view a Venezuelan flag in the Trinidadian soccer stadium. (Picture courtesy of my dad)

Rain and bike

Rainy day. But even the rain couldn’t stop incredible things to happen. It’s well known that motorcycles shouldn’t cross during rain. The road turns soap and accident stats rise. Any idea? Why don’t you transform your bike into a bed while the sun comes again?

Good faith at the main street

So we decided to repair the wall of our house. More than ten years passed. Not in vain. The paint started to scratch causing serious damage to the front door mechanism.

The amazing thing here is that for the last two nights, the raw mixture that it’s used to cover the wall has been outside our house, in the middle of the main street of our neighborhood.

If I weren’t living in Venezuela perhaps I would not be surprised. But in this former country there are no rules and insecurity is our capital fear.

Why did anyone take our bags? Perhaps there’s good faith left in this nation. Maybe the thieves haven’t discovered yet the precious construction treasure.

Lagoven Notebook

History equals passion. Sniffing in my house library I found an old book from the collection Cuadernos Lagoven. This number was destinated to Simon Bolivar’s conception of justice. Needless to say, as a law student I believe that this topic is fascinating. The Venezuelan founding father envisioned a justice system based on Montesquieu’s ideas.

How deeply was El Libertador influenced by the author of De l'esprit des lois?

Moreover, Cuadernos Lagoven was edited by Lagoven itself, a former subsidiary o PDVSA, the Venezuelan Oil Company. The collection was filled with various themes, from biology to social sciences. When will have again such interesting publications?

Lumbago

Three o’clock in the morning. I couldn’t sleep. The reason: suddenly, my low back started to pain. I could hardly move. I tried to get up, but the task was nearly impossible. Then I realized the meaning of a lesson of humility that many of us forget. We aren’t made of iron. Despite our sense of greatness, it takes a little touch in our body to get back to reality.

Then I started to remember how we may be touched by such experiences. Take as an example what happened to Saint Ignatius of Loyola. Because of an injury caused by a cannon ball and extended repose he discovered a new path that lead to sanctity. Thanks to this accident the Society of Jesus exists today.

Oswaldo Álvarez Paz

The Avila continues burning. Two days straight. A few volunteers fight against the flames. They need water, milk, food and equipment. The government doesn’t have enough resources to combat fire. Why? I don’t have the official answer but my personal creed makes me believe that you could buy some rescue helicopters instead of Russian planes.

Just when I arrived to my house another new appeared: the opposition leader, Oswaldo Álvarez Paz was detained by the government in his residence. Sadly night, not because I had an especial affect for Álvarez Paz, the thing here is that this men was arrested violating all his rights. Duly defense? No thanks. It’s official: your opinion in Venezuela could let you know the jail. I could be next, or maybe you, especially if you defend freedoms against a communist regime.

Caribbean nightmare

What would you say if in one single day the Ávila Mountain suffers its biggest fire of history, a cop is killed five hundred meters from your house and the Democratic Party passes the Health Care Reform in the House? For me, it seems like a terrible nightmare.

Is not easy to understand how you can live in a Country that crumbles more and more as every second passes by. When I awoke today, the Avila wasn’t burned, the police officer was alive and USA was a free country. Now America became socialist (welcome fellows), the guy is dead and the mountain is covered with ashes.

I feel impotent to assimilate the daily changes that surround Caracas. You have to pray a lot I you don’t want to lose control, faith and the conviction that thing can be better.

Caribbean gift

Today I ended my second term tests. Caracas is suffering a big heat wave. However, the city has a special light and the plants are filled with beautifulness. A little example of what I mean can be witnessed with the bromeliads from my garden. Caribbean gift. 

Three exams in a row

I’m almost done with my term tests. This week I had three exams in a row: Monday, tax law, Tuesday, Criminology, Wednesday, Administrative Law II. One test remains undone: Probate law on Saturday. I apologize because I didn’t write anything during this period, but I believe that there were other priorities.

One million meters for Rafael Vidal

I slept about 12 hours. That is the result of the complicated week that I had. Today, however, was a day dedicated to commemorate one of the greatest athletes born in Venezuela: Rafael Vidal.

Vidal was the first Venezuelan swimmer to win an Olympic medal in the 1984 Olympic Games (Los Ángeles). Since then, he became a public figure and a reference of a positive and possible Venezuela. In fact, curiously, the main Olympics Venezuelan achievement belongs to fight sports or disciplines based on team performance. Vidal showed us that Venezuelans as individuals could complete our goals. Tragically, Vidal died on 2005 because of a car accident. A high speed Hummer crashed against his vehicle.

Today, with the purpose to honor his figure, it was celebrated the event “El millón de metros por Rafael Vidal” (One million meters for Rafael Vidal). An activity in which worldwide swimmers swim –at least- the cipher mentioned above. 

Despite I couldn’t swim this year because of my fatigue, I’m really glad to share that the initial goal of the million meters was widely overcome. At the time that I’m writing this post, the count surpasses 10,804,355 meters.

Congratulations to all the people involved!

The day of the toasted cable

How you can deal in a reasonably way with an unwisely measure? Yesterday, I told you how I managed my encounter with darkness. Today, a new experience at the office showed up. Close to midday when all the employees go outside for lunch, the administration of the law firm decided to shut down the air conditioner of the office in order to “save energy”.

Terrible decision. Only fifteen minutes after, the cables that connect the computer server started to melt. The result: the system crashed during the afternoon. How you turn off the air conditioner with 32 °C outside? Tropical weather. You can imagine the consequences: an unproductive day under a destroyed economy.

Can we live our life with the sign of other light?

Late at the office

Yes. Everyone left, almost 10 o’clock in the night. It seems very estrange. Then you realize that the places that surround your office are very different when they’re filled with people. It gets really scary once you’re alone in front of your desktop. The air conditioners and ventilation turned off because of the energy saving policy. Strange… steps? Then you look around and everything seems normal. I’ had to exit the final hall towards the elevator with my cell phone light.

I’m alive, I’m home. But something strange emerges from the dark.

Polls for me polls for you

Today I had the opportunity to share a little meeting with the political analyst and polls specialist Luis Vicente Leon at the Centro Monteávila. The guest star brightly exposed the current political situation of my country.

Facing anxiety, Leon taught us how to deal with a hard true. There are no absolutes in politics and socialism in Venezuela goes further than the simple hate-love Chávez proclamation. There are both, negative and positives elements of the Bolivarian leadership that must be analyzed towards the parliament elections and the future Venezuelan political process. Just one final affirmation: follow Luis Vicente León. This guy seems pretty smart and accurate.

Bye bye carnival

Carnival it’s gone. Once again. Calmly the citizens return to Caracas. I spent these days reading several liberal works. I just have finished one called “La economía venezolana y la cultura de izquierda” (The Venezuelan economy and the leftist culture), a brief essay written by the Venezuelan economist and philosopher Emeterio Gómez.

The main argument of the work consists in the sadly affirmation that the current Venezuelan political leaders neglect the virtues of capitalism. Instead, they believe in a social misleading program (or “plan”, a word well appreciated in our nation) for the compliance of the mob. A big trap that will only lead to a pad known by all of us: failure.

The Fatal Conceit

I’m reading The Fatal Conceit written by F.A. Hayek. Hayek is perhaps one the most influential authors of my life. The Fatal Conceit teaches us that the human being isn’t perfect. Therefore, based on this sense of imperfection, how we can pretend that  the decisions made by the “planned” government will lead to a successful society?

The more you plan, the more you'll fail. This is the exercise made by the Venezuelan government and it’s sad to witness how my country get lost as the time goes by.

San Ignacio's pool

Next week, hopefully, San Ignacio pool will open again. After two months from being closed, the pool reopens with new blue paint coverage. The pool was constructed at the mid fifties of the twenty century. More than 30 years passed without a drop of paint, being used day by day by the whole San Ignacio swimmers community which includes students, senior students, parents and of course the school’s swimming team.

Now it’s time to return to my training routine. Surely there will be great challenges for this year. In the picture below, you’ll see the pool being filled on its deepest part, the old chronometer red clock, a little grasp of the Avila’s hills and I properly dressed for work.

The clock trap

Brief reflection:

According to the new government measure that establishes that all the workers of the administration must stop working at 1:00 p.m., the whole evening is useless for the government tasks and functions. However there’s a trap. If the employees may be out of their work at 1:00 p.m., they must stop their labors at least at 12:15 - 12:30 p.m. In this sense you’re practically stuck if you’re willing to do some kind of diligence related with courts. That’s the way of the revolutionary leftist justice.

Previsora clock

Very close to midday I was in the highway. I usually look up towards the Previsora Tower to watch the digital clock. What a surprise! I was turned off. Then I realize that because of the new Venezuelan era, marked by the lack of electricity many things that you take as granted are no longer there. My advice: enjoy little things of life. You never know when a tropical blackout can impose a sudden departure.

Now on Twitter

Dear friends:

I shall like to invite you to follow me on twitter. Just look to this direction:


https://twitter.com/AndresFGuevaraB

Ucab Robbery

At the entrance of the university one friend of mine received a little paper containing a warning: “On December 2009 two robberies occurred inside the UCAB. The first one consisted in an armed assault to one student in a non specified part of the campus. The second case was a direct attack towards a car located at the relatively new parking lot”.

This paper contains only a small measure of a problem that the students aren’t taking as a serious matter. What will happen know? Will the ucabista community join forces to combat the hugest problem that Venezuela is facing at present time?

Square plants

I share with you a few pictures showing the work of the gardeners from the city hall. I don’t know the name of the plant species. You’ll watch that now the square is filled with bushes and that it’s pleading for grass. Well, sometimes you can’t get everything you want.

Close up of the plant

Panoramic view of the square

I’m not a classist, I say “hello”

At 9:30 in the morning I went to my car. Next to the garage, at the entrance of my house were a couple of employees from the Baruta City Hall. There were sowing new plants in the square that is in front of my house.

“Good morning”, I said. Immediately the guys stopped their job unbelieving what they had heard. Then they answered: “Good morning, mi pana [my friend]”, and then they returned to their work.

While I was driving I try to understand why they put such faces when they heard me. I’m deeply convinced that they weren’t expecting to receive a salutation from me. I mean, in this society filled with a bold social prejudice, why a middle class Caucasian guy should approach in a kindly way to a pair of swarthy gardeners of the city hall? It’s sad, but true. There’s a gap that’s destroying the social tissue of our country.

In order to change things someone has to take the first step. Saluting another as an equal could be an invaluable sign to obtain peace.

The poisoned tree

Today I had my first Probatory Law class of the year. Among the interesting things that I learned was the “Thesis of the poisoned tree”. According to this theory, evidence that is collected or is born under an illegal procedure it’s worthless inside the juridical process.

There’re plenty examples of this situation: for instance, a confession made to a fake priest (a police officer that’s cheating because of his duty to obtain information), or the confessions obtained by records of private conversations recorded without the duly authorization. These elements at least in the Venezuelan judicial system are forbidden.

Consequently, it’s obvious that all the supposed conspiracy theories that the government constantly states and tries to prove showing the records of conversations are totally illegal. Of course, there’s a long path that separates the law from reality, demonstrating that the tree thesis isn’t the only thing poisoned in our country.

Cargo Truck sleeping at la Fajardo

Heading to the University I saw a cargo truck crashed against one of the barriers from the Francisco Fajardo Highway. The curious thing was that the truck wasn’t located at the side of the road. Instead it was deployed like a worm from one side to another of the highway, going through the high speed channel until the final channel for the slowest cars.

Next to the destroyed container the authorities were discussing how to remove such disaster. A few meters abroad a legion of trucks were guarding the Francisco Fajardo Highway. Of the four channels only one road (marked with an orange cone) remained open for circulation, taking into consideration that the whole part of the highway blocked by the truck was totally collapsed.

At 6:30 in the morning a wide wave of cars were covering the main artery that communicates the west with the east part of our city. What a great present for the Three Kings day! Slowly but surely, Caracas says goodbye to hoolidays and welcomes an agitated year.

Shopping at dark

It’s not a title of a porn movie. I looked at the windows of my office and I saw the Centro San Ignacio mall darker than ever. Why? Guess. Venezuela is suffering perhaps the most critical crisis in the energetic system of its history.

Among the measures that the government took in order to face the calamity, there’s an order to shut down the energy of the shopping centers at 9:00 p.m. Thus, the movies, restaurants, night clubs and any other sort of common nightly entertainment cannot function because they don’t have electricity.

We aren’t on the nineteenth century. This isn’t only about fun and trivial lifestyle. Does the government realize the impact that such measure is going to have within the economic development of our nation? The current situation is leaving armless an important muscle of production and a source of jobs. Time will tell us. The principles of economy show us that if you can’t produce enough, you start reducing the costs of your business, and we all understand what this means.

Final Fantasy VII: Thirteen years after

Thirteen years ago this game was released. Until now it has sold more than 10 million copies worldwide. However it was yesterday when I finally could beat Safer Sephiroth and watch the end of Final Fantasy VII.

Why did it take so long? Since I was a teenager every time that I started a new adventure in FFVII something bad happened. Mostly, I had to battle with the memory card by the time I was using my Playstation one. The difference now is that I have a Playstation 3 and there’s no need of memory cards to play the oldies games.

It can seem a little awkward to express myself with such excitement towards this personal goal. Nonetheless, I believe that there are many things pending from our childhood and adolescence that we must complete if we want to be happy with ourselves. Finishing the biggest RPG game in the whole history surely deserves a place in this list of commitments.

Dengue strikes again

Commonly, January 1st is thought as a day of relax and rest. Not for me, because in Venezuela everything is possible, including the possibility to expend supposed holiday time inside a hospital because of an illness that was eradicated in the past century but now has returned walking side by side with socialism.

Fortunately, I’m not infected with dengue, but half of my family is suffering the disease. By a simple bite of the Aedes mosquito you could suffer dengue. The symptoms are similar to those of the common flu, thus, it is important to make the proper tests to discard any possible infection. That’s the price you pay  for living on an underdeveloped tropical country: beautiful but wide.

Dead Aedes aegypti mosquito lying on my hand