Photo: Yordanka Caridad

By Onai

HAVANA TIMES – The truth is that our life in Venezuela has become a torment. For the poorly paid majority, day-to-day life is a lottery. When the electricity comes on, we have to rush to do whatever we can; when they cut it off, we do other things, but without expending too much energy because the heat is exhausting and we have to take care of our health.

Without electricity, there is no water service either. On top of that, we have to be on the lookout for clouds of mosquitoes that proliferate, attacking our skin and even our thoughts. Social media is full of memes about this, because we turn everything into a joke.

Sometimes, during those long hours in the dark, I try to find the logic behind the thinking of our top officials. I imagine “Dr.” Delcy (the acting president) and her ministerial entourage of “high-ranking” PSUV (Socialist Party) officials talking among themselves about our reality (not theirs):

“Yes, we understand how difficult the situation is, but there’s nothing wrong with people getting a little taste of how our great-great-grandparents lived. They didn’t die from not having electricity, gas, or drinking water. In fact, people should thank us that they at least have some electricity from time to time. It’s an effort our government makes.” 

Another one of them would respond:

“They should stop complaining so much, because we, the revolutionary Bolivarian government, give them generous bonuses. They should save up and buy one of the generators we’re selling through our front men on social media.”

Another would add:

“You know very well that more people are complaining now because the far right is behind it. Our poor people are very vulnerable to lies. The truth is, I don’t see any poor people. Just look at how the shopping malls are full of people buying things, and the concerts are packed too. In a way, Comrade Trump is right: we have a country overflowing with happiness in the streets, motorcycle stunt riders, liquor stores open—I don’t see what the problem is.”

And there’s always someone who says:

“At the end of the day, poor people are poor because they want to be. We, in our high-ranking positions, sacrifice a great deal working for the people. Our sacrifice gives us the right to live without worrying about electricity, water, gasoline, housing, or transportation. Otherwise, how are we supposed to focus on solving the important problems?”

Do they mean the oil deals with our new USA allies?

These may sound like the foolish ramblings of an exhausted mind wandering because it has nothing better to do. But every time one of these petty characters makes a public statement, all I can think about is how they have adapted to living a lie—and how we have allowed them to live off that lie.

By now, we Venezuelans have a postgraduate degree in survival, but we must not resign ourselves to it. We are sick and tired of going to bed without electricity and waking up without electricity; of not having drinking water; of watching our sick loved ones die because we cannot afford treatment. Sick and tired of searching for one coin to put together with another just to buy something to eat. Sick and tired of watching financial interests, now embracing the gringos, drive up the dollar every week, pulverizing our wages.

This is the reality we will never hear from the mouths of senior government officials, because they do not live in “the revolution” they tried to force down our throats in the past.

Read more from Onai’s diary here on Havana Times.