I read that Maduro fell into a depressive episode, and the media ran headlines worldwide. They used all-caps, sensationalist titles, but the irony is that my depression in 2016, when I was starving, was apparently irrelevant to this story. It never appeared anywhere; no one wanted to speak for us or listen to us. I realize that we were the most silenced victims, condescendingly ignored by everyone, and now even looked down upon because of their ideological biases. And I want to write this because it never made a headline that I lost the best years of my life saying goodbye to my friends every week, why we grew up in a country without job opportunities or access to university studies to prepare ourselves professionally. Will the media ever tell the story and perspective of young people who never chose the tragedy of living in the misery of a socialist system that was profoundly impoverishing and devastating? A system that tore apart millions of Venezuelan families. You forced us to choose between staying and leaving. You divided us and condemned us to poverty in a cold and intentional way.
In these 27 years, I saw my father, my brother, and me stand in line in the afternoon under the scorching sun, or in the early morning hours without being able to sleep, just so we could have food. I also saw how my father sacrificed himself, going without things he needed to feed us, because his salary wasn't enough, because you destroyed it, and took away his rights as a worker until he had to leave the country. Because no one will ever give me back my greatest treasure, nor my most beautiful days with my family, nor my youth that you stole from me, thinking day by day about how I had to survive, wondering when I would have to leave too, while I lived in slow motion, wondering how my dreams would turn out, without any glimmer of hope.
Not even the oil they take will give me back that, nor all the riches will give me back what you took from me. So I hope you understand that I cannot feel empathy for the man who took everything from us, while becoming a millionaire, dancing on television, and publicly mocking everyone.