Animated Fantasies of Yesterday and Today
By Caridad
HAVANA TIMES – There was an animated series that made us laugh and feel frustrated at the same time: the Coyote and the Roadrunner. A crazed coyote relentlessly chased a small blue bird, up and down the desert. There was no way to match the speed of the roadrunner, and the coyote’s limited intelligence didn’t help much either.
A similar lack of intelligence accompanies the first vice president of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV). After seeing him make a fool of himself repeatedly, one ends up feeling sorry for Diosdado Cabello.
We already know that the government is doing everything within its power, and more, to prevent the opposition candidate María Corina Machado from running in the presidential elections. However, the people of Venezuela have placed their trust in her, and despite the official opposition candidate being Edmundo Gonzalez, it is María Corina who carries the weight of the electoral campaign. She has climbed up mountains, crossed the plains, and trekked through the jungle.
With every step of “The Liberator,” as Venezuelans have named her, the government places obstacles, and impediments to her mobility. But the best part is that every step she takes is followed by a bitter, sweaty red shadow: Diosdado Cabello.
Just like the charming coyote, the poor man has committed himself to following María Corina to every town and every state she visits. While the streets fill up to welcome her, the PSUV vice president has to move dozens of buses loaded with people to fill one or two blocks while he delivers his speech.
The most amusing chapter in this colorful story took place in the state of Apure. Military trucks were stationed on one of the entry bridges to prevent the opposition caravan from passing. Without a second thought, the roadrunner crossed the enormous river in a curiara, a typical boat of the region.
In these animated gringo-Venezuelan adventures, only the coyote’s usual fall into the abyss is missing. The rock, or the anvil that will precipitate it, will be the energy of the Venezuelan people. Their great longing for freedom.