I pray for healing in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela

Fri Feb 20, 2015

Editor: I have been blessed with the opportunity to visit Venezuela on four occasions; it has grown to be a place of interest to me. It is a developing country and I was very impressed with the transformations that had been made in the country. What impressed me most was “people power” and by that I mean the involvement of the people in the development and advancement of the State.{{more}}

During 2013 and continuing into 2014, there was an increase in violence and civil unrest in the country, which saw the untimely passing of over 40 Venezuelans. I remember looking at the news and some documentaries shown on the net and wondering why is it so difficult for nations to advance without a high level of violence.

It has been just about a year since the last outbreak of violence in Venezuela; the occurrences during this time were really heart-wrenching. It is also very important to note that amongst the areas affected by the violence and civil unrest were the following:

• Infrastructure aimed at providing essential public services were destroyed and burned:

• health centres

• schools

• universities

• libraries

• local collection and distribution of food at prices of social interest

• electricity infrastructure

• plants water treatment and public transport.

• There were road blocks/barricades made from barbed wire, galvanized steel cables, spilled oil, rubber, old mattresses, cut trees and other waste materials, in order to hinder the movement of vehicles and people.

One of the acts that impacted me the most was the actions taken against the Ministry of Popular Power for Housing and Habitat, currently called the Ministry of Popular Power for Eco-socialism, Habitat and Housing; this was targeted by violent and terrorist actions, where persons approached the building and started throwing Molotov cocktails, stones and other objects into the building, which eventually caused a fire. The sad part of this was that the area that was mostly affected by the fire was the day care which was operated by the Ministry, where 94 children of workers of the agency were being cared for; they were between the ages of six months and three years, and they had inhaled toxic gases that endangered their lives.

I am not a political pundit, neither am I saying that everything is perfect in Venezuela; there is still room for advancements and improvements in many areas. But what I am stating here is that that I am completely against acts of violence, such as these that were perpetrated against the innocent people of Venezuela. As a member of the Lazaras Foundation and a conscious minded individual, I am calling on all the citizens of Venezuela to work together for peace, I also would like to ask the perpetrators of these vicious acts of violence to desist from these acts. Violence is never the answer. I pray for healing in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and that the advancement of the country can be continually enjoyed by the people.

Ideisha Jackson