V2036

Will gain an understanding of a small, but powerfully intense country

Professor Carlos Rodríguez was uncomfortable returning to the country he was born in and loved, but nonetheless was anxious for the plane to land. Bernardo Acosta, a major player in Venezuelan politics, would be meeting him at the airport, but he considered him to be "nothing more than his old school buddy." They say that home is where the heart is, but his heart no longer lay in the land where he was born. He left Venezuela twenty-five years before when he was a teenager. "Insecurity, social unrest, political instability, and a rapidly decaying economy were the main factors that pushed him abroad at the time." (pg. 12) A lo hecho, pecho...Carlos had to move on and he did. He was now coming back as a "guest" speaker in his homeland, a land in which civil liberties had flown the coop right along with him. Carlos was passionate about the socio-political ramifications of programs imposed by the dictatorial leadership, but he said little. Would he be able to speak his mind? Perhaps, but he full well knew the consequences of audacity. Most people knew better than to buck authority, but over the years there were those few like Eleazar Maso Gallardo who were born to become a thread in the historical tapestry of Venezuela. He was a mere shoeshine boy who would claw his way to the top of the Venezuelan military and political ladders. He was ruthless, so much so that he disowned his own brother. He was there when they tried to overthrow President Carlos Andrés Pérez. Lt. Colonel Hugo Chávez Frias was the leader of the military dissidents, but he was, at that time, an unknown. Eleazar too, was a nobody but was a well-respected member of the elitist Air Force. He was seriously ambitious and at the base "he was a leader, a tough guy, an officer in the making, a role model...and after February 4 of 1992; a revolutionary." (pg. 25) The attempted coups in 1992 had awoken his spirit. Eleonor, his daughter, was the only person to whom he could say he loved, but that love was not reciprocated. The passion A. A. Alvarez feels for Venezuela oozes from every page of this tale, a tale that interweaves fact and fiction, taking a glimpse at the past and making a hypothetical leap into the future. Each of the characters is so well developed that I could sympathize and side with them depending on where I was in the book. It was as if the author spun a cocoon around them and unraveled the thread bit by bit uncovering their motivation and obsessive love for their country. This is not a book that gives the reader a wide spectrum of the country's history, but rather microscopically zooms in on the socio-political aspects of its revolutionary history and its potential ramifications in the future. I was quite impressed at how well the author was able to impart what this country's political climate is all about without becoming overly judgmental. Light shades of criticism can be felt, but there was no bashing of any particular political ideology, something that is difficult to accomplish in such a work. This was an impressive, groundbreaking view into the lifeblood of Venezuela, a country that more people should take a look at, examine, and think about. Quill says: If you would like to get an understanding of a small but powerfully intense country, the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, and its socio-political climate, this amazing book will define the meaning of the word, "passion" for you.