This is only my first year at Notre Dame, and I have already experienced the Notre Dame community, spirit, and bubble. Here at Notre Dame, we consider each other brothers and sisters, always having everyone’s best interest in mind. Our student body embodies a spirit of compassion, resiliency, and love. However, the “Notre Dame bubble” may not have as positive a connotation as our community and spirit. We all joke about not knowing what is going on around the country, let alone the world, because of how consuming our campus lives are. This joke ceases to be funny when events like the political and social unrest in Venezuela go completely unnoticed by our campus community.
There are currently students in Venezuela that just like us seek knowledge but are also dealing with incredible injustice and fighting for their voices to be heard. The protests in Venezuela gained fervor in objection of the election results between Henrique Capriles Radonski and Nicolas Maduro. Maduro won the 2013 presidential election after Hugo Chavez passed away. He received 50.66% of the votes while Capriles received 49.07% of votes. The Venezuelan population demanded a recount of the ballots. Maduro promised there would be a recount once he entered office, but this never happened. There were ballots found on the streets, and 3,500 cases of voting irregularities, as well as photo evidence of policemen burning ballot boxes, all of which went un-addressed. Fast forward to about a week ago, and this movement has gained more international attention. Venezuelans, largely college aged, are fed up with the rampant corruption, censorship, violence, and injustices occurring. News outlets reporting on the protests have been censored and shut down. Twitter was shut down. This is the suppression of a people’s voice.
This does not directly affect many of us at Notre Dame because we are so far removed from Venezuela and its current political situation. But for some students at Notre Dame, this is an issue that affects them and their loved ones daily. Take for example Daniela, a sophomore Economics major and Latino Studies minor from Miami, Florida. To her the Venezuelan student protests aren’t just something off in a distant country. This is the reality her loved ones have to face. Daniela says, “Most of my family still lives in Venezuela, and have gone out to support the students in their protests for a better Venezuela. Every time I see a photo or video about what’s going on, I have to watch it and share it through Twitter, one of the few means of communication still available to raise awareness. It’s the least I can do when I’m not there.” Imagine being in a position where you have to worry about the safety of friends, merely because they are seeking justice. Imagine going to bed worried about your loved ones’ well-being. This is her reality. She shared the pain she feels vicariously for her parents beloved Venezuela. She said, “My heart goes out to the students and to the people who are out there protesting and risking their lives. My heart goes out to those people who can’t protest but can only pray that their loved ones come back safely. My heart goes out to the family and friends of Bassil Da Costa and Roberto Redman who both died in search of a better future for Venezuela. My heart goes out to each and every Venezuelan who, like me, are limited in what we can do besides sharing news and passively protesting in front of Venezuelan embassies. My heart, all of my support, and prayers go out to those who are fighting for a better Venezuela, even if it means dying for it.”
Daniela is not the only Venezuelan student currently struggling through this trying time for their country. Ernesto, a Marketing and Philosophy major from Caracas, Venezuela, is a sophomore here at Notre Dame. Ernesto says that he has spent his whole life watching his country go downhill, pilfered from, and bastardized by corruption and censorship. Discontent is so high in the country currently, that a common phrase has cropped up: “Many things in Venezuela are not expensive, but life here is worthless.” This country is going through political unrest, because it is fed up with the habitual violation of constitutional rights, human rights, and the illegitimate detention of students. Ernesto, himself, has witnessed the decline of a beautiful and rich country, and more recently witnessed violence in the streets. He says “If I were there, nothing would stop me from voicing my discontent with the government. That is my right. No one is going to take away a Venezuelans right to live, because there is a difference between living and existing.”
This reminds me of something Martin Luther King Jr. once said: “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” I feel that we at Notre Dame should support not only our own brothers and sisters affected by this issue, but also support the many individuals in Venezuela trying to voice their opinions. Daniela says “Imagine living somewhere where you’re nervous to go out at night for fear of your own police force. Imagine living somewhere where food scarcity is so great that the lines in the supermarket will seem to go on forever, just to buy your families’ necessities. Imagine living somewhere where there is media censorship, and no freedom of speech. Imagine living somewhere where you decide to peacefully protest for a cause (even for your country) and the country’s own military and policemen, those who swore to protect its citizens, shoot at you and beat you. Now imagine having to go through all of that, and no one knows about your fight for a country that you love every bit of, and want to save from a terrible and oppressive government.”
And I can’t. I can’t imagine, because this is not my reality, but as a human being it is my duty to do so.
“You don’t have to be Venezuelan to care. You don’t have to be from a Latin American country to care. All you need to be is human. Simply put, it’s no longer a matter of whether you should care or not; it’s gotten to the point that you need to care. Because to many Venezuelans, a life worth living for is a life worth dying for, and this is their reality.”
Let’s start the conversation about Venezuela on campus. Because, after all, we are all Venezuela.
The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author and not endorsed by Her Campus Notre Dame or the University of Notre Dame.
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