ELECTION OF BARACK OBAMA: A TIME FOR HOPE IN EL SALVADOR (?) & AROUND THE WORLD?
Photo by Meghan MaloneyROSA ANAYA Writes From El Salvador:
I don’t know if the timing is rightto say the things I want to say, but then I guess I never say things atthe “right time.” I may be wrong but, amidst all of the joy around theworld and the pride felt by citizens of the United States, I find thatI still need to say this.
Barack Hussein Obama is going in mydictionary as a reference for the word HOPE — no doubt about it. Inmany ways he and his wife represent struggles in which blood has beenshed for centuries and, despite the fact that time has passed, thesewounds continue to bleed. And so I reflect ...
I share in the tears, smiles, hugs and the rest of excitement but ...
We must think about why the worldis so happy about the results of the elections in the United States. Why is Africa dancing to the beat of ancient drums? Why does it feellike the Arab world has taken a deep breath after holding its breath tothe point of passing out? Did you notice that Latin America’s heartalmost stop beating when it received this news of hope? Was itpossible to hear Asia’s screams of joy on this side of the world? Didyou see Europe’s face of amazement to see a “real” friend again?
I grew up as part of a generationof Salvadorans that lived through civil war and exile, a generation inwhich everyone knew about the U.S. government’s involvement and itsresponsibility for the atrocities, massacres, torture, persecution andmurder of my people — something that resulted from a cold war that wasnot even ours.
Yet for some reason, no one was willing to talk about it, as if there was a strange ghost that blocked people from reality.
I am part of a generation thatlearned to hate the U.S. for the monster that it was, a monster thatwould hunt you down for the way you thought, the way you chose to liveyour life, the revolution in your veins. This monster could smell anactivist, it had a thirst for vengeance, it would drink “communist”blood and it had the ability of hijacking your entire life.(Ironically, I didn't even know what communism was.)
Growing up I used to ask “Why us?”—El Salvador is such a small country. In time I was able to understandthat this same monster was sleeping under the beds of many children allaround the world. It spit fire and death in the four corners of theearth, it bred corporations that would eat the world resources and itwould shit blood and hunger in the throats of the poor.
This same monster fed lies to theeyes and hearts of its own people in order to justify injustice andcrimes. It placed a veil over people’s eyes that transformedoccupations, interventions, massacres, torture, robbery, and savageryinto a strange and noble crusade for “democracy”. We all felt theempire’s hand choking our throats while everybody was busy denying thatan empire existed at all.
Amidst all of this, I learned toseparate a government from its citizens and indeed I was saved in manydifferent ways by people from the United States. These people took meand my family into their homes and gave us so much love. Indeed someof them performed heroic acts in name of solidarity and justice. Ilearned that boundaries were created in our minds that made us look ateach other as potential threats instead of as brothers and sisters.
I got a small letter from one of myfamily’s dearest friends (one of my many “moms”) — a woman we admirefor her open heart and willingness to help others. She described theexcitement of the elections results in her neighborhood. Among otherthings she wrote:
“… the most beautiful part of allthis is to know that THIS is what the people of the United Statesreally want. They have told us for many years that we are scaredassassins, a people who have hoarded everything, and they were able toconvince many of this that this was true. Then Barack comes along andsays, no, you are not that, and you will no longer be manipulated byfear, lies, and greed. The people have demonstrated that we are whathe sees in us.”
I must say those words pulled me back to my reality, get over the drunkenness of other people's joy, and make this reflection.
Where does the excitement in the world come from? Is it “just” over an election of a country that is not our own?
As a victim of the monster, I sharewith people of the United States the joy, but you must understand thatour joy bursts forth out of a long history of fear, death, repressionand oppression against humanity itself that was caused by your country.
We are happy to hope with you, tohope that we can start to make decisions in my country, that go infavor of our own country and our people, without any fear that thismight be against the interest of the United States (or rather, theelite and powerful of the country whose only God is profit).
We don’t get to vote in your elections, but we suffer the consequences of your decisions.
Barack Obama must recognize that hewill be the president of the U.S. but, despite the great power that hiscountry has, he will not be the president of the world nor its savior. This has been the vision of many past U.S. presidents (I won’t evenstart on Bush’s disgusting worldview).
Many people around the world hatethe U.S. for what it represents in our countries and, believe me, thelast thing that this country signifies in the minds of the oppressed is“democracy.”
In fact, the image that often comesup is one of massacres, bombings, killings, genocide, “harshinterrogation methods” (which seems very much like torture to us),prison, environmental destruction, lies, and fear.
I guess what I want to say is that“Americans” need to remember that there are more than 35 sovereigncountries in the Americas and almost 200 countries in the world andthat our mother earth is capable of providing for everyone if only weare willing to share the wealth.
I want to share that there are moreintelligent ways — better ways — to solve problems and preventconflicts if we are able to create foreign policy based on respect forone another.
This may sound like a utopia, but Isuppose that utopia is a great friend of HOPE and I think we all agreethat in this moment in history this word seems to be a bit closer thanever before. We just need to stay close together and work side byside; if we don’t, this word may slip out of our hands.
Barack is nothing without all ofyou supporting him and reminding him that he represents the people andnot those who have, for years, been hijacking democracy ... among manyother things.
Rosa Anaya, 6/11/08