By Maria Rodriquez
DON’T know if any of you heard about the public protests that took place on September 4th in diverse cities in Colombia, Venezuela and even in Spain, Belgium, Canada, Argentina and Honduras, among other countries. I personally didn’t participate in them but I had the opportunity to witness them and they revived memories of the manifestations that I’ve seen in the last years in Colombia and Venezuela.
It also made me remember the “Peace without frontiers concert” that was organized by leading artists to bring consciousness to the political leaders of Colombia, Venezuela and Ecuador about the need to stop the attacks between our countries and focus on the fact the we are sibling-countries.
And on September 20th, a historical concert took place in Cuba, aiming to facilitate reconciliation among its people, because as Juanes puts it “in the end we’re all brothers and sisters.” When I think about all these manifestations and the millions of people who have taken part in them, I can’t help to feel a lump forming in my throat. It’s like our societies are finally waking up from long and profound sleep. And our generation is the main change agent behind these movements.
Our generation was raised believing that there was nothing that could be done to improve our countries. Who would be able to change the corruption that reigned in our governments? How would it be possible to end conflicts that had existed in our countries for so long? Why would things change if they had continued to be the same for years? These are just examples of questions that most of us asked ourselves not too long ago. But somehow we’ve managed to find our drive for change. Tools like the Internet have generated alternatives to reach out to millions of people; forms of art like music and films have inspired us to start believing in our power to make a change.
I want to believe this is the rise of a new generation of politicians: people who really care about their countries and who are willing to take risks in favor of those who need it the most. These young politics are formed not only by special and charismatic leaders, but also by strong and active youth, constituting a force that is very difficult to stop. We should be a part of these movements in one way or another in each of our countries.
Source: YouThink
