By Perly Viasmensky
When I left my country 62 years ago, I was just a child of a family escaping from communism. I remember my family members telling us “We don’t need to unpack, we are going home soon,” That was 62 years ago and we have not returned. Every single dear person in my family is buried in the soil of this country — my Godfather, my grandmother, my father, my mother, and my brother. For personal reasons I was deeply involved with the people of Venezuela. On my very last trip to Venezuela, I was speaking to my best friend, the late, Capt. Orlando Dominguez, and I told him: “This is communism, look around, the country is going down the drain.”
Orlando is no longer with us, but I remember his words: “Piedrita, communism is something of the past.” Orlando used to call me “Piedrita” in Spanish. It means a little stone inside the shoe that bothers you when you walk. Venezuela was the richest country in South America. Today, everybody can see the total destruction of the country. The day I left the airport en route to Miami, Florida, I knew it was the last time I was seeing Venezuela. People here in the United States cannot see or don’t want to accept the reality that we are moving at a fast pace toward communism. Go grocery shopping, the shelves are empty, the few items you can find are extremely expensive. Meat is a luxury item. There is no salary that could large enough to be able to feed a family.
Not only that, all I can tell in this commentary is believable. A relative of mine is presently in the hospital, he was telling me how badly he needed to go to the bathroom, but he hasn’t been able to go because the hospital has no toilet paper. Either they are very inept at keeping track of inventory, or this is a first sign of communism in the country. The majority of people are under the false impression that communism is for the people, they don’t realize that communism is for the people at the very top.
Did any of those people see the Castro family in Cuba suffering from lack of food, medicine or any other luxury items? Of course not. They live like millionaires’ while the citizens pay the consequences. Did anybody see Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela suffering from a lack of articles of first necessity? Of course not. He oppresses the masses while he lives the life of a king. Just don’t go that far. Right here in the United States Joe Biden and company can have the luxury of eating a good steak without any concerns of how he is going to eat the following day.
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Perly Viasmensky is the General Manager of the Las Vegas Tribune. She writes a weekly column in this newspaper. To contact Perly Viasmensky, email her at pviasmensky@lasvegastribune.com.
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