### A Message to My Venezuelan Brothers and Sisters

Israel Centeno

After witnessing, from afar, the brazen and unscrupulous manner in which dictator Maduro stole the election results and imposed his will simply because he could, I felt compelled to share my reflections and write down my thoughts.

Yesterday, we watched as the statues of Chávez fell and saw Maduro’s face trampled underfoot. This could have been a moment of celebration and joy, reminiscent of the world rejoicing when Lenin’s statues were toppled in the defunct USSR or when the Berlin Wall was torn down brick by brick. But in the Venezuelan case, with the firm conviction that Maduro is cut from the same cloth as the Syrian dictator, a butcher, we know that these toppled statues must be accompanied by tears, for their fall will come at a bloody cost. I hope that this time, it is not in vain and senseless, as in the past, the regime has gone unpunished for its atrocities, murders, and frauds.

These statues will cost lives when they should only be cause for celebration. Fearlessly, the people have chosen to dismantle the icons of their misery, and this will likely come at the price of lives. God bless you, dear compatriots. Take care. As for me, I try not to forget and keep an inventory of these infamies; they may serve a purpose one day.

– Israel