I am writing this the day after the meeting of the Rio Group in the Dominican Republic. I am still amazed at what happened there. I awake today with two reactions to the event. I will share both.

Since learning of the assassination of the FARC leader, Raul Reyes, in Ecuador Saturday morning, my mind has been spinning.

I watched four teenagers burst out laughing as they read the headline, “U.S. mistakenly kills nine civilians.” It was a great example of a gross understatement. There was nothing new in this “news” article about the U.S.’s war in Iraq: simply the tip of an iceberg of dead civilians.

(I wrote this the day after the referendum failed. A few days later my computer stopped working and Toshiba kept it in its repair shop until late in January. I am sorry that I am only posting it now, two months later, but I think it has some historical and futuristic value.)

After losing a senatorial election to Stephen Douglas, Abraham Lincoln said that he was too old to cry but that it hurt too much to laugh.

First of all, I must apologize because I haven’t posted anything new on this website for the past two months. The other day a friend visiting from the United States chastised me three times in less than twenty-four hours because of my failure to do so.

I write this on Valentine’s Day, Friendship Day in Venezuela, and I promise you I will try to be a more faithful friend by writing more regularly.

The results of the referendum were far from what I forecasted a few days ago: 50.50 % in favor of the No; 49.29 in favor of the Yes. It is now almost 2:00 a.m. that I am writing this so I will leave my reflections for another day.

For those who read this and feel saddened by this news, it would be well to remember February 4, 1992, when President Chávez said, “For now….” Tonight he said again, “For now.”

During the past two days, I have observed the demonstrations of both the opposition and of those who support the government. My guess is now that the results on Sunday, December 2, will once again show about 60% to 40% in favor of the government.

Recently I couldn’t sleep one night and I have to blame President Hugo Chávez for that. In Venezuela, one can blame everything on Hugo Chávez.

Can you imagine: the Bushes and Clintons in the White House for fifty-two years; or, a janitor at a local university voting for whom the next university president will be; or, the U.S. invading Spain to bring democracy to the country? As the Four Jacks and a Jill sang in the late 60s, “It’s a strange, strange world we live in, Master Jack.”