Saturday, April 21, 2012

A Necessary Reflection / Jeovany Jimenez Vega

A Necessary Reflection / Jeovany Jimenez Vega
Jeovany J. Vega, Translator: Unstated

Two weeks have passed since I ended my hunger strike, thanks to the wise
decision of the Minister of Public Health, Dr. Roberto Morales Ojeda, to
reinstate Dr. Rodolfo Martinez and I to the exercise of our profession.
Now, with my mind clearer, the memories come in droves, still fresh, of
people who coming from different positions, with the most varied
intentions and almost always in good faith, tried to dissuade me from
continuing my strike.

They did it, I believe, because they care for me and felt that this was
not going to lead anywhere. But something caught my attention and
alarmed me to the point of sharing this reflection with those of you who
follow me here, and that is the argument put forth by the majority: "…
stop this because you are going to die, because nothing matters to these
people, they are… those who don't care if you die…" This, along with
other imprecations unrepeatable here, is what they said to me.

Briefly, in essence, the idea that most of these people shared with me
was: they are deeply convinced that we are facing an absolute and
immovable power, uncaring faced with human pain, merciless and capable
of letting me die even though faced with the most absolute evidence that
what I was demanding was just.

This counsel did not draw them as people in government jobs to serve
their people, but as monsters capable of stepping over even a human life
in order to wield their power, stopping at nothing, even lying and
killing in order to maintain it.

But now comes a different certainty, at least in our case: when they
decided to resolve the matter they left nothing to half measures, but
fixed everything at one blow including reinstating us both, returning us
to our original jobs, full compensation for 66 months of lost wages, the
recognition of this time in our work records, and authorization for me
to finish my Specialty in Internal Medicine starting from the third year.

That is, it seems we went back to April 2006, and although our personal
suffering is unrecoverable and more than one guilty party remains
unpunished, I must recognize that this time, finally, they delivered a
substantial share of justice for the good of everyone.

So now, if everything was nothing more than an inevitable release of the
pressure of this case in its particular context — which of course is not
completely foreign to me — and it everything is summed up as a tactic,
or if it was a truly ethical solution based on the ultimate conviction
that there had been a real injustice; if it was a question of mere
political pragmatism or if it were a determination to do what was
humanly right, this is something known only to those people who
collaborated on the issue, and although I, personally, would love to
think that it was the latter possibility, this is something now in the
realm of speculation.

Mind you, I close these lines with an invitation to our leaders to
meditate deeply on these words that are not mine; the above I transcribe
from the mouths of ordinary people, who reflect all the secular fear of
their authorities which should call for a profound introspection to
explain why a significant share of the people have such a sinister
concept of their leadership or the lengths to which it will go to remain
in power.

Hopefully this interior exercise will bring out the best and most humane
of each person. It will be better, this way, to remain consistent and,
for now, with the faith we must have in human betterment.

April 19 2012

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