Venezuela has been wracked by daily violent protests for months.
Among those demonstrating every day are a special few. Mary Moreno dons a gas masks like her fellow protesters. Then she rolls herself into the street in her wheelchair.
Moreno, 48, is not scared of the police and soldiers.
“Scared, of what?” she asks. “Fear of continuing to live in this godforsaken country we have. I’m scared of that. I fear for complete families who have to eat from rubbish bins. That in fact does not scare me; it fills me with dread.”
Mary is fighting for her country using the only weapons she has—her presence. Mary hopes to inspire others.
“If someone happens to see me and thinks: ‘I’ll try to be stronger and continue on,’ then that for me is wonderful because that’s what we need. The more, the better,” she said.
Moreno is not the only demonstrator facing special difficulties.
Paul Montiel is a 46-year-old businessman. He paints his prosthetic leg in patriotic colors. Then he marches with everybody else, no matter the discomfort.
“I take to the streets to march because Venezuela is my children’s country and the country of all children in Venezuela,” he explains.
“I take to the streets because Venezuela has given us so much and I think that’s reason enough to go out and defend this country. I march for the children dying of hunger. I march for the children who die everyday in hospitals due to lack of medicines. I march for the mothers and fathers who lose a child every day. I march because I’m Venezuelan and Venezuela hurts me to the core. I march because I’m willing to give my life for this country,” he said.
These are the people who oppose President Nicolás Maduro.
Maduro has bankrupted their nation, and subverted the democratic process. He stays in power by political subterfuge and force of arms.
The forces arrayed against him come from deep in the human heart.
Mary Moreno and Paul Montiel give Venezuelans hope.
They give the world hope for Venezuela.
