Juan Barreto – Director of The Daily Journal for Venezuela and Latin America
Today is a wonderful and strange day from both an astronomical and astrological point of view. Today, we have the Perseids, a shower of shooting stars crossing the sky, while Europe will witness a solar eclipse, along with a planetary alignment.
Let us see how we can translate all of this into the political world: For whom are the planets aligning? Which is the shooting star that passes by, shines in the sky, catches everyone’s attention and then disappears, lingering only in the podcast and in memory? And which political figure is being eclipsed?
Are we about to witness an astrological or astronomical phenomenon in Venezuela? Could some figures once dazzled, lit up the sky and drew every eye, while people closed their eyes, placed a hand over their hearts and made a wish, only to see them disappear as stars do? Could some figures who once shone as brightly as the full moon now be entering their twilight?
Some are talking about a new dawn, an awakening, and saying that Venezuela is being reborn. Something is always being reborn, just as something is always falling into decline. The Chinese say in the I Ching that everything is in motion, that something has to shine for something else to cast a shadow.
Venezuela moves as the celestial bodies move: some figures are eclipsed, while others begin to shine. The ball is in play.
