I grew up in a non-practicing but religious household. My parents raised me as Catholic and I was baptized (at age 1) and we celebrated Christmas every year surrounded by family. I am now 17 and I appreciate the foundation my own family gave me.

I know my present beliefs about Christmas are rooted in Catholicism but this holiday is not based only on religion more about being a part of our story, our history as a culture and a people.

Certainly, the events in our world, the conflicts, loved ones far away in dangerous situations, weighs heavily upon our hearts and minds, reducing the joy we might have at this moment. And, yet, in spite of all of this, it is the Christmas time of the year, and with a Christian perspective of ‘treat others as you would wish to be treated yourself’

I can start supporting this perspective by simply saying “Merry Christmas” to everybody around and for those of you of other religions and no religion; best wishes and happiness for you during this celebration of love and giving. Please help me saying ¨Merry Christmas” to the world.

 “Hugo Chávez, congratulated Barack Obama for his victory and confirmed his desire to establish new relations with the United States and re-launch a constructive bilateral agenda for the wellbeing of the two peoples”.

Chávez said: ”This historic election of an African American to lead the most powerful country in the world is a sign that the era of change which has taken root in South America could be reaching the doorstep of the United States”. 

Chávez, who expelled US ambassador to Venezuela Patrick Duddy in September, is the major opponent of the United States and of President Bush, but now he thinks Obama will have a different approach towards his socialist government in Venezuela.

Chavez’s radical, authoritarian, dogmatism of the absurd, had failed in important areas like employment, health, education, security and economy,  after ten years and tons of money that he has spent everywhere but on the desperate needs of Venezuelans. Moreover, the perception of corruption in Latin America is one of the highest in the world, and Venezuela is the second highest, after Haití according to the Corruption Perception Index of 2008.

Obama’s skin shade resembles Chavez’s and this why the Venezuelan President believes there will be many changes in external affairs in the US. He expressed “I truly wish (the new president of the United States) to change the imperialist vision; I wish him to suspend the blockade on Cuba (effective since the 1960′s); everybody has been asking for it for a long, long time.”

In the meantime, Chavez is being prepared for his next week visit to Russia’s President Medvedev, along with the trip to Peter the Great, the largest nuclear-armed battleship afloat in the world.

Looking at the positive side, my observation is that this election has changed the image of our country. Being a naturalized citizen, growing up in South America, I know that in a large part the average foreigner thinks of America arrogant and racist. Now, with this election we have shown to the world that we are able to choose a president of color who prefers world dialogue vs. confrontation. We’ll see how this works in reality.

Summarizing what happened in the last weeks, I found that Senator McCain’s personal campaigned was truly clean, avoiding direct personal attacks against Obama, which perhaps helped election lost, however, we have to recognize that Obama’s campaign was excellent.

 Many hoped that in the debates there would have been a major confrontation that he would have exposed more clearly some of the anti-American relations of the democratic candidate. There is ample evidence his personal inclinations such as to attend a church where American values were routinely attacked and his conscious decision to maintain personal relationships with persons with proven criminals. Probably the most telling thing about Obama was his glaring demonstration of disrespect to the United States in his refusal to “Pledge Allegiants to the Flag” and other act throughout his campaign.

The attitude and actions of John McCain tells us of the type of person he is. With high ethical and moral principles I am convinced would have been an excellent president. Regarding our new President, we only have a hope that his vision of the new America will be the best for all and regardless, we should continue in the daily fight to make this country better.

Yesterday, while I watched TV, I heard comments about some section of the government of the State of Ohio, with reported sympathies to the Democratic Party, regarding an investigation that was initiated on “Joe the Plumber”

And I asked myself, how is it possible that this happens in United States where the freedom of expression is the right of the people, consecrated in the Constitution?

I am not going to say that I saw all the interviews and presentations of Joe the Plumber in the media, but I saw at least four of these and I noticed that Joe did not express himself in a offensive way; but rather like a common citizen that had questions about the alternatives that Obama presents, as a candidate for the presidency.

And now I ask myself, is it possible that Joe the Plumber does not have right, like all of us, to question the position of a public candidate? His past, if he used healthcare services or if he received benefits subsidized by the State, is not truly important and it does not diminish his right to express his opinion, nor invalidate his thoughts, concerns or questions.

The attitude of the democratic party, which appears to want to suppress the opinion of common citizens makes me remember the attitude of socialist governments where if you are not in agreement with the government ideology, then you are against it, and this is justification enough to prosecute and to destroy you.

This is another reason, why it is easy to believe that Obama´s government will have socialist tendencies. 

But, I must recognize, that the days preceding  the ceremony I felt a little confused, like I was going to leave Venezuela in second place in my heart, and the love for that country where I was born  will no longer be so important in my life. Nevertheless, after the ceremony and after several months have passed, I feel great because it is possible to continue loving your roots, and loving, respecting and admiring your new country. This country that has opened the doors to you without resentments and that has allowed you to consolidate your home with a future full of opportunities.

This is what I really do not understand. How some Americans express themselves with such a lack of pride in the country that has given them birth. A country much more full of virtues than defects; where our people, are the main engine of growth, stability, and change because of their values, perseverance and strength. Where a stable society exists, where the family occupies a very important position, where the honesty and the word of a man are things that are valued. Where there is an intrinsic respect for the laws and the right of the others, because it is understood that in that way, others will also respect your rights. Where children are visualized as the future of the country and there are many programs for attention and to protect them so that they can study and become qualified to become good and useful citizens.

These things that I mentioned seem obvious, but they do not exist in some other countries. Often the corruption, the deterioration of the institutions, the problems of severe divisions in society cause that laws only exist for the fortunate few, our basic rights did not exist in Venezuela and children were not important to the general society so it was your personal responsibly to make them understand the need to respect the rights of others and to send them to private schools so that they could become productive persons. Also, it is very stressful to live where there is such an uncertain future for everybody, that if your children graduate from the university they will not find a job and if they do, they will need to align their thoughts with the thinking of the president in charge, since the State is now the main employer. Since Venezuela now is a socialist government and the priority of the government is the re-distribution wealth.

For that reason, I do not know how or why somebody who was born in the U.S. and has taken advantage of all the benefits of this society does not respect this country. The racial problem talked about in 2008 is probably something that I never will understand, because in Venezuela, and in general in Latin America, blacks and whites have been together for a long time, and if it is true that we do not have benefits for the whites, neither do we have benefits for the blacks.

Basically, I am talking about Michelle Obama and her senior thesis at Princeton, where she stated that America was a nation founded on “crime and hatred”. More than that, during the campaign Michelle Obama expresses a broad assessments saying that life is not good because “ we’re a “divided country”, “we’re a country that is just downright mean”, we are “guided by fear,” we’re a nation of cynics, sloth’s, and complacents!”. All of this is established with her statement from February 2008 when she admitted that; “For the first time in my adult life, I am proud of my country.” I do not know how she can keep track of the number of times she has been proud—really proud—of her country since she was born and privileged to live in it.

When I heard somebody who has arrived to this country like me, and I see that they are expressing bad things about this country I always try to response in a reflective way and I ask them thoughtfully,” if the things in your country are so good, then why are you here? Why you do not go back?” It seems to me that this attitude is similar to old saying “don’t bite the hand that feeds you”. If you have accepted that you want to or for some reason must live in this country, and it is the place you call home; then assume your responsibilities which does include working to make things better but conduct yourself in a respectful and responsible way. Do not try to promote discord.  Respect and value what you have, moreover, learn to love this country, because this country has given you the opportunity to live here, to work here honestly and to raise your family.

Moreover, Zorro another personage of stories of principles of century, staged in diverse books, TV shows and films, has a socialist dye when he obtains money from the upper classes to benefit the poor men.

In these times it would not be bad that a hero like these existed in the real life, to alleviate a little of the pain in our present lives driven by the economic crissis and everyday violence, we would need thousands of Robin Hood or Zorro to give back the magic of hope and help to recover values.

The new socialism believes in a redistributive government – where its function is no longer to plan the economy like the company owner, now its function is to take from ones and to give to others, which has given rise to the well-known joke that a socialist government usually deals with to imitate Robin Hood who robbed from the rich to give to the poor men.

Even though, there is an absence of a mass socialist democratic movement at national level in government, we are showing a tendency to become more in line with the Western European socialist style democracies. The weakness of socialism and trade unions in America can be explained by reference to national values and culture, which for sure raise the odds against socialist solutions. In general, Europeans are much more likely than Americans to say that they favor state intervention to redistribute income, to pay for health care, to reduce or avoid unemployment

But now, when socialism is left out of most high school history discussions, last month, with the Bailout program, the US acted much like some of the European countries and it was said that free market capitalism was dead in America.

Nevertheless the penetration continues: Obama, like the socialists, is in favor that the government takes part in the aspects of health plans, remunerations, and increased taxes to those who earn better incomes. This means the state government will play an increasing more important role in redistribution of wealth and the allocation of wages and jobs.

When I was young, as well as the majority of youth, I identified myself with socialist ideologies and admired the student leaders who under the socialist slogan generally defended the rights of the students and of the citizens. Now, that I have studied and that I have seen the history of the countries that have enforced of socio-communist systems and with the implantation of the regime of Hugo Chavez in my native country (Venezuela), I have a different idea what socialism means and I do not to support it and it simply gives me fear.

This is something that makes me feel very concern, and it is the reason why I am writing now. We still have time to take the appropriate actions against new insidious brand of socialism. The financial crisis might be the reason for many of us to be angry, but voting for the wrong candidate and moving more and more to socialism, for sure is not the answer.

The right to vote is a fundamental human right and is governed by principles contained on the constitutional principle of states’ rights, but this right is not used by millions of individuals in our country. There was a time, not far away, when the freedom to vote was inexistent in the United States. In the 1800s for example, women in the US had few legal rights and did not have the right to vote. And for centuries, women, the poor, and some minorities were denied to vote during elections.

We should not forget, that the right to vote, enjoyed today by all adult US Americans, was won only after the fight of countless individuals that suffered for many years and it was thankfully established on the US Constitution through the Fifteenth Amendment (1870) “The right to vote shall not be denied on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude”, Nineteenth Amendment (1920) “The right to vote shall not be denied on account of sex”, Twenty-fourth Amendment (1964) “The right to vote shall not be denied by reason of failure to pay any poll tax or other tax” and the Twenty-sixth Amendment (1971) “The right to vote for those who are eighteen years of age or older”

The right to vote did not come easy and was given to us, on the courage, the blood and the sacrifice of men and women in generations past who gave so much so that we all have the freedom to vote. Even though, a sizable majority among us will choose not to vote, mainly those who may have heavy thoughts about the election and are full of apathy and doubts, believing that a single vote can not make a difference.

There are some people that do not vote in the political system because they do not want to participate in a process that is basically opposed to their principles, and for me this is acceptable. But, to those who maintain their vote is meaningless, I want to tell them they are wrong. If you care about the women rights, civil rights, if the future matters to you, you should consider vote. Those who do not vote, however, are throwing away that leverage.

One of the most critical ways that individuals can influence governmental decision-making is through voting. Democracy, to stay strong, has to be exercised. In other words, if we say we believe in the right to vote, we should put actions behind those words. It is our choice; thanks to the battles fought long ago by people who believed the right to vote was something worth fighting for.

The freedom is alive.

Hugo Chavez current Venezuela´s President

Barack Obama US Presidential Candidate

Well, the economic problem is nothing compared to this. Venezuelans who voted for change, did not want a president who handled the economy like it was done by the previous administrations. Many banks went bankrupt, people lost their life savings, insecurity, distress, all of these made us vote for change,….and what a change!

¡Do not commit the same error!. Do not elect a president that can put in risk the security of our country.

Esta próxima elección presidencial en los Estados Unidos, me llena verdaderamente de terror. Me hace recordar los meses antes de la elección presidencial de 1999, que eligió a Hugo Chávez como presidente de mi país Venezuela. Han pasado algunos años, pero claramente recuerdo como antes de la elección yo ya presentía que la escogencia de él como presidente sería un gran error para mi país. Y es que, efectivamente, la inconsistencia de las declaraciones de Chávez, su demagogia, su populismo dirigido a las clases bajas y su odio por los que tenían una buena posición social, me hicieron pensar que algo grande venía detrás. Y aunque yo no voté por él,… ahora tengo que pagar al igual que todos los venezolanos por las acciones que el está haciendo como presidente, llevando al país a un rumbo que ninguno de nosotros quería.

Ahora, viviendo aquí en Estados Unidos, y convertida en una ciudadana americana, son muchas de las coincidencias que noto entre la imagen que me muestra Obama y la que yo veía en Hugo Chávez. Inconsistencias, mentiras, populismo, incremento de impuestos para los que ganan mas, y odio a los blancos (expresado por su esposa Michelle), me dan que pensar que los americanos estamos a punto de escoger un presidente equivocado. Y aunque no votes por él,…….igual tendrás que pagar por las acciones que él haga.

Y es que, ¿no nos da miedo que en verdad sus relaciones con ese mundo oscuro del terrorismo sean reales?, menos que eso se veía en la actitud de Chávez y ya vemos en lo que se convirtió.

A pesar de que el presidente de los Estados Unidos no es dueño de todas las decisiones y que existe un Congreso que no le permitirá actuar libremente, el simple hecho de propiciar una actitud de no agresión hacia los países que son una amenaza, les da tiempo a éstos para que se fortalezcan y arremetan contra nosotros de manera fatal. Y esto, sería lo mejor que podría pasar. No imaginemos que existan verdaderos vínculos y que se propiciara la creación de focos terroristas en el país.  ¿Terrible verdad?

Bueno les digo, el problema económico es nada comparado con ésto. Los venezolanos votamos por el cambio, no queríamos un presidente que manejara la economía como lo habían estado haciendo los anteriores. Muchos bancos en quiebra, gente que había perdido sus ahorros de toda la vida, inseguridad, angustia, nos hicieron votar por el cambio,….y ¡que cambio!

No cometas el mismo error. No lleves a la presidencia a alguien que puede poner en riesgo la seguridad de tu país.