VHeadline.com commentarist Oscar Heck writes:  As much as it was shocking for me the first time I received menaces and threats from Venezuelan opposition people in 2002 and 2003 ... and as much as it was saddening to experience such hate in the years afterward ... it saddens me even further to see that certain opposition people (opposition to Chavez) continue to try to find every possible way to denigrate VHeadline.com and Roy Carson, its editor and publisher.

Sure, Roy has at times become extremely emotional and forthright ... but that is in his nature.  If he did not care for Venezuela and if he did not care for the Venezuelan people, he would not react the way he does.

When one cares, one becomes emotional ... as "everyone" knows.

As far as I have witnessed and experienced, Roy has been untiringly committed to the Venezuelan cause ... democracy.  How one or another interprets democracy is up to each one of us: citizens, voters, readers, listeners, viewers, writers, news editors, politicians or activists.

But that is beside the point.  When one is committed ... one can easily become emotional ... sometimes to the point of boiling over ... but that is life ... we are all human beings.

There is also a matter of honor and loyalty ... especially loyalty.

One cannot remain indifferent when one sees the slander and slaughter at the hands of without-conscience people ... those whose only goals appear to be to put themselves (and their cronies) above other human beings by insulting them, menacing them … or assassinating them.

I, as most VHeadline.com writers have had plenty of bad experiences.

Since 2002, we have been consistently bombarded with computer viruses, threats, menaces, sabotage, insults and slander ... when our intentions have been to simply tell the truth.

As many VHeadline.com readers know, I travel throughout Venezuela regularly, I live in the barrios (shantytowns) and I work with El Pueblo (the 80% traditionally-excluded Venezuelan majority).  

If one desires to compare the work that we do at VHeadline.com with that of opposition radicals, ask them how many times they have personally been to the barrios (where the vast majority of the people who voted for Chavez live) … and where the vast majority still support Chavez and will continue to support him.

When they tell you "Oh yes, I have been to the barrios several times," ask them, "Take me to the barrio ... let me meet your friends and family" ... and carefully watch their reaction.  Most will respond with something to this effect: "Oh, that was some time ago, when I was studying ... but let me make a few calls and I will get back to you."  I challenge anyone out there to try this ... and then write about it to VHeadline.com ... with proof of actions taken.

It is easy to talk, as it is easy to say that Roy Carson is also Carlos Herrera ... but it ain't that easy to prove.  In fact, it is impossible to prove ... because Roy Carson is not the famed Carlos Herrera (trust me, I know).

When I first started writing for VHeadline.com in November 2002, my wife said to me … "Be careful, you are no good dead."  

To this day, I am careful … very careful.

The same group of people who began threatening me and other VHeadline.com writers in 2002-2003 (because we refused to support the USA-financed Venezuelan opposition) continue to threaten us on an almost daily basis.

• It may be traumatizing to some … but to us it is now all in a day’s work.

I have been through war, lived in jungles and deserts, near swamps and on mountains … on the streets and in the "best" hotels in the world.  I have worked as an investigator and I have met defense ministers, mercenaries, soldiers, generals, diplomats … and … I have seen children with eyes burned out of their sockets … babies dying from worm infestation in their mothers' arms.

Many readers may have seen and experienced more of the cruel world ... especially those who have fought in battle … forced by a superior officer’s order to shoot innocent people to death or launch missiles aimlessly into supposed "enemy" territory … then having to live with it the rest of their lives, crippled for life.

At VHeadline.com, we, those of us who write pro-Venezuelan-democracy, do what we do for one reason: human dignity (not to be confused with human pride).

We all believe in human dignity … and, in our own individual ways, we strive for this … with the aim of assisting to enhance the lives of others, particularly (because of our love for Venezuela) the lives of the 80% poorer Venezuelan majority.

We all have our own personal reasons to do so, in my case, I fell in love with Venezuela (and with my wife) almost 30 years ago when I was working in Venezuela to become a priest. 

Much of the Venezuelan opposition bases its "facts" on hearsay and invention … or on the US State Department’s rhetoric … as has been evidently witnessed over the last few years … beginning with the time that the democratically-elected Chavez government attempted to overhaul the laws in Venezuela (late 2001).

• Life should not be about hate … it should be about love.
   
• Life should not be about "bad intentions" … it should be about "goodwill."

Life should be about the enhancement of the human condition and not about "who has what."However, we as human beings are not generally at this stage yet. 

We can strive for love … and hope and dream that others will follow.

(By the way, enhancing the human condition has little to do with material wealth … it has to do with human dignity, with love, with respect for Nature, with the understanding that we all do "number 2" … and that it stinks … no matter who we are. We all vomit and choke on our own mucus when we are sick.  We all pass foul air and we all have habits that would embarrass us if we were to be found out.)

So … before people begin to slander and slaughter other fellow human beings, verbally, emotionally or physically, it is important that we all look into the mirror and ask ourselves:

"If I were desperately poor, if I were a quadriplegic or a paraplegic, if I were dying of aids, if I were mentally disadvantaged, if I were dyslexic of dysphasic, if my mother were dying of breast cancer, if my young son were raped by a priest, if the military man took my wife by force, if I were a heroin addict because my father shot my mother as I watched, if my daughter died when I ran over her with my car as I backed out of the driveway, if my mother sold me to Ethiopian 'beggar traders' when I was two years old, if I had to live with a quadruple by-bass, a pace-maker and an implanted defibrillator, what would I say or do today?"

The above paragraph is presented in terms of what the "western world" might understand.

So … before judging another fellow human being … take the above into consideration.

I am Oscar Heck … and I write for VHeadline.com … and I am Canadian-born … but with much deeper roots.

Oscar Heck
oscar@vheadline.com

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