A radical leftist yet objective and impartial, and loathing the militarism of Chavismo, such a rarity was Manuel Caballero. I met him at La Maison de l’Amerique in Paris, during a conference where a premeditated act of denigration turned into the most humiliating public ridicule for the Chavistas who dared to attack such an informed speaker. If I remember correctly, Maximilien Sanchez Arvelaiz was present before his diplomatic career took off, along with a group of Chavismo apologists. Neither collectively nor individually did they manage to exasperate Manuel Caballero, who listened to them like a benevolent and patient father listening to the nonsense of children. He let them speak as much as they wanted. They insulted him freely, accused him of betraying the ideals of the left, of selling his soul and writing pen to the empire, of sacrificing his intellect and critical ability at the altar of corporate interests; in short, they recited the script and believed themselves victorious.
The power of the word, emerging from a brilliant and informed mind, remains unknown to those who do not think for themselves. A historian’s argument can be lethal against those who repeat a tale aimed at abolishing history. On that day, some imbecile suggested that the opposition had murdered prosecutor Danilo Anderson. Manuel, true to his last name, responded: “When they killed Che Guevara, they found a money-counting machine next to his body, while Danilo Anderson, the hero of Chavista cult, died with a machine gun in hand, defending revolutionary ideals!”
A truly amusing spectacle was seeing a leftist subjecting the Chavista utopia worshippers to public ridicule. That was Manuel Caballero. A man who spent his entire life in opposition. The kind of individual that all Venezuelans should admire. We will miss the precision of his definitions regarding the value of the “hero of the military museum,” his ideology “neither Marxist, nor communist, nor Leninist, but Chavista,” or his “saliva revolution.” We will miss his writing, the plasticity of his expression, and his ability to cunningly interpret the political and social landscape of our country.
Venezuela has lost one of its most distinguished citizens today.