As I laid in bed in my cell staring at the bottom of the top bunk above me, I wondered if I would ever get out. I was innocent, but that was worthless to me because in Venezuela there are no laws or rights. I was there because I was an American and the Venezuelans wanted Alex Saab back from the US government. I realized that I may never get out because I’m not important, or powerful, or rich. As the days turned into weeks, and weeks turned into months, I kept asking myself how we allowed governments to become so lawless and powerful? How did it occur that these rogue states violate international and domestic laws with impunity? I thought about what it truly meant to be free and what truly mattered in life. Why do they do this to us? How did it all begin? But most importantly, how and when would it all end?
While in prison, the political prisoners who had been there for years before me had established a brotherhood. They helped everyone, including the Americans. They fed and clothed us. They protected us, risked their lives for us, and they loved us. It was truly astonishing to see that the people who had been the most severely brutalized and tortured, the ones who had been kidnapped and disappeared, the ones who had been falsely charged and convicted, were the ones who showed us the most love. I realized that while in this hell, living in a foreign prison, I was being shown how we could all live in this world. The political prisoners had constructed a community of love, support, and resistance. And the resistance was based on love. It was they who helped me and everyone else survive long enough so that we could be liberated by family, friends, and our government. It was because of this experience that I know what must be done to survive and defeat all the lawless governments all over the world. We must build community through love. We must stand up and support each other. We must keep saying the names of all the hostages all over the world. We must resist while expressing love for our brothers and sisters all over the world. We are all equal. We all love. We all hurt. We all suffer. We are all humans. We must make it clear that human beings have been around for thousands of years prior to the existence of terrorist states, and we will continue long after they’ve passed.
We are all currently going through a simultaneous global trauma. Organized human life is under attack. Dissent and speech are under attack. Liberty is under attack. Civilians from all over the world are under attack by rogue, lawless governments who kidnap, disappear, and torture them. These governments attack civilians because they despise our freedoms, they hate dissent and abhor our rights. That’s because our rights constrain their power. That’s why they see us as their enemies. They seek to attack and destroy our autonomy, our self-determination, and our spirit. They don’t want citizens. They want slaves. And in disappearing and torturing the very people who they’ve sworn a duty to protect, they destroy our freedoms and the social fabric that makes us human. It is time for us to stop saluting flags and killing our brothers and sisters all over the world for our countries. It is time for us to extend our hands to our brothers and sisters all over the world and liberate them. No more hostages. No more kidnappings, disappearances, or torture. There is no other way to resist. This isn’t just our duty. This is an act of resistance. This is an act of love. It is time for us all to be free.
By Eyvin Hernandez, Former American Hostage in Venezuela (March 31, 2022 – December 20, 2023).
