Dec 21, 2009

ANGELS FALLS NO MORE

As I prepared myself to read the sad news of Brittany Murphy’s death, I saw in Yahoo! News that Venezuela’s abductor president was saying that Angels Fall (Salto Angel) the tallest waterfall in the world was no longer going to be called Angels Falls since there was no way for U.S. Pilot Jimmy Angel to “discover” them since that would imply no one was living in the area at the time (1937). In other words the man refuses to name the UNESCO World’s Heritage Site after a gringo who happened to fly by.

I understand the logic behind the move, hell I can even I understand that is annoying to have something intrinsically Venezuelan named after some random pilot. But to strip such a landmark of its recognizable name seems a move made out of silly pride and not because he wants to keep the names local. Who the fuck is going to be calling the waterfall Kerepakupia Meru? Not the Venezuelan people let me assure you of that. Because we cannot pronounce it! I would understand if the name was an English name that was unpronounceable in Spanish, a very difficult last name like Schroeder (which took me forever to be able to say) but the name of the pilot who saw the waterfall and made it famous was Angel, luckily a word that is the same in English as it is in Spanish. If that is not fate then I don’t know what it is.

Doesn’t he feel some sort of respect for tradition? Doesn’t he understand that people don’t want to change the things that are familiar and dear to them? We didn’t want Venezuela to be the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, we didn’t want the Avila Mountains to be called Guaraira Repano and we’ll be damned before we call Angels Fall Kerepujwhogivesafuck! Is his need to insult the United States so deep ingrained that he would strip the waterfall of its beautiful name? Because this has nothing to do with the pilot not being Venezuelan and everything with the pilot being a U.S. Citizen. If Jimmy Angel had been French, Spanish, heck Russian the Falls would’ve kept its name. He sees this as an opportunity to slap the U.S. in the face with his 8-year old boy attitude of not sharing a toy and this is “mine, mine, mine!!” One would think a leader of a country was above dick measuring. Apparently not.

I feel so incredibly impotent, seating here miles away while he ruins the country with his ideals. He doesn’t seem to understand that the country belong to its people, not him. Venezuela is not his property to deface, change, ruin and shit on as he wishes. Why oh why is he still in power? When is he going away? When is this going to end? What else is he going to do before he gets kicked out of power? What other sacred places, traditions is he going to soil, rape and claim as his? Until when are we going to accept his Attila the Hun attitude and let him conquer whatever the hell he wants to take?

He can change whatever the hell he wants to change because it won’t make a difference. He can make it officially Karewhateverthehell and it will always be Salto Angel, the same as everyone calls Venezuela simply VENEZUELA and the Cerro Avila will always be the Avila.

Some things remain unchangeable Mr. Chavez, the same way you will always be an ignorant, arrogant, dirty ex-con with no class, education or an idea of what the fuck you are doing!

2 comments:

Andrea Montano said...

Is it me, or the indigenous names he chooses have, in Spanish, very err, suggestive phonics to them when you say them out loud?

I bet there are other Indigenous names who sound prettier than that! Poor Venezuela, now that Big Brother has Chavez's face all over the screens, brainwashing people.

Mel82 said...

Hahahaha. The words are (I think) in arawak (arahuaco) which I think are the most populated Venezuelan Indian tribe there is.

And yeah he could've put it to a poll and make the people decide if they want to remain the most popular landmark of the country. Is as if all the sudden Obama or the Canadian PM decided that the do not want the Niagara falls to be called that and arbitrarily named each side something different. The nerve of the man!