MINISTER HERNÁNDEZ AND THE BUREAUCRAT BARBARIANS - (Short story)

MINISTER HERNÁNDEZ AND THE BUREAUCRAT BARBARIANS
I
Transmitted from grief by the injustice of others, by the hunger of the deceived, he scorned with all fervor the delight of the barbarians in tormenting the weak. Hernandez, I met him after he died more than twice, and I cried, I cried for his surrender alone to the noble soul of the universal struggle, dying so many times for it. These peoples of our diversity and the slaves of the same expropriations continue to mock their best men and women with their alienated smiles. I asked myself so many times who would be the heroes of our time, those who will die in Berruecos, in Santa Marta, or facing the sun. Rodrigo Hernández, the minister of culture who lasted three months, filled the void of so many years without an answer. And I could already feel proud announcing the virtues of our heritage In the combination of a coalition between puppets on one side and another, the continuous dissidence with clumsy intervention of the military, made secret pacts, in that frame, a citizen delivered and with scruples developed by the way in struggle, he becomes minister for three months, the three most exemplary months of recent years, establishes total medical security for all workers, appropriates underutilized infrastructures and transforms them into museums, theaters, galleries, auditoriums, cinemas, cafés, where at night He makes protagonist doing concerts with his trumpet, which played very well, or in a conference on art, in some of those same places, which were very tasty, he had the ability to teach and entertain with the same level of attention. I saw it, but I knew it more by the mouth of the people, I was nourished by all that sprouting, with all the love and anger. When the throats stop tightening the swollen neck the heart will stop begging the oppression of the uneducated. It was filling our political context in clicheteros speeches without the richness of history, the symbols transformed into collage of bad photos, along with the leaders of turn, badly put by other bad leaders scorpions. I was a good student, but I always sat last, as the unwritten student rule does not dictate, and my group of classmates were the "misbehavior," and so I could mock and fall asleep with the excuse of writing. So I learned to listen to everything, to the teacher and the rumor of others, I strengthened my ears since then, then I refined them by teaching them that not everything you hear is important.

II
In a government with the commitment to transform society, and that did not give foot with ball, was appointed culture minister Rodrigo Esteban Hernández Plat, he found it very easy to imagine the way of beauty and freedom, the transformation necessary and in which he had committed himself, he knew it was complex and difficult. He was a morally and ethically integral type, without distinction between good taste and the vacuous vanity of bourgeois customs, ready to withstand any affront, calamity, or difficulty that would imply a task for others rejected, when he saw the workers of the ministry of food, which was close to culture, was installed to help unload trucks and talked without pretension to help and enjoy the moment with theirs. We were full of officials who, without knowing what the people were going to, at first, said no, exercising the same power as a disco doorman. And Minister Hernandez, as he was simply told (the others were not named), whenever he could, he was directly in charge of attending to people who needed urgent help. Rodrigo came from an economically determined family, and one could say "bourgeois customs", with its well-defined ways and styles, but in this case, the curse of the bourgeoisie of having only idiotic children was not fulfilled.

It was one of the exceptions, almost all the great revolutionaries of history come from wealthy families, but they are exceptions. Rodrigo was always connected with the majorities, his friends were always rejected by the empty and retrograde society, and he felt throughout his life an almost natural repulsion for the bald prejudices with which many people cover themselves, with dust masks, because they taught them this way, among other things, racism, it was one of the most detestable things for him, that thing that does not make sense, but still exists. . I knew that self-criticism is healthy, I knew that if you wanted to insist on the electoral option, the formation of the masses and the organization of the people with permanent formation are essential, eliminating entrenched vices, putting the principles in the example. The example is the brush that defines color and shape in society, a revolutionary reference does not have to give an example in how it dresses but in how it behaves, and to build a new society we have to look for the best, not the most loaned, that's how he lived, without privileges, with the security that intelligence and trust gave him, which is not enough now we know, but that's how he became immortal for his people. He always quoted Simon Rodriguez, he said: "to make republics you have to form republicans", because, to make a revolution, you have to train revolutionaries, and that is not done by putting on a shirt of a color or proclaiming it, he said it everywhere.

He was a globe-trotter, he had been an adventurer all his life, he knew that the best of life is in the daily routine of exploration, contact with peers, love of neighbors, letters, hugs, water, food , the books, the conversations, the coffees, the farewells, the meetings, the concerts, the discussions, the best thing of life is living, and he proclaimed it with an abundance that seemed sometimes exaggerated, but it was the right thing, perhaps what is art, but to exaggerate and expose the hidden.

III

In the three months of the minister, he had his own food, and he sat in the reception room to eat, and little by little the others joined together, they had to find a bigger place soon, because teaching has the advantage of that does not come alone, always climbing, with one teaching always comes another, sharing then became daily, and fraternization in the workplace became something more intimate and committed, they felt family the previously unknown, those who congregated I swear, now they did not wait for the time to get to "work" to see the rest of his family, he encouraged the most entertaining and stimulating talks. He had his car, but on less congested days, he made the imprudence of taking public transportation to talk to ordinary people, he enjoyed it, it was not a favor for others, it did not help anyone but him, it was for him and for him. the cause, if one does not know what the concerns will be, it will be difficult to orient it.
It was his way of combining deep study with the daily practice of decency and good sense, there was no balance one without the other, the reverse is equally harmful, talking with people or "kicking" the streets without escort, but without critical study and compromisingly profound, it is pure demagoguery, and I knew it, I learned in every way I knew. It was the example that abhors the system that embraces us, it became the other enemy.
I saw him many times on the street, he never seemed to tire, he sat with the destitute and cried, the impotence of not having enough power to change that grief. He was of a very strong character, and at the same time the most understanding of the beings, he never used his investiture to benefit his relatives, friends or relatives. He went to the market, another imprudent license that was given, which as an example is powerful, and he respected it enormously, despite the risk involved every time he did it. The most curious thing, however, was that he did it with the same limitations as the rest of the commons, did not refer to his imposed possibilities, if there was no access to something, then he did not agree either, he queued to buy, he knew he was losing time, but he won an example, and he insisted on doing it, because at that stage it was fundamental, he said that it became more important for him to set an example by conviction than to gain time to solve some minor problems, the damage that has been done to this society it is not repaired with the adjustment of some screws, it is necessary to investigate the brain of the operation itself. He never complained, and sometimes his silence was the best class of the day.

IV

They were three powerful months, they had the life force of the Paris Commune, the conviction of Gramsci's years of imprisonment, and of being insignificant, while he warned, stifled and premonitory, the loneliness and betrayal of Santa Marta. The judgment without reason is death. There was an ego constellated in him, to cultivate the earth and consciousness, he knew that opulence constrains freedom, and taught it.

He did not like the bacchanal and the carnival, but curious that his eyes shone in the stridency of the streets of pure popular joy, the picturesque and irreverent population defying the monster. The savage barbarous dressed in clean suits that incited the obedience of the misfits, who jumped, shouted, sang, with raised arms and schizophrenic glances, the collective narcosis of the lack of modesty. It was glory.

When the minister was asked how he kept his principles intact and calmed his ego without affecting his power, he said: "Every night I listen to Schumann's Renana, and the day-to-day dawn of the fourth movement expands my mind ... annihilates my stupidity."

Wonderful!

Once the field is carved. It was set aside to the ocean. The herald was killed halfway, where the message of peace was drenched in blood. But, peace is not made with the barbarians.