Ander
11th of May 2023
Chaos started three days ago. The military randomly appeared on the street in what honestly shocked all of us so much, that we all felt numbed by it. I read a lot of history books and I still remember my days in high school when I was this overly active socialist that dreamt of redblocks, revolutions and others, but never in my life have I felt something like monday. We woke up early as the phones were ringing with the news of the military on the streets. My mother was going crazy, fearful for my health. After my father's demise, she talked with my sister and she decided to sell the house we grew up in from Rio Verde and moved to Tiltil, in the Baltras Archipelago, with my sister. She decided against coming to Callao, because she always said that she needed more of a beachside tropical retreat, than yet another big huge crazy city like Callao or Rio Verde.
Romina was hospitalised a few days ago, and we were with her, preparing for her birth, when we received the news of the military marching on the city. I had to go to the headquarters, only to find out that we were confined in the stations and barracks, with the army taking over policing duties, while Fernando learning at for the week, schools were closed. Even so, our weird family... well, group... or should I call it family already, was preparing to change forever as her labour started and any craziness taking place outside, at least for Romina was put on hold. It lasted about 6 hours. I was still at work when it happened, but Fernando was at the hospital. Julio was born, a completely healthy boy at 3,5 kilograms. When I finally saw him, I was mesmerised. I never thought that I would find a baby so beautiful, especially when I always knew myself that I couldn't stand around toddlers who were always crying and learning to talk but always impossible to understand. He was having blue eyes, but that is typical for all newlyborn babies, but somehow Fernando was always telling Romina that Julio will inherit her dark and deep blue eyes, while his skin was olive, clearly taking from his father.
Today, I went to work only again just to be told that I can leave, because the army's policy of policing the city continues, so I decided to go to the hospital, see Romina and Julio and then probably do some shopping before seeing what Fernando is up to. As I parked the black ENA Cumana on the pavement in front of the hospital (yes, lack of parking spots in general in Corrientes made most of pavements unusable to pedestrians as they are used as parking), which I got from Rio Verde, as it was my father's and my mother transferred it to my name, so we don't have to beg Doña Sabrina to let us use her ENA Selva, I immediately went inside. By now the personnel at the entry got used to me considering I was coming two or even three times a day and were even calling me the father at certain moments, so they let me in with no issue as they knew I was familiar with the directions.
Approaching Romina's ward, I hear laughing and I immediately remember that voice, something that I haven't heard in yearly a year, even if he was probably my best friend, before Romina, before Fernando, before last year's craziness... "Fabian," I say, as I sit in the door, unsure what to do. Somehow I hated myself for it, as I immediately felt going on guard and all my muscles tensing, and the first thing that came to my mind was that he always talked shit against Fernando, and he always tried to pull me away from him, then came the fact that he left Romina pregnant and then ran away... "Ander, hóla," he says, rising from a chair near Romina's bed and coming to shake my hand. He was coming at me meekly, and at first I made eye contact with Romina who smiled and nodded, so I shook his hand. I couldn't be a monster and act shitty when the guy just wanted to see the mother of his own child, and his newly born child too, of course, as Romina was breastfeeding Julio. "Everything good?" I asked; something neutral to get some form of conversation going. "Yeah, it's been great actually. I moved back in Callao, had a family issue back in Villa Tunari and now I'm back. I'm working quite a lot and managed to find a decent place to stay in Retiro," he says. "I'm quite happy to see you again, Fabito," I say, trying to be friendly and using the diminutive from the olden days, but Romina quickly interrupts us, clearly sensing that the chat will probably fall into awkwardness.
"Fabian, can you please let me and Ander talk for a bit, in private?" she says and he immediately got the messaged and left, but not before giving me an awkward smile. "He's back it seems," I say and I immediately regretted it, as I felt I sounded too mocking. "Don't be like this... In case you forgot, you already had a run in with him and nearly had a scuffle with him in a supermarket..." she says giving me an exaggerated frown and adjusting Julio's position who cooed for a while before he continued feeding. "True..." I say apologetically. To be honest, I was quite ashamed of that episode.
"He was really nice since then. Sent me money monthly, about 1,200 Quris, it paid for quite a lot of the expenses when I was pregnant and now it seems that a lot more will be needed... Babies seem to expensive, even if they are so beautiful and lovely as this one," she says as she started kissing Julio. "He's been quite close to me since that episode and honestly, I'd like him to hang out more," she continued. I tried to protest, but I decided to stop. If the mother wants him close, in the end, whom am I to be against it? That doesn't mean I want him close to Fernando or my relationship with him. "So, I don't know what are your plans, but I told you, I'm Zaran, I need some functional family around, and if he's around, it will make me and probably this little one too, happy," she said nodding towards the baby. "I need you to make peace with him," she added. I wanted to say something, but my phone rang once and then stopped.
I took it from my trousers' pocket and checked it. It was a missed call from Fernando. Right as I was preparing to call him back, I received a message: mira a twatter rapido. Fernando was quite the grammar nazi, if he forgot his exclamation marks and his capital letters, it meant something. I open up twitted and the flood of messages made my mouth fall open. "Hostia, tía," was the only thing I could say and I feel Romina understood my shock and Julio felt it too as he started crying. "What's happening?" she asks me and I just turn my phone towards her. It was a video, showing Marissa de Herrera, leading a small group of people, and she is shouting and crying: El pueblo unido jamás será vencido! The people, united, will never be defeated!. "Where is she?" Romina asks as she tries to calm Julio down. "Don't know for sure, it seems like Avenida Larga," I say.
My phone started ringing again. It was Fernando. "You need to come down, it's crazy! The people are flooding the streets! Herrera is leading them!" he was screaming, but I could barely hear him as people were screaming all over the place. Something in me started to burn, to feel alive. Finally I could feel the people waking up and I was happing to me too. I tried to talk with him, but we agreed to meet up and he dropped me a pin with his location so we can find each other. As I was telling Romina all this, she was quite cynical about it, but he let me go: "Just don't be a hero! Fabian may be back, but I'll need you and Fer," she said. I was exited her ward I met Fabian again, he wanted to talk, but I couldn't wait. I gave him a warm smile and we hugged, for the first time in more than 9 months, and then I ran out of the hospital.
I decided to leave the car by the hospital, as I felt that being the main University Hospital it could be protected by whatever craziness can unfold, so I just ran like crazy on the streets towards Avenida Larga where Fernando was. The Corrientes I knew was always filled with apathetic people and I always talked with Fernando about it. He always said that compared to the Monterrey he knew from his childhood, Correntines are much more indifferent to stuff around them, and honestly deep inside I always thought that it was because there was just too many of us around, everyone, making us a people who at best ignored each other, or at worst argued continuously, but now, everything changed.
The Callao I saw on my run from the hospital to Avenida Larga was something different. People coming together, hugging each other, yelling slogans. As much as it could end up badly, as there were armoured cars and tanks on the main squares of the city, many were probably hypnotised by Marissa de Herrera's charisma, simply believing that in the end, they can't simply shoot us all. I'm sure that deep inside everyone had this concern, especially the older generations who still remembered the violence of the late 70s and first half of the 80s, but today, I feel that any Chalaco around, will probably remember this moment and this vibe on the streets, for it was something one wouldn't experience again in a lifetime. It was hopeful... optimistic... uplifting. It made you feel that this was our generation's trial and we were at first failing, as we waited for a few days, scared and apathetic, but now, we finally woke up, better late than never or at least a few decades too late like in Gran Occidentia, or never, like in Tarusa.
I found Fernando by a churería, talking with some other people of all ages, many waving flags and others having banners with slogans calling for an end to caudillismo, calling for democracy and the one that caught my eye and probably was my favourite: "End the military's war against it's own people!". He just embraced and kissed me, but I didn't care anymore, especially as the people who saw us, started applauding. We all marched yelling slogans on Avenida Larga, up to the Plaza Dos de Mayo, where on one side stood Casa Azul, the palace of the presidency and government and on the other, the Capitol, the palace of the parliament. I understood from the others that Marissa de Herrera was in front, together with her husband and ex-president, Pedro Herrera and even with Mateo Restrepo, the ex-minister of Foreign Affairs and they were holding speeches.
The situation was tense, as one of the armed personnel carriers surrounding the Casa Azul started moving towards the people, but Marissa stood in front of it, scolding the driver like an angry mother would yell at a cheeky child, to the delight of many in the mod that was gathering. I felt that only later would we found out how close we were for that driver to just press the pedal and ram her and probably 50 more people before getting lynched, but even so, he stopped and in an act of complete defiance, the Herreras jumped on the armoured car and someone gave her a microphone.
"The people, united, will never be defeated," she shouted in the applauses and echoing of the mob. "I call the military out, to join us! We are the people! We are the ones you gave an oath to protect! We are the mothers, the sisters, the fathers, the daughters, the brothers, the children, wives, husbands, or anything else that you too love when you take off the uniform and dress in civilian clothing! Join us!" she shouted and I could feel that the people went crazy, shouting even more, as if her voice was electrifying. "General Ocampo, I give you this last chance and two hours to decide! Exile or prison for betrayal! For this, the Correntine people will not forget, nor forgive!" the people continued shouting slogans and applauding her. "We have allies on the outside too! I received a message this morning, that President Jose Constanza will be making us a visit, to join our celebration of liberty, democracy and solidarity!" that is when, the people really started shouting and screaming of pure joy.
"Is he pulling another Zara?" asked Fernando nearly screaming in my ear to cover the shouting. "Hopefully it'll end up better!" I scream back, but in my mind, I could only imagine that Romina would probably have flashbacks from her last day in Gonzaga when she hears this.
11th of May 2023
Chaos started three days ago. The military randomly appeared on the street in what honestly shocked all of us so much, that we all felt numbed by it. I read a lot of history books and I still remember my days in high school when I was this overly active socialist that dreamt of redblocks, revolutions and others, but never in my life have I felt something like monday. We woke up early as the phones were ringing with the news of the military on the streets. My mother was going crazy, fearful for my health. After my father's demise, she talked with my sister and she decided to sell the house we grew up in from Rio Verde and moved to Tiltil, in the Baltras Archipelago, with my sister. She decided against coming to Callao, because she always said that she needed more of a beachside tropical retreat, than yet another big huge crazy city like Callao or Rio Verde.
Romina was hospitalised a few days ago, and we were with her, preparing for her birth, when we received the news of the military marching on the city. I had to go to the headquarters, only to find out that we were confined in the stations and barracks, with the army taking over policing duties, while Fernando learning at for the week, schools were closed. Even so, our weird family... well, group... or should I call it family already, was preparing to change forever as her labour started and any craziness taking place outside, at least for Romina was put on hold. It lasted about 6 hours. I was still at work when it happened, but Fernando was at the hospital. Julio was born, a completely healthy boy at 3,5 kilograms. When I finally saw him, I was mesmerised. I never thought that I would find a baby so beautiful, especially when I always knew myself that I couldn't stand around toddlers who were always crying and learning to talk but always impossible to understand. He was having blue eyes, but that is typical for all newlyborn babies, but somehow Fernando was always telling Romina that Julio will inherit her dark and deep blue eyes, while his skin was olive, clearly taking from his father.
Today, I went to work only again just to be told that I can leave, because the army's policy of policing the city continues, so I decided to go to the hospital, see Romina and Julio and then probably do some shopping before seeing what Fernando is up to. As I parked the black ENA Cumana on the pavement in front of the hospital (yes, lack of parking spots in general in Corrientes made most of pavements unusable to pedestrians as they are used as parking), which I got from Rio Verde, as it was my father's and my mother transferred it to my name, so we don't have to beg Doña Sabrina to let us use her ENA Selva, I immediately went inside. By now the personnel at the entry got used to me considering I was coming two or even three times a day and were even calling me the father at certain moments, so they let me in with no issue as they knew I was familiar with the directions.
Approaching Romina's ward, I hear laughing and I immediately remember that voice, something that I haven't heard in yearly a year, even if he was probably my best friend, before Romina, before Fernando, before last year's craziness... "Fabian," I say, as I sit in the door, unsure what to do. Somehow I hated myself for it, as I immediately felt going on guard and all my muscles tensing, and the first thing that came to my mind was that he always talked shit against Fernando, and he always tried to pull me away from him, then came the fact that he left Romina pregnant and then ran away... "Ander, hóla," he says, rising from a chair near Romina's bed and coming to shake my hand. He was coming at me meekly, and at first I made eye contact with Romina who smiled and nodded, so I shook his hand. I couldn't be a monster and act shitty when the guy just wanted to see the mother of his own child, and his newly born child too, of course, as Romina was breastfeeding Julio. "Everything good?" I asked; something neutral to get some form of conversation going. "Yeah, it's been great actually. I moved back in Callao, had a family issue back in Villa Tunari and now I'm back. I'm working quite a lot and managed to find a decent place to stay in Retiro," he says. "I'm quite happy to see you again, Fabito," I say, trying to be friendly and using the diminutive from the olden days, but Romina quickly interrupts us, clearly sensing that the chat will probably fall into awkwardness.
"Fabian, can you please let me and Ander talk for a bit, in private?" she says and he immediately got the messaged and left, but not before giving me an awkward smile. "He's back it seems," I say and I immediately regretted it, as I felt I sounded too mocking. "Don't be like this... In case you forgot, you already had a run in with him and nearly had a scuffle with him in a supermarket..." she says giving me an exaggerated frown and adjusting Julio's position who cooed for a while before he continued feeding. "True..." I say apologetically. To be honest, I was quite ashamed of that episode.
"He was really nice since then. Sent me money monthly, about 1,200 Quris, it paid for quite a lot of the expenses when I was pregnant and now it seems that a lot more will be needed... Babies seem to expensive, even if they are so beautiful and lovely as this one," she says as she started kissing Julio. "He's been quite close to me since that episode and honestly, I'd like him to hang out more," she continued. I tried to protest, but I decided to stop. If the mother wants him close, in the end, whom am I to be against it? That doesn't mean I want him close to Fernando or my relationship with him. "So, I don't know what are your plans, but I told you, I'm Zaran, I need some functional family around, and if he's around, it will make me and probably this little one too, happy," she said nodding towards the baby. "I need you to make peace with him," she added. I wanted to say something, but my phone rang once and then stopped.
I took it from my trousers' pocket and checked it. It was a missed call from Fernando. Right as I was preparing to call him back, I received a message: mira a twatter rapido. Fernando was quite the grammar nazi, if he forgot his exclamation marks and his capital letters, it meant something. I open up twitted and the flood of messages made my mouth fall open. "Hostia, tía," was the only thing I could say and I feel Romina understood my shock and Julio felt it too as he started crying. "What's happening?" she asks me and I just turn my phone towards her. It was a video, showing Marissa de Herrera, leading a small group of people, and she is shouting and crying: El pueblo unido jamás será vencido! The people, united, will never be defeated!. "Where is she?" Romina asks as she tries to calm Julio down. "Don't know for sure, it seems like Avenida Larga," I say.
My phone started ringing again. It was Fernando. "You need to come down, it's crazy! The people are flooding the streets! Herrera is leading them!" he was screaming, but I could barely hear him as people were screaming all over the place. Something in me started to burn, to feel alive. Finally I could feel the people waking up and I was happing to me too. I tried to talk with him, but we agreed to meet up and he dropped me a pin with his location so we can find each other. As I was telling Romina all this, she was quite cynical about it, but he let me go: "Just don't be a hero! Fabian may be back, but I'll need you and Fer," she said. I was exited her ward I met Fabian again, he wanted to talk, but I couldn't wait. I gave him a warm smile and we hugged, for the first time in more than 9 months, and then I ran out of the hospital.
I decided to leave the car by the hospital, as I felt that being the main University Hospital it could be protected by whatever craziness can unfold, so I just ran like crazy on the streets towards Avenida Larga where Fernando was. The Corrientes I knew was always filled with apathetic people and I always talked with Fernando about it. He always said that compared to the Monterrey he knew from his childhood, Correntines are much more indifferent to stuff around them, and honestly deep inside I always thought that it was because there was just too many of us around, everyone, making us a people who at best ignored each other, or at worst argued continuously, but now, everything changed.
The Callao I saw on my run from the hospital to Avenida Larga was something different. People coming together, hugging each other, yelling slogans. As much as it could end up badly, as there were armoured cars and tanks on the main squares of the city, many were probably hypnotised by Marissa de Herrera's charisma, simply believing that in the end, they can't simply shoot us all. I'm sure that deep inside everyone had this concern, especially the older generations who still remembered the violence of the late 70s and first half of the 80s, but today, I feel that any Chalaco around, will probably remember this moment and this vibe on the streets, for it was something one wouldn't experience again in a lifetime. It was hopeful... optimistic... uplifting. It made you feel that this was our generation's trial and we were at first failing, as we waited for a few days, scared and apathetic, but now, we finally woke up, better late than never or at least a few decades too late like in Gran Occidentia, or never, like in Tarusa.
I found Fernando by a churería, talking with some other people of all ages, many waving flags and others having banners with slogans calling for an end to caudillismo, calling for democracy and the one that caught my eye and probably was my favourite: "End the military's war against it's own people!". He just embraced and kissed me, but I didn't care anymore, especially as the people who saw us, started applauding. We all marched yelling slogans on Avenida Larga, up to the Plaza Dos de Mayo, where on one side stood Casa Azul, the palace of the presidency and government and on the other, the Capitol, the palace of the parliament. I understood from the others that Marissa de Herrera was in front, together with her husband and ex-president, Pedro Herrera and even with Mateo Restrepo, the ex-minister of Foreign Affairs and they were holding speeches.
The situation was tense, as one of the armed personnel carriers surrounding the Casa Azul started moving towards the people, but Marissa stood in front of it, scolding the driver like an angry mother would yell at a cheeky child, to the delight of many in the mod that was gathering. I felt that only later would we found out how close we were for that driver to just press the pedal and ram her and probably 50 more people before getting lynched, but even so, he stopped and in an act of complete defiance, the Herreras jumped on the armoured car and someone gave her a microphone.
"The people, united, will never be defeated," she shouted in the applauses and echoing of the mob. "I call the military out, to join us! We are the people! We are the ones you gave an oath to protect! We are the mothers, the sisters, the fathers, the daughters, the brothers, the children, wives, husbands, or anything else that you too love when you take off the uniform and dress in civilian clothing! Join us!" she shouted and I could feel that the people went crazy, shouting even more, as if her voice was electrifying. "General Ocampo, I give you this last chance and two hours to decide! Exile or prison for betrayal! For this, the Correntine people will not forget, nor forgive!" the people continued shouting slogans and applauding her. "We have allies on the outside too! I received a message this morning, that President Jose Constanza will be making us a visit, to join our celebration of liberty, democracy and solidarity!" that is when, the people really started shouting and screaming of pure joy.
"Is he pulling another Zara?" asked Fernando nearly screaming in my ear to cover the shouting. "Hopefully it'll end up better!" I scream back, but in my mind, I could only imagine that Romina would probably have flashbacks from her last day in Gonzaga when she hears this.