A Letter to Barack

Hey Barack, excuse me for using your first name; it’s just that I write from mortal to mortal, hoping that everything I’ve spoken about you has not been in vain. But by your latest actions I now think I was mistaken to think you were different; that with you as leader you would achieve peace and the United States, with its admirable people, would take the path of dialogue, of respect for self-determination, international law and especially human life.

Several years ago, I published an article entitled “For Obama, as a Human.” I remember my ego was partying as it was translated into English and placed in various media of the Great Colossus of the North. I said you represented the best for your country and for the planet, and your opponent gave me chills. I did not write in my capacity as Dominican or Latino. Those words were launched from a human, a person of the earth, a son of God, a lover of universal values that are the norm among the dwellers in the five continents.

I said you were necessary because we were tired of so many useless wars based on deception and manipulation, all to sell guns, to trade in life and to mutilate bodies and nations. I figured you to be intelligent, that you tread carefully and that that would let you act responsibly. Your presence as president, I added, would support the development of people who, based on their effort, study and sacrifice, achieve their goals, because you were an extraordinary symbol of overcoming difficulties and were worthy to be a model for new generations.

On the two occasions that you triumphed, there was collective joy in all corners of the Earth. I swore you were a light that would achieve a better world, with few warring conflicts, or at least maybe without the fantasies of the pro-war hawks, without the rule of intolerance, without the cacophony of mediocrity, without religious fanaticism ideologically entrenched in power.

At the time, you did strengthen the moral leadership of the United States among the community of nations. Your people’s economy began to improve and looked promising to escape the disasters of the past Republican administrations.

I confess that now, with Syria, you’re disappointing me. It pains me to say this; I do not like my saints falling from their pedestals. You’re pushing something unjust, meaningless, without support from anyone (except those who will materially benefit). Barack, you’re collapsing. You still have time to finish as you began, in a seat of honor of a glorious history as a builder, not a destroyer.