The Killing of an Angel

Monica Speer was a woman of substance.  A beauty with a heart of gold who used the short time she was here on this earth to do good, to shine a spotlight on special children.  While others attended the red carpet with their dates, she showed up with handicapped children, brightening their days and raising our consciousness.  Why was she murdered?  Because she loved her country, that's why.  Because the stubborn streak in her wouldn't let her admit that her beloved Venezuela had become one of the most violent countries in the world, that's why.  And this was a long time coming.  I was there many years ago, before Chavez took over and I remember innocently walking with my daughter in Caracas one beautiful, sunny morning when a taxi cab stopped me and said, "What are you doing walking here Miss, don't you hear the bullets?"  I froze.  "Those are bullets?" I asked.  "I thought they were firecrackers.  I thought they were celebrating something?"  He explained that they were gang members killing each other, right in the center of Caracas and that I had to get out of there fast.  He offered to become our guide and he showed me the Caracas of his dreams.  I was there for seven days and he would pick me up every morning and after a hearty breakfast of Arepas and coffee, we would explore his beloved Venezuela.  He was wonderful and very proud of his country, despite the ravages the criminals were already inflicting on it.  At the end of the tour he told me to pray for Venezuela.  He had a foreboding of what was to come and was deeply concerned.  Now that the country  has become a real nightmare to live in, I wonder what's happened to him.  I pray he didn't become a victim himself.  But I'm afraid he has.  He made a living out of tourism and tourism is all but dead in Venezuela.  Who wants to go into the lion's den?

Perhaps Monica and her ex husband had to die in such a horrific fashion to bring the politicians to their senses.  Perhaps the outrage and public mourning of their killing, will force them to finally deal with those criminals who are now practically controlling the streets of Venezuela.  Their little girl was wounded in the leg and saw her parents murdered right in front of her eyes.  This tragedy will mark her forever.  She's the true victim in all of this.  Her childhood all but ended with those bullets and she will need years of therapy to come to terms with the loss.