Luis R Castellanos: the glance of a newcomer
Despite my military training in the Army, I am not in favor of wars or the use of disproportionate and unnecessary violence. It is my opinion that the Armed Forces must have as their fundamental purpose the defense of the national territory, and have a dissuasive action against potential antagonists.
This topic about the Russia – Ukraine or Ukraine – Russia conflict, however you want to see it, is quite controversial, but I am not going to go into much detail.
On purpose I will lean towards a simplistic and very generic approach, making use of metaphors.
If an adult, in general, sees a couple of young kids or children fighting, it is not, in my opinion, the best recommendation to give each one more fighting instruments so that they continue fighting. What a conscientious and mature adult should do would be to separate the pair of young people and seek conciliation.
Of course, it’s not a couple of young men who are fighting, but perhaps a boy and an older man. Likewise in this case, the solution would not be to give the child more weapons and encourage them to continue fighting. Again, the idea is to stop the fight, and reconcile. Find a solution.
As they say, you should not put out a fire by spraying gasoline.
That is why I think that the international community and world organizations (such as the United Nations – UN -) should have taken a firmer and more impartial attitude, to reconcile the conflict, seek an immediate ceasefire, and avoid the loss of resources of all kinds.
(By the way, in my opinion this shows the ineffectiveness of the UN in what should be part of its reason for being).
The sanctions established against Russia also seemed meaningless to me, weakening the economic situation not of Russia but of Europe, and pushing Russia into the arms of China and other countries (Russia is part of the BRICS program, for example).
Likewise, it seems pointless to me (and without any tangible effect) to have the flag of Ukraine or Russia on their social media profiles.
By the way, to give a little context to the matter, I must remember that this conflict between Ukraine and Russia is not new, since it dates back more than 10 years, and in February 2022 the intensification of the actions ocurred, by Russia invading the eastern portion of Ukraine, specifically in the regions of Crimea and Donbas.
Another thing that I don’t like is (precisely related to what was stated in paragraph 4) the large amount of money given by the US government to the Ukrainian government. To give you an idea, the Marshall Plan that was implemented in Europe after World War II consisted of $13 billion for all the countries involved (of course, 1948 dollars). To date, Ukraine has received $75 billion. That money comes from government agencies, which in turn come from taxes collected.
In Venezuela they say, «darkness inside and clarity outside» when we make an effort to fix things for others, but we don’t worry about fixing our own. How much aid has Venezuela not given in recent years to other countries, without looking inward and first making sure to satisfy the needs of its citizens?
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