Lázaro and the rich Chavista in Venezuela

 

No, Lazaro, do not cut that plant! You must be more careful! Matilde is going to ask me again to fire you.

The gardener heard his boss anxiously. He had moved to the hills close to Señor Carvajal’s mansion to reach it easily. None of his previous neighbors could reach this housing complex on foot in less than an hour. He fortunately discovered a place with a burst water pipe. The leak seemed like a tiny creek. Maria could now wash and cook without having to go to one of those filthy slum fountains. His cousin Pablo brought the necessary corrugated metal sheets, clay blocks, and some stolen cement to build his home. Although people considered Pablo a chavista, he helped Lazaro whenever he could. He unloaded the materials bit by bit on a road turn. Lazaro quickly hid them and later took them to the spot of the burst water pipe.

Maria, cooking with wood gathered in the nearby woods, tried to keep the smoke from betraying their existence. She asked Lazaro for various food items that she needed. Black beans, rice, plantains, and such. Lazaro looked at her smiling.

“Do you think I am a donkey? I cannot bring all that up here”.

Maria replied “I know. I also know you are a resourceful man”.

“I’ll see if Antonio will bring it up here with his donkey” Lazaro told her.

Meanwhile, Matilde is talking to her husband, Héctor Carvajal.

“That scum of the earth believe that I do not know that they moved into those hills. I told Liborio, our security guard downhill, not to allow any more vehicles up the road they used to take those corrugated metal sheets. I also instructed Liborio to cut the electricity and phone along that road and to install them along the road our guarded road. That will dissuade that lice-infested crowd from moving any closer.”

“Have you ordered the champagne, beef, and caviar for Betty’s birthday?"

Yes, dear, no problem

Have you had that statue of Hugo Chávez installed in our garden?

A deafening roar sounded as she uttered those words, and everything trembled, parts of the house fell, and the ground seemed to move. As the horrified Matilde and Héctor watched, a vast and deep gap opened along the access road, a wave of muddy water running along its bottom.

Héctor horrified saw as the wide gap separated their crumbling mansion from the rest of the road. The military complex buildings about three kilometers collapsed, and many throats cried out in anguish, "EARTHQUAKE!".

After the tremor lessened, Matilde attempted to re-enter the mansion, but debris and fallen walls filled the rooms. The roof had caved in over the kitchen, crushing the equipment and furniture.

She and Héctor carefully approached the edge of the gap and could see it was a vertical drop to the bottom of the crevice where the muddy flow ran.

Witnessing the mansion's destruction, Lazaro and Pablo observed from beyond the void.

Héctor shouted “Lazaro, can you tell Liborio to help us?”

“Liborio is dead, Sir, and all communications are severed."

Mathilde shouted, “Can you contact my daughter downtown and tell them we are alive?"

“Lady, even before this disaster, you had all our communications disconnected. Your family will have to resort to your government phone or radio resources.”

Suddenly, Pablo said, “This reminds me of that tale of Lazaro and the rich man,” don’t you remember?

The Rich Man: He wore expensive purple clothes and fine linen. He enjoyed great luxury and held big feasts every single day.

Lazarus: He was a poor beggar who lay at the rich man’s front gate. His body had sores all over it. He only wanted to eat the crumbs that fell from the rich man's table, and stray dogs came to lick his sores.

The Conversation Across the Chasm

The Request: The rich man looked up and saw Abraham far away with Lazarus resting near him. He cried out for Abraham to have mercy and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water to cool his tongue, because he was in great pain in the fire.

Abraham informed him rescue efforts were unavailable. He explained that the rich man had received good things during his life while Lazarus suffered, but now things were reversed, and a great chasm kept them apart.


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