The Best and Worst of 2008  

December 22, 2008

A friend of mine is counting the days till 2008 comes to an end. It's been a terrible year for him. He's been ill, had a bad fall and lost a lot of money. And he's not the only one. 
The year 2008 is possibly one of the worst we've ever experienced. For reasons still not too clear, we are mired in a world economic crisis. In the United States alone, 3 million people lost their jobs this year or are on the verge of losing it. 
The Dow goes up and down like a yo-yo. And President George W. Bush is trying to get rid of the disasters that he's leaving behind by throwing massive amounts of money at them. If he could, I am sure, he would leave right now for his ranch in Texas. 
The United States has also dragged many other countries to the edge of financial ruin. If Americans stop shopping, people in China, India and Brazil, suffer; if they don't travel abroad, people suffer in Costa Rica, Italy and Spain; if they drive their cars less, Venezuela, Ecuador and Saudi Arabia suffer; and if there are no jobs here, what can Mexicans, Salvadorans and Colombians send to families in their countries? So that's why, on my list of disasters of 2008, the world economic crisis takes first place. But close behind is the horrible violence in Mexico. 
It is incredible that there are days when more people are killed in Mexico than in the war in Iraq. It is incredible that today, after Iraq, Mexico is the most dangerous country for journalists. It is incredible that to be a kidnapper has become a profession in Mexico. It is incredible how much uncertainty and insecurity Mexicans have to live with today. 
Mexico's Human Rights Commission has recently confirmed that the country appears to be ungovernable. At least 48 million Mexicans have been victims of some sort of crime during the last three years. That's not all. From 2001 to 2008 there were more than 20,000 kidnappings and more than 10,000 homicides linked to organized crime. And 90 out of 100 murders remain unpunished. 
What has happened? Simply that President Felipe Calderon declared war against the drug cartels and criminals and then wasn't able to defeat them. But how is he going to defeat them when often it's the police themselves that protect the criminals and perpetrate the kidnappings, crimes and abuses? This year I myself grieved over the deaths of 14-years-old Fernando Marti and 17-year-old Silvia Vargas -- as if they were part of my own family. The teen-agers were abducted and murdered in Mexico. The State could not protect them. The police could not protect them. So, who guarantees that life and law be respected in Mexico? The message is clear: Each one to himself, because the government cannot. Period. 
Just as in the case of the world economic crisis, the violence in Mexico promises to get worse before it gets any better. 
But I don't want to be too pessimistic. I am convinced that things can change. History is not like a tree. We can mold, direct and straighten it as if it were modeling clay. 
That's why I like the story of Ingrid Betancourt. It is one of two stories of hope in 2008 that I have specially selected. 
After being in the hands of FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) guerrillas for nearly seven years of captivity, Betancourt was rescued five months ago thanks to an ingenious and highly risky operation of the Colombian army. And today she still doesn't cease campaigning to liberate the other 700 hostages who remain prisoners in the jungle. She has just returned from a long tour that included Chile, Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Ecuador and Venezuela in search of backing for her new mission. When she speaks, she shines. 
Without doubt, she left many things buried in the jungle. And one of them was her presidential aspirations. I had the opportunity to interview her 38 day before she was abducted in February 2002. She was a candidate running for president and she offered me a presidential guided tour of the Narino Palace (Colombia's presidential residence). 
But now Betancourt has changed her mind. In a recent interview she told me she doesn't want to run again for president, that she prefers the freedom of being able to criticize anyone, without political commitments that might tie her down. And she smiled when she told me that. I could see that she was at peace with herself. 
Betancourt, the most famous former hostage of the world, can change her country -- hostage by hostage -- and at the same time make us believe nothing is impossible. 
The other story I have chosen is the recent U.S. election. It was unique. For the first time, a woman (Sarah Palin) and an African-American (Barack Obama) had the chance to get to the White House. 
And it is not that racial prejudice has vanished in America. As a matter of a fact, so-called "hate crimes" and threats against African-Americans have multiplied since Obama's election. But it is a real marvel that a country, where slavery was practiced for decades and where only 88 years ago women were not allowed to vote, has been able to change its course and corrected these injustices. 
As a journalist it will be my job to criticize and question Obama, just as I did with Bush, his father President H. W. Bush and President Bill Clinton. Journalists are always better when they are in the opposing role to those in power, whoever they are. But there's not the slightest doubt that Obama's story has inspired millions of people around the world. 
It is truly amazing and inspiring that a poor African-American boy, born in Hawaii of a black father from Africa and a white mother from Kansas, and educated in Indonesia, could become, through intelligence and sheer effort, the most powerful man in the world. 
Obama's lesson for all the children of the world is that there are no limits to achievement. Everything can be accomplished. That's why his election feels so personal. He has made real what every father tells his sons: You can achieve anything you set your mind to. His campaign motto -- "Yes, we can" -- is a hymn to the best of human endeavor. If Obama could, anybody can. 
And I would like to end with that. I know that 2009 will be hard, very hard. But Betancourt and Obama showed us, this year, that everything -- absolutely everything -- can be changed.