By Benedicte Veller Bertelsen and Raquel Santos Rodriguez

Friday 29th of December, Henry Cubillan, a retired Lieutenant-colonel of the military forces in Venezuela for 23 years, visited the Human Security 2019 cohort. Henry presented, from a very passionate and eloquent way, the development of the crisis in Venezuela since the Hugo Chavez regime until now. Thanks to Henry we have a better understanding of Venezuela’s history until now; the Chavez regime; the Nicolas Maduro presidency; and the current situation. Henry presented an embodied experience of the political history and complexity of the conflict in Venezuela – a voice not often outspoken, but nonetheless breath-taking.

Henry broadened our understanding of the conflict, from an issue of poverty to the comprehension of the immense complexity of the conflict and how its connection to Human Security. As Henry said during the presentation;

“What happened in Venezuela could happen in any other country in the world, we were once up and we fell; it could also happen anywhere in the world”.

This wake up call to take action and engage actively in our society and political system to make the world a better place has been a good energy boost that many of the Human Security 2019 cohort never forget.