A MOMENT WITH HUGO CHAVEZ
by J.M. Sylvan
American Reporter Correspondent
Los Angeles, Calif.
~snip~
For our last day in Japan, Yuki planned a full day of sightseeing that included going to a large city park, filled with Sunday picnickers who'd come to view the bursting, beautiful cherry blossoms. We had tea in an ancient teahouse there and then joined the throngs taking photos of one another, each trying to capture the magic of the blossoms.
Yuki remembered my request for a side trip to the Imperial Hotel. After enjoying the park, sightseeing from a rooftop observatory in a tall government building and then a long lunch, we headed over to the hotel.
As we approached it, we noticed many official-looking security guys. The four of us wondered what important person was visiting the hotel. As I was taking photographs of the building and researching the possibility of having coffee at the café in the open lobby, I heard a commotion.
President Hugo Chavez and his bodyguards, translators and front men made their grand entrance. I searched for Annie and Yuki to alert them that the controversial president of Venezuela had arrived. I suggested to Yuki that she might want Annie to see all the hoopla. Once we got close to President Chavez, who was drinking espresso and talking to individual people in the crowd, his bodyguard pointed out Annie to him. He swooped down and picked her up, talking to her in Spanish. Yuki knows Spanish and was able to respond. What a photo op! Their picture appeared on a Website the next day.
Sydney was then determined to talk with him too and waited her turn in line, He moved to her next as she had her hand out to shake his. He stopped to talk with her at length. (Yuki said it was a good half-hour).
They discussed baseball; world peace and how we are all related like brothers and sisters. He asked her what she was doing in Japan and she replied, visiting her Mom, who just finished working for U.S. military families. President Chavez started to yell, "Where is Mom? Where is Mom?"
I had been fishing around in my purse for Sydney's Los Angeles City Council business card, with the intention of handing it to him as she spoke.
The three of us talked about children, especially children with disabilities. President Chavez reported to us that he consulted with Fidel Castro about outreach to disabled children. With his help, they were able to help 600,000 children that had been shamefully hidden by their families because of the stigma attached to disability. He then pushed away the microphones and cameras and spoke to us about his respect for President Obama and his hopes for the upcoming gathering where the two would meet.
Sydney and I were thrilled to be in the presence of such a charismatic leader. He has enormous presence. We came away from our fated meeting with him feeling more optimistic for a bridging of cultures and world peace.
This meeting would not have happened if I hadn't picked up Tom's book at the Misawa Bookstore. Isn't life grand and wonderfully surprising sometimes?!
AR Correspondent J.M. Sylvan writes about her travels, adventures and work as a child psychologist. Names and other identifying information have been changed to preserve the privacy of family and friends.
http://74.125.93.132/search?q=cache:1emGcISNOw4J:www.american-reporter.com/3,809/116.html+reporter+car+trip+with+Hugo+Chavez&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us