Anyone cannot be a politician. You have to study, prepare, train in the disciplines required for the proper exercise of politics.
The Betrayal of the Best was the title of an essay by Don Mario Briceño Iragorry. In that letter, Don Mario denounced that politics ended up in the hands of the least prepared or the most mediocre as a result of the desertion of the best.
In a letter from Simón Bolívar to Cristóbal Mendoza he says: If men like you withdraw from public life, the Republic will fall into the hands of rogues.
That prophecy has been fulfilling in Venezuela for some time. But not only in Venezuela. In many countries it is happening that politics is left in the hands of people who seem unprepared for the responsibilities that political activity entails.
Last Sunday, July 10, IFEDEC celebrated its 60th anniversary. International Institute for the Training of Leaders and the Promotion of Public Policies. That institution today bears the name of its founder and inspirer, Arístides Calvani.
It is not true that anyone can be a politician. Just as no one can be a manager of a company, a surgeon, an engineer or an airplane pilot. Anyone cannot be a politician. You have to study, prepare, train in the disciplines required for the proper exercise of politics.
The most delicate and important position to which a politician can aspire in Venezuela is that of President of the Republic. To hold this position, one must know how to conjugate three fundamental verbs: Win (the elections), Charge (achieve a peaceful transition of power) and, finally, Govern (know how to establish priorities and summon trained and honest people to manage things public).
The President cannot be anyone. In recent years, Venezuela has suffered a great deal precisely because it has had people at the head of the government unprepared to govern.
According to the National Constitution, the President must be Head of State. That is, a person capable of summoning the unity of all Venezuelans. He must also be the Head of Government, capable of convening a competent and honest team to direct the concrete programs.
He must also be Commander-in-Chief of the National Armed Forces, Head of the Public Treasury and direct the country’s international policy. For all this it is necessary to have political training.
We’ll keep talking.
Edward Fernandez
@EFernandezVE
Twitter: @ifedecve
Instagram: @Ifedecvenezuela
Facebook: @ifedecVZLA
