When Elizabeth Rogliani witnessed statues being torn down across the United States in June, she posted a video on social media that ended up going viral as it struck a chord with millions of people.
“Why do I even care about some silly little statues coming down? Or some silly little street names changing? Why do I care? It’s because the last time I didn’t care about this, I was a teenager. I have already lived through this when I was living in Venezuela,” she said in her viral video.
“The statues came down, Chavez didn’t want that history displayed, and then came the school curriculum and so on and so forth,” she added.
Born in Venezuela in the early 90’s, Rogliani personally witnessed what happens when a country doesn’t heed the warnings of crippled societies before them.
In order to hear more about her story and perspective, I personally reached out to Elizabeth with a few written questions and she sent in extremely thoughtful and detailed responses. Look below for the full Q&A….
Question: When you see what’s going on in the United States especially when it comes to the far-left, do you think we’re approaching the “point of no return”? Are the radical elements of the left almost too far-gone to be redeemed?
Elizabeth’s response:
I don’t think the US is at a point of no-return. I think you still have time to reverse it. Although the indoctrination in school is worrisome. Not to mention the cultural indoctrination through Hollywood.
We (Venezuela) didn’t have any of this, at least not to such levels. But you do have people working on your side that have high positions of power, and within a few years I think they could make important decisions on a federal level that changes the course of the US.
I think this obvious display of radical ideas will mostly serve to separate the radical left from the moderate left. I think people can reach a breaking point so they realize how much they have been manipulated for years.
Question: You have also received quite a bit of attention for discussing Black Lives Matter and their openly Marxist founders. Can you tell our audience your perspective of what you see with that movement and why it’s so troublesome?
Elizabeth’s response:
The idea that black lives matter should be self evident. However, the problem is that the slogan comes from an organization with a Marxist agenda. This is something they are not hiding. The money they are receiving from some well intentioned people is being used to further a Marxist agenda. People donating probably agree with the fact that people’s lives matter, but they might not agree with Marxism or “disrupting the western prescribed nuclear family” as they used to have on their website
Question: I’ve spoken to many immigrations from Latin America, and many of them have discussed their opposition to the Democrat party. They believe the Democrat policies are starting to become too similar to what they FLED from in their home countries. Is that your experience as well? How do those around you feel about the current state of America?
Elizabeth’s response:
Yes, I definitely would agree with that. The thing is, the idea of the “Latino” community is not based in reality. First of all, Latin Americans come from vastly different socio economic backgrounds and races. The US has created this idea that hispanics are some sort of new race. All latinos don’t have the same racial experience.
There are black latinos, and there are white latinos. Not white passing (this new term I have heard). There are latinos in Venezuela whose families emigrated to the country after the first and second world wars from Spain, Germany, Italy, etc.
Why am I making this point? The idea that latinos are a group is strange to me, because there are 30+ countries in Latin America, all with their own histories, struggles, and traditions. As a whole yes, we speak Spanish and are usually Catholic.
But as a group in the US we are far from a monolithic group. Most of the hispanics I know in the US are Venezuelans, and mostly those who I spend time with came from a similar background to me in Caracas (middle class and upwards). The Latin Americans who come from similar socioeconomic backgrounds usually find each other, possibly because we share similar values and ambitions.
Also, most of the immigrants the US gets from Latin America are people that come from lower socio economic backgrounds in their own countries. It’s easy to see from Mexico. It isn’t the rich Mexicans that are emigrating here in mass, it’s the poorest Mexicans. Most of the rich Mexicans usually stay in Mexico. This is just a reality, I am not attempting to put a group of people down, but perhaps class mobility is harder in Mexico and in central American countries. The only difference in that trend comes from Venezuelans and Cubans because the government destroyed the economy and futures of people coming from all economic backgrounds. The key difference is that the poorest Venezuelans are either still trapped there, or went to neighboring countries. The Venezuelans with possibilities moved to the US or Europe.
Again, I am making this point to highlight the huge differences within the hispanic “communities” because we definitely are not necessarily voting through group identity. Cubans in general have managed to work and get themselves up economically. So when they talk about a victimized minority in the US they are not talking about Cubans, because Cubans are generally fiscally conservative and are doing well for themselves.
They are also not talking about Venezuelans. And yes, Venezuelans and Cubans will, for the most part, vote Republican. The younger generation of Cubans however, might just think like the rest of American youth and forget what their parents and grandparents told them because they did not live it themselves. From my surroundings, 9 out of 10 Venezuelans I know in the US will vote for Trump.
Question: In your opinion, what is the first step Americans should take to make sure our country doesn’t go down the same path as Venezuela? You got the discussion going in a big way with your viral video, but what is the next step? Does it all come down to voting, or is there something more?
Elizabeth’s response:
Voting is definitely a big part, but people having conversations and voicing opinions is also important. The loudest voices out there will get things moving if there is no counter. Silence will not help. People need to be vigilant, because they take away your rights little by little, in a way that doesn’t have much opposition. Finally, it’s very important to not let go of education or culture, because right now, people are being indoctrinated from high school to college. It’s important conservative principles are present to counter the heavy handed “progressive’ ideals. Movies, TV shows, etc are all filled with progressive programming. That has to change. Hollywood was very clear about the fact that it does not tolerate open conservatives working in the industry. It’s time to change that.
After her initial video went viral, Elizabeth made another video which further detailed her experience in Venezuela.
Watch it here:
If you’d like to hear more from Elizabeth Rogliani, follow her on Twitter & Instagram.
