Easter Message from Nicolas Maduro
This Easter Message from Venezuela President Nicolas Maduro from within the US Federal Detention Facility was released on Sunday, April 5th. CPI Activist Gavin Lockhardt translated it below:
Beloved people of Venezuela, sisters and brothers of our homeland, peoples of the world: on this Resurrection Sunday, Cilia and I wish to share a word of love, peace, and hope. This Holy Week reminds us of a profound truth: there is no resurrection without suffering. First comes the cross, the pain, and the sacrifice, but then comes new life. Jesus tells Martha, “Thy brother shall rise again” (John 11:23), and then affirms: “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in me shall never die. Dost thou believe this?” (John 11:25-26). That is our first thought: the one who raised Lazarus also rose again. The Resurrector resurrected, and therefore hope is never lost. Martha responds to Jesus with a simple and unwavering faith: “Yes, Lord, I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God” (John 11:27). That is where it all begins: believing. Then Jesus says, “Take ye away the stone” (John 11:39), and later he cries out, “Lazarus, come forth!” (John 11:43). This Gospel also speaks to us today. It tells us that we must remove the stone of hatred, lies, division, and resentment. It calls us to break free from everything that imprisons us within, and when the Lord says,
“The spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he hath anointed me
to preach the gospel to the poor;
he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted,
to preach deliverance to the captives,
and recovering of sight to the blind,
to set at liberty them that are bruised,
to preach the acceptable year of the Lord”
he is teaching us that to rise again is also to heal, to liberate, to forgive, to rediscover one another, and to walk together once more. That is why this Resurrection Sunday is a time to declare with conviction that this is the victory of life and truth. Death does not win: Christ wins. Lies do not win: truth wins. Hatred does not win: love wins. And this victory calls us to seek unity, dialogue, reconciliation, and peace among all people. Moreover, the Risen Lord leaves us with a beautiful and eternal promise: “I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matt 28:20). That is our third certainty: until the end of time, Christ accompanies his people. May the Risen Lord bless Venezuela and the peoples of the world, and fill us with faith, love, and hope.