He smokes, drinks, tells stories, gambles, fights, supports 7 or more
children, sows beans, potatoes, cassava, corn, bananas, cocoa,
sugarcane, and milks 50 cows from 4 in the morning, whistling to the
animals and they respond to him, he knows how to call chickens and he
has a dog that follows him everywhere.
The campesino never retires, he does not have social security and he
does not need it much, he heals himself with a purgative or with a
friction, he knows how to get bad air out and with a elastic bandage
he straightens a crooked leg.
The campesino is not affected by height, nor does he use sunscreen, he
recognizes a ripe avocado without squeezing it, he has a long
fingernail to peel tangerines, and he knows how much a package weighs.
Our peasant just by looking and going around knows how much a pig or
cow weighs, he can handle up to eight horses or mules at the same time
and he knows the name of more than 50 animals, he carries a machete
ready to defend himself but he has never done so.
Our campesino does not need his front teeth to laugh, he has the tiger
milk recipe, he has never received dance classes but he dances, he is
not depressed or stressed and he knows more than 142 rude things, he
has seen the devil in the field, he knows who the town witch is, he
also has a bit of a sorcerer, he does not burn himself with boiling
coffee, he wakes up before the alarm clock rings, he changes the
battery and fixes clocks, he does not get a flu, he greets people in
the street with an “ooopppp” about 150 times a day, repeats his
greetings when he arrives and says goodbye up to 3 times.
Our campesino wears his pants with 2 bigger sizes but they never fall
off, because he wears them well tied, he talks hard even to tell
a secret, he knows the shortcuts to arrive faster, he knows when it is
going to rain and he fails much less than the Meteorological
Institute, he knows how to recognize if the rain comes just by hearing
the thunder, and is not affected by gluten, lactose or caffeine.
He recognizes bad boys and bad women, lowers oranges shaking the
branches enjoy a fresco of papaya or lemon, he scares away evils
with a scapular, he listens to radio from the early morning while
preparing the cows for milking.
The campesino does not look pretty in the photos but he has a painting
in the living room of his house, where he looks amazing with his wife,
he only knows 2 jokes, he always tells them and laughs as if it were
the first time he hears them, he knows that he has credit in the
grocery store and he pays every week, he listens to the news on the
radio and believes everything, he knows how good it is to purge his
children and grandchildren, the guardian angel has never abandoned
him.
He calls formal-looking strangers Ingeniero and everyone calls him
Don, he doesn’t know how to change a car’s tire but he doesn’t refuse
to do it, he knows how to fish, he doesn’t like soft beds, he only
drinks Coca Cola on very special occasions, beer as long as it’s not
hot, he goes at night without a lamp and the mosquitoes do not bite
him, he has eaten turtle, iguana, pig, beef, chicken, creole egg, fox
and even snake. He does not know when it is a holiday and he works on
holidays.
I proudly tell you that there is no one more beautiful than a
campesino from my land, like my grandparents and parents were. Long
live the campesinos, who in this quarantine really show us what they
It is urgent to recognize the great importance of recovering our
agriculture and supporting the campesinos, if not for them, we would
be starving in the cities. What good are silver and gold if you cannot
eat them, they do not take away hunger. Cassava, fried plantain,
scrambled eggs, curd and beans, a freshly made omelet comal and good
black coffee, they are much better.
Today that you realize how much our Campesinos are worth, buy their
products and show them with a smile your affection and your gratitude,
because they are the true pillars of our Homeland.
