In this first‑person narrative, the speaker recounts the harrowing departure of his family from Venezuela as political violence escalated, with machine‑gun‑armed forces threatening their home. Over the next eight or nine months, his father, then 39, tirelessly sought protection by meeting high‑level officials—including the interior minister—in Caracas, but was ignored. The family possessed a deed to land they had cultivated, growing bananas and pineapples, and they cherished the language, people, and culture. The father's inability to secure safety broke his heart, contributing to his early death, a loss the speaker deeply regrets not having discussed more openly. Looking back, the speaker sees the forced exit as a blessing, believing that staying would have led to loss under the later regimes of Chávez and Maduro. The story blends vivid personal loss, cultural affection, and a retrospective assessment that the early “farm abortion” saved them from future devastation.
