(*) Granier has done what few have dared to do. In these times of groupthink and collectivism, individuals also embody archetypes. Thus, in much of the collective imagination of Venezuelans, Marcel Granier and Gustavo Cisneros have ceased to be mere people and have become symbols of the integrity or decline of their homeland. Like Dorian Gray in Oscar Wilde’s novel, or Hendrik Hoefgen in the film MEFISTO by István Szabó, Cisneros has transformed, in our political imagination, into the personification of a typical literary, mythological, and folkloric character: the one who sells his soul to the devil. With the stigma of the encounter with Jimmy Carter and Hugo Chávez, where Venezuela was sacrificed at the altar of Venevisión (Cisneros’ television network), he represents all those individuals who have contributed to the consolidation of totalitarianism for their own benefit, and all those who have bowed their heads and sold their principles and integrity to keep their businesses and profits for just one more day. That is the image of decay, of elite failure who did not take responsibility for the country and yielded to fear and the prospect of continuing to engage in rent-seeking practices.
In contrast, Marcel Granier seems to have stepped out of Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand, a character akin to John Galt and Hank Rearden, archetypes of creative strength and individual freedom unfazed by power. For characters like “Felicitadores” and “Cerebritos,” from The Feast of the Goat by Mario Vargas Llosa, Granier has metaphorically committed business suicide; he has needlessly sacrificed himself due to rigidity and stubbornness. Yet, Granier has done what very few have dared to do: sacrifice his ownership to become a symbol of resistance and integrity. As seen with Globovisión and in some other Venezuelan safe havens, the image of a man who loses his status for loyalty to the homeland is a testament to the potential we still hold to recover our freedom.