"We all keep neighborhood trophies, from back when we won a little contest at the end-of-year party or our children received a swimming badge. They are intimate treasures gathering dust in drawers at home, proof of a life punctuated by flashes of joy greater than any lottery win. Not that they were small steps for the individual and giant leaps for humanity, quite the opposite: they are insignificant to others, but represent pure unadulterated joy for the personal stories of the people we love."
"That's why the humiliation of Maria Corina Machado is so grotesque, as we watched her handing over her award to the emperor of this new absolutist regime, bowing down in exchange for a pittance, or for nothing at all. And this isn't an award winner generously parting with the trophy to dedicate it to the victims she is fighting for; no, this is vassalage, surrendering to the autocrat who will dictate Venezuela's future. It's called flattery, bribery, indecency."
People keep small trophies as intimate tokens of personal joy and memory. Personal trophies differ fundamentally from international honors like the Nobel Peace Prize, which carry symbolic and political weight. A public act of handing an award to an authoritarian figure transforms recognition into submission. That handover becomes a form of vassalage and a surrender of moral authority, rather than a generous dedication to victims. Flattery, bribery, and indecency corrupt the meaning of honors and can undermine broader democratic efforts. Public ceremonies in powerful venues can turn principles into political bargains, deepening collective humiliation.
Read at english.elpais.com
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