“Right, Sombra, tell me, who runs this place?”

“Gómez does. Juan Vicente Gómez. A very interesting character, Fierro. He has run this place for about four decades.”

“Long. He must have been good with the facón.”

“With the machete, he was, yes, but not only, Fierro; he was a cunning leader, too.”

“Tell me more, Sombra, the distilled Gómez, the rum of him.”

“Like with cats, there are many ways to skin Venezuelans. One way renders them into Andinos or not.”

“Andinos like from the mountains, Sombra?”

“Precisely, men from the Andes, as opposed to those of the lowlands, are more reserved, more tradition oriented, more ritualistic, and more respectful of authority and are a population whose elite is mostly comprised of landowners and clergy. In Gómez's particular case, even more so. He came from Táchira, so far away, so close to Colombia, that it was mostly left alone. People made their living off the land, mostly on cattle, no slaves nor latifundia; poor schooling, too. In being traditional they were also finicky guardians of loyalty.”

“So, Sombra? What is wrong with that?”

“Nothing, Fierro, but knowing that helps to understand Gómez. In being a farmer of his family's land for almost a century, he learned of the responsibility that goes with it. He learned management tools there and then, and not much more because his father died early and he had to take over the family business.”

“Not a bad school at all, Sombra!”

“Indeed, Fierro, but those were times of duress and threats. Not surprisingly, he believed that punishment kept people's minds focused on getting on with their duties.”

“Nothing wrong with that either, Sombra!”

“Yes, all this is very basic, Fierro. At the farm, Gómez also developed a keen understanding of how to make sure orders were carried out. He would wake earlier than his men, while it was still dark, and survey progress with his own eyes and provide feedback a few hours later. The sun had been up a long time when he would have an Andino breakfast that would keep him for most of the rest of the day, throughout his life, as the belief in the elevating power of hard work and punishment would, too.”

“A bit like Rosas, Sombra.”