Since the advent of globalization and the financialization of the economy, the few people who truly matter have vanished from reality, acquiring an ethereal quality. They are no longer earthly; their numbers are dwindling, and we cannot place them anywhere in particular. Large landowners, the wealthy of yesteryear, operated in specific locations. This was the case in the 19th and for much of the 20th centuries. Industrialists and financiers had a homeland; they identified with a culture, territory, and people. They wanted to be part of a community and be recognized as its most prominent members. Whether industrialists, financiers, or rentiers, the ruling classes, while continuing to exploit their contemporaries as much as possible, had limits and made certain gestures, precisely to be recognized as patrons or benefactors. They wanted to distinguish themselves, but they asserted their belonging by leaving traces of being from a specific place. In Catalonia, there exists a large bourgeoisie that, in other times, wanted to be respected, recognized, and valued, even though its main business was the slave trade. The Botín family, who amass their fortunes through banking across the globe, are careful to maintain a privileged relationship with Santander, the city that lends its name to their business. Their attempt to remain grounded in reality didn't necessarily make things fairer, but it did mitigate inequality somewhat, acknowledge its existence, and foster a connection with the people and the region, even if they always looked down upon them.

This Saturday morning marks just two weeks since we woke up, first and foremost, to the news of the bombings of Caracas—nearly 100 deaths, unpunished and already forgotten. Then, with radios on and mobile phones constantly connected, like those days when everyone remembers where they were and what they were doing, we heard the live broadcast of the kidnapping of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores. So much could have happened, and it's still surprising how little actually did. The next day, that is, the cartel The name Los Soles disappeared from the prosecution's indictment. Only oil and ideology remained. putsch From Trump. Circle the tale. And yes: it's only been 15 days since the Donroe Doctrine—and two centuries since the Monroe Doctrine. And yet, it already seems like an eternity—both the fifteen days and the two centuries. On the tightrope of the cannibalistic raffle of the new year, the thick doubt of who will be next to receive: Greenland, Iran, Colombia, Cuba, Mexico, Gaza again, or Ukraine again. And the EU playing the fool. 2026 has begun with the jumble of confusion, the farewell to yesterday's world, and teetering along several cliffs whose destination we'll see, because if we already know how the year has started, the important thing is to get involved so that it doesn't end as some intend. Pornographically, there is this brutal declaration from Lieutenant Stephen Miller, both inside and outside the walls, which has blown everything up: "The real world is governed by force and power: these are the iron laws of the world." The brutality being justified is everywhere: Delta Force is now the global equivalent of what ICE is at home. The same cruelty, inside and out, but with resistance both within and outside the country. And with Renee Nicole Good killed by an agent who had fought in Iraq. When Trump kills equally at home and abroad.