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Sunday 05 January 2003


NO BIG SURPRISE

Another (rather biased) editorial
by Michael Jean Nystrom-Schut


When Enrique finally broke his silence a few days ago it certainly came as no surprise to many of us. 

Personal friends had begun to make the suggestion that it might be “about time to go on with life.” They felt that to remain so positive about Enrique, while staying tuned to each developmental “blow by blow,” could only keep me stuck in my “funk,” and prolong the time for me needed to snap back to the “real world.”

But I had already done that necessary stuff, quite some time ago…

Still, it is possible for one to reach a place of detachment and yet still maintain an ongoing conviction describing a completely different outcome. In other words, while I had resolved the issue of what has “happened” to us, I still maintain that things can ultimately work out in a positive way.

Life is brutally short, that’s true. Who really has time to entertain dreams that are not possible of coming true? I sure don’t.

I still, however, say that anything Enrique does which points towards his ultimately overcoming his (and our) little problem, is simply to be expected of the man…and should not come as a surprise to us.

It did not surprise me that he remained silent for as long as he did. When you examine his options in light of the unfolding developments, silence was quite a reasonable thing to maintain.

Why, on the brink of a new year, did he choose to break his own silence, and not before, or not yet still further into the fresh year that was coming upon us?

Was it a flair for the dramatic? Perhaps he is a consummate over-comer, an eternal optimist, and a hopeless believer in right winning out over wrong?

Like all of us, he probably wished to start a new year off on the right foot…

As has been pointed out before, we have two completely different scenarios when it comes to Enrique, and Luis (…the Cuban). And I am sure that the latter is not giving much thought to anything other than how he can maintain himself and his own safety and security.

Enrique, on the other hand, is preoccupied with how he can settle the score, return to a rightful place of dignity, and overcome these human obstacles that keep him from gaining victory over his “enemies,” doing so in the name of personal pride, and in the Greater name of his personal God.

When it comes to Enrique, you have to always remember a few things. First of all, he is a man of great and unusual personal character, getting that honestly, perhaps, from the legacy of his being born of good parentage, and also coming to understand it through the natural progression of trail and error that often occurs in our human evolution along the Great Chain of our Being.

Even before much of his private spiritual evolution, his military efforts added to character dimensions that are quite rare for this day and age. When the right combination of military and religious convictions is placed together in the same personality, unusual character has the potential to develop.

A very dear friend of Enrique’s, whom I’ll simply call Mr. B, is now a great friend of Duke and myself. He is of this same rare moral character and he has shared much insight into this with us. What I speak about is quite unusual, but it does still occur in humans.

I submit that Enrique is not a coward. Not a quitter. Not a man faint of heart. There is so much more to this man than what normally you might expect from your “average person.” When I say this, I don’t have blinders on…and I think I also have a skeptical attitude towards characters that may be just the opposite as he.  

Since this profile of being of such high moral fiber might be true of him, do you think that he can be satisfied with simply curling up and calling it quits?

That’s not Enrique. He’s not planning to do anything like that.

He can, however, be stopped. What can do that? His government can do it. Or maybe even one or more of his radical investors can do it. He has suggested that if he’s in jail or dead, maybe that will stop him. Yes, it very well might.

I took that particular segment of his recent message as a good sign; only death or imprisonment can put an end to this man and his business. If someone who invests with him decides to try and bring harm to him, that might stop him right there.

If they do catch him, and throw him in the slammer alongside Osvaldo, then how, I ask, can that possibly enable him to work on our behalf?

So we all should continue to encourage Enrique to take care of himself, and remain out of the hands of the authorities. The “wanted posters” and rewards for his apprehension are as sublime and absurd as anything in this has been since the beginning of the fiasco back in July.

If the country that he loves continues to push so hard for his downfall, and if enough investors demonstrate disdain and mistrust for him, what is left for him to continue to do? This is something we should fear; how much can one man take?

But I don’t fear that he will be tempted just to keep my dollars. Enrique has his own money; the last thing he wants to do is keep mine. Know it by now: This man is not a thief that he should steal from us…wrong profile.

What he really wants is to continue his business as he has been doing. But that’s something that is going to require a few breaks…and some cooperation too. 

There is no good reason why the Costa Rican government and Enrique can’t still get in the frame of mind to strike up some kind of a deal.

We can get started on something like this with a favorable hearing in court this week.

I think at one point, a compromise would have been something that Enrique may not have considered. We have encouraged him and his lawyers to think about it now; a lot of water has passed under the proverbial bridge, and things are forever different.

Sure, there are now some new things that will be required of him in order to return to business. But considering his individual economic impact on the country, why, in their right minds, would the government not want to get something worked out with him?

What have they got to gain by making Enrique some kind of head trophy, or feather in their cap? How can they possibly think they are better off with him out of everyone’s way?

I repeat my now-worn theme: Nothing Enrique Villalobos would do, as long as it is honest and right, would be a big surprise to me. I have been given the hard-earned gift of a glimpse into the heart of the man himself. What I see and sense does enough to keep me believing in him, pretty much no matter what. 

I can’t say that he will ever get himself back into the mainstream of his own business. But it won’t be that he didn’t try; he never wanted any of this, and I am grateful that he continues to work the channels that might restore some part of his business to its past glory.

As for what we might have learned from all of this, we could cite much. But there is no doubt that when banks pay us our paltry few pennies on the dollar, they are indeed ripping us off. Anyone who does not see this has not come to their own reality over the processes of denial. 

Smart businesspeople can always make big money. And if they have the resources, they are always going to do well. This should not surprise anyone either. 

I suggest that our only real hope is to continue to understand that it is Enrique who can process these complex business matters, and not the government or anxious investors or anyone else. It’s on him, just him…but he needs to be given the chance. 

Don’t be surprised if he resurfaces and gets back on track. I won’t. On the other hand, I am quite sure I will pass out with shock if the Cuban ever does a thing on his own to repay a single cologne to anyone who ever invested with him.

Enrique never wanted any of this to happen to him, and, with the longevity of his business dealings, he probably never saw it coming to this. Concerning the actual letter that was sent to the on-line newspaper AMCostaRica (La Nacion got it too, but for some reason chose not to print it…) his words read clearly.

Although much has already been said about it, I would like to take a few moments to briefly comment/summarize Enrique’s nine (9) basic points: 

Point (1) Enrique forthrightly asks about just what law he has really broken in trying to earn a living as a legitimate businessman. Any capitalist, living in the West, can relate to that; he has not broken any major laws…and that is that… 

Point (2) Enrique (as is the case with his brother, Osvaldo) does not like drugs and never, ever will. He knows that, and we all know that. He simply asks the authorities to show how he is or has been a party to anything to do with drugs…

Point (3) The “system” (as well as the press) is being unfair to him. Who, armed with all of the real facts, can deny that this has not been the case? He states that it is obvious that he has not been given fair treatment in any part of this…

Point (4) The other financial entities had money from the drug guys too…but nothing was said or done about them: more common-sense analysis from him Enrique, who can’t help like all of us wonder out loud just what is going on in this three-ring circus…

Point (5) Enrique makes the observation that banks and other lending authorities are literally robbing their customers by charging them ridiculous rates, and paying out little towards invested accounts. That just doesn’t make sense to him, a man who has always rewarded his own partners most generously…

Point (6) Enrique reminds us that many of the long-term investors have emerged big winners with doing business with him, and in fact, how could he be any kind of a  “pyramid company” in structure, when he has lasted for so many years? More to think about…

Point (7) This is Enrique’s attempt to state that rumors and speculation about his business (size, width, breadth, scope, purpose, etc.) have not been accurate, and that it is a problem when outside others try to describe someone else’s business from that point of view…

Point (8) If you read this carefully, it is obviously a very, very important one. He suggests what is obvious to so many of us: it is Enrique and Enrique alone who can do something about all of this. But if he is dead, or if he is apprehended and goes to jail, then there is nothing he can do from either of those positions to help anyone else. He further suggests that he is very interested, if he is able to do it, to work out the financial matters between himself and his partners. Finally, he thanks the “faithful,” but also expresses an understanding of why others would have come to wane in their faith and hope…

Point (9), and lastly, is his common and “trademark” plea to God for help, which is something that can be found at work in all areas of his life. He suggests that this is who he is, a noble, honest man of God, and that he wants to honor his earthly commitments. Furthermore, he said he always did the right thing right up until the government intervened, and he was no longer able to do it anymore…

None of these observations shock me. They are very Enrique-like in character. I had a nice laugh when a prominent newspaper editor wrote me yesterday and suggested that it was I (Michael Nystrom-Schut), and not Enrique, who was the real author of the Enrique transmission.

No. I did not write Enrique’s words. Enrique did. And they come from a man not criminally wanted, but innocently blamed, yet still willing and wanting to return to rectify all of what has happened as best he is still able to still do it.

Again…and to repeat myself…he does not consider our money his money. Rather, he is attempting to steward our money as best he can, under the rather grim circumstances we all currently face.

With his own well-earned money to support himself, Enrique hardly needs our money. He does have a need to go through whatever restoration steps are necessary in order for him to be able to settle the financial accounts of his large body of creditors.

We all know full well what is in the way of this. And while it was quite understandable at first, it is with growing obviousness that we see it is now a time where something needs to be worked out between the government, and Enrique’s very capable legal team. Otherwise the nightmare of this will not begin to dissipate for any of us.

No, I was not surprised when Enrique (and not me or anyone for him!) finally spoke out. I was, however, reassured in yet one more way of the goodness and innocence of this man. 

On the other hand, anyone will greatly surprise me on the day when they have brought the concrete evidence convincing me that he is not what I have believed him to be.

Until then…

For all the digging, researching, investigating and lead chasing my great friend Duke and I have done, we can scrape up nothing “dirty” whatsoever on our man. 

As they say, he is all that, and then some.

As this ordeal drags on, I continue to maintain my highest respect and confidence in both he and Osvaldo, and pray sincerely for their safety, happiness and peace. 

And though it would not surprise me for this to be all over some day soon, it would fully serve to reinvigorate some of my faith in the basic rightness of life if it would come out in a way that restored THE BROTHERS to their rightful positions as men of honor, intelligence and truth.