This post is about a reflection of Puttin visiting Bulgaria in 2007
In 2007 during the wintertime, Puttin came to visit Bulgaria. Many people want it to protest and there were several protest organizations.
Many Bulgarians did not like Puttin coming to Bulgaria because he was always involved in scandals in destabilizing our democracy and political freedom through changing gas and atomic fuel prices which were essential for the Bulgarian economy. Putin caused several Bulgarian economic crises all related to decisions the Bulgarian Government took about foreign policies.
For this particular protest, we had about a thousand people who want it to come and many of us made it. In Bulgaria, by law, all protests need to be approved by the city, and places and times need to be designated for them. Our protest received approval from 8-10 pm after dark in January in freezing cold weather of just about 5 degrees on Farenghigh. When we arrived at the protesting site, everything was covered with thick ice, and the city did not bother to clean it or put salt on it. People were falling and injuring themselves on the ice.
When the protest started suddenly, all the street lights turned off, and the microphones and the tech became silent. There was light everywhere on the streets around us, and just our protesting spot was completely blacked out. People start using flashlights, phones, and lighters to illuminate the area. The Bulgarian government at that time did everything to silence the protestors and the Russian delegacy, never to hear from us.
I was at this protest, and although no big Bulgarian TV stations showed up at our rally, there were few international photographers. One photo taken of me made it to the Associated Press. I want to share it with you because today, I absolutely feel the same as 15 years ago and still want to protest against Puttin and his actions of destroying the world’s peace and the staples of democracy in the US and other countries.
Although no one heard of us, we were there few hundred to a thousand people sitting in the dark holding hands, silenced but knowing that no light is brighter than our own.
