"Perfectamente Bien!"

(Perfectly Fine!)

One of the most enjoyable parts of being an attorney when I practiced law in Puerto Rico was learning from the elders. Being an attorney himself, my father was usually surrounded by his folkloric lawyer friends.

After years of practicing law, I had the privilege of litigating a case by the side of a true legend: attorney Manuel Martinez, or Manolo.

Brilliant, fearless, and an expert litigator, Manolo was the lead counsel in the environmental case that got me targeted. Working alongside him for ten years was like attending my favorite law school seminar. Although he was considerably older than me, he treated me as an equal.

My dear friend in my previous life

Manolo was friends with people in powerful places, which explains why I got targeted and he did not.

With Manolo I learned a lot of law, litigation, discipline, and assertiveness. He had exquisite taste, and a great sense of humor.

Whenever anyone asked him how he was doing, he always answered:

PERFECTAMENTE BIEN!

(PERFECTLY FINE!)

After a few years of hearing him answer that every time anyone asked how he was doing, I asked him: why do you always give the same answer?

Even though there was no one around when I asked, in a whisper and placing his hand in front of his face as if preventing anyone from hearing his secret, he told me:

“Because my friends get happy to know that I am PERFECTLY WELL, but my enemies seethe. It’s a win-win situation.”

I believe that his habit also perpetuated his good mood, health, productivity, and impeccable work ethics.

//

BUILDING HABITS

As victims of torture, sometimes it is hard to reply to anyone asking how we are doing so much as “O.K.” Many of you have taken to reply: “as good as possible, under the circumstances.”

Allow me to suggest to try changing this habit. When someone asks you, reply with your most enthusiastic voice: “PERFECTLY FINE!

For one, your friends will be happy. For another, you will not give the perps the pleasure of relishing on how the pain they inflict actually hurts you. For another: by perpetuating positivism in your life, you create your reality.

Try it. You have nothing to lose and tons to win.

Let’s eradicate complaining from our lives, and see how that goes.

I think you will feel better.

//

Even before learning that I was a targeted individual in the summer of 2021, I was never able to talk again to my dear friend. He evaded me, probably because he knew the criminals would hurt him and his family if he told me what was going on. I assume he would not be able to look at me in the eye and not tell me the tragedy that I was going through.

I never contacted him again.

A friend told me that he had the privilege of assisting him recently on a case. He reported that although old and frail, he still has a beautiful mind and continues to reply “PERFECTAMENTE BIEN” when someone asks how he’s doing.

My friendship with Manolo is one of the precious treasures of my life that the criminals took away from me.

Fortunately, his lessons will forever live with me. Perhaps the most important one he ever taught me (aside from his customary greeting) was the following:

“For people to respect you, you have to make them.”

(Para que te respeten, te tienes que dar a respetar.”)

What he meant by that, is that you have to be fearless, courageous, and make your adversaries know that you are relentless and invincible in the pursuit of your goal. Nothing less than being fearless.

I pass Manolo’s wisdom to you because it is too precious to keep to myself.

When in doubt, I always turn to this motto. And more often than not, the correct choice is the hardest one, the one that entails courage and determination.

When we fight back, and show the criminals we are not scared of them, they begin to understand that theirs is a lost battle.

Because it is.