Where is Gonzalo Lira? Fears for YouTuber missing in Ukraine's Kharkov article
- Thread starter Meg
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Ina
The Living Force
Much like ... 'Stay tuned for the Major Counteroffensive, coming this summer!'I don not understand. He is leaving this country and he is putting a video, on Youtube saying that?
Yeah, I was thinking the same. The Ukraininan border with Poland has long had a reputation for being corrupt, and people would normally have dollars on them to skip the queue and cross the border quicker. I can imagine this being the case on other parts of the Ukraininan border too. From what I've heard, this has also been happening since the war started, so it's not impossible to leave Ukraine if one has the financial means - even though there are efforts to curb this. However, someone like him, who is a bit of a public figure, may encounter more issues than an anonymous individual would. I can imagine Ukraine doesn't want to expose the possibility of people leaving.
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He said that by the time the video is online, he will already cross the border. And if they really didn't want him to cross the border, they wouldn't give him all the documents.I don not understand. He is leaving this country and he is putting a video, on Youtube saying that?
I also think that coming to Serbia and then taking a flight to Russia would probably be his best option.
Ok, thanks. I just listened the third video. I think Russia is a good option, Serbia also. We will see.
He told a story in the videos that I found very interesting, and it actually went to explain something that didn't quite seem to make sense about him in the past, and gave an insight into his character, which actually makes me think that bribing the border guards may not have even crossed his mind.
He said that while he was detained, he was talking to some other prisoners. He told them about his previous arrest at the beginning of last year. I think he said that when he was released back then, he was told that he wouldn't get his travel documents, passport, paperwork etc., back and that he was not allowed to travel, not allowed to leave the country.
But they gave him back all his documents, including his passport.
Well, since he had been told by the authorities that he was not to leave the country, he just didn't. When he told this story to his fellow detainees, they laughed at him and told him that when the authorities gave him back his passport, it was their way of telling him that he should get out of Ukraine and stop causing the authorities a headache.
I think the fact that he stayed gives this insight into his character. I actually understand it. Anyone who has followed anything he's done over the last year always asked the same question, "What the hell is he doing in Ukraine?" But when he says he stayed because he was told to by the authorities, I really believe him. I think it ties in with the authoritarian follower mindset. I know that sounds weird based on the fact that he spent all his time putting out anti-establishment material, but I think the command he was given speaks to a different part of his psyche than the part that views what's going on 'politically'. It seems to me the same effect that lockdowns had on a lot of people around the world. I think a lot of people wore masks and stayed home, but they still knew it was all BS.
And now, ironically, it was this conversation he had with these fellow inmates that convinced him that he should try to leave Ukraine now - since he was, once again, given back all of his travel documents, despite needing to appear in court soon.
And so, I think Lira is actually 'too honest', as in, not 'sly' enough. I don't think it would have crossed his mind to try and bribe his way out of the country, despite the fact that anyone who has followed the goings-on in Ukraine over the years should know that corruption is rife and bribery is basically normalised and the way things get done over there.
I wouldn't be surprised if he failed to make it across the border.
SOTTREADER
The Living Force
Why can't he fly back to Chile or the US?
It seems to me that some type of option involving Russia/Russians would have been a safer strategy. I guess the fact that he can’t speak/understand Russian or „Ukrainian“ probably made options of that kind too risky for his liking. Since after all, given the situation, it would have been hard to trust persons you can’t understand: What if they are Ukrainian agents?
Non sens.
I think it makes no sense and shows incredible naivety. Also a lack of protection for oneself, maybe childishness to make 3 videos before escaping. Is it to show he's worthy? Courageous? Knowledge protects and he should know that at a certain point you don't play with fire. He may say that his videos will appear when he's already safe, but that's something we'll have to see. If he has a mobile, he's being followed, that's for sure.
Either, in my humble opinion, he's an idiot, or it's all theater. His arrest, the fact that he was tortured, his imprisonment, and so on. When you're running for your life, for your safety, you keep quiet and disappear without shouting it to the heavens. I'm thinking!
Very strange, yes indeed.
Yup, I was talking with others about just this. We thought that he lacked some "street smarts" and acted very naïve. Also, we floated the idea that not only he stayed in the country because of his familial ties, but maybe because there is a misplaced rebelliusness against a clearly fascist state, not understanding or not wanting to understand the danger he was putting himself in.
ApotheosisMMC.
Jedi Council Member
There can be quite a lot of ego-enthusiasm in his decisions, after all maybe he sees it as "he's about to win" given his personality... also if he thinks he might not be able to get through border control to a certain extent, that would be interesting According to his vision to record what happened, it seems that everything is more or less in line with his daring attitude.
It could be the authoritarian follower mindset, or it could be what Raine (of Anatomy of Violence fame) described as 'anticipatory fear'. It's the fear of getting caught or punished that is instilled in us as children, and it's basically what helps keep us on the straight and narrow in life. It's also one of the things that differentiate normal people from psychopaths, who have no such mechanism.
I guess it can be stronger in some than in others, and Lira may be a particularly strong case. I'm not sure if authoritarian followers have enough capacity for individual thinking to go against what the establishment and the MSM are saying and do what he's done, but I guess there may be degrees of authoritarian followership too, I don't know.
I haven't followed him very closely so I haven't picked up on what you described, but he certainly is acting a bit strange and careless - if not just plain naive. Like Navigator said above, he does seem to lack an element of being street smart. Or there's more to his whole story than he's been revealing.