Country of Fear

The main protagonist of El país del miedo is a man who lives in fear. Not a paralysing or hysterical fear, but a constant, underlying foundation of angst that is always present. He is afraid that his son is going to be kidnapped, his wife raped. He is afraid of street gangs, of violent teenagers, of the desperate, the envious, of those who threaten the comfortable middle class that he belongs to. He knows that his fear is exaggerated, even unfounded. He knows that the sensation of insecurity is actually a smokescreen to hide other, more profound forms of fear. His fear, previously secondary, has now become a central aspect of his existence after he becomes involved in a situation of conflict: a situation that could have been solved in a simple way, which becomes complicated becaus of his incapacity to take decisions without fear. Ultimately, he must undertake a search for a way to escape his fears.