CARIBBEAN BUSINESS THURSDAY, MAY 12, 2011 SPECIAL FEATURE COLUMN 18 CARIBBEAN BUSINESS THURSDAY, MAY 12, 2011 39 There be dragons RAFAEL HERNÁNDEZ COLÓN Escrivá in the movie, they came down hard on saint, because…if you are a saint, that means you him, Da Vinci Code style. “Opus Dei is a fas- stand for something. he Spanish Civil War cist organization,” one of them said. “They have “What did Josemaría stand for? The key to POS Caribbean: Point-of-sale leader makes leap into Puerto Rico T(1936-1939) was a bitter, slaughtered thousands of people,” said another. the saint’s principles was found in his times— bloody and cruel engagement Others charged that Opus Dei “controls” the particularly the political upheaval of the Spanish BY ANGELA VARGAS hours at most. If for some reason the equipment between the Spanish left and Church; that “hundreds” of cardinals and “thou- Civil War, an era of ‘mass production of politics.’ can’t be restored to working order, POS Caribbean right. It profoundly divided sands” of bishops are members; that their mem- Josemaría’s resistance to the ideological pres- nitiating operations in Mexico in the early guarantees replacement so the client can continue Spain at the time and for a bership is kept secret, and so on. sures of his era was an act of supreme courage I1990s, POS Caribbean Inc., which offers plug- regular operations. number of decades afterward. Here is Joffé’s response to the litany of prepos- and grace. and-play services in the information-technology POS Caribbean is currently in a strategic phase The divisions, fueled by deep terous charges: “Each saint is asked a different question by his (IT) area for the hospitality and retail industries, whereby it is tending to a niche consisting of busi- hatreds, were ideological, period of history, and that question becomes the currently serves most Latin American countries nesses looking to grow. The company distinguish- with the Nacionales, the reli- central thing of his life. When the world was split- but, its name nothwithstanding, has only recently es itself by making premium products available at gious, authoritarian right fi ghting the republican, ting up ideologically, this man fought very hard made the leap into the Caribbean. affordable rates to any enterprise that might need socialist, anarchist or communist left. It pitted When Joffé’s friends heard for the idea of freedom of choice, but the impor- “The Caribbean has always been an area tra- this structure on a systems level. sons against their fathers and brothers against he was involving Escrivá in tance of choice—the importance of owning every ditionally abandoned by fabricators. The main “We are an element, an instrument, for better brothers. Roland Joffé, the agnostic British di- choice you make in your life. Making your choices reason is logistics,” said Rogelio Acevedo, presi- operations and controls within a business,” the rector, whom we remember by his Oscar-win- the movie, they came down in such a way that you feel proud of them. dent & founding partner of POS Caribbean. “Most company president said. “We have done a number ning movie, “The Mission,” or by “The Killing hard on him, Da Vinci Code “Suddenly, and maybe for the fi rst time in fabricators, not just in the IT sector, regularly stay of analyses in the area, and they show that from Fields” or “City of Joy,” chose the Spanish Civil human civilization, we were required to be the on the continent to do business out of Panama, the moment clients install a certifi ed product, their War as the setting for his newest fi lm, “There Be style. “Opus Dei is a fascist Model T of your particular ideology. Freedom of Mexico or Miami. It was always a challenge to sales increase by 10%.” Dragons,” which will begin to be shown in local organization,” one of them choice wasn’t the issue. The question was: Will enter the Caribbean market directly, and fi nally, Such an increase owes 2% to a company’s over- theaters this month. you be this kind of human being, acting in this in 2007, we fi ne-tuned all the legal and fi nancial all improvement of operations, while the balance The title is taken from old medieval maps, said. “They have slaughtered kind of way? One began to see this sort of division resources to come to Puerto Rico.” is the plain and simple result of a sales increase which marked the unknown or unchartered ar- occurring in Spain in an extraordinary way—a Acevedo said the company is establishing a pres- Mexico-based POS Caribbean Inc. President & due to theft reduction and greater control, Acevedo eas as “Hic Sunt Dracones” or “There Be Drag- thousands of people.” precedent for what was going to happen in Europe ence on the island to meet the market’s need for Founding Partner Rogelio Acevedo said that by said. ons.” It seemed appropriate to Joffé because the in the following years. local attention and direction. joining Par Technology Corp., his company started In spite of these economically uncertain times, fi lm would take him into the unchartered waters “[I]n this moment of time, there comes this By joining Par Technology Corp., world leader a venture in which both enterprises excel. POS Caribbean has managed to grow by 200% in of saintliness and the bitter history of a country “I hate to break this to you, but there isn’t really young man who resists that pressure, who says, in systems & service solutions and initiator of what recent years in a full spectrum of the company’s that wasn’t his own. It is also a metaphor for a such a thing as Opus Dei—in the sense of some among many profound things, ‘Own your own today are known as point-of-sale solutions, POS functions: employees, vehicles, tools, equipment, theme that runs throughout the movie: the need kind of society with an opinion about something. acts, and never allow your decision-making to Caribbean started a venture in which both com- To have its offering fully plug and play, as communications and facilities. It is, understand- to face up to hate and rejection, or the thirst for I investigated Opus Dei, and I began to fi nd a very dehumanize others.’ That was a powerful thing to panies excel. Acevedo says, POS Caribbean needs to employ ably, diffi cult to predict where it will be in fi ve vengeance or justice. important thing: Opus Dei is a group of people do at the time. I admired that message about him. “When we paired up with Par [1994], the world a number of other services, such as consulting, years, but Acevedo knows what he wants the com- The plot is structured around the experienc- who come together to work on their spiritual life, I hope I could be that kind of human being. was in the middle of a computing war. At the creation and installation of databases, software pany to be doing. es, in the context of the Spanish Civil War, of to work on their relationship with God. But Opus “Though science may try to tell us we are some time, restaurants and establishments would use development and a bilingual help desk available “Simple: Serving our clientele with an affordable two childhood friends whose lives bifurcate in Dei doesn’t have a point of view, other than to say result of chemicals and electrical impulses, and old-fashioned cash registers,” Acevedo recalled. 24/7, while topping its catalog off with its 4-to-48 global structure,” he said. “We are offering local late adolescence, one going into the seminary that what you believe you must stand up for—and that we have no free will, what should we do? “Nowadays, these machines are last-generation hour guarantee. enterprises a premium-level product, and that is the and becoming a priest, the other (Manolo) into you must take responsibility for your choices. At the very worst, we have ‘free won’t’—which computers with integrated processors, memory, The management of service guarantees it will future because this will allow small and midsize a relaxed lifestyle and the “Beyond that, Opus Dei means we have decisions about doing something controllers and video cards. This allows for a host be handled locally, ensuring POS Caribbean will businesses the potential to evolve into a regional, Ⅲ family business. When the doesn’t tell people what to besides not to do it. For all your lives, there will of functions for software.” take care of a given product malfunction within 48 or international, entity.” Civil War envelops them, think and, in some sense, that is be choice, and there is something about us human Manolo takes up murder to very beautiful. It also is shock- beings that is capable of exercising that choice. avenge the murder of his ing to a culture that is used to “When you think about a saint, you aren’t re- father by the republicans large political and ideological ally thinking about a sort of continuum. You are and becomes an undercover groups. Here, you have a group thinking about lots of acts—lots of times when agent for the Nacionales; his that shares some things, but different things could have been chosen, but cer- friend doesn’t take sides, but not everything. We know that tain things were. is persecuted as a priest by when you belong to a party, “So, I felt, with Josemaría’s life, what I was the republicans. Eventually, most of the time, you are be- looking at was a series of choices. If you imagine Manolo comes up against ing told to toe the party line, in those like beads on a necklace, you could say that his friend, who is trying to one way or another. There isn’t after many choices have been made, this man get away from Spain. The an Opus Dei party line. was a saint. But it was each individual act that denouement shows us that “That means some people counts.” Ⅲ forgiveness is the way to es- won’t like the conservative cape confl ict and violence. members of Opus Dei they meet, or they may not Rafael Hernández Colón is a three-term (12-year) To set the movie deeper into the historical con- like the liberal members of Opus Dei they meet. former governor of Puerto Rico (1973-76 and 1985-92). text, Joffé chose as the priest the young Josemaría I can assure you that all those sorts of opinions He served as Justice secretary (1965-67) and Senate Escrivá de Balaguer, who later would go on to do exist inside Opus Dei. president (1969-72). He was president of the Popular establish Opus Dei. He came upon Josemaría “In a way, it was Josemaría’s very ‘controversi- Democratic Party for 19 years. Comments on this article through a videotape he saw in South America, ality’ that made him interesting. I don’t think an are welcome at caribbeanbusiness.pr. Go to Sign in link which impressed Joffé as to his wisdom and sin- uncontroversial saint is a very good idea. I’m not on the homepage. Emails also may be sent to column@ cerity. When his friends heard he was involving quite sure how you could be an uncontroversial caribbeanbusinesspr.com.