VIVA CHAVEZ

 

     

 

       
 

     
Viva Chavez



"We are facing the threat of global challenges stemming from the genocidal, immoral, sick, and corrupt elite currently governing the United States, which appear to have no limits" Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez



        
By Mike Whitney


05/19/06 "Information Clearing House" -- -- Hugo Chavez is a self-made man. He wasn’t piggy-backed into Harvard on a legacy grant (Affirmative Action for plutocrats) or shoehorned into the White House by corporate gangsters. He grew up in a two-room thatched palm-leaf house with his five siblings and dreamt of moving to New York to play baseball for the Yankees. At age 18 he chose to make the most of his meager opportunities by enlisting in the military.

For 17 years, Chavez served his country; gradually moving up the chain of command to lieutenant colonel. Unlike his American counterpart, GW Bush, Chavez never went AWOL during wartime or stumbled through years of idle profligacy peering at the world through beer-goggles.

 While Bush was busy driving three consecutive companies into insolvency and fattening his bank account with the loot from insider-trading scams, Chavez was putting together the Revolutionary Bolivarian Movement; a leftist political organization which promoted redistribution and civil rights.

Chavez was lifted to the presidency on the backs of peasants and working-class people while Bush was selected by 5 venal judges who repealed the democratic process and suspended the counting of ballots.

The differences between the two men go on and on. It is an interesting study in contrasts and one that is particularly relevant to the deteriorating state of world affairs. So far, Bush’s views have carried the day; the global superpower is free to act unilaterally and without concern for either international law or basic standards of decency.

Chavez, however, has presented a competing vision of global integration, collective action, and participatory democracy. His world-view is clearly ascendant.

"Capitalism is barbarism," Chavez says; a point that is persuasively driven home in the daily accounts of butchery in Iraq, Afghanistan or Haiti. In Bush-world the mounting death toll is simply the price of opening new markets like the cheerful ringing of a cash register. Its no wonder the system is collapsing all around him.

Chavez has taken the lead in denouncing Bush and the system that supports him:

"For the horror it has created around the world in the last century, the United States’ war machine should be dismantled. It is a threat against all of mankind, particularly against our children."

He has wisely taken aim at Bush, an indigent patrician without any identifiable qualifications, as the foremost symbol of a system run amok:

"The worst genocidal leader in the history of humanity is the President of the United States. Hitler would be like a suckling baby next to George W Bush… He is a terrorist, a drunkard, and a donkey".

The stark contrast of the two men’s personalities has been a boon to Chavez. Even the feeble attacks by the media have only enhanced his popularity and strengthened his case for socialism:

"This model, the so called American way of life, the extreme capitalism, is not sustainable, life on this planet will come to an end if we continue down this road, that is why we are motivated to seek socialism and abandon capitalism, the individualism, the selfish consumerism, the so called destructive development that is destroying this planet, we are all in danger, and not so much us, our children and grandchildren."

Chavez has been a thumb in the eye of the Bush Empire. His criticism of America’s duplicitous foreign policy resonates with poor and working class people alike.

Presently, he is meeting with leaders of Libya and Algeria (supposedly) to discuss "increased cooperation on oil production" and to develop "social programs for the poor based on oil revenues". Chavez has initiated similar programs at home, but he is using his increased visibility to publicly denounce Bush and American foreign policy:

"We are against America, the imperialist. We don’t accept its hegemony. The whole world should unite against America."

Chavez’s trip comes at a time when there are renewed fears of an attack on Iran. Could it be that the Venezuelan president is actually working behind the scenes to stem the flow of oil if Iran is bombed? Or, maybe he is orchestrating a "run on the dollar" (transfer to euros) which Russia and Venezuela have already threatened? Whatever the plan, he has vehemently condemned the administration’s hostility to Iran while other nations continue to cringe.

"The world needs to do everything possible to avoid the madness of a military attack against Iran. We call upon the government of the United States to halt its warmongering, which will throw the world into an abyss of more wars, more terrorism, more death, and more desolation. Europe has a very important role to play in this, and instead of supporting this war, it should help to stop it."

Chavez has been equally blunt in his criticism of the war in Iraq. In an interview with British Channel 4 he was asked what he would do if he was living in occupied Iraq. Chavez answered:

"If I was an Iraqi I would be resisting. I would be in the trenches; I would have a rocket-launcher; I would be defending the holy sovereignty of my country against the abuses and oppression of the empire."

His sense of moral clarity is a reprieve from the evasive gibberish of other world leaders who try to soften their rhetoric so they don’t offend Washington.

In the same interview Chavez was asked (disdainfully) why people outside of his country "think he is crazy"?

Chavez responded, "If those people think I’m crazy, well, God forgive them, because they are victims of a media campaign. I am just a human being like you; no more, no less. But, I am totally devoted to this cause of equality and justice to see if we can save this planet….The great crazy guy is I Washington, not here."

Chavez is slowly transforming Venezuelan politics and making significant headway in areas of redistribution and social welfare. The country’s 25 million people now have full access to free health care and illiteracy has been eliminated. Government programs now provide15 million people with subsidized food, medicine and other essentials. Medical clinics have sprung up in every barrio in Caracas and college enrollment has increased exponentially.

 Chavez has created a model of governance that is based on human needs rather than rigid ideology. This has made it more difficult to discredit him as dogmatic or authoritarian. His policies of income redistribution have created a burgeoning Venezuelan middle class which is changing the political dynamic throughout Latin America. He has become Washington’s "biggest nightmare" and a threat to America’s economic dominance in the region.

"Let's consider socialism," Chavez said. "Let's debate it and build it. I believe that mistakes were in the economic analysis, and there should be social praxis. 21st century socialism should be based on solid human values."

No one has done more to reenergize the Left than Hugo Chavez. He has become the face of anti-imperialism and the champion of progressive socialism. His views on education, poverty-reduction, social justice, and the equitable distribution of oil revenues are sweeping the hemisphere; brushing aside centuries of colonialism.

The politics of personal accumulation and perennial war are on the decline. Nothing can stop an idea whose time has come. As Chavez says, "We must embrace a new type of socialism, a humanist one, which puts humans, not machines and not the state, above everything".

This century’s Enlightenment is coming from south of the border.

 Viva Chavez.

Pictures added by Gnostic Liberation Front

 

The triumph of Hugo Chavez
and Latin America

 

By Eduardo Dimas

 

As I write this article, the media announce the resounding victory by President Hugo Chávez over his opponent, Manuel Rosales, who acknowledged his defeat.

 

The victory is unquestionable, because Chávez surpassed Rosales by 23 percentage points. Despite the millions of dollars spent by the U.S. government, delivered to the opposition through NED [the National Endowment for Democracy] and USAID [United States Agency for International Development]. Despite the media campaigns against Chávez and the plans to accuse the government of fraud and stage a "Ukrainian coup," as magnate Rafael Poleo told the media, the opposition had no recourse other than recognizing that the elections had been fair.

 

It is easy to understand, I think, that what was at stake in these elections was not only a change of government but also a confrontation between two diametrically opposed political concepts. On one hand, a peaceful revolutionary process whose objective it is to create a new, fairer and more equitable society by means of a campaign of social benefit that encompasses health care, education and the improvement of Venezuelans' living conditions. In addition, the continuity of an independent and sovereign foreign policy that is linked to the fairest causes, worldwide.

 

Also at stake was the continuity of the progress of integration in Latin America, of which Chávez is the principal promoter, not only with his regional energy plans, like PetroSur and PetroCaribe, but also as the main engine for the consolidation of the Southern Common Market (Mercosur) and the incorporation of new members, and the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas (ALBA). Cuba and Bolivia already participate in ALBA and other countries will join it soon.

 

For the United States, Chávez's triumph means a strategic defeat that makes it more difficult for Washington to control the natural resources of Latin America and impose the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA), even though the U.S. continues to sign separate free-trade accords with other countries in the region, such as Colombia.

 

This is the third consecutive political defeat in Latin America suffered by the White House in less than one month. First was the triumph in Nicaragua, on Nov. 5, of Daniel Ortega and the Sandinista Front of National Liberation, against the U.S.-backed candidate, neoliberal Eduardo Montealegre. Ortega won despite threats from the American ambassador and the financial support given to his right-wing opponent.

 

Later, on Nov. 26, economist Rafael Correa -- who defines himself as a Christian Socialist -- won the runoff election in Ecuador. He defeated multimillionaire Álvaro Noboa, the man who had promised to put into effect the free-trade treaty, open the country to foreign investment and break relations with Cuba and Venezuela.

 

Correa is opposed to the free-trade treaty and to a renewal of the contract with the United States over the U.S. air base at Manta. He also hopes to create a Constituent Assembly that will write a new Constitution that will grant rights to the dispossessed, especially the Indians, who make up 70 percent of Ecuador's population.

 

I think that if arrogance and the imperial mentality wouldn't dull the vision of U.S. politicians, they would realize that something is changing in Latin America, because even in the countries where U.S.-backed candidates have won, things are not going well. In Perú, the government of Alan García is headed for disaster, according to most observers.

 

In Mexico, the fraud committed to prevent the triumph of the candidate for the Democratic Revolutionary Party (PRD), Andrés Manuel López Obrador, and give the presidency to Felipe Calderón of the National Action Party (PAN) has provoked an unprecedented polarization of the Mexican society and created a situation whose outcome nobody dares to predict, but that may be violent.

 

Add to this the conflict in Oaxaca, where a huge majority of the population demands the ouster of the governor, a man accused of corruption, misgovernance and abuse of power.

 

It is evident that a change is occurring in Latin America that can lead to a new historic moment. On one hand, there are nationalist governments, such as those in Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay. On the other, there are victories at the polls of progressive leaders from the left and center-left who aim to improve the living conditions of their people, as in Bolivia, Nicaragua, Ecuador, and -- again -- in Venezuela.

 

The common element in all cases -- with individual shadings, of course -- is the rejection of the neoliberal model that has increased a polarization of wealth and placed it in fewer hands. It also has practically finished off the so-called middle class, which historically acted as a buffer between the rich and the poor. As a consequence of that rejection of the economic model, the traditional parties have suffered a serious deterioration and discredit, which a change of name will hardly solve. At the same time, new political forces of a populist nature come to the fore, capable of challenging the old parties and trouncing them at the polls.

 

In my opinion, however, the most important facet of this process is the people's awakening. It can best be expressed as the politicization of broad segments of Latin America's population caused by their poverty, alienation and hopelessness. It's as if this were the awakening of the American Indian, which Martí envisioned, and of the poor people of all races, who begin to defend their right to a better, fairer life.

 

Understanding this change would be vital for the preservation of the interests defended by the government of the United States. It does not appear to be so, however. On Nov. 10, the daily USA Today reported that President George W. Bush, by means of a memorandum to the State Department dated Oct. 2, had authorized the training of military officers from 11 Latin American and Caribbean countries "after a string of leftist candidates came to power in Latin America" this year.

 

According to the newspaper, "the [Bush] administration hopes the training will forge links with countries in the region and blunt a leftward trend." The newspaper recalls that those practices were prohibited since 2002 because some countries did not guarantee U.S. servicemen immunity from war crimes trials.

 

This decision by the U.S. government poses many questions -- and none of the answers are positive. What do Latin American armies have to do with the triumph of leftist policies in Latin America? Can Latin American armies halt the people's exhaustion and the rejection of an economic model that has plunged the population into poverty?

 

How will the Latin American armies "blunt a leftward trend"? By means of another Plan Condor on a regional scale? Are they trying to return to the era of the military dictatorships that killed tens of thousands of people and tortured or forced into exile hundreds of thousands throughout Latin America, from Guatemala to Chile?

 

There is something sinister in that decision by President Doubya Bush, something that, above all, expresses the inability of his administration to recognize that the Latin American region is changing and that those changes cannot be stopped by force because they are the result of an unsustainable situation. And it is very probable that the only result of the use of force will be a radicalization of the changes, which so far have taken peaceful paths.

 

Hugo Chávez, Evo Morales, Néstor Kirshner, Lula, Tabaré Vázquez, Rafael Correa, Daniel Ortega, all of whom came to power in clean and democratic electoral processes -- each from his own political stance, whether leftist, centrist or simply nationalist -- are the result not of a coincidence but of a change, of the end of a scheme of economic domination that has exhausted itself and needs to be replaced. They are, therefore, the product of a historical necessity that cannot be solved by force. The only solution is to put an end to the causes that originated it.

Reproduced from: http://www.progresoweekly.com/index.php?progreso=eduardo_dimas&otherweek=

 

 

 

 

 

THE PROOF IS IN THE DOCUMENTS:

THE CIA WAS INVOLVED IN THE COUP AGAINST VENEZUELAN PRESIDENT CHAVEZ


 By Eva Golinger


On April 12, 2002, White House spokesperson Ari Fleischer stated:

“Let me share with you the administration's thoughts about what's taking place in Venezuela. It remains a somewhat fluid situation. But yesterday's events in Venezuela resulted in a change in the government and the assumption of a transitional authority until new elections can be held.
The details still are unclear. We know that the action encouraged by the Chavez government provoked this crisis. According to the best information available, the Chavez government suppressed peaceful demonstrations. Government supporters, on orders from the Chavez government, fired on unarmed, peaceful protestors, resulting in 10 killed and 100 wounded. The Venezuelan military and the police refused to fire on the peaceful demonstrators and refused to support the government's role in such human rights violations. The government also tried to prevent independent news media from reporting on these events.
The results of these events are now that President Chavez has resigned the presidency. Before resigning, he dismissed the vice president and the cabinet, and a transitional civilian government has been installed. This government has promised early elections.
The United States will continue to monitor events. That is what took place, and the Venezuelan people expressed their right to peaceful protest. It was a very large protest that turned out. And the protest was met with violence.”
On that same day, U.S. Department of State spokesperson Philip T. Reeker, claimed:
“In recent days, we expressed our hopes that all parties in Venezuela, but especially the Chavez administration, would act with restraint and show full respect for the peaceful expression of political opinion. We are saddened at the loss of life. We wish to express our solidarity with the Venezuelan people and look forward to working with all democratic forces in Venezuela to ensure the full exercise of democratic rights. The Venezuelan military commendably refused to fire on peaceful demonstrators, and the media valiantly kept the Venezuelan public informed.
Yesterday's events in Venezuela resulted in a transitional government until new elections can be held. Though details are still unclear, undemocratic actions committed or encouraged by the Chavez administration provoked yesterday's crisis in Venezuela. According to the best information available, at this time: Yesterday, hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans gathered peacefully to seek redress of their grievances. The Chavez Government attempted to suppress peaceful demonstrations. Chavez supporters, on orders, fired on unarmed, peaceful protestors, resulting in more than 100 wounded or killed. Venezuelan military and police refused orders to fire on peaceful demonstrators and refused to support the government's role in such human rights violations. The government prevented five independent television stations from reporting on events. The results of these provocations are: Chavez resigned the presidency. Before resigning, he dismissed the Vice President and the Cabinet. A transition civilian government has promised early elections.
We have every expectation that this situation will be resolved peacefully and democratically by the Venezuelan people in accord with the principles of the Inter-American Democratic Charter. The essential elements of democracy, which have been weakened in recent months, must be restored fully. We will be consulting with our hemispheric partners, within the framework of the Inter-American Democratic Charter, to assist Venezuela.”
Why do I re-cite these statements here? These statements from the highest levels of the U.S. Government show the prepared version of the events that took place during the April 11-12 coup d’etat against Venezuelan President Chávez. Moreover, these revealing statements now prove, in light of documents recently obtained from the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), that this prepared version of events was knowingly false and made with the intention of deceiving the international community in order to justify a violent overthrow of a democratic government.
The White House and the State Department both claimed that the Chávez government had provoked violence and actions that resulted in the President’s alleged resignation. They also asserted that the Chávez government had fired on unarmed, peaceful protesters and that the Venezuelan military and police had refused orders to “support the government’s role in human rights violations”. The U.S. Government referred to the protests and actions of that day as though they were spontaneous, unplanned events. The U.S. Government has also continued to deny to this day any involvement whatsoever in the April 2002 coup d’etat.
However, there is a vast amount of evidence that has surfaced since the coup demonstrating that the events on April 11, 2002 were entirely premeditated by a sector of the opposition intent on overthrowing the Chávez government. Furthermore, my own investigations have provided a plethora of evidence proving the U.S. involvement in the coup on various levels. Most revealing on the Venezuelan front was a news program on Saturday morning, April 12, 2002, “24 Horas” with host Napoleon Bravo. On that program, Bravo interviewed Vice-Admiral Carlos Molina Tamayo, a professed coup leader, and Victor Manuel Garcia, Director of the polling company CIFRA who claimed to have represented the “civil society” during the coup. Both Molina Tamayo and Garcia gave a jaw-dropping, detailed account of the events leading up to the coup and those key Venezuelans involved, including crediting the private televisions stations for their complicity and aide. Their testimony, along with Chacao municipal mayor Leopoldo Lopez of the Primero Justicia political party and Napoleon Bravo’s own admissions of complicity in the coup, provided plenty of proof that the overthrow of Chávez was a premeditated event.
Later, an extraordinary and award-winning documentary by filmmaker Angel Palacios, “Puente Llaguno: Claves de un Masacre”, revealed how the Venezuelan private media had manipulated and distorted the events that unfolded on April 11, 2002 in the opposition march, which resulted in widespread violence and death. The documentary also provided sufficient proof that snipers unrelated to the Chávez government had provoked the violence in the opposition march that justified the forced removal of Chávez from office. Furthermore, the documentary succeeded in proving that a well-planned military-civilian coup d’etat had taken place that day and that those involved were connected to the highest levels of the U.S. government.
But the evidence of actual U.S. involvement in the coup itself remained scarce up until recently. On www.venezuelafoia.info, I have posted hundreds of documents that evidence the intricate financing scheme the U.S. government has been carrying out in Venezuela since 2001, that includes financing well over twenty million dollars to opposition sectors. The funding of the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), a quasi-governmental entity in the U.S. financed entirely by Congress and established by congressional legislation in 1983, has provided more than three million dollars since late 2001 to opposition groups, many of which were key participants in the April 2002 coup. And in June 2002, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), set up an Office of Transition Initiatives (OTI) in the U.S. Embassy in Caracas, allegedly for the purposing of helping Venezuela to resolve its political crisis. The OTI in Caracas has counted on more than fifteen million dollars in funding from Congress since June 2002 and has recently requested five million more for 2005, despite the fact that it was only supposed to be a two-year endeavor. All evidence obtained to date shows that the OTI has primarily funded opposition groups and projects in Venezuela, particularly those that were focused on the August 15, 2004 recall referendum against President Chávez.
I have written other articles explaining the intervention model applied through NED and USAID in Venezuela. This method of intervention is very sophisticated and complex, as it penetrates civil society and social organizations in a very subtle way and is often either undetectable or flimsily justified by the concept of “promoting democracy”, which is what the NED claims to do around the world, despite evidence to the contrary. The mere fact in Venezuela that the NED has financed exclusively anti-Chávez groups and those very same organizations that were involved in the April 2002 coup shows that “democracy” is far from the NED’s intention.
But the CIA intervention in Venezuela is of the crudest, simplest kind. Top secret documents recently obtained and posted on www.venezuelafoia.info show that in the weeks prior to the April 2002 coup against President Chávez, the CIA had full knowledge of the events to occur and, in fact, even had the detailed plans in their possession. An April 6, 2002 top secret intelligence brief headlining “Venezuela: Conditions Ripening for Coup Attempt”, states, “Dissident military factions, including some disgruntled senior officers and a group of radical junior officers, are stepping up efforts to organize a coup against President Chávez, possible as early as this month, [CENSORED]. The level of detail in the reported plans – [CENSORED] targets Chávez and 10 other senior officers for arrest…” The document further states, “To provoke military action, the plotters may try to exploit unrest stemming from opposition demonstrations slated for later this month…”
So the CIA knew that a coup attempt would take place soon after April 6, 2002, and moreover, they knew the plan would include Chávez’s arrest and an exploitation of violence in the opposition march. In other words, they knew the plans before the coup occurred and surely they knew the actors involved, many of whose names are probably in the censored parts of the top-secret documents. One could assume that if the CIA had the detailed plans in their possession in the weeks prior to the coup it was because they were associating and conspiring with the coup plotters. So, when Ari Fleischer and Philip Reeker made those statements on April 12, 2002 on behalf of the U.S. Government, they did so with full knowledge that a coup had taken place, Chávez had been arrested and the violence in the opposition march, which they attributed to Chávez, had actually been a premeditated part of the coup plot. The top secret documents that prove this information show they were sent to the U.S. Statement Department and the National Security Agency, which means frankly, the White House knew what was happening all along.
Furthermore, the CIA documents make no mention of any attempts to have Chávez forcibly resign from office. The CIA warnings indicated as early as March 5, 2002 (which is the date of the earliest document provided) that a coup was on the rise and even hinted that prospects for a successful coup were limited. The CIA rightfully felt the opposition was too disperse and divided to successfully overthrow Chávez. But the concept that Chávez had “resigned” as the White House and State Department “confirmed” on April 12, 2002 was merely a set-up, a false claim made with the intention of deceiving the U.S. public and the international community. Remember that the U.S. stood practically alone in the world in its endorsement of the coup-implemented Carmona Government, which it later weakly condemned but only after the coup came tumbling down and the U.S. realized it needed to save face quickly.
A top secret CIA document from April 14, 2002 shows concern that Latin American governments will view U.S. foreign policy as “hypocritical” because of its sole endorsement of the Carmona coup government. The CIA also seems surprised that the region of Latin America so quickly rejected the coup in Venezuela and that the Carmona government “stunningly collapsed”, which demonstrates a possible out-of-date view of the hemisphere and a failure in intelligence gathering and analysis. In fact, the CIA never imagined the coup would buckle because of support for Chávez – their analysis all along showed possible failure due to lack of opposition unity and hasty actions. This is a very important point, because it demonstrates that although the CIA was involved in the coup plotting and the collaborations with dissident military factions and opposition leaders, it was fairly detached from the reality of Venezuelan society.
The CIA’s intelligence failures in Venezuela were apparently repeated during the oil industry strike later in 2002 and the guarimba destabilization attempt, an old-school CIA tactic applied in Chile and Nicaragua. Both of these harsh actions injured the Venezuelan economy and affected the government’s international image, but failed in their goal to oust President Chávez. The NED’s and USAID’s tens of millions of dollars in financing to build and maintain the opposition movement and finance the recall referendum campaign against President Chávez also failed to achieve their mission. In fact, all of these bungled attempts by the U.S. government and its marionette opposition movement have served to strengthen Chávez’s support within Venezuela and paint him as a strong and solid international leader.
Now that some of the top-secret documents have surfaced that show the CIA’s complicity and involvement in the April 2002 coup, it leaves one to wonder what is next on the agenda. In September 2001, shortly after the attacks on the World Trade Center in New York, President Bush unconditionally authorized former CIA Director George Tenet’s “Worldwide Attack Matrix”, which targets leaders and prominent figures in 80 countries around the world for assassination. The authorization of the Worldwide Attack Matrix provided the CIA with a virtual carte blanche to conduct political assassinations abroad, justified under the “war against terrorism”. The “Attack Matrix”, a top secret CIA document, authorizes an array of covert CIA anti-terror actions that range from “routine propaganda to lethal covert action in preparation for military attacks”. The plans give the CIA the broadest and most lethal authority in history. Some analysts have indicated that Venezuela is possibly included in the plans.
The recent assassination of Venezuelan Prosecutor Danilo Anderson, conducted in a style reminiscent of CIA operations, could be setting the stage for future political murders. History shows that when the CIA fails to remove a target via non-lethal means, more desperate measures are taken. Despite the fact that the Venezuelan government and its supporters appear to have foiled the CIA numerous times already over the past few years, vigilance, intelligence and increased security measures should become a priority.

 

 

 


  

 

Document
 President Chavez's Speech to the 6th World Social Forum - Americas

Friday, May 05, 2006

 

By: Hugo Chávez Frías

Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías, Constitutional President Of The Bolivarian Republic Of Venezuela

Forum for the People’s Anti-Imperialist Struggle, VI World Social Forum

Poliedro, Caracas, Friday, January 27, 2006

President of the Republic of Venezuela, Hugo Chávez: Every time that I come to a very special event like this one, special because, first of all, these are events are overflowing with passion; I always come with the desire, the intention and commitment to reflect on issues and ideas. And there lies the perpetual dilemma— passion vs. reason— but both are necessary. I never know where to begin speaking in events as beautiful as this; I always cover the ideas that flow from the grand emotion, like that which I feel tonight in this gathering of the World Social Forum and in this anti imperialist event. I will begin.

Good evening to all. I greet and welcome you…

Audience: Applause

President Chávez: Is that the Frente Miranda? Good, I want to greet everyone of you collectively and individually and welcome our illustrious guests that came from the four cardinal points of the world to this Caracas, to this Venezuela, to this South America.

Welcome! Welcome to this homeland and consider it your own, sisters and brothers of the world.

Audience: Applause

President Chávez: I want to greet the social organizations that are visiting us, that have a presence in this Forum: La Agencia Latinoamericana de Información; Articulación Feminista Marco Sur; Alianza Social Continental; Asamblea de los Pueblos del Caribe, APAC; Comité para la Anulación de la Deuda del Tercer Mundo; Confederación Internacional de Organizaciones Sindicales Libres; Consejo Latinoamericano de Ciencias Sociales; Congreso Laboral Canadiense; Confederación Mundial del Trabajo; Coalición Internacional para el Hábitat; Convergencia de los Movimientos de los Pueblos de las Américas; Consejo Nacional Indígena del Ecuador; Congreso Nacional Indígena de México; Consejo Mundial de Iglesias; Coordinación del Foro el Otro Davos; Coordinadora de Centrales Sindicales del Cono Sur; Encuentros Hemisféricos contra el ALCA; Frente Continental de Organizaciones Comunitarias; Federación Mundial de Juventudes Democráticas; Federación Democrática Internacional de las Mujeres; Green Peace; Consejo Internacional de Educación de Adultos; Red Global de Organizaciones Comerciales Justas; Foro Internacional en Globalización; Instituto Pablo Freire; Instituto Brasileño de Análisis Socioeconómico; Servicio de Prensa Internacional; Jubileo Sur; Movimiento de los Trabajadores Sin Tierra; Centro Norte Sur; Organización Continental de Estudiantes Latinoamericanos y Caribeños; Organización Regional Interamericana de Trabajadores; Osfami Internacional; Plataforma Interamericana de Derechos Humanos; Democracia y Desarrollo; Red Latinoamericana de Mujeres Transformando la Economía; Agricultores, Campesinos, Sociedades y Mundialización; Red Latinoamericana y Caribeña de Mujeres Negras; Red Transformadora; Redes de Socioeconomía Solidaria; Observatorio Social; Instituto Transnacional Red del Tercer Mundo; Foro Mundial de Redes de la Sociedad Civil; Unión Internacional de Estudiantes; Vía Campesina; Asociación Mundial de Radios Comunitarias; Marcha Mundial de Mujeres; Comunicación Alternativa; Asamblea de los Pueblos del Caribe; Asociación Latinoamericana de Educación Radiofónica; Intérpretes y Traductores Voluntarios; Campaña Continental Contra el ALCA y contra el TLC; Cáritas; Central Unitaria de Trabajadores del Brasil, CUT; Coalición Internacional para el Hábitat; Cooperación Internacional para el Desarrollo y la Solidaridad; Comité de Defensa de la Humanidad; Conferencia Nacional sobre Desarrollo Social; Congreso Permanente de Unidad Sindical de los Trabajadores de América Latina; Consejo de Educación de Adultos de América Latina; Consejo Internacional de Educación de Adultos; Diálogo Sur-Sur; Federación Democrática Internacional de Mujeres; Federación Internacional de Derechos Humanos; Federación Mundial de Juventudes Democráticas; Foro Mundial de las Alternativas; Foro Social Caribeño; Frente Continental de Organizaciones Comunitarias; Fundación de Acción, Estudios y Participación Social; Global Exchange; Grito de los Excluidos y las Excluidas; Coalición Internacional del Hábitat; Movimiento por la Paz, la Soberanía y la Solidaridad entre los Pueblos; Observatorio Euro Latinoamericano sobre el Desarrollo Democrático y Social; Organización Continental Latinoamericana y Caribeña de Estudiantes; Organización Regional Interamericana de Trabajadores; Red por la Democratización Global; Toronto Social Forum; Red Latinoamericana Mujeres Transformando la Economía; Educación Popular  entre Mujeres; Red de Mujeres Afrolatinoamericanas y Afrocaribeñas.

And many other social organizations that fight for a different world, a better world, a peaceful and just world, which is not only possible, but is necessary, a world that we are obligated to build. Right Now! Now! Not tomorrow, we will not leave for tomorrow what we can do well today.

I want to specifically greet many friends, comrades, and companeros who are here. Abel Prieto, Cuban Minister of Culture, is with us; Kamil Chambers, Haitian activist, is representing the heroic people of Haiti; Walden Bello of the Philippines; Samir Amin; long time friends and activists who are examples to us all: Ignacio Ramonet, Ricardo Alarcon, Blanca Chancoso, Juan Ferrer, Richard Gott, Cindy Sheehan— for you a kiss, valiant woman and heroic mother; Beverly King, Aleida Guevara, friend and compañera; Marcelo Barros, Bernard Cassen, and many others—To you all I extend a greeting, an embrace and all my affection.

Welcome, then, to this event that will no doubt mark history. And welcome to Caracas. Caracas, like all cities of our America and the world, has its history, right? Its history. Caracas has been the scene in recent centuries of often resounding and horrifying events of various magnitude that have helped to mark the people’s struggles for liberation.

Caracas! Here Simón Bolívar was born and here remain the ashes of the Father Liberator, that great man of our America, who one day realized that, like Christ, he would not in his lifetime be able to see or hear, or feel the concretion of the dream, of the utopia. Bolívar said, among so many notable phrases demonstrating his love, his sacrifice and his anguish, he said: “The grand day of South America still has not arrived…” Bolívar said this shortly before his death in 1830.

Here in Caracas Francisco de Miranda was born, universal Venezuelan, infinite Caraqueño. Francisco de Miranda.

Audience: Applause

President Chávez: Francisco de Miranda is an unparalleled individual. Miranda went to battle, sword in hand, in the three great revolutions of his time. First he fought in the U.S. War of Independence fighting together with the people of the United States, alongside Washington, Madison etc., and there he was in all glory in Pensacola, Florida and the Bahamas.

In a few years he appeared over in Moscow, as a Russian Colonel, and there in the court of Grand Catalina.

A few years later he appeared on horseback, sword in hand, commander of the northern army of the French Revolution, crying out: “Liberty, equality, fraternity!”

Napoleon Bonaparte said of Miranda: “He is a Quixote without the madness,” Marshal of Revolutionary France.

And later, exactly 200 years ago, already nearly 60 years old, already with white hair, Miranda came crossing the seas and waters of the Caribbean, with three boats, a tricolor flag, and a project: the liberation of Latin America, South America, and the Caribbean; and their integration into a singular grand southern republic.

On February 2, 1806 Miranda left New York with the expedition that was the precursor to the Independence Revolution of not only Venezuela but also South America. It was Miranda who invented the name Colombia and Miranda who called for the union of South America.

Audience: Applause

President Chávez: In addition, inspired by the profound roots of South America, by the “Incanato”, taking inspiration- I repeat- from the great Inca civilization that once existed here and that is now rising once again, from the shores of Lake Titicaca, from Tiwanaku, Cuzco. We saw them over there recently, the Incas rising once again, along with the Aymara, Quechua, Aztecs, Caribs, and Mayas: fulfilling the prophesy of Tupac Katari who was murdered by the Spanish empire. Tupac Katari he said: “Today I will die, but some day I will return by the millions,” Tupac Katari has returned and has become millions, Tupac Amaru has returned and has become millions.

Audience: Applause

President Chávez: It seems like it was an extraordinarily positive idea to hold part of The World Social Forum, in its VI edition, Mali, -- I regret that I couldn’t attend this last week. Samir Amin and Bernard Cassen told me it was a total success. They were there, in Africa.

Viva Africa!

Audience: Viva!

President Chávez: We carry Africa inside us, Africa is part of us, Latin Caribbean America cannot be understood without Africa and the sacrifice of Africa and the grandeur of Africa, brother continent, brother people.

The Forum now here in Caracas will again be held in Pakistan in coming months as it had to be postponed due to the terrible earthquake and the tragedy Pakistani people have experienced. Asia, Africa, Latin America.

Here we are again, once again, a new offensive has been unleashed by the peoples of Latin America, the Caribbean, Africa and Asia, against global imperialism, call it whatever they will.

Audience: Applause

President Chávez: It seems to me that what the WSF organizers, and all the movements making up the forum and promoting it are doing, and will continue doing, is absolutely necessary. I am completely sure they will continue. I said this at some meeting last year in Asia, I don’t know where, in some meetings with some compañeros; and here in Latin America I have said it too:

Think of how the liberation processes in recent centuries have been attempted, I mean, they were launched in a staggered manner, at different times and in different places, they could not work together, they were isolated from one another, they could not communicate or connect with each other.

Two hundred years ago in these lands of America, a popular offensive was launched and it attempted to forge the path to what Simón Bolívar called “the equilibrium of the universe.”

Simón Bolívar was a great visionary, as Francisco Pibidal says, a precursor of anti-imperialism, because even as early as 1826, Bolívar sensed the threat of North America against us and sent up an alert, and tried to convince his compañeros to form a Southern union, a great political body in South America and in the Caribbean, we recall that Bolívar–and it is written- was even planning for the independence of Cuba, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic and Haiti, because he said that Gran Colombia could not be complete or have meaning without the Caribbean.

Audience: Applause

President Chávez: So, 200 years ago, those peoples, the grandparents of our grandparents understood, and took some important steps. They defeated the Spanish empire that had been here for 300 years, but Bolívar warned in that prophetic phrase, that says it all: “The United States of America appears to be destined by providence to plague America with misery in the name of liberty…”

In another letter he said: “There is a very large and powerful nation, very hostile and capable of anything...” that was in 1825 or 1826. Bolívar was ahead of his time.

Now, in the beginning of the 19th century, strong liberating currents were unleashed in Latin America and the Caribbean, and leaders emerged of such magnitude as San Martín, Bolívar, O’Higgins, Abreu and Lima, Manuela Sáenz, Juana Ramírez, Josefa Camejo, José Gervasio Artigas. Now, obviously those movements in South America, in the Caribbean, had no relation or connection to any movement in Africa, much less in Asia, they were separate worlds, that was the other side of the world, the movements here failed, and today in Latin America and the Caribbean, we are living the consequences of that failure. Bolívar summed it up saying: “We have sewn the sea. Jesus Christ, Don Quixote and me: the three great fools of history...”

Then a century passed, and certainly there were struggles in Latin America during the 20th century from early on. Anti imperialist movements, Pancho Villa and Emiliano Zapata, two true symbols of “Latin Americanism”, of the unredeemed force of those who resist empires, launched revolutionary movements, here, for example. Juan Carlos Prestes must also be remembered, the horseman of hope...

Audience: Applause

President Chávez: and Sandino.

Audience: Applause

President Chávez: Farabundo Martí.

Audience: Applause

President Chávez: Of course, I am going to ask you all, just like the Barros brothers requested, to stand and lift your voices for a minute of shouts and “vivas” for Schafik Handal. Viva Schafik Handal!

Audience: Viva! [Cheering and ovation]

President Chávez: Viva Farabundo Martí!

Audience: Viva!

President Chávez: Viva Schafik! Brother! You are with us in this battle!

Audience: Cheering y Applause

President Chávez: Salvadorian brother take your blue sombrero/

I sing to you of the green that is the color of your cornfields/

Not the green of the berets of the tropical murderers/

Those who went to Vietnam to burn the rice paddies/

And who want to walk through these towns as if they were their stockyards.

Come on! Salvadoran!

Come on! there are no small birds!

Come on! that, once airborne!

Come on! cease to fly!

Viva Schafik!

Audience: Viva! Applause

President Chávez: You know something? I met Schafik for the first time in San Salvador. We went just after being released from jail, and a strange thing happened; well, in truth it was not strange, but it seemed strange, the leftists of Latin America looked on us with trepidation, they kicked us out of the assembly. They had their reasons: “A colonel who led a military coup. A caudillo.” And think of media campaign against us, which was launched the very same day: Tuesday February 4, 1992. That media campaign still has not ended, and will not end, but as we have thus far defeated the campaigns of the national and international oligarch and imperialism, we will continue to defeat it.

Well, but Schafik rose above all that and invited me to a Forum, which that year was in San Salvador, the Sao Paulo Forum. There we were, and I remember that by majority decision by the Forum organizers, I was not allowed to address the Assembly. I told them: That’s fine; I didn’t come here to talk to the assembly. I came to see what this is all about, to learn, to learn out about movements, political parties, and leaders, to listen to speeches, to take good notes, to learn to integrate myself. We have gone through a long process here forming a national, Bolivarian, Revolutionary movement within the national army. It took exactly 17 years. It took us 17 years to form this Bolivarian Movement in the bosom of the Armed Forces that later emerged to unite with the Venezuelan people, already in rebellion February 4, 1992.

Later Schafik had the delicacy, the firmness, the courage, the spirit to approach me, we had not met personally, and he invited me to the table the he had coordinated, and offered excuses for the debate that resulted from my surprise appearance in the Assembly.

And later we were together all day, at the table, and later to present conclusions, and that night we talked again, and since then we have been great friends and I learned to love, respect and admire that great compañero, that great compañero.

Audience: Applause

President Chávez: And years later, Schafik was always either here or Schafik on the telephone, always in solidarity: during the coup he came here and told me: “Chávez, if you lack a soldier I am here, give me a rifle if you are lacking...”

Audience: Applause

President Chávez: And later I saw him in La Paz, he was happy, like all of us, looking at the Indian, at Evo, Tupac Katari who has arrived, multiplied a million times.

Audience: Applause

President Chávez: We were happy, overjoyed, I was on the balcony with Evo watching the military parade, and in the Audience, I saw him, unmistakably, and I said: Evo, there is Schafik! and we sent for him; and he came up on the balcony and I hugged him. He was fine. Then we saw Tomas Borges, and I said, tell him to come up too and they both came up to the balcony. The balcony was tiny, but they came up one by one. Nohelí Pocaterra, Nohelí is over there, I called her to come up too, and Nohelí Pocaterra came up. Happy, Happy; and I said to Schafik—because more than once I have run into him and invited him to come along with me; just like Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Pérez Roque who has a permanent seat on my airplane, wherever I find him, I pick him up.

Audience: Applause

President Chávez: Well, I said look Schafik lets go to the Forum together, and he told me that he would go to El Salvador first.

I am never going to forget because he said to me: “No Hugo…” well, first he said yes, that he would come with me directly to Caracas, and Tomas Borges too, they had planned to come to the Forum, and I said, well let’s go.

In the end, due to time factors, I had to stay there the next day to sign with Evo a group of cooperation agreements to help Bolivia, to assist Bolivia, the Bolivian people, our brothers of Bolivia and our brother Evo.

Audience: Applause

President Chávez: One of the conventions that we already signed and we are poised to begin fulfilling now, has to do with all the fuel that Bolivia is importing. This is one of the realities of our colonial economies: Bolivia, which has so much energy, has to import fuel; just like Ecuador, Blanca. Ecuador exports crude petroleum and imports fuel. See, Colonialism!

So, I insist that what has been reinitiated in Latin America is the same process that Bolívar, San Martín, O’Higgins, and Artigas left pending: Independence...

Audience: Applause

President Chávez: Full independence.

So, with Evo we signed, among others this conventions: we are going to supply all the fuel that they need, that they import, and they are not going to pay us with currency, because they don’t have any, Bolivia has been robbed for centuries. So they are going to pay the equivalent, in what? In soy. 

Audience: Applause

President Chávez: In chicken, beef, and all they produce there. This was one of the conventions we signed. The other was the Literacy Plan that we will carry out with Cuba, Cuba and Venezuela with Bolivia, a Literacy Plan…

Audience: Applause

President Chávez: And we have offered, between Fidel and me, that is, between Cuba and Venezuela, 5,000 grants from Cuba and 5,000 from here; 10,000 grants for Bolivian youth to study in universities and technical schools…

Audience: Applause

President Chávez: So, that is why I had to stay. After they invited me to the San Andrés University, there in La Paz, Schafik told me,” No, Chávez, Its better if I go to El Salvador, take care of a few things there, meet up with some compañeros who are going to come with me, and we’ll see you in Caracas, in the anti-imperialist act.” Well, here is Schafik, he is with us at the anti-imperialist act. Viva Schafik!

Audience: Viva!

President Chávez: Ok, I was talking then about time and space, since these are two vital variables that must be considered when planning or activating any strategy: time and space.

In the 20th century, I said, certainly there were revolutionary movements, right from the start. The last men on horseback rode with Pancho Villa, Emiliano Zapata, Pedro Perez Delgado, Juan Carlos Prestes -- it was the last charge of the cavalry.

And then the revolutionary movements of the 60’s swept the continent, from North America to the Southern Cone. Symbolic heroes of those times, Ernesto Guevara, “Che” Guevara, who today also lives on with us, and Fidel Castro...

Audience: Applause

President Chávez: And Schafik Handal and how many others over the length and breadth of the continent, here in Venezuela, Colombia, South America, Central America.

But in the 60’s, the independence movements were unleashed with force, revolutionary movements in Africa, and Asia, that had a very strong impact on the whole world. Just like in the 19th century, when Simón Bolívar and his most progressive and loyal compañeros convoked and made possible the Congress of Panama, which was an ephemeral window or door that opened toward integration, unity and liberation.

Likewise in the 20th century a window or door opened even farther in Asia and in Africa, 50 years ago, when leaders met for the Bandung Summit, in Indonesia. Leaders of the world wide, universal workshop put forth that project: Nehru, Nasser, Sukarno— and they promoted it from positions of power.

Take note— from positions of power, of government—just like Bolívar tried to do here in these latitudes during the 19th century. From positions of government they called for unity, but they could do no more, neither could they in the 20th century.

They scattered, pathways opened, and the people fell back into despair, many movements lowered their flags, others took the road of sacrifice, others remained firm like an invincible rock in the middle of the sea with a flag raised high, like the Cuban people and Fidel Castro –their leader-and his leadership and his people.

Audience: Applause

President Chávez: But we must keep in mind how they isolate Cuba, and how all the governments of this continent, some more than others, turned their backs on Cuba, fearing the empire.

Now here comes the 21st century, or I should say the 21st century has arrived. I propose that we draw strength from the centuries, that we draw on talent, that we draw on the love deep within us— love, like you made us feel today with your invocation, brother.

There is a phrase that I have head heard Fidel Castro use several times: “strategic talent,” the perfect strategy that is missing, the perfect strategy. We must draw all this and much more from the depths of our souls, our very fibers, our muscles, nerves, minds, and spirits so that in this 21st century we can unite the movements the people of Latin America, the Caribbean, North America, Asia and Africa especially into one struggle. Then we will change the course of history in this 21st century, we will change the course of history.

Audience: Applause

President Chávez: I believe it is possible, and everyday I am more convinced of it. The year 2005 has ended, many things happened in 2005, but it is over. And just think, here in Latin America on November 4th and 5th, Mr. Danger, the very one, in person, went to Mar del Plata: he had a celebration planned, pressuring, blackmailing, and using all the dirty war tactics typical of this empire... and especially this empire, this empire that we face is the most perverse, murderous, genocidal, and immoral that this planet has known in 100 centuries. There has never been a more perverse empire than this one, and cynical, this is a cynical empire!

Audience: Applause

President Chávez: Because the Roman Empire admitted to being an empire, but Mr. Danger talks of democracy, he talks of human rights; the Roman Empire didn't talk about human rights, it was an empire; and the empire of Alexander the Great had nothing to do with human rights, it was an empire.

Ah, but no! this one, this one talks of human rights, and now we have just been informed that  they want to include Venezuela on their annual list of countries that support terrorism

Audience: Booing

President Chávez: Mister Danger talks about Human Rights while imprisoning our five Cuban compatriot heroes, violating all the laws and principals of law. Mister Danger talks of human rights while in Guantánamo people are tortured and people disappear in secret CIA jails in Europe and around the world.

Look at how the cynical government says that it fights against terrorism while protecting two of the worst terrorists in the history of the world, Posada Carriles and Orlando Bosh (who has been protected for a long time), both were police chiefs here. Here they murdered, tortured, kidnapped— and there, they are protected…

Audience: Booing

President Chávez: And throughout the world… We just discovered a case, another case of espionage here. But we say to the empire of Mr. Danger, that with all their maneuvers, with all the power they have, and money and technology, etc., they are not going to beat us, they are not going to beat us…

Audience: Applause

President Chávez: I warn the government of the U.S. that the next time that we detect U.S. military or civil personnel, especial U.S. military personnel trying to obtain information from our Armed Forces, we are going to throw them in jail...

Audience: Applause

President Chávez: Now, listen, I mentioned the year 2005, so that we can see how and where we are positioned, those of us who strongly state that, yes, it is possible to change the world, and to illustrate that every day there are more reasons to be optimistic and to work with more determination for the promotion of social movements, the articulation of social movements, to retake the position of a great international anti-imperialist front to do battle throughout the world, the battle must global...

Audience: Applause

President Chávez: We have to link up all our causes, unity, unity, unity, movements united respecting diversity, respecting the autonomy, no one is planning to impose anything on anyone, only coordination, unity, because if we don’t work together we will never triumph not even if we fight for 500 years, only united can we do it, uniting our moral and intellectual forces, our ideas, our diversity, out physical strength, our social movements, our political movements, our local governments. 

A World Forum of Local Powers was held here, as a part of the overall Forum: mayors of half the world, governors, national governments, respecting the differences of each country and of each government. 

And I remember last year, in the Gigantinho, I told my compañeros and brothers of Brazil, I talked to them about Lula and told them that he is a great man and that they have to work with Lula and support Lula. Everything is a process, we go step at a time. Likewise they have to support Evo and all the warriors…

Audience: Applause

President Chávez: That is, nobody can ask me to do the same as Fidel does, the circumstances are different; like Lula cannot be asked to do the same as Chávez; or Evo cannot be asked to do the same as Lula; or Kirchner cannot be asked to do the same as Fidel or Chávez, each has their own circumstances, but we walk the same path, in the same direction and that’s what is important…

Audience: Applause

President Chávez: That is what we have to recognize; we move along the same path.

Look, the empire is very intelligent, the empire knows what it is doing, well, it doesn’t always know what it is doing, but in this case it does. Take note, intellectuals of diverse origin and the media, have spent two years promoting the divisive idea that although the left is gaining ground in Latin America, several lefts exist: Fidel and Chávez are the crazies— and now they include Evo too; and others, like Lula, Lagos, Tabaré and Kirchner are “statesmen”; but Chávez and Fidel are crazy, the “crazy left.” Fine, call us what they will, but we are going to give the right the greatest defeat ever on this continent, which will be remembered for 500,000 years.

Audience: Applause

President Chávez: "Well, what I was telling you was that at the end of 2005 Mr. Danger went to Mar del Plata with everything sewn up, or so he thought, everything had been coldly calculated, thought Mr. Danger, but it all fell apart because despite all the pressure they exerted, as I told the Social Summit in Mar del Plata and I told the media, that whoever wants to know where the Free Trade Area of the Americas is, go and find it in Mar del Plata. That's where it's buried!

Audience: Ovation

President Chávez: "Whoever wants to see it, go and look for it there. Take a shovel, a digger, whatever..."       

So, look how much we have advanced. I remember that in the Canada Summit in Québec, Venezuela was alone against the FTAA; because Cuba, Cuba was excluded from these meetings, very “democratic”, right? [laughs] Very democratically they excluded Cuba. Which is a point of reflection that I always mention to the Presidents and people of Latin America. The day will come. I am sure the day will come when the governments of Latin America have reached such a level of unity that we will not accept imposition such as this.

Because the exclusion of Cuba is simply an imposition by the empire, that’s all.

But I remember a comment made to me by Khadafi once, there in Trípoli. A meeting in Europe had been called and the countries of Africa were invited, but someone there in Europe complained about the inclusion of Mugabe, the president of Zimbabwe. So a group of African heads of state stood up and said: “If Mugabe is not going, neither are we. If Mugabe is not going, there is no meeting.”

Audience: Ovation

President Chávez: I believe that day will come, Alarcón, in honor of the unity of our peoples and the greatness of the Cuban people, I believe the day will come–we are heading towards it— in which there will be a much higher level of conscience, of unity, to defend our dignity as a collective, as a people, because were are all one community, the people of Latin American, the people of the Caribbean.

Now, in addition to the defeat of ALCA, there in Mar del Plata where we presented a united front, they could not, despite seven hours of debate, of face to face battle, they could not bring to their knees five presidents: Kirchner, Lula, Tabaré, Nicanor Duarte and this servant: Mercosur plus Venezuela, we aligned ourselves and said no to the attempt to impose into the document the obligation to again begin discussing what is inconsiderable, what is impossible: the FTAA! The imperialist and colonialist proposal of the U.S. government.

Instead, we are firmly moving forward toward integration, toward a new level of integration in Latin America and the Caribbean. The ALBA (Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas) is already a reality: Cuba and Venezuela. Between Cuba and Venezuela we have succeeded in consolidating a mechanism of integration, the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas: ALBA!

Audience: Applause

President Chávez: I have to be in Havana in a few hours. Probably before you all return, Alarcón, Abel. In a few hours I have to be in Havana to continue giving form and strength to the integration and to the “Axis of Evil”, like some call us.

Some in South America have called us the “Chakal Group” (Chávez-Kirchner-Lula) “Cha-K-L”. “Chakal Group”.

We are taking many steps toward integration, true integration, not just one of words. One of these steps is a gas pipeline, a mega gas pipeline to supply the development of South America, to support the energy needs of the South American countries, a gas pipeline nearly 8 thousand kilometers long, from the Caribbean coast of Venezuela to Río de La Plata, to supply Venezuelan gas to the South, to all of South America, because Venezuela has one of the largest gas reserves in the world, and Venezuela has the largest petroleum reserve of any country in the world, that is the fundamental reason for the desperation of Mister Danger.

They want our oil and our gas, they've had it for 100 years, now we have recovered it and this oil is for the development of our people and of the poorest countries of the continent. Venezuela will never again be a colony of the United States of America -- never again...

Audience: Applause

President Chávez: Ok, I want to insist, I wand to insist, Abel, Ignacio, Blanca, Juana, Cindy, Aleida, Marcelo, Bernard Cassen and everyone of you, I want to insist that there are reasons that we are optimistic, there are reasons, things are happening that five years ago could not have happened, including a movement on the rise within the U.S. that every day gains strength, conscience and unity.

Audience: Applause

President Chávez: Remember Cindy, who began alone in a tent there in Texas. In front of the ranch of Mister Danger she pitched her tent, a tent of hope, of morality.

Audience: Applause

President Chávez: How do you say esperanza in English? Hope. Is that right? Hope, hope. Mrs. Hope. How do you say señora in English?... I love you too, Cindy!

Just a few hours ago I was watching some statements by… you know who? Harry Belafonte. Harry Belafonte, who visited us a few weeks ago and Belafonte…, spent a few days here along with Danny Glover of the TransAfrica Forum, and they saw and felt what is going on here. Belafonte said it on Aló President, and later upon his departure, he reconfirmed it to me. He said: “President, another time is coming, I am going to dedicate what is left of my life to this new movement.”

Audience: Applause

President Chávez: And I hope that Harry Belafonte has many years remaining. Well, I have seen now an interview he gave to CNN in which they had asked him why he said a great truth here. He said that the worst terrorist in the world is named Mr. Bush. It’s true, he is the worst terrorist in the word. Now they are proving it.

I think that finally distinct movements are rising in the U.S. We have to remember the tragedy of Katrina and the national movement of indignation that emerged upon seeing millions of citizens abandoned by their government, left to their own luck, especially the poor, the black, the Latinos. Well, everyone.

Audience: Booing

President Chávez: Viva the people of the U.S.!

Audience: Viva!

President Chávez: We count on you, compañeros, we count on you.

Audience: Applause

President Chávez: This must be clear, Carlos Marx said it, I read it recently in a book by our friend the Hungarian philosopher István Mészáros, we must save the world, the people can save this world, but essential to this formula to save the world are the people of the U.S., the conscience of the U.S. people, the resurrection of the U.S. people.

Audience: Applause

President Chávez: United with the people of the Caribbean, the people of Latin America, the people of Asia, Africa and Europe.

Audience: Applause

President Chávez: Ok, so, there are many reasons to be optimistic now, entering 2006, entering the 21st century, and in this splendid scenario that has filled Caracas with magic, with indescribable beauty, with the fervent passion of youth and of distinct and diverse tendencies of our world.

I think that the importance of this Forum is growing. Because the Social Forum is the result of the battles in Seattle, in Cancún, the battles against the World Trade Organizations, against the FTAA, against neoliberal globalization. There the Forum was born, of the fever of these battles.

It would be painful if in this moment, six years later, five years after, we tallied the score and found that we are on the defensive or we are in retreat. No, the global tally of these last five years, including the latest triumph of the Bolivian people, and that which is occurring in Africa, and including this forum and its extreme success, we must come to the conclusion— we, who fight for a different and better world, we who have lifted the flags of revolution, we are on the offensive. Those who defend injustice and inequality, they are in retreat.

Audience: Ovation

President Chávez: It is our turn, it is our turn to design a formula of unity, of offense, of victory. It will be a long road but, I repeat, there are sufficient elements with which to devise, with strategic talent, the perfect strategy for the coming years, the union of our people, of all the tendencies of indigenous, workers, campesinos, intellectuals, professionals, women, students, all the ecological tendencies, all those who fight for real human rights, those who fight for justice, equality, dignity. All of us must unite; join together in a victorious offensive against the empire.

Here in Venezuela, you all know, we are carrying forth a unique experience. A unique experience that has modestly contributed to the cause of all the transforming social movements, heading toward this new world, distinct, possible, and necessary: the Bolivarian Revolution.

This afternoon we held a graduation ceremony for a group of compatriots. Just think, through the pilot project of Mission Robinson II we handed out sixth grade, primary education diplomas to a group of Venezuelans who just two years ago couldn’t read or write, and in two and a half years— thanks to the aid of the Cuban Revolution, to their experience, to their people, to their methods, --these people learned to read and write and afterward began primary education which they completed in two years, and now they are beginning secondary school. And like one of them, who has five children, said today: “Well, I could not finish primary education before, my children already are in high school. Now I just finished primary study, if my kids are not careful, I will graduate before they do.”

Audience: Applause

President Chávez: I tell this story to share just one of the innumerable personal experiences resulting from the Bolivarian Revolution’s advancements in education, in health, in the fight against misery, against poverty, in the transformation of the economic model of the 20th Century, in the promotion of a new society of equals, where no one is excluded, in the promotion of a new political model: revolutionary democracy, participatory and protagonistic democracy, where the people are the essence and the fundamental actor in the political battle, instead of an elite that represents the “people,” representative democracy always ends up being democracy of the elites and therefore a false democracy. The only democracy that we believe in is the people’s democracy, participatory and protagonistic, charged by popular force, by popular will...

Audience: Applause

President Chávez: For this, in these years we have had to resist distinct aggressions of the empire, because imperialism first begins extending its hand, the “honey moon”: imperialism, the criolla oligarchy linked to the empire starts out, I repeat, offering its hand, – That’s what happened to me- one day I was at the White House, I was in several meetings In the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, the WTO; the first year of my mandate: splendid dinners, the empire courting me.

Later, when they realized that this servant, servant of all of you, did not go there to sell out nor to betray the heroic people of Venezuela, nor to add myself to the long list of traitors—then the offensive against us began, the imperialist aggressions that culminated in the coup of April 11, 2002. You all know through documents that have been made public that the coup was part of the plan, the strategy of the U.S., the imperialist strategy, the preventative war: to eliminate any threat—they say, according to their own classifications of what constitutes a threat— before it takes form.

They launched against us the aggression, the coup, the terrorism, as part of a plan to first take control of Venezuela and the petro of Venezuela, and then after having assured Venezuelan oil, go to Iraq, for Iraq’s oil— which turned out to be the next year. But, so that we realize, and believe me this doesn’t imply any underestimation of the empire, no, the empire is very powerful, but it is not invincible, that empire… just like the FTAA is buried in Mar del Plata… in this century we will burry the U.S. empire. Be sure of it!

Audience: Applause

President Chávez: This century we will bury it. Remember that the empire, with all its power, clashed against reality here, against the people, against the patriotic Armed Forces, the patriotic people, here they will fail and in Iraq also. It is not that they are failing in Iraq, it is that they have already failed in Iraq, they have failed in Iraq. And despite that, blindly, not recognizing defeat, they continue sacrificing hundreds and thousands of U.S. youth, and in addition continue massacring thousands of innocent Iraqi boys, girls, women and men.

From here, from this anti-imperialist Forum, we demand that the U.S. government cease aggression against the people of Iraq.

Audience: Applause

President Chávez: The genocide in Iraq.

Audience: Applause

President Chávez: Withdraw the troops... look, I am going to tell you all something, the days of the Katirna tragedy, finally, after I don’t know how many days, Mister Danger sent troops to New Orleans, and I saw on television, like we have seen the faces of U.S. soldiers in the streets of Bagdad or Faluya: looks of fear; that is, a combination of fear with aggression. How different is the face of a U.S. soldier pulling a child out of floodwaters to save her life. That is what the U.S. troops should be dedicated to! To attacking the poverty and misery growing in that country. Every day there are more poor people in the U.S., every day there is more misery in the U.S.— 40 million poor, every day increasing, and not only in the U.S.,

Just think how much they could achieve— which is why I said that in order to save the world we are lacking the participation of the people of the U.S.—Imagine, a government in the U.S…that would declare world peace!  Imagine a U.S. government that would recall all its troops and submarines and atomic weapons dispersed around the planet. Imagine it! Imagine the 400 thousand million dollars that they invest every year in military spending used instead for education, healthcare, producing medicines, producing food…

Audience: Applause

President Chávez: If Cuba and Venezuela –with all our limitations-- were able in a year and a half to teach 1.5 million people in Venezuela to read and write and declare our country “ Illiteracy Free Territory,” just imagine what we could do if the governments, starting with the U.S. and the governments of the most powerful countries on earth, joined together in a universal campaign, but a real one, with real resources not with just scraps, and with all the scientific advances and technologies they have to fight against the terrible phenomenon of misery: poverty, illness, hunger. 

Now, while we wait for this to happen, which we believe one day will happen, and this will depend especially on the people of the U.S., on the awaking of the giant that must be sleeping in the souls of those people, the awakening of the giant within U.S. territory, to unite with best causes and the best struggles for equality and liberty.

Audience: Applause

President Chávez: Meanwhile we will advance in that direction as much as we can.

I commented about the spirit of being on the offensive that must inundate the world, and how the Bolivarian Revolution has modestly made contributions and is willing to contribute whatever possible towards this, respecting of course the autonomy of the social movements, of the activist tendencies. Last year in Porto Alegre when they told me that the organizers of the Forum had proposed and had decided to come to Caracas this January, immediately offered the service of our government and our people are willing to cooperate with the World Social Forum, respecting in an almost sacred way the autonomy of the social movements that are represented here. But at the same time I dare say, like I did last year in the Gigantinho, and we talked about it later in smaller groups, with Ignacio, with Bernard we talked… Look, the World Social Forum is extremely important to all that I have mentioned, in the worldwide offensive of social, political movements of governments and parliaments, etc., and it would be a tragedy, in my opinion, to allow the World Social Forum to become a simple festival, to become a yearly folkloric encounter...

Audience: Applause

President Chávez: A folkloric, tourist encounter, that would be terrible, because we would just be wasting time and we are not here to waste time. For this I continue encouraging the leaders of all the movements represented here, I continue encouraging them to agree to a united work plan, a united, universal plan of action, to impel these battles in Latin America, the Caribbean, Asia, Africa, I believe it is vital for the future of the world. Look, Karl Marx coined the phrase: “Socialism or death...”

Audience: Applause

President Chávez: Rosa Luxemburg said it too: “Socialism or death...”

Audience: Applause

President Chávez: Fidel Castro said it and continues to say it, but he first said it in the 60’s, and you all say it, and Che Guevara said it in the 60’s.

That is, for more than a century this phrase has traveled all around the world, they have tried to stamp it out, they have tried to bury the socialist project, but we would have to reply “those you have killed, enjoy good health.” They enjoy good health.

"But what I was going to tell you is that I believe that when Marx coined that phrase, he was very clear about what he was saying, and so was Rosa Luxemburg; but when they said it, I believe that they had the luxury of thinking about in future centuries, like Bolívar also thought about future centuries. Here in Angostura he once said: “Flying through the coming ages, my imagination is fixed on future centuries…” When Fidel began to talk about socialism or death, in the 60’s, surely he too was talking about the coming century—that is, the one that has arrived— I think they saw a margin of time for action. But equally, I believe that our margin for action has narrowed, that we haven't much time; I believe that we do not have the luxury to talk about future centuries; I believe –  this may sound a little dramatic, but I believe it to be true – that we have reached the century in which the dilemma, a dilemma recognized by scientists and thinkers, will be resolved.

Recently reading Chomsky, I fell into this drama again. Chomsky is a thinker, a philosopher, a philosopher who has profoundly studied the human species, and this biologist, this philosopher, said that perhaps the human species was just an error of nature, he said that a species exits for about 100 thousand years on average, then they tend to disappear; he said that in history there has never been a species similar to the human species that has the vocation of self-extermination, he said that cockroaches and leeches have a sense of self- preservation millions of times more developed than our human species.

Bertrand Russell also said – he's a somber figure but he on our same path -, Russell says that one day, one day world peace will return, that for millions of years there have been worms and butterflies, fish and lizards, and there was peace on the planet until the human species appeared and the peace ended. And Russell said that perhaps one day, when the human species disappears, the peace of the butterflies will return… "It's hard to believe, isn't it? Doesn't one resist believing it? It's Hobbes, Thomas Hobbes, the Leviathan: man's wolf-man. I, as a man, deny it, resist it, I prefer to believe in Christ the Redeemer, in mankind, in the hope of mankind, I prefer to and I cling to, faith, and the humanism of the human species.

But there are sufficient reasons for doubt.

Now I believe that we are in the defining century, I believe that in this century it will be defined or decided whether the human species will survive or if the peace of the butterflies of Bertrand Russell will return, that’s what I believe.

My grandmother, my “old” mother, told me that her Indian grandmother used to tell her that the world would end in 2000.

I used to say, “But Grandma, how can the world end? If it is God’s world, it cannot end,” and she used to say: “I don’t believe it will end either, but they say so, it’s ancient prophecy.”

I repeat compañeros, compañeras; I think that time is short, I think that there is not much space to maneuver in, I think that there will be nothing beyond the 21st century if we do not change the world’s course in this 21st century, I think that the phrase of Karl Marx is today more valid and dramatic than ever, there is hardly any time left: socialism or death, but real death— of the entire human species and of life on planet earth, because capitalism is destroying the planet, capitalism is destroying life on earth, capitalism is destroying the ecological equilibrium of the planet. The poles are melting, the seas are heating up, the continents are sinking, forests and jungles are being destroyed, rivers and lakes are drying up; the destructive development of the capitalist model is putting an end to life on earth. I believe it’s now or never.

Remember Fidel’s expression, a while ago Fidel said in a document: “Tomorrow may be too late.” For this reason, I call on the World Social Forum, with all my respect for its autonomy, that I do not dispute nor will I ever dispute; but equally, I know that you all respect our autonomy to say what we think, and I think that from the Forum we must push very hard in the direction, in the formation of a grand worldwide anti-imperialist, alternative movement, that will engage the entire world and that has the capacity to connect, grow, and fight. I also think that we have begun taking steps in this direction. I think that we are moving away from the risk that we talked about in Porto Alegre, of the folklorization of the Forum, of a Forum that discusses and debates, but never arrives at conclusions. 

It would seem strange to me, to say the least, if it is decided to be that way, but even if so, so be it, but we are not here to waste time. I insist in that, we are not here to waste time, we are talking about saving life on the planet, we are talking about saving the human species, changing the course of history, changing the world.

From here we have once again raised the banner of socialism to travel the new paths of the 21st century. The construction of a solid, authentically socialist movement on the planet.

Audience: Applause

President Chávez: A new and fresh socialism here in Latin America. I believe that socialism, like Mariátegui said, must have a strong indigenous component,

Indigenous socialism, for example. We are not talking about copying models, I believe that copying models was one of the great errors of the socialist attempts of the 20th century, following the handbook. No, with this autonomy, with this diversity, with this force originating from every community, from our people. It was Galeano who said, I read it just recently, Galeano said:

“There is nothing less alien in these lands than socialism.” Because our indigenous, the native people of this continent, lived in socialism, and they live on, they have survived, devastated by development and capitalism, nevertheless they have persevered in many countries, our original people have preserved their socialist roots. And these socialist roots, these socialists seeds that they have conserved in many areas of our America are going to be so useful–Blanca Chancoso, Nohelí Pocaterra.

How useful they are going to be to us to promote the new socialism, our socialism, indo- American; I, a Christian like I am, I also believe that Christ and the authentic Christian tendencies have much to contribute to the socialist project of the 21st century in Latin America.

Audience: Applause

President Chávez: The true and authentic anti-imperialist Christianity. Christ was an anti-imperialist, he fought for the poor, for equality, I believe that our socialism, that which we are designing, inventing, promoting, is very Bolivarian, has much of Simón Rodríguez, utopian socialism; it has a lot of Abreu and Lima, the pernambucano; it has a lot of Mariátegui, much of Che, it has much of Fidel, much of Zapata, much of Pancho Villa, of Zamora; our own socialism that has to continue being invented. But this is the way, we haven’t the slightest doubt.

Finally, I congratulate everyone for the tremendous success of the Forum and I am sure that it will end a success on Sunday. A great impact, the Venezuelan people have been touched by it. You know? Above all by means of Cannel 8, Venezolana de Televisión, which is transmitting events here and there; ViveTV, Telesur, much has been transmitted by Telesur to various parts of the world, community media has been transmitting, collecting distinct expressions, our people are receiving men and women of the best causes in the world, showering them with faith, showering them with love, showering them with hope.

Thank you in the name of the Bolivarian people of Venezuela, and I repeat emphatically and passionately, from here at the World Social Forum, Thank you to the Landless Movement and all the movements represented here for the invitation.

Socialism or death!

Homeland…!

Audience: …or death!

President Chávez: We will prevail!

Audience: We will prevail!

President Chávez: A Bolivarian and Revolutionary hug to my sisters and brothers of Venezuela and the world.

Thank you very much.

Translated by Dawn Gable

 


 

Bach in Venezuela’s Slums

Tuesday, Apr 18, 2006

 

 

By: John Green - Morningstar

“Playing a musical instrument in an orchestra,” says Dr. Abreu, “is one of the best forms of socialization there is.” A former Minister of Culture and initiator of Venezuela's amazing musical education program, Dr. Abreu has transformed the country into probably the world's leading musical centre.

It began in 1974 in a rehearsal space in an underground car park with a handful of kids. Now, it is estimated, a quarter of a million young people are either playing a musical instrument or singing in a choir. There are literally hundreds of orchestras and choirs throughout the country.

Abreu also managed to get a law passed by parliament, guaranteeing every child the right to a musical education. Teachers go into schools in the countryside, the slums and the towns and let the children play with instruments. If they show an interest, they are allowed to borrow the instrument of their choice, but have to agree to practice and to perform on it within a few weeks. If they keep up their interest and practice seriously for two years, they are allowed to keep their instrument.

Dr. Abreu explains how he sees musical education and working with a group of other musicians, as a vital process of maturation. “   Here you learn to co-operate with others,” he says, “you are an individual performer but you are involved in teamwork with others, you learn to give and take, to show solidarity and sympathy. You pass on your skills and knowledge to others selflessly and learn in the same way from them. You are also creating beauty, giving pleasure to many more. Historically classical music was performed by an elite for an elite, then by an elite for the majority, but in Venezuela it is now being performed by a majority for a majority.”

The country has been visited by some of the world's leading musicians, from Sir Simon Rattle, to Placido Domingo and Claudio Abbado among them. Rattle said that if he were asked where the future of classical music lay, he would unhesitatingly say “here in Venezuela.”

A recent film Tocar y Luchar (Play and Struggle) is a moving tribute to this musical movement in Venezuela and includes interviews with Dr. Abreu, Rattle and others. But what draws the most admiration is watching the youngsters themselves playing and talking about their joy in music. To see a twelve year old black girl wandering past the multi-colored, peeling walls of a narrow alleyway in a slum neighborhood playing Bach exquisitely on her violin, one can't but help but be moved. A nine year-old in a cramped flat of a town suburb explains how he needs to sleep next to his cello - it is his teddy bear, his source of comfort and pleasure. “I can't get to sleep, if it's not near me,” he says, and it means I can get out of bed and practice at any time.” These children are also all amazingly articulate about their playing and the pleasure and pride they get from it.

When I think of most British kids who are interested only in football or computers, and their fascination with celebrity fame, individual wealth or solipsistic gaming, it is uplifting to see how Venezuelan youngsters are transformed into all-round social beings by their very different experience.

To watch one of the youth orchestras playing is a visual experience in itself. There is none of the evening dress seriousness or awesome reverence. Their faces reveal their rich ethnic and gender mix. They dress in brightly colored shirts in the colors of the Venezuelan flag; and in strongly rhythmic pieces they sway with their bodies like dancers and in the end, jubilantly throw their instruments in the air, reminiscent of Grand Prix winners tossing champagne bottles about.

Children as young as two or three are given the chance of playing on an instrument. The program has also been taken into juvenile penitentiaries and schools for the disabled - there are choirs made up of deaf and blind children, the deaf ones being encouraged to gesticulate with their hands to accompany the music. All participants, teachers and students, say that the bond of affection that is built up is life-changing for both sides.

The state oil company PDVSA is one of the big sponsors of this program, because it doesn't come cheap and instruments can be very expensive, but no child is deprived of the chance.

Rattle says the phenomenon is like “a resurrection,” it doesn't just enrich lives, it also saves them; it promotes social and psychological health. Domingo adds, that it is not just the enthusiasm and mass participation that thrills him but also the incredibly high quality.

Gloria Carnevali of the Venezuelan Embassy's Cultural Section in London thinks one of the reasons for the enormous success of this program is perhaps to be found in the rich ethnic and cultural mix of the population. Venezuela has one of the most diverse populations of all Latin America - black, Hispanic and other European, indigenous and Asiatic.

Although the movement began before the present revolution, the Chavez administration is actively continuing and promoting this program, which it hopes to widen out to all of Latin America and beyond. It is shaming for so-called rich countries in Europe or North America, where music has been taken off the curriculum of many schools for lack of funding for instruments or for teaching time. The Venezuelan Youth Orchestra under Sir Simon Rattle will be in Britain for the Proms in August - a concert not to be missed if you can get tickets.

Original source / relevant link:
Morning Star

 

 

 

 

 History of Venezuela

At the time of the Spanish Conquest of Venezuela, the region was inhabited by some 500,000 indigenous peoples belonging to three principal ethnolinguistic groups - the Cariban, Arawak and Chibcha. Columbus was the first European to set foot on the soil of what is now Venezuela, and the country was given its name (meaning 'Little Venice') a year later by the explorer Alonso de Ojeda. The first Spanish settlement on the mainland was established at Cumaná in 1521. The indigenous tribes put up a strong struggle against the colonial depredations of both the Spanish and the Germans, who left a swathe of death and destruction behind them as they pushed onward in search of the chimerical El Dorado. In the end, though, their resistance was subdued when many tribal communities fell victim to European diseases such as smallpox, which wiped out two-thirds of the population in the Caracas Valley alone.

However, the lack of lootable wealth in Venezuela soon led to colonial neglect, which in turn prompted dissatisfaction and resentment among the American-born Spanish elites. The Spanish rulers were eventually thrown out by the young Simón Bolívar, known locally as 'El Libertador'. He seized Venezuela from Spain in 1821 with a decisive victory at Campo Carabobo, near Valencia, aided by British mercenaries and an army of horsemen from Los Llanos. Bolívar had already brought independence to Colombia, and went on, with his lieutenant Antonio José de Sucre, to liberate Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia. His dream of a united state of Gran Colombia, which would unify Colombia, Venezuela and Ecuador, did not survive his death in 1830, when Venezuela declared full independence under a new constitution.

The post-independence period was marked by a succession of military dictators, political coups and economic instability, until the discovery of huge oil reserves in the Maracaibo basin in the 1910s brought some degree of prosperity to the country. By the late 1920s Venezuela had become the world's largest oil exporter, but little of this newfound wealth found its way to the common people. With poverty rife and educational and health facilities in a deplorable state, a series of popular uprisings took place, culminating in the country's first democratic elections in 1947.

Despite recent political stability, Venezuela's political climate continued to be marred by corruption scandals and the threat of a military coup. The country's economy, which was hit hard by the 1988 drop in world oil prices, remained shaky. Then-president Caldera's unconstitutional crackdown on economic speculation and civic freedoms in 1994 incensed civil libertarians, but it took until early 1996 for popular opinion to swing against him. The government's tough measures were designed to bring Venezuela's rampant inflation and alarming currency slump under control, but the bloated public service resisted attempts to put it on a lo-cal diet.

In December 1998 Venezuelans signaled their impatience with the government's impotence, electing an army colonel, Hugo Chávez, to the presidency with the largest vote margin in 40 years. Just six years earlier, Chávez had attempted a coup against the government and had spent two years in jail.

History from Lonely Planet.

 

Birthplace of Simon Bolivar

 

 

The Bolivarian Revolution

Chávez was elected in 1998 after building his movement over the course of the decade. For many, his election signaled a spreading backlash against the failure of the oligarchy system and neo-liberalism to deliver development. Chávez called for a peaceful and democratic "Bolivarian Revolution," appealing to Simon Bolívar's vision of continental sovereignty and cooperation. Many barrio residents and campesinos were already busy organizing in their communities, and the revolution quickly began to take shape. Chávez's government collected input from community groups all over the country in order to create a new constitution, which was ratified by a popular vote of around 70% and went into effect in 2000. The new constitution created a Constituent Assembly and land reform and environmental protection measures, gave new political, cultural and economic rights to immigrants, women and indigenous people and more. Chávez easily won re-election under the new constitution, and members of his coalition were elected to local offices nationwide.

But the government's progress was slowed by US intervention and the Venezuelan opposition, comprised of traditional elites. The US government has been frustrated by higher oil royalties, Chávez's opposition to US-led trade plans and his public criticism of US foreign policy, and has responded by financing the Venezuelan opposition through the National Endowment for Democracy and related funds. In 2002, the opposition planned a coup to be staged by business leaders cooperating with the US government. But after the coup plotters took over and dissolved the Assembly and the Supreme Court, thousands of Venezuelans took to the streets of downtown Caracas and swept Chávez back into office within 48 hours.

In 2003, the opposition-affiliated executives of the state oil company, PdVSA, locked out employees and sabotaged equipment, temporarily shutting down the industry. The lockout did enormous damage to the economy, but did not succeed in its goal of bringing the government to its knees: within two months, workers successfully took over the factories and resumed production, guarded by teams of local volunteers.

Chávez introduced oil company reform, leading to internal restructuring and new budgeting that directed profits into neighborhood social programs called "missions." These include preventive medical and dental care, vision treatment, literacy, multiple levels of education, child care, job training, technical and agricultural assistance, micro-loans, aid for cooperatives and women's businesses, subsidized food staples, support for indigenous communities and more.

In 2004, the US-funded opposition conducted a signature drive in order to hold a referendum on Chávez's presidency under a provision of the new constitution. Chávez submitted to the referendum, which he won with a landslide majority of record turnout and which was certified by many teams of international observers, including the US' own Carter Center.

Chávez is making good on his plan to forge multilateral economic relationships and build international solidarity. These relationships include media project TeleSur, energy projects PetroSur and PetroCaribe, and a number of bilateral partnerships for trading goods and services.

Background on the Bolivarian revolution by Bonnie Johnson.

 

 

        

         

              Fidel ordered Chávez's 'rescue'

              "They attempted to execute Chávez but the firing squad refused to shoot"

 

             By Ignacio Ramonet

 

In the book "Fidel Castro, a two-voiced biography," published by the Debate Publishing House, the Cuban president told Ignacio Ramonet information not previously released about the events of April 2002 in Venezuela.

Castro states that he phoned Miraflores Palace before Chávez surrendered and told him: "Don't kill yourself, Hugo. Don't do like Allende, who was a man alone. You have most of the Army on your side. Don't quit, don't resign."

Later, Fidel directed Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Pérez Roque, to fly to Caracas in one of two planes to pick up Chávez and fly him to safety.

Castro contacted "a general who sided with [Chávez]" to tell him that the world knew the president had not resigned and to ask the general to send troops to rescue the president.

Fidel Castro, who delivers so many speeches, has granted very few interviews. Only four long conversations with him have been published in the past 50 years. The fifth such interview, with the editor of Le Monde Diplomatique, Ignacio Ramonet, has become the book "Fidel Castro, a two-voiced biography," a summary of the life and thoughts of the Cuban chief of state, distilled from 100 hours of conversation. The first interview was held in late January 2003; the final one, in December 2005.

Published in these pages is an excerpt from the interview in which Castro talks about the Venezuelan conflict that occurred on April 11, 2002. As the Comandante says, he will remain in office "as long as the National Assembly, in the name of the Cuba people, wishes." The book, soon to appear, is published by the Debate Publishing House.

Progreso Weekly is pleased to translate and reproduce excerpts from the interview, published in Koeyú Latinoamericano.

Ignacio Ramonet (IR):You have said you feel a great admiration for Hugo Chávez, President of Venezuela.

Fidel Castro (FC):Well, yes. There we have another Indian, Hugo Chávez, a new Indian who is, as he himself says, "an Indian mixture," mestizo, with a little white, he says. But you look at Chávez and you see an autochthonous son of Venezuela, the son of a Venezuela that itself is a mixture. But he has all those noble features and an exceptional, truly exceptional talent.

I make it a point to listen to his speeches. He feels proud of his humble origin, of his mixed ethnic background, which has a little of everything, mainly of those who were autochthonous people or slaves brought from Africa, with a mixture of Indian origin. That's the impression. Maybe he has some white genes, and that's not bad. The combination always is good, it enriches humanity, the combination of the so-called ethnic backgrounds.

IR: Have you followed closely the evolution of the situation in Venezuela, particularly the attempts to destabilize President Chávez?

FC: Yes, we have followed events with great attention. Chávez visited us after being released from prison before the 1998 elections. He was very brave, because he was much reproached for traveling to Cuba. He came here and we talked. We discovered an educated, intelligent man, very progressive, an authentic Bolivarian. Later he won the elections several times. He changed the Constitution. He had the formidable support of the people, of the humblest people. His adversaries have tried to asphyxiate him economically.

In the 40 famous years of "democracy" that preceded Chávez, I estimate that about $200 billion fled from the country. Venezuela could be more industrialized than Sweden and enjoy Sweden's levels of education, if in truth there had been a distributive democracy, if those mechanisms had worked, if there had been some truth and credibility in all that demagoguery and all that publicity.

From the time that Chávez took office until currency controls were established in January 2003, I estimate that about $30 billion flew out of the country -- capital flight. So, as we maintain, all those phenomena make the order of things unsustainable in our hemisphere.

IR: On April 11, 2002, there was a coup d'état against Chávez in Caracas. Did you follow those events.

FC: When we learned that the demonstration by the opposition had changed direction and was nearing Miraflores [Palace], that there were provocations, shootings, victims, and that some high officials had mutinied and come out publicly against the president, that the presidential guard had withdrawn and that the army was on its way to arrest him, I phoned Chávez because I knew that he was defenseless and that he was a man of principle, and said to him: "Don't kill yourself, Hugo! Don't do like Allende! Allende was a man alone, he didn't have a single soldier on his side. You have a large part of the army. Don't quit! Don't resign!"

IR: You were encouraging him to resist, gun in hand?

FC: No, on the contrary. That's what Allende did, and he paid heroically with his life. Chávez had three alternatives: To hunker down in Miraflores and resist to death; to call on the people to rebel and unleash a civil war; or to surrender without resigning, without quitting. We recommended the third choice, which was what he also had decided to do. Because history teaches us that every popular leader overthrown in those circumstances, if he's not killed the people claim him, and sooner or later he returns to power.

IR: At that moment, did you try to help Chávez somehow?

FC: Well, we could act only by using the resources of diplomacy. In the middle of the night we summoned all the ambassadors accredited to Havana and we proposed to them that they accompany Felipe [Pérez Roque], our Foreign Minister, to Caracas to rescue Chávez, the legitimate president of Venezuela. We proposed sending two planes to bring him here, in case the putschists decided to send him into exile.

Chávez had been imprisoned by the military putschists and his whereabouts were unknown. The television repeatedly reported the news of his "resignation" to demobilize his supporters, the people. But at one point, they allow Chávez to make a phone call and he manages to talk to his daughter, María Gabriela. And he tells her that he has not quit, that he has not resigned. That he is "a president under arrest." And he asks her to spread that news.

The daughter then has the bold idea to phone me and she informs me. She confirms to me that her father has not resigned. We then decided to assume the defense of the Venezuelan democracy, since we had proof that countries like the United States and Spain -- the government of José María Aznar -- who talk so much about democracy and criticize Cuba so much, were backing the coup d'état.

We asked María Gabriela to repeat it and recorded the conversation she had with Randy Alonso, the moderator of the Cuban TV program "Mesa Redonda" [Round Table], which had great international repercussion. In addition, we summoned the entire foreign news media accredited to Cuba -- by then it must have been 4 o'clock in the morning -- we informed them and played them the testimony of Chávez's daughter. CNN broadcast it at once and the news spread like a flash of gunpowder throughout Venezuela.

IR: And what was the consequence of that?

FC: Well, that was heard by the military people faithful to Chávez, who had been deceived by the lie about a resignation, and then there is a contact with a general who is on Chávez's side. I talk to him on the phone. I confirm to him personally that what the daughter said is true and that the entire world knows Chávez has not resigned.

I talk with him a long time. He informs me about the military situation, about which high-ranking officers are siding with Chávez and which are not. I understand that nothing is lost, because the best units of the Armed Forces, the most combative, the best trained, were in favor of Chávez. I tell that officer that the most urgent task is to find out where Chávez is being detained and to send loyal forces there to rescue him.

He then asks me to talk to his superior officer and turns me over to him. I repeat what Chávez's daughter has said, and stress that he continues to be the constitutional president. I remind him of the necessary loyalty, I talk to him about Bolívar and the history of Venezuela. And that high-ranking officer, in a gesture of patriotism and fidelity to the Constitution, asserts to me that, if it's true that Chávez has not resigned, he continues to be faithful to the president under arrest.

IR: But even at that moment nobody knows where Chávez is, true?

FC: Meanwhile, Chávez has been taken to the island of La Orchila. He is incommunicado. The Archbishop of Caracas goes to see him and counsels him to resign. "To avoid a civil war," he says. He commits humanitarian blackmail. He asks [Chávez] to write a letter saying he is resigning.

Chávez doesn't know what's happening in Caracas or the rest of the country. They've already tried to execute him, but the men in the firing squad have refused and threatened to mutiny. Many of the soldiers who guard Chávez are ready to defend him and to prevent his assassination. Chávez tries to gain time with the bishop. He writes drafts of a statement. He fears that once he finishes the letter, [his captors] will arrange to eliminate him. He has no intention of resigning. He declares that they'll have to kill him first. And that there will be no constitutional solution then.

IR: Meanwhile, was it still your intention to send planes to rescue him and take him into exile?

FC: No, after that conversation with the Venezuelan generals, we changed plans. We shelved Felipe's proposition to travel with the ambassadors to Caracas. What's more, shortly thereafter we hear a rumor that the putschists are proposing to expel Chávez to Cuba. And we immediately announce that if they send Chávez here, we shall send him back to Venezuela on the first available plane.

IR: How does Chávez return to power?

FC: Well, at one point we again get in contact with the first general with whom I had spoken and he informs me that they've located Chávez, that he's on the island of La Orchila. We talk about the best way to rescue him. With great respect, I recommend three basic steps: discretion, efficacy and overwhelming force. The parachutists from the base at Maracay, the best unit of the Venezuelan Armed Forces, who are faithful to Chávez, carry out the rescue.

Meanwhile, in Caracas, the people have mobilized, asking for Chávez's return. The presidential guard has reoccupied Miraflores [Palace] and also demands the president's return. It expels the putschists from the palace. Pedro Carmona, president of the management association and very temporary President-usurper of Venezuela, is almost arrested right there at the palace.

Finally, at dawn on April 14, 2002, rescued by the faithful soldiers, Chávez arrives in Miraflores amid a popular apotheosis. I almost did not sleep the two days of the Caracas coup, but it was worthwhile for me to see how a people, and also patriotic soldiers, defended the law. The tragedy of Chile in 1973 was not repeated.

IR: Chávez is a representative of the progressive armed forces, but in Europe and Latin America many progressives reproach him precisely because he is a military man. What opinion do you have about that apparent contradiction between progressiveness and the military?

FC: Look, in Venezuela we have an army playing an important role in the Bolivarian revolution. And Omar Torrijos, in Panama, was an example of a soldier with conscience. Juan Velasco Alvarado, in Peru, also carried out some notable acts of progress. Let's not forget, for example, that among the Brazilians, Luis Carlos Prestes was an officer who led a march in 1924-26 almost like the march led by Mao Zedong in 1934-35.

Jorge Amado wrote about the march of Luis Carlos Prestes in a beautiful story, "The Gentleman of Hope," one of his magnificent novels. I had an opportunity to read them all, and that march was something impressive. It lasted more than two and a half years, covering enormous territories in his country, and he never suffered defeat.

In other words, there were prowesses that came from the military. Let's say, I'm going to cite a Mexican military man, Lázaro Cárdenas, a general of the Mexican Revolution, who nationalized petroleum. He is very prominent, carries out agrarian reform and gains the support of the people. When one talks about affairs in Mexico, one mustn't forget the roles played by personalities like Lázaro Cárdenas. And Lázaro Cárdenas originated in the military.

One mustn't forget that the first people in Latin America to rise up in the 20th Century, in the 1950s, were a group of youths who rebelled, young Guatemalan officers, who gathered around Jacobo Arbenz and participated in revolutionary activities. Well, you can't say that's a general phenomenon but there are several cases of progressive military men.

In Argentina, Perón also came from military origins. You need to see the moment when he emerges. In 1943, he was appointed Minister of Labor and drafted such good laws that when he was taken to prison the people rescued him -- and he was a military chief. There was also a civilian who had influence over the military men, he studied in Italy, where Perón also had lived; he was Jorge Eliécer Gaitán, and they were popular leaders.

Perón was an embassy attaché. He worked in Rome in the 1930s during the Mussolini period and was impressed by some of the forms and methods of mass mobilization he witnessed. There was influence, including in some processes, but in those cases where I mention that influence, Gaitán and Perón used it in a positive sense, because the truth is that Perón carried out social reform.

Perón commits, let us say, a mistake. He offends the Argentine oligarchy, humiliates it, strips it of its symbolic theater and some symbolic institutions. He worked with the nation's reserves and resources and improved the living conditions of the workers. And the workers were very grateful, and Perón became an idol of the workers.

Reproduced gratefully from:  Progresso Weekly

 

 

 

Che Guevara's Daughter Writes Chavez Bio
By ANDREA RODRIGUEZ
July 3, 2005



HAVANA - Revolutionary fighter Che Guevara's daughter has written a book about Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez based on interviews in which they discussed his childhood, family and relationship with Cuban leader Fidel Castro.

"It is always thrilling to know a bit more about a human being who has decided to transform society, especially when that transformation is meant to improve the lives of his people," Aleida Guevara wrote on the book's back cover.

The book, published by Ocean Press and titled "Chavez: Venezuela and the New Latin America," was presented in Havana Friday by the author and Adan Chavez, Venezuela's ambassador to Cuba and also the president's brother.

Guevara met with Chavez twice in February of 2004 in Caracas, Venezuela for the interview. In the 145-page book, the president talks about his childhood in the southwest region of Barinas, where he was born in 1954, and his close relationship with his grandmother Rosa Ines, who raised him.

The Venezuelan leader also speaks openly about his children, his political life and his friendship with Castro.

"Those who have tried to damage my personal or political image for the special relationship I have with Fidel don't realize that they've only given it more power," Chavez says in the book.

Chavez, who is a close ally of the Cuban president, says Castro is like an older brother _ a father even _ with whom he discusses ideas and receives health advice.

The book has a personal touch because the author's father Che Guevara and Castro were brothers-in-arms in the Cuban revolution and looming icons of the left in Latin America and around the world.

Distribution of the book has begun in English in the United States and Great Britain, and in Spanish in Venezuela and Argentina, according to Ocean Press. It will be released in Ecuador shortly.

On the Net:

www.oceanbooks.com.au

 

 

 

 

 

Go to "Viva Chavez" Page II

New Coup D'Etat"
Rumblings In Venezuela
By Stephen Lendman
9-25-8
...On September 10, Venezolana de Television's
(VTV) La Hojilla program disclosed a recording
(from an undisclosed source) of a planned
military coup against Chavez - by active
and retired plotters...

Chávez's U-turn on socialism
Stephanie Blankenburg
Published 08 January 2008

Venezuelan Referendum:
A Post-Mortem and its Aftermath
By Prof. James Petras
Global Research, December 5, 2007

Chavez of Arabia?
 Winning Arab hearts and minds

Hugo Chavez - Victor Hugo.
By Brother Francis aka. Bubba Don

The choice before Humanity  By Alan Woods

 

Che Guevara--Revolutionary Hero For Social Justice--His Story With Many Pictures.

 

I give you Hugo Chavez speaking as Victor Hugo to Les Miserables:


 http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2890538484984018160


THE REVOLUTION WILL NOT BE TELEVISED   video 2003:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5832390545689805144

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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