English Edition N° 149

Analysis

Opinion

Long live revolution: Chavez’s triumph page 7

Hugo Chavez, a maker of dreams page 8

Friday, March 8, 2013 | Nº 149 | Caracas | www.correodelorinoco.gob.ve

ENGLISH EDITION/The artillery of ideas

Hugo Chavez: World expressions of solidarity It’s not just Latin America that has lost an icon.

The passing of President Hugo Chavez marks an end to a life that touched politicians, grassroots activists, trade unionists and journalists the world over. From UN SecretaryGeneral Ban Ki-moon to independence fighters in Palestine and Western Sahara, condolences and expressions of admiration are in no short supply. page 3

A transcendent force of justice 1954-2013

Politics

Fighting for a better world The Venezuelan leader was a strong leader for social justice. page 4

Independence and Integration Chavez helped build Latin American sovereignty and regional trade. page 5

A voice of dignity

On Tuesday, March 5 at 4:25pm, Venezuela’s charismatic and beloved President Hugo Chavez passed away after a painful two year battle with cancer. Thousands of Venezuelans flooded the streets of Caracas mourning their leader and accompanying his family members in this time of great sadness. Elections will be called within 30 days, per constitutional mandate, to elect a new president. In the interim period, Chavez’s Vice President Nicolas Maduro will act as head of state. Page 2

Chavez: A great unifier T/ AVN

The rich and powerful saw President Chavez as a major thorn in their side. page 6

Within the Union of South American Nations (Unasur) the leader of the Bolivarian Revolution, Hugo Chavez, “will be remembered as the great proponent of this idea of integration, as the great rescuer of the original project of Bolivar and Sucre of a Patria Grande”.

This was stressed on Wednesday by the Unasur secretary general Ali Rodriguez Araque, who also stated, “He always maintained a principled position, which is the most important thing in ruling a state and a driving a foreign policy” with the flexibility to maintain respectful relationships with all nations.

In statements to Telesur, from Dr. Carlos Arvelo Military Hospital in Caracas, Rodriguez Araque emphasized that Chavez not only will be remembered as the promoter of Latin American integration, but as the leader who “recovered the dignity of Venezuela, of being proud of be Venezuelan”.

INTERNATIONAL

Statement from Jimmy Carter on Hugo Chavez Rosalynn and I extend our condolences to the family of Hugo Chavez Frias. We met Hugo Chavez when he was campaigning for president in 1998 and The Carter Center was invited to observe elections for the first time in Venezuela. We returned often, for the 2000 elections, and then to facilitate dialogue during the political conflict of 2002-2004. We came to know a man who expressed a vision to bring profound changes to his country to benefit especially those people who had felt neglected and marginalized.

Although we have not agreed with all of the methods followed by his government, we have never doubted Hugo Chavez’s commitment to improving the lives of millions of his fellow countrymen.

President Chavez will be remembered for his bold assertion of autonomy and independence for Latin American governments and for his formidable communication skills and personal connection with supporters in his country and abroad to whom he gave hope and empowerment. During his 14-year tenure, Chavez joined other leaders in Latin America and the Caribbean to create new forms of integration. Venezuelan poverty rates were cut in half, and millions received identification documents for the first time allowing them to participate more effectively in their country’s economic and political life.

We hope that as Venezuelans mourn the passing of President Chavez and recall his positive legacies — especially the gains made for the poor and vulnerable — the political leaders will move the country forward by building a new consensus that ensures equal opportunities for all Venezuelans to participate in every aspect of national life.

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The artillery of ideas

Foreign Minister Elias Jaua reported seven days of national morning for the deceased head of state and the closure of all of public and private institutions for three days following the announcement.

WORLD SOLIDARITY

Charismatic Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez dies at 58 T/ COI P/ Presidential Press

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atin America and the world stood still last Tuesday when Venezuelan Vice President Nicolas Maduro announced the death of one of the most influential leaders to have governed in South America in the past 50 years.

Hugo Chavez Frias, 58, died at approximately 4:25pm in the Military Hospital Dr. Carlos Arvelo in the Venezuelan capital of Caracas after a nearly two year battle with cancer, Maduro told the nation in an emotional televised broadcast.

“Despite the immense pain from this historic tragedy that is affecting our nation, we are calling on all compatriots to be on guard for peace, love, respect and calmness”, the VP said, surrounded by Venezuelan cabinet members and high government officials.

Chavez, who had undergone emergency surgery on December 11 in Cuba, had recently won a third consecutive term as Venezuelan President after

taking 55 percent of the popular vote on December 7.

The socialist leader first announced the discovery of cancer in his pelvic region in June 2011 and after undergoing a series of chemotherapy cycles informed that he had been given a clean bill of health from his medical staff.

A relapse was discovered at the end of last year, prompting the surgery in Havana which officials called “delicate” and “complicated”.

For more than two months, the head of the United Social-

ist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) remained in convalescence in Cuba with no public contact until a message sent by his Twitter account on February 18 announced the President’s arrival in Venezuela.

Since that date, Chavez had been receiving treatment in the Military Hospital of Caracas as government ministers and military leaders met with him almost daily.

Last Monday, Venezuelan Communication Minister Ernesto Villegas reported a

worsening of Chavez’s condition, detailing a respiratory infection that had been complicated by chemotherapy treatment. “[Chavez] is holding on to Christ and life, conscious of the difficulties that he is confronting and adhering strictly to the program designed by his medical team”, the Communication Minister informed, describing the leader’s condition as “very delicate”.

During the announcement of the his passing, VP Maduro appealed for Venezuelans to remain calm and united in face of the painful revelation.

A special military deployment has been made around the nation, Maduro informed, “to accompany and protect the people and to guarantee peace”.

“To all social and political organizations, we are asking for respect. This is a moment of deep pain and there is only room for understanding, and respect for the ideals of peace, homeland and democracy of Comandante President Hugo Chavez”, the Vice President asserted.

Since the official declaration, messages of solidarity and condolences have been pouring in from around Latin America and the world.

Argentina and Ecuador decreed three days of mourning for the socialist president who, having prided himself on building new multi-lateral relations between the countries of the global South, redefined international relations in Latin America.

Bolivian President Evo Morales declared a week of mourning in his country, eulogizing Chavez as a man who “marked the leadership and the path of sovereignty for the people of Latin America”.

Despite a lukewarm message from the Obama White House, former US President Jimmy Carter wrote of Chavez’s “commitment to improving the lives of millions” and “his bold assertion of autonomy and independence for Latin American governments”.

“During his 14-year tenure, Chávez joined other leaders in Latin America and the Caribbean to create new forms of integration. Venezuelan poverty rates were cut in half, and millions received identification documents for the first time allowing them to participate more effectively in their country’s economic and political life”, Carter wrote in a statement.

On Wednesday, the President’s remains were transported to the Military Academy Hall of Tiuna Fort in Caracas during a procession that saw the participation of hundreds of thousands of followers, including the presidents of Argentina, Uruguay and Bolivia.

Chavez’s funeral will take place on Friday at 10am in Caracas.

According to Venezuela’s constitution, new elections will be convened in the country within 30 days.

Current Vice President, Nicolas Maduro, will be the candidate for the ruling socialist party while Henrique Capriles Radonski, the loser of last October’s presidential contest, figures to be the front runner for the fragmented Venezuelan opposition.

A recent poll released by the firm Hinterlaces places Maduro’s potential advantage over Capriles Radonski at 14 points.

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| Solidarity

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How Chavez inspired the world T/ Ryan Mallettouttrim P/ AFP

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t’s not just Latin America that has lost an icon. The passing of President Hugo Chavez marks an end to a life that touched politicians, grassroots activists, trade unionists and journalists the world over.

From UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to independence fighters in Palestine and Western Sahara, condolences and expressions of admiration are in no short supply.

“President [Hugo] Chavez spoke to the challenges and aspirations of the most vulnerable Venezuelans”, read a statement from the office of the UN Secretary-General.

In Western Sahara, the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) called a day of mourning on Wednesday.

SADR currently administers approximately 20% of the Western Saharan territory, a region often referred to as Africa’s last colony.

Morocco occupies the rest of Western Sahara, despite persistent African Union demands for decolonization.

Chavez spoke out in support of SADR on numerous occasions during his 14 years as President, and increased aid to the 100,000 Sahrawi refugees living on the Algerian border.

President of the Sahrawi Journalists’ and Writers’ Union told Correo del Orinoco the news of his death came as “a real shock”.

“We [the Sahrawi] have a deep appreciation for Hugo Chavez because he was a man with very high integrity, a man that has the courage to stand to oppression, to the arrogance

of the West... [a] man who had the courage to stand by the oppressed everywhere”.

“As a Saharawi, I am of course very proud that he clearly supported the struggle of my people, and I think that the fact that he passed away while still fighting is a great message to everyone to stand by the right struggles no matter what”.

On Thursday, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas also described Chavez as “a great leader who fought for a better world”, according to Israeli daily Haaretz.

“With the passing of our brother and comrade Chavez, all the patriots fighting for their freedom have lost a great leader, who fought for a better world, clean of oppression and colonialism”.

Meanwhile in Iran, state media declared a day of mourning and in Sydney, Australia, supporters gathered to grieve a few hours after the news broke.

Jim McIloy of the AustraliaVenezuela Solidarity Network (AVSN) attended the gathering.

He told Correo del Orinoco, “Many speakers addressed the crowd and hailed the significance of Chavez and his.. role in uniting Latin American according to the dream of Simon Bolivar 200 years ago.

“Other rallies are being held in cities across the country in coming days”.

“Chavez was a great leader of Venezuela, of Latin America and of the world. He [was] an outstanding figure for the international progressive movement, because he put the idea of socialism back on the agenda of world politics, in a period of the ascendancy of capitalist neoliberalism”.

“I...personally met Chavez on one occasion, and can testify to the great love he felt for the Venezuelan people, and their great love for him in return. His legacy is one of commitment to the social improvement and empowerment of the common people of Venezuela, of Latin America and of the world”.

“I [also] lived in Venezuela for a several periods, and helped

organize solidarity brigades on behalf of the Australia-Venezuela Solidarity Network (AVSN), which introduced scores of Australians and others to the reality of the Venezuelan revolution: the social missions, the communal councils and communes, the unions, the co-operatives and other people’s organizations of the revolution.”

One brigadista that traveled with McIlroy last year was Dennis Rogatyuk, who told Correo del Orinoco, “I first saw Chavez when he arrived to cast a vote in the presidential elections of last year...[t]he love that the people had for him could only be matched by the love that he himself had for them”.

Stuart Munckton, international editor of the independent newspaper, Green Left Weekly, also attended the gathering.

“The significance of Hugo Chavez can not be overstated”, he affirmed.

“He gave real leadership and voice to the people - not just in Venezuela but everywhere”.

UK based newspaper, Fight Racism! Fight Imperialism! correspondent on Venezuela Sam McGill echoed similar statements.

From London, McGill told Correo del Orinoco that, “I had the privilege of seeing Chavez speak several times...” “[G]reat revolutionaries like Hugo Chavez and Fidel Castro has given me all the inspiration, determination and resolve I need to dedicate my life to socialist revolution here in Britain”.

Within hours of Chavez’s passing, the Communist Party of Australia (CPA) also issued a statement, in which the party’s National President Vinnie Mo-

lina describing him as an “inspirational figure”.

CPA State Secretary of South Australia Bob Briton said that Chavez’s passing was a “sad day for all progressive people”.

“I had the privilege of visiting Caracas in 2006...[and] was amazed to see the effect the Bolivarian revolution had on my Venezuelan comrades”.

“I hadn’t seen optimism or energy like this for a very long time on the left”.

Elsewhere in the Asia/ Pacific region, the Socialist Party of Malaysia (PSM) also expressed “its deepest condolences to the people of Venezuela, Latin America and all who supported the Bolivarian Revolution”.

According to a press release on March 7, “Comrade Chavez [was] a visionary... [and the] Bolivarian Revolution has captured the imagination of many people, including us in PSM, that another world is possible”.

Although these individuals and organizations come from all corners of the world, they are united by the common goal of socialism in the 21st Century.

Chavez embodied the hopes of millions, and represented a better future, free from exploitation and imperialist aggression.

Even as Venezuela commemorates the life of a great leader, for his admirers all over the world Chavez is far from dead.

“That sort of dedication doesn’t die with a person”, said Briton.

“Chavez lives in each and all of us... this rings just as true outside Venezuela’s borders as within them”, Mcgill said.

“Long Live Hugo Chavez! Long Live the Bolivarian Revolution!”

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The artillery of ideas

Chavez and the dream for a better world

T/ Michael Fox - NACLA P/ Presidential Press

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he news poured down like a hard Venezuelan rain— Hugo Chavez had passed.

After a two-year-long battle with cancer, we should have been prepared. But we weren’t.

Like a surreal dream we read the reports from afar. We fielded media calls, listened to Ali Pri-

mera, and dialed distant friends, searching for familiar voices; grasping for something elusive that was slipping through our fingers. Comments, cries, gritos rolled in through social media, as we were glued—transfixed— to Facebook and Twitter.

For Chavez supporters, unbelief and grief.

“In the center of Caracas, all is peace and quiet, but it breaths

pain”, wrote one friend shortly after the news was announced.

“I have no words”, wrote another, “just tears of anguish”.

“Chavez lives on in each of us”, wrote a solidarity activist from abroad.

Across the ethers friends posted their pictures of the Venezuelan President, or tweeted #Chavez with comments and links to memorable moments,

like Chavez’s 2006 UN General Assembly speech when he called President George W. Bush the Devil. Meanwhile, the opposition celebrated and mainstream editorials continued their media spin, decrying Chavez as a despot who led the country to ruin, amid marginal gains for the poor.

Those gains, however, were substantial. Chavez’s revolution offered universal access to free health care. It built schools, abolished illiteracy, and reduced poverty by half and extreme poverty by more than 70%. NACLA Editorial Committee member Gregory Wilpert was interviewed Tuesday by The Real News.

Democracy Now! dedicated its entire show today to Chavez, Venezuela, and the Bolivarian Process (with guests Miguel Tinker Salas, Eva Golinger, Gregory Wilpert, Greg Grandin, and Michael Shifter). NACLA executive editor Greg Grandin has already written an insightful piece, “On the Legacy of Hugo Chavez,” for The Nation.

For members of Venezuela’s grassroots movements, Chavez meant the hope of a better life, and the means to organize to accomplish it.

“Chavez is like a guide. Chavez is a door—the door for the struggles that we want to carry out”, said Iraida Morocoima, of Venezuela’s Urban Land Committees in 2009, “But on the other side of that door are the people”.

Her sentiment was reflected by most of the dozens of people that we interviewed for our 2010 book Venezuela Speaks!: Voices From the Grassroots.

Many of their movements were rooted in organizing that went back decades, but politically supported by the new 1999 Venezuelan Constitution that was passed through a Constituent Assembly during Chávez’s first year in office.

Chavez would attempt to empower communities and promote participatory democracy throughout his presidency. He called on workers to occupy their factories and supported the formation oftens of thousands of cooperatives. Chavez’s government called for the community to organize locally outside of bureaucratic channels and gave the people the tools to do it. Over 30,000 communal councils were created by neighborhood residents to make decisions about their own communities. These new councils could (and still can) receive funds directly from the national government to carry out their projects. Representatives were traded for spokespersons.

These moves were not flawless, but they empowered, inspired, and handed everyday folks the tools to dream for a better world together, and actively make it happen.

“I think that the most beautiful thing is the collective work— that we respect each other, and join together and change. We have to change”, said Maria Vicenta Davila of the Mixteque communal council in the mountainous state of Merida. “I think that’s what’s being created here in Venezuela. With or without Chavez, Venezuela is no longer the same, and this is Chavez’s great challenge, to change the mentality of the people”.

For these movements, Chavez will be missed, but the Bolivarian process continues. Vice President Nicolas Maduro is set to take on opposition challenger Henrique Capriles Radonski in a nation-wide election for the presidency in less than 30 days, and he is expected to win handily. Hand-picked by Chavez, there is little doubt that he will carry on in Chavez’s legacy.

There are, of course, many questions. Perhaps more than ever, since Chavez came to power 14 years ago, the future will rest on the collective and the union of the Bolivarian process.

As Gonzalo Gomez, co-founder of the Aporrea.org website, said in an interview in January 2012, “The post-Chavez era will not depend on individual figures, but rather on our capacity to continue developing, deepening, and advancing the Bolivarian revolution once that leadership is no longer there”.

Only time will tell.

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A more independent South America and the Chavez legacy The spark that lit the fires in Latin America

The convictions of Hugo Chavez T/ Chris Gilbert P/ Presidential Press Caracas.

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ugo Chavez, who died Tuesday afternoon, was something of an Emersonian hero.

“Speak your latent conviction”, said the sage of Concord, “and it shall be the universal sense”.

Chavez said things that other people thought, or at least recognized that they thought after he said them.

One could say that he expanded the notion of the political. He sang and recited poems during his innumerable hours of television… he talked incessantly.

This bothered the shit out of some people. Including me (I have to admit) some of the time.

But a lot of the time I liked it.

Most people won’t remember well the details of the moment in which Chavez implied that George W. Bush was the devil. The truth is it wasn’t planned at all.

I believe the “mot juste” simply occurred to Chavez there in UN in 2006. Who smelled more of sulfur than Bush?

The words traveled around the world.

These days, for a variety of reasons — even theoretical reasons — it is widely understood that political discourse has gotten pretty useless, pretty separated from people’s real needs.

In Argentina people said in 2001 “Que se vayan todos!”; in the Spanish State everyone understands politics to be the equivalent of corruption. Let’s not even speak of the US (Does anyone remember “Change” or “Yes we can”?).

Chavez had his own solution to this problem. Surely it was

problematic, excessively personalist.

On the other hand, it did connect with people in a way that went beyond simple reason. It inspired Venezuelans, Latin Americans, and many others.

To inspire is literally to fill with breath, or life. Politics has become something too without feeling, without flavor, without life. It has become an affair conducted by strawmen and strawwomen.

Chavez, whatever one thinks of him, was not a straw man. He was actually a gentleman in that he was never vulgar (in the real sense of that term), and he never humiliated weak people. Only the strong.

The earliest video recording of Chavez that I have seen shows a young officer, incredibly gregarious, singing and trying to get people to sing. It would be a good way to remember him if it were not for his most brilliant political moment: the “por ahora” speech.

This was not planned either: Chavez, after giving himself up in the failed military uprising of 1992, was permitted a couple of minutes on national television.

He basically said that the uprising should cease, that everyone should abandon their arms.

But almost unconsciously, without thinking much about it, really only to be true to himself (his latent conviction) Chavez slipped in the words “por ahora” (“for now”).

That was the proverbial spark that set fire to the field.

That fire continues to burn in Latin America and in the world, and will for some time.

It is also true that a few more sparks of its kind are needed.

T/ Mark Weisbrot P/ Presidential Press

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ertrand Russell once wrote about the United States revolutionary Thomas Paine, “He had faults, like other men; but it was for his virtues that he was hated and successfully calumniated”.

This was certainly true of Hugo Chavez Frias, who was probably more demonized than any democratically elected president in world history. But he was repeatedly re-elected by wide margins, and will be mourned not only by Venezuelans but by many Latin Americans who appreciate what he did for the region.

Chavez survived a military coup backed by Washington and oil strikes that crippled the economy but once he got control of the oil industry, his government reduced poverty by half and extreme poverty by 70 percent. Millions of people also got access to health care for the first time, and access to education also increased sharply, with college enrollment dou-

bling and free tuition for many.

Eligibility for public pensions tripled. He kept his campaign promise to share the country’s oil wealth with Venezuela’s majority, and that will be part of his legacy.

So, too will be the second independence of Latin America, and especially South America, which is now more independent of the United States than Europe is. Of course this would not have happened without Chavez’ close friends and allies: Lula in Brazil, the Kirchners in Argentina, Evo Morales in Bolivia, Rafael Correa in Ecuador, and others. But Chavez was the first of the democratically-elected left presidents in the past 15 years, and he played a very important role; look to what these colleagues will say of him and you will find it to be much more important than most of the other obituaries, anti-obituaries, and commentaries. These left governments have also made considerable advances in reducing poverty, increasing employment, and raising overall living standards

– and their parties, too have been continually re-elected.

For these other democratic leaders, Chavez is seen as part of this continent-wide revolt at the ballot box that transformed South America and increased opportunities and political participation for previously excluded majorities and minorities.

Continuity in Venezuela is most likely following Chavez’ death, since his political party has more than 7 million members and demonstrated its ability to win elections without him campaigning in the December local elections, where they picked up five state governorships to win 20 of 23 states. Relations with the United States are unlikely to improve; the State Department and President Obama himself made a number of hostile statements during Chávez’s last months of illness, indicating that no matter what the next government (presumably under Nicolas Maduro) does, there is not much interest on Washington’s part in improving relations.

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The artillery of ideas

Hugo Chavez, undefeated! Why the rich and powerful hated Chavez

corporate boardrooms of the world never intended for Hugo Chavez to live beyond those days in April 2002.

If the people had not mobilized to restore Chavez to power 11 years ago, Latin America would be a much worse place today. The “pink tide” would likely have been largely stemmed before it had a chance to spread; transformations that have begun in Bolivia and Ecuador might never have gotten out of the gates. Who knows, the FTAA, a proposed hemispheric corporate trade deal, might have been implemented rather than soundly defeated.

After all, back in 2001, when tens of thousands marched in Quebec City against the early stages of the FTAA, President Chavez was almost alone as a head of government inside the talks opposing the deal.

If the people had not mobilized to restore Chavez to power 11 years ago, Latin America would be a much worse place today.

T/ Derrick O’Keefe - Rabble P/ Agencies

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ugo Chavez has died -- undefeated.

Yes, undefeated. Chavez, no matter how many times the corporate media and the cheerleaders of the status quo call him a dictator, was elected repeatedly with overwhelming majorities.

No matter how many times this slur is moronically or mendaciously repeated, people know the truth. No less than Jimmy Carter certified Venezuela’s elections as amongst the most fair and transparent his organization has ever observed. And the voter turnouts that elected Chavez were usually far, far higher than those in the United States.

The voices that cheer and mock the death of Hugo Chavez are in fact mocking democracy and the people of Venezuela, who elected him and who have re-elected him time and time again -- most recently by a decisive majority in October 2012.

But today we need not dwell on the disgusting carnival of necrophilia with which the right-wing has followed Chavez’s illness and which will reach a crescendo in the coming days with the news of his untimely demise. This macabre celebration is only the flip side of impotence; they whoop and holler at Chavez’s death from cancer only because they failed to defeat him in life, and could not take down his government by democratic (or other) means.

No less than Jimmy Carter certified Venezuela's elections as amongst the most fair and transparent his organization has ever observed.

Besides, behind this gravedancing is not just the hatred of one man who became em-

blematic of a continental shift to the left and away from US interests and power; it also reveals the shallow indifference to human life and to democracy built into the whole system.

As a friend pointed out, within minutes of announcing the news of his death, CNN was discussing the implications it might have on the markets and on the value of US corporate interests in the region.

Today, I would rather celebrate the majority of Venezuelans -- especially the poor and the marginalized. It is, after all, the people who made Chavez, and not the other way around.

And it is the humble people of Venezuela who saw to it that Chavez was allowed to complete this many years as president, after all.

Chavez came very close to dying much earlier -- of unnatural causes. It was People’s Power that kept him alive and that kept his democratically elected government in power. I’m referring of course to the April 2002 coup d’etat cynically aided and

abbetted by Venezuela’s rabidly right-wing media and which was issued with an immediate stamp of approval by the Bush administration.

It is, after all, the people who made Chavez, and not the other way around. And it is the humble people of Venezuela who saw to it that Chavez completed this many years as president.

It’s important to remember that the traditional elite of Venezuela -- the oiligarchs of this South American petrostate who ruled for decades under the ‘Washington Consensus,’ and who quashed resistance to neoliberalism in blood like during the 1989 caracazo -and their allies abroad in the US government and in the

Whatever the shortcomings and all the very real contradictions of Chavez’s government, the poor of Venezuela and of all Latin America are better off today in real and tangible ways because the people kept it in power.

So let the corporate media say “good riddance!” to Chavez in their cynical way.

Ignore them, and watch (or rewatch) the inspiring story of the People Power that defeated the 2002 coup, as told in the powerful Irish documentary The Revolution Will Not Be Televised. The title is a tip of the hat to Gil Scott-Heron, and it’s a reference to the key role that right-wing, private, big media played in orchestrating and manipulating events and their portrayal during the failed attempt at regime change. (Another important source of information about Venezuela is the website Venezuelanalysis.com) The rich and powerful of the world did not hate Chavez because he was a dictator. Deep down the sentient among them know he wasn’t.

They hated him because he was symbolic of a threat to the dictatorship of Capital, a figurehead of a continent alive with social movements and millions of people conscious of their political power.

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The artillery of ideas

Chavez’s triumph T/ Andre Vltchek P/ Agencies

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hen we lose people that are indispensible to us, nothing may change on the surface: we are still walking, eating sleeping, working, even fighting. The void, the gaping hole is what dominates our hearts and our souls.

Tuesday, the President of Venezuela and one of the greatest revolutionaries in the history of mankind – Hugo Chavez – passed away, and the world is still moving by inertia. Buildings did not collapse, continents did not sink, and the wars and misery ravaging many parts of the world did not stop.

Yet something changed.

Three beautiful muses that have been inspiring so many millions all over the world, turned into widows, at least for one day or two. Their names are: Love, Faith and Hope.

Some ask: is it really wise to make an entire country, an entire revolution dependent, and reliant on one single man?

My answer is simple: people like Chavez are born infrequently, too rarely. It would be a historical anomaly for two giants of his size to live in the same period of time, in the same city, and even in the same country.

Yet his words and deeds were simple and pragmatic: poor people have to be housed, fed,

educated and given medical care, and above all, they have to be armed with dignity. And the wealthy world, which became rich through plunder, colonial expansions and unmatchable brutality, has to stop terrorizing and looting; the countries of Europe and North America have to be forced to behave like members of the international community consisting of states with equal rights, instead of what they have been accustomed to for decades and centuries: a bunch of thugs living above the law.

Hugo Chavez was a man who appeared to come from a different era, where Western propaganda, indoctrination and surveillance had not yet broken the free spirit of men and women. He stood tall, spoke loudly and coherently, naming names, and pointing fingers.

He was not afraid of his own people: he drank gallons of coffee and talked to them from the balcony of the Presidential Palace, and at street corners.

“And it smells of sulfur still today”, he laughed, at the UN, after George W. Bush left the stage. He was not the only one who smelt it, but he was the only one who dared to say it.

In his universe, no tyrant, no hypocrite was above the law, and immune from his attacks.

He was not scared to say what he believed, publicly, even about such characters like the King

of Spain, or the President of the United States of America.

Not everybody liked him, not all ‘natural allies’ stood by him.

It is mainly because he spoke the truth when others did not dare to. It is because he was constantly taking action while most of the others who were ‘resisting’ the global regime, were content with shouting at the television and exchanging conspiracy theories through electronic chats, while taking no risks. It is because, in a way, he became the bad conscience of those who have been playing it both ways: simultaneously criticizing power and collaborating with it.

Chavez wrote history as one writes an epic and daring poem – with his own mind, heart and flesh. He lifted the flag with his own hands; he straightened his back, shouted a few essential words to the wind, and walked forwards. He was always at the front. He never hid behind the backs of others. This is how the legendary Samurais fought, or closer home – the great warriors of the Andes.

President Hugo Chavez to the people of Venezuela, or Commander Chavez to some brave men and women all over the world, wrote his poem while standing on thin ice. Decisions he made were never simple; never comfortable. His life was always in danger.

To be a young officer, a paratrooper/philosopher, and to attempt a rebellion in a country locked in a horrible embrace with the North was not easy.

To free that beloved land of his, from such misery and humiliation, one had to fight decisively, with all the means available.

There was no time to theorize.

And he fought. And was captured and imprisoned. But his courage gained him admiration and support unknown in his country for centuries.

Three muses, three celestial beings, stood by him throughout that mortal fight for genuine freedom of Venezuela and Latin America; during those endless days and nights he was locked in a dungeon: Love – for Venezuela, for Latin America, for humanity itself.

Faith – in justice, in his strength and in the vigor and determination of his people.

Hope –which whispered in his ear, relentlessly, that the present brutal arrangement of the World is not final; that it could be fought and changed.

And they won!

Chavez and his people won.

His three Muses won. Entire Latin America fell silent. Then it cheered. Hundreds of years of servitude were over. All unified, this beautiful continent was finally liberated. Because, as we all know by now, people when united and inspired, when aiming at great goals and ideals, are always victorious, no matter how immense is the sacrifice!

Optimism, enthusiasm and determination: there could be no more dangerous or deadlier enemies to the present inhuman global dictatorship, which is imposed on the world by the Western colonial and neo-colonial nations.

The Empire is spreading nihilism, fragmentation, financial and moral corruption, fear, and compliance with mainstream thoughts and ‘ideas’, manufactured by its ideologues, propagandists and the advertising industry. Life is reduced to a form, which devours all substance. A depressing breed of individualism, egotism, passivity, and obedience is constantly promoted and advertised.

The Venezuelan Revolution offered exactly the opposite: optimism, solidarity, hope, and a great opportunity to fight for, to create and to live for humanity as a whole. Against some callous Hollywood-style horror movie, it placed simplicity and beauty, against Armageddon, a few simple flowers and the

| Analysis

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promise to return to the essence of humanism.

I write this dispatch in Nairobi, in Kenya; in Africa, which is being ravaged and chained once again. Every word causes me pain and I know that the pain is coming unmistakably from the direction of Venezuela. The pain is sharp; it is immense. Only love can hurt like this; only true love.

But there is no time for laments and tears. One false step, one month, even one day of letting down our guards, and everything that Chavez and Venezuela fought for, everything that we fought for, may disappear in one simple instant.

Evo Morales, the President of Bolivia, declared: “Chavez is More Alive than Ever”.

That is true. But our determination to support, to defend the Latin American Revolution, should also be more alive than ever. Chavez did not believe in goals only, he believed in journey, in the process – en el proceso. That is what the revolution is: determined, selfless, an optimistic journey; it is the indefatigable fight against fascism – for a better world, and for justice.

During that long but beautiful journey, some people fall, but then others rise and lift up the banners. Those who fall will be never left behind: they will be carried in our hearts and in our songs, because their achievements are everlasting.

So back from where I began: when we lose a person who appeared indispensible, we may double from pain. It is only human. But then it is our duty to straighten our backs again, remembering the way Hugo Chavez did. There is Caracas, Havana, La Paz, Buenos Aires, Montevideo, Quito, Managua and so many other beloved cities behind us; depending on us for their defense. Asuncion in Paraguay has already fallen, and so has Tegucigalpa, Honduras. We cannot afford to lose more!

Human life is short, but dreams of humanism, and the love for humanity, are eternal.

And one can only love humanity and fight for it with a straight back; never doubled over, and never on ones knees.

The man who freed Venezuela is no more. But she will go forward, no doubt, with him inside her heart, with his words on her lips.

Tuesday, a true hero of the Latin American Revolution, President Hugo Chavez, has fallen. And long live freedom, long live Venezuela, long live Latin America, and the Revolution!

Friday, March 8, 2013 | Nº 149 | Caracas | www.correodelorinoco.gob.ve

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! PUBLICATION OF THE &UNDACION #ORREO DEL /RINOCO s Editor-in-Chief %VA 'OLINGER s Graphic Design Pablo Valduciel L. - Aimara Aguilera

Opinion

Hugo Chavez, dream maker T/ Eva Golinger P/ Presidential Press

M

ost of what you read or hear in mass media about President Hugo Chavez is always negative, his faults exaggerated, his discourse distorted and his achievements ignored. The reality is quite different.

Hugo Chavez was beloved by millions around the world. He changed the course of a continent and led a collective awakening of a people once silenced, once exploited and ignored.

Chavez was a grandiose visionary and a maker of dreams.

An honest man from a humble background who lived in a mud hut as a child and sold candies on the streets to make money for his family, Chavez dreamed of building a strong, sovereign nation, independent of foreign influence and dignified on the world scene. He dreamed of improving the lives of his people, of eradicating the misery of poverty and of offering everyone the chance of a better life – the “good life” (el buenvivir), as he called it.

President Chavez made those dreams come true. During his

nearly fourteen years of governance, elected to three full six-year terms but only serving two due to his untimely death, Chavez’s policies reduced extreme poverty in Venezuela by more than 75%, from 25% to less than 7% in a decade. Overall poverty was reduced by more than 50%, from 60% in 1998 when Chavez first won office to 27% by 2008. This is not just numbers, this translates into profound changes in the lives of millions of Venezuelans who today eat three meals a day, own their homes and have jobs or access to financial aid.

But the dreams don’t stop there. Chavez dreamt of a nation filled with educated, healthy people, and so he established free, quality public education from preschool through doctoral studies, accessible to all. In fact, for those in remote areas or places without educational facilities, schools were built and mobile educational facilities were created to bring education to the people. Chavez also created a national public health system offering universal, free health care to all, with the help and solidarity of Cuba, which sent thousands of

doctors and medical workers to provide quality services to the Venezuelan people, many who had never received medical care in their lives.

To strengthen and empower communities, Chavez propelled policies of inclusion and participatory governance, giving voice to those previously excluded from politics. He created grassroots community councils and networks to attend to local needs in neighborhoods across the nation, placing the power to govern in the joint hands of community groups. His vision of diversifying his nation and developing its full potential transformed into railways, new industries, satellite cities and innovative transport, such as MetroCable Cars soaring high into the mountains of Caracas to connect people with their steep hillside homes and the bustling city.

The centuries-old dream of Independence hero Simon Bolivar to build a unified “Patria Grande” (Grand Homeland) in South America became Chavez’s guiding light and he held it high, illuminating the path he paved.

Chavez was a driving force in unifying Latin America, creating new regional organizations

like the Union of South American Nations (Unasur), the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America (ALBA) and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (Celac).

These entities have embraced integration, cooperation and solidarity as their principal method of exchange, rejecting competition, exploitation and domination, the main principles of US and western foreign policy.

Chavez inspired a twenty-first century world to fight for justice, to stand with dignity before bullying powers that seek to impose their will on others. He raised his voice when no others would and had no fear of consequence, because he knew that truth was on his side.

Chavez was a maker of dreams.

He recognized the rights of the disabled, of indigenous peoples, all genders and sexualities. He broke down barriers of racism and classism and declared himself a socialist feminist. He not only made his own dreams come true, but he inspired us all to achieve our fullest potential.

Don’t get me wrong, things are not perfect in Venezuela by any stretch, but no one can honestly deny that they are much better

than before Hugo Chavez became President. And no one could deny that President Hugo Chavez was larger than life.

The first time I flew on President Chavez’s airplane he invited me to breakfast in his private room. It was just me and him. I was nervous and felt anxious and rushed to tell him about the results of my investigations into the United States government role in the coup d’etat against him in 2002. After all, that’s why I was on the plane in the first place. I had been invited to participate in his regular Sunday television show, Alo Presidente (Hello Mr. President) to present the hundreds of declassified documents I had obtained from US government agencies through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) that exposed US funding of coup participants.

The date was April 11, 2004, exactly two years after the coup that nearly killed him and sent the nation into spiraling chaos.

As I began pulling out papers and spreading documents on the table that separated us, he stopped me. “Have you had breakfast yet”, he asked. “No”, I said, and continued fiddling with the revealing paper before me. “We can discuss that later”, he said, “for now, tell me about yourself”. “How is your mother”, he asked me, as though we were old friends.

A flight attendant came through the door of his private room with two trays and placed them on the table. I quickly gathered up the documents. “Let’s eat”, he said. I started to protest, trying to explain that his time was so limited I wanted to take advantage of every minute. He stopped me and said, “This is a humble breakfast, a breakfast from the barracks, what I most love”. I looked at the tray for the first time. On it was a small plate with an arepa, a typical Venezuelan corn patty, a few shreads of white cheese, a couple of pieces of canteloupe and some anchovies. Beside the plate was a small cup of black coffee. No frills and not what you would expect on a presidential airplane.

“After all, I am just a soldier”, he added. Yes, Chavez, you are a soldier, a glorious soldier of a dignified, proud and kind people. And you are a maker of dreams for millions around the world.