Translated "Avante!" article by Jorge Cadima, Member of the International Department
Hugo Chavez’s victory in the Venezuelan presidential elections is an outstanding - but not unexpected - news. It confirms the course of the Bolivarian revolution. And gives a new impulse to the Latin American progressive processes, upon the coups d’état sponsored by the USA in the Honduras and Paraguay. It confirms being a true friend of the anti-imperialist countries and governments around the planet, wars and destabilization and aggression operations by the North-American and European imperialisms’ targets. The PCV’s half a million votes reinforces the motives of joy.
The media campaign from the exterior was particularly fierce, aiming to handover the opposition the strength it lacks amid the people of Venezuela and trying to create conditions to, in the case the pole victory should have been less expressive, one of those imperialist classical coup d’état could be unleashed, disguised as a “ coloured revolution”. Within the neighbour Spain, all limits were exceeded. During the elections’ very same day, the “accredited” El País published a “report” distilling hate. Drawing out an apocalyptical picture on Venezuela, ( incoherent with the electoral results and the enthusiastic mass support confirmed during the campaign) concluded by stating that “ Two projects for Venezuela’s future are confronted in the poles, today: the Bolivarian direction of populist authority or the recovery of a democratic and liberal system”. In order to understand what the El País means by “ democratic and liberal system” it is enough to read that same paper’s editorial on the 13th April 2002, upon the military coup, which overthrew Chavez from the presidency ( only for a few days), democratically elected. Haughtily towards a military coup under the best Francoism tradition, the editors wrote: “ Only a coup d’état could overthrow Hugo Chavez from power in Venezuela. The situation came to such a degree of deterioration that this erratic caudillo received a push.
The army, incited by the streets, put an end to a rhetoric dream “the Bolivarian revolution” headed by an ex-plotter who legitimately won the elections in order to, starting from power, converted himself into a dangerous autocrat, for his country and the rest of the world”. And in a typical hate sample of colonial powers towards the peoples’ leaders who resist colonization ( and therefore “are dangerous for the world”), the El País incited a settlement of accounts: “It ought to be positive if Chavez and some of his imprisoned collaborators respond before their country’s courts in result of their authoritarian and corrupt outrages”. Ten years upon the “ democratic and liberal coup”, Chavez carries on winning elections, which even the USA’s ex-president Carter considers as “ the best electoral processes in the world” (in the Guardian, 12.10.03). But instead, the El País prefers the existent “liberal democracy” in Spain - where people are triturated for the good of the banking and the Head of State was not elected, but instead chosen by Franco, the plotter, fascist and murderer. Or the EU “liberal democracy”, which hinders the peoples to pronounce themselves on the ill-fated “ integration process” and whenever it does not make it, contemptuously ignores the outcome - on the contrary, Chavez promptly recognized his sole electoral defeat, in 14 years, upon the 2007 referendum.
The hate towards the Bolivarian revolution can be explained, and it consists in the imperialist powers‘ leader class nature. The Spanish leader class was one of those which most collected regarding the Latin America ’s neo-liberal fury with the misery and destruction during those years. And currently, sees its neo-imperial dreams destroyed by the Latin-America’s liberation and the EU’s crisis. Venezuela is not an easy prey. According to a published study by the BP petrol company, this year, it is the country with the greatest world petrol reserves - about 18% of the world’s total - having exceeded Saudi Arabia (in the Guardian, 12.10.06). Imperialism would delight in creating a new Libya in the Caribbean. But the Venezuelan people defeated the USA’s and the EU’s imperialism plans, on Sunday.
