"We Are Not Anti-US, We Are Anti-Imperialist"
JAT
Hugo Chavez Interviewed by Cindy Sheehan
Listen to Cindy Sheehan's interview with Hugo Chavez:
Cindy Sheehan: President Chavez, thank you for allowing the truth to be
told about Venezuela, and about you and your revolution. Before the
revolution, Venezuela was a nation ruled and used by the oligarchy. How
did the revolution begin and how has it remained relatively peaceful?
President Hugo Chavez (HC): Thank you Cindy, for your efforts to find
out our truth, we wish you luck in your struggles, which we share,
against war, for peace, for justice, for freedom and equality, against
imperialism. We accompany you in those struggles, you and the people of
the US. The bourgeoisie of Venezuela dominated the country for more
than 100 years, with force, with violence, through persecution,
assassination, forced disappearances. Unfortunately the history of
Venezuela is a history with a lot of violence. Violence of the strong
against the weak. In the 20th century in Venezuela, dominated by the
oligarchy and the bourgeois state, a reverse miracle happened.
Venezuela was the top exporter of oil from the 1920s until the 1970s,
and one of the largest producers of oil in the world throughout all of
the 20th century. But when the century ended, Venezuela had more than
70% poverty and 40% extreme poverty, misery. That generated a violent
explosion -- all explosions are violent. An explosion of the poor to
liberate themselves. We were just remembering the anniversary of
Caracazo a few days ago, on February 27, you were there with us, with
our people. Twenty-one years ago the people awoke and arose in a big
explosion. And us in the military were used by the bourgeois state to
massacre the people -- women and children -- and that awoke a
consciousness and a pain in the military, and led us to join with the
people. We later led two rebellions. Our revolution isn't exactly
peaceful. It's relatively peaceful.
The violence of the revolution appears to have come from the
counterrevolution. The Bolivarian Revolution has transferred power and
wealth to the people and has been an inspiration and at the same time
has been relatively peaceful.
HC: Yes, we got to power in a peaceful way. And we have been able to
maintain it, relatively. We've never used violence, the
counterrevolution has used it against us. So the central strategy of
our peaceful, socialist revolution is to transfer power to the people.
I'm sure you've been able to see some of it with your own eyes in the
neighborhoods of Caracas. We are engaging in immense efforts to help
the people be sovereign. When we talk about power, what are we talking
about, Cindy? The first power that we all have is knowledge, so we've
made efforts in education, against illiteracy, to promote the
development of thought, study, analysis, in a way that has never
happened before. Today, all of Venezuela is a giant school. Children
and senior citizens, all of us are studying and learning. Then there is
political power, the capacity to make decisions -- Community Councils,
Communes, People's Power, grassroots movements. We have economic power,
transferring economic power to the people, distributing the wealth to
the people. That is the principal force that guarantees the Bolivarian
Revolution will continue to be peaceful.
Why do you think the Empire makes such a concerted effort to demonize you?
HC: There are several reasons, but I have come to the conclusion that
there is one major reason. The Empire is afraid. The Empire is afraid
that the people of the US will find out the truth and something could
erupt in their own territory -- a Bolivarian movement, a Lincoln-esque
movement. A movement of citizens, conscious citizens that seek to
transform the system. Imperial fear killed Martin Luther King, Jr. The
only way to stop him was to kill him. Then, they repressed the citizens
of the US. So, why do they demonize us? They know the truth, but they
fear the truth. They fear the contagious effect. They fear a
revolution in the US. They fear an awakening in the US.
One of the biggest names they call you in the US is dictator. Can you
explain why you are not a dictator?
HC: I am against dictatorships. I'm an anti-dictator. From a political
point of view, I've been elected four times by popular vote. In
Venezuela, we have elections all the time. Once, Lula, the President of
Brazil, said that in Venezuela there is an excess of democracy! Every
year there are elections, referendums, popular consultations, elections
for governors, mayors -- right now we are starting campaigns for
elections in the National Assembly. In 2012, there will be presidential
elections. What dictator is elected so many times? What dictator calls
for elections all the time? I'm an anti-dictator. I'm a revolutionary.
A democratic revolutionary.
You've announced your candidacy for the 2012 elections. You've come a
long way but there's still a long way to go. What do you think still
needs to be accomplished in Venezuela?
HC: To tell you in a mathematical way, with everything we've done in
education, healthcare, infrastructure, housing, employment, social
security, etc., and in the context of everything we want to do, we've
achieved about 10%. It's been 200 years of abandonment. The people
have been abandoned. And all the wealth of the country was in the hands
of the oligarchy. So, we have to work really hard. There is still a
lot to do to achieve Bolivar's dream. Simon Bolivar taught us that the
best government is one which gives the people the largest amount of
happiness. That is our goal.
A couple of weeks ago in the US, a man flew his airplane into a tax
building in Austin, Texas. Did you hear about that? There's a lot of
that frustration in the US, but instead of flying planes into buildings
we should find each other and organize. The US is a system for the
elite, ruled by the elite, a coporacracy. Can you give us some words of
inspiration to help us have the courage to make true revolutionary change?
HC: We were the same, dominated, persecuted, and there was a lot of
desperation, just like that man who flew the plane into the building.
There was a lot of that, a lot of suicidal tendencies, but that's not
the path, the path is consciousness, an awakening of consciousness. We
had our own experiences, a lot of us died as well, and went to prison.
That's why what you are doing is the right thing. The path is not to
fly a plane into a building, it's to create consciousness, and then the
rest will come on its own.
I'd like to take this moment to say hello to the people of the US. We
in the South have a lot of faith that the people of the North are going
to wake up, just like you have awoken. We can do great things in the
US, make great changes, and in a peaceful way, I hope. Because the
future of the world depends on what happens in the US.
I think that despite everything, the people of the US, in the depth of
their hearts, know how to appreciate the difference between truth and
lies. They call us anti-US leaders, but we're not! We're
anti-imperialist. We love the people of the US, we love humanity.
Translation and transcription by Eva Golinger. This interview was first
published in the 19 March 2010 issue of Orinoco International; it is
reproduced here for non-profit educational purposes.
http://goo.gl/A6vi
--
/jat
Knowledge shall make you free
El conocimiento te hará libre
--
ljsprojects
Gringos are very gullible people. They believe all the lies the
government, churches and media say. You have to live in the US and
see it to believe it. In this sense they are like children and they
think like children, very immature..
http://vodpod.com/watch/2785748-voted-best-beer-commercial-of-the-year
T.Schmidt
JAT
>> --
>
> Gringos are very gullible people. They believe all the lies the
> government, churches and media say. You have to live in the US and
> see it to believe it. In this sense they are like children and they
> think like children, very immature..
>
> http://vodpod.com/watch/2785748-voted-best-beer-commercial-of-the-year
>
> T.Schmidt
That's true, Teddy ! - I know those guys very well. That video is very
applicable to them. Very funny, by the way :-D
--
/jat
Knowledge shall make you free
El conocimiento te har� libre
--
ljsprojects
> >> --
>
> > Gringos are very gullible people. They believe all the lies the
> > government, churches and media say. You have to live in the US and
> > see it to believe it. In this sense they are like children and they
> > think like children, very immature..
>
> >http://vodpod.com/watch/2785748-voted-best-beer-commercial-of-the-year
>
> > T.Schmidt
>
> That's true, Teddy ! - I know those guys very well. That video is very
> applicable to them. Very funny, by the way :-D
>
> --
> /jat
> Knowledge shall make you free
> --- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -
Mis hijas son gringas e inocentonas. No sacaron mucho del papá
(solamente son muy estudiosas y excelentes profesionales). Puede que
la credulidad del gringo viene por la muy inteligente manipuación que
hacen de su gente. En Colombia, las cosas son todo lo contrario,
"colombiano gafo se muere chiquito". Ejemplo es Pablo Escobar,
probablemente el hombre mas rico del mundo cuando lo asesinaron a los
44 años. A los 40 años ya era el séptimo hombre mas rico del mundo.
Era jefe de Allvaro Uribe Vélez.
T.Schmidt