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<h1><b>The Bolivarian Revolution and Peace</b></h1><font size=3>November
24, 2009 By <b>Fidel Castro</b> <br><br>
<a href="http://www.zcommunications.org/znet/viewArticle/23205" eudora="autourl">
http://www.zcommunications.org/znet/viewArticle/23205</a><br><br>
I know Chavez well, and no one could be more reluctant than him to allow
a showdown between the Venezuelan and Colombian peoples that leads to
bloodshed. These are two fraternal peoples, the same as Cubans living in
the east, center and west end of our island. I find no other way to
explain the close relationship between Venezuelans and
Colombians.<br><br>
The slanderous Yankee accusation that Chavez is planning a war against
neighboring Colombia led an influential paper of that country to run a
story last Sunday, November 15, under the headline "War Drums."
It was a pejorative and insulting editorial against the Venezuelan
president asserting, among other things, that "Colombia should take
very seriously the gravest threat to its national security in more than
seven decades as it comes from a president with a military
background..."<br><br>
It goes on to say, "The reason is the growing potential for a
provocation that can go from an incident along the border to an attack on
civilian and military facilities in Colombia."<br><br>
Further on, the editorial claims it is likely "...that Hugo Chavez
intensifies his attacks against the 'scrawny'-the sobriquet he applies to
his oppositionists-and tries to remove from regional and local
governments those who contradict him. He already did it with the Mayor of
Caracas... and now he wants to try with the governors of the states
sharing borders with Colombia who refuse to be under his rule... a clash
with Colombian forces or the accusation that the paramilitary plan to
conduct actions within Venezuelan territory could be the pretext required
by Chavez's regime to suspend constitutional rights."
<br><br>
Such words can only serve to justify the United States' aggressive plans
and the blatant treachery of the Venezuelan oligarchy and
counterrevolution to their Homeland.<br><br>
Coinciding with the release of that editorial, the Bolivarian leader had
published his weekly column known as "Chavez's Lines," where he
analyzed the shameless concession of seven US military bases in Colombia,
a country that shares about 1,281 miles of border with
Venezuela.<br><br>
In his article, the President of the Bolivarian Republic was very clear
and brave in explaining his position:<br><br>
"...I said it this Friday at the rally for peace and against the US
military bases in Colombian territory: It is my duty to appeal to all of
you, men and women, to defend Bolivar's homeland, our children's
homeland... Our homeland is free today and we shall defend it with our
lives. Never again will Venezuela be anybody's colony; never again will
it kneel down before any invader or empire... the extremely serious and
transcendental problem in Colombia cannot be overlooked by the Latin
American governments..."<br><br>
Later on, he added some important concepts:<br><br>
"... The entire 'gringo' war arsenal included in the agreement
responds to the concept of extra-territorial operations... it turns the
Colombian territory into an enormous Yankee military enclave... the
greatest threat to peace and security in the South American region and in
Our America."<br><br>
"The agreement... prevents Colombia from offering anyone security
and respect; not even Colombian men and women. A country that has lost
its sovereignty and become an instrument of the 'new colonial power'
envisioned by our Liberator cannot offer such guarantees."<br><br>
Chavez is a true revolutionary, a profound and sincere thinker, a
courageous and restless worker. He did not win power through a coup
d'état. He rebelled against the repression and genocide unleashed by the
neoliberal governments that surrendered the country's huge natural
resources to the United States. He endured incarceration; he matured and
developed his ideas. He did not win power with weapons despite his
military background.<br><br>
It is his merit to have taken the difficult path of a profound social
revolution starting out from the so-called representative democracy and
an absolute freedom of expression, at a time when the most powerful media
resources of the country were - they still are -in the hands of the
oligarchy and at the service of the empire's interests.<br><br>
In just 11 years, Venezuela has achieved the greatest educational and
social progress attained by any country in the world, despite the coup
d'état and the destabilization plans and smearing campaigns implemented
by the United States.<br><br>
The empire did not decree an economic blockade on Venezuela - as it did
in the case of Cuba - after the failure of its sophisticated actions
against the Venezuelan people, because it would have meant blockading
itself, given its foreign energy dependence. But it has not abandoned its
purpose to do away with the Bolivarian process and the generous support
this gives the Caribbean and Central American peoples in terms of oil
resources, and its extensive trade relations with South America, China,
Russia and numerous countries of Asia, Africa and Europe. Large segments
of the population in every continent sympathize with the Bolivarian
Revolution whose relations with Cuba are especially upsetting for the
empire which for half a century has sustained a criminal blockade against
our country. Through the ALBA, Bolivar's Venezuela and Marti's Cuba are
promoting a new type of relationship and exchange on rational and fair
basis.<br><br>
The Bolivarian Revolution has been particularly generous with the
Caribbean countries in times of an exceptionally grave energy
crisis.<br><br>
In the current new stage, the Venezuelan revolution is facing entirely
new problems which did not exist almost exactly 50 years ago, when our
revolution triumphed in Cuba.<br><br>
At that time, drug-trafficking, organized crime, social violence and the
paramilitaries were barely known. The United States had yet to become the
huge drug market that capitalism and the consumer society have turned it
into. It was not so difficult for the revolution to fight
drug-trafficking in Cuba and to prevent the country from being drawn to
its production and consumption.<br><br>
Today, such scourges have brought to Mexico, Central America and South
America a growing tragedy which is far from beaten. The unequal terms of
trade, protectionism and the plundering of their natural resources has
been compounded by drug-trafficking and the violence of organized crime
that underdevelopment, poverty, unemployment and the huge US drug market
have created in Latin American societies. The incompetence of that
imperial and wealthy nation to prevent drug-trafficking and abuse has
paved the way for the cultivation in many places of Latin America of
plants whose value as raw material for drug production often exceeds that
of the rest of the farm products, thus creating a very serious social and
political quagmire.<br><br>
In Colombia, the paramilitaris are today imperialism's frontline force to
combat the Bolivarian Revolution.<br><br>
It is precisely thanks to his military background that Chavez knows that
the struggle against drug-trafficking is a vulgar pretext used by the
United States to justify a military agreement that fully responds to the
US post-cold war strategic concept of extending its world
domination.<br><br>
The air bases, the means, the operational rights and total impunity
granted to the Yankee military and civilian personnel by Colombia in its
own territory have nothing to do with fighting drug cultivation,
production and trafficking. This is currently a world problem spreading
not only to South American countries, but also to Africa and other
regions. It already prevails in Afghanistan despite the massive presence
of the Yankee troops.<br><br>
Drugs should not be used as a pretext to set up bases, invade countries
and bring violence, war and plundering to Third World nations. This is
the worst environment to sow good qualities in the people and to bring
education, healthcare and development to other nations.<br><br>
Those who think that division between Venezuelans and Colombians can lead
to the success of their counterrevolutionary plans are deceiving
themselves. Many of the best and most humble workers in Venezuela are
Colombians; the Revolution has given them and their immediate family
education, healthcare, employment, the right to citizenship and other
benefits. Together, Venezuelans and Colombians shall defend the great
Homeland of the Liberator of the Americas; together, they shall fight for
peace and freedom.<br><br>
The thousands of Cuban doctors, educators and other collaborators
carrying out their internationalist duty in Venezuela shall be with
them!<br><br>
<br><br>
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