The Voice of People is the Voice of God-Export the Revolution-Hugo Chavez

[chlamor]

Perusing the web today I came across a few articles which give meaning to all the struggles we are embroiled in and/or blessed with. In these days of the American Military State it can be difficult to see any rays of hope. For me it helps to turn my gaze southward towards the peoples movement(s) in Latin America, particularly the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. This article, by Les Blough, gave me a bit of sustenance in the otherwise arid political arena here in El Norte. It will be the first of several articles which will draw from his recent visit to Venezuela where he spent time with folks on the ground. Let us hope that the spirit of the movement in Venezuela finds its way to higher latitudes. Here are a few excerpts:

"I touched the revolution and its current runs through the people with such vibrancy that one cannot escape the life that emanates from its center."
<snip>
"It is not difficult to see that Lugar and his team of thugs have finally begun to learn a few things about guerrilla warfare.  But why the sudden concern about conventional arms in Latin America?  Why is the most powerful nation on earth so threatened by this Latin American country?  There are an number of reasons. Reasons that are as clear as they are simple: 
• The eyes of the world are watching the social development, economic growth and the power of the successful democracy in The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela - and once people have tasted real democracy, they never turn back.  For 40 years the corrupt regimes in Venezuela had kept 80% of the people in abject poverty.  Under Chavez, poverty is still quite evident, particularly in the barrios.  But life is getting better.  My soon-to-be-published interviews with poor people will show that to be the case.  When you are with them, you can see it in their incomes and in their faces.  Cheap labor has always been the darling of the empire's capitalists."
<snip>

"President Chavez is spiritually, intellectually and morally connected to Simon Bolivar, the great revolutionary leader who liberated Venezuela from Spanish rule in the 19th century. He is not only a truly democratic leader and brilliant military strategist.  He is also an informed historian. As such, he has also learned a great deal about U.S. interference in the domestic affairs of Latin American countries."

"The U.S. wars against other Latin American countries are certainly not lost on him.  For example, in his lifetime, he observed the armed death squads, funded by Washington to crush democratic movements in El Salvador and Guatamala in the 1980s.  What could be more fresh in his mind than the kidnapping of democratically-elected President Jean Bertrand Aristide in Haiti by U.S. marines last year?  With a delegation of 12, a personal friend of mine visited high-ranking members of Aristide's democratically-elected administration in a squalid prison in Port-au-Prince where they remain today.  Former Prime Minister Yvon Neptune is imprisoned with them by the US-backed regime.  Of course President Chavez and his administration are fully aware."
<snip>
"If the Venezuelan people clarified anything for me during my visit it is this:  They are the most informed people I have ever met anywhere in my 61 years of life in the United States and travel abroad."
To read the entire article go to:
/www.axisoflogic.com/artman/publish/printer_15785.shtml