If anyone had any doubts, they were cleared up on the night of January
27th: Hugo Chavez, the Venezuelan president, is the top leftist leader in
Latin America. Chavez got up on the stage erected in the "Gimnasio
Poliedro" by the social moviments for him. Flags and posters with his
image were distributed to the public. He was surrounded by figures known
for their leadership in social struggles, such as the Cubans Ricadro
Alarcon and Aleida Guervara, and by some new faces such as the American
Cindy Sheeman. And he did not disappoint. His speech ran Left, very
far Left.

The whole crowd stood to sing the "Internationale" as the event
commemorating anti-imperialist struggle began and Chavez started by
criticizing the United States, "the most perverse empire in history - and
cynical for not acknowledging it". On top of that, the United States
"speaks of human rights but they still have the five cubans in prison,
they torture prisoners in Guantanamo and they protect Posada Carriles, one
of the world's greatest terrorists", he protested. For him, the empire is
rather intelligent. It attempts to divide the Latin American Left in two:
the "crazy" Left, Chavez and Fidel Castro (Cuba) and the "statist" left,
Lula (Brazil), Nestro Kirchner (Argentina) and Tabare Vazquez (Uruguay).
"I put Evo Morales (the newly elected president of Bolivia) in the "crazy"
group", he joked. According to Chavez, one of the reasons that has
"Mr. Danger" desperate with the bolivarian revolution is the amount of
petroleum that exists in the region. "But it is being used for the
development of Venezuela who will never again be a colony of the United
States", he guaranteed.

Chavez spoke about the group called "Chakal", a word formed by the
initials of presidents Chavez, Kirchner and Lula, and their project to
build a oil duct to transfer petroleum from Venezuela to all of South
America. Then the president reminded everyone that this unified group
"buried the Free Trade Agreement of the Americas (FTAA)" in Mar del Plata
during the Summit of the Americas, held in November 2005. Cuba was not
there, as it was "very democratically" excluded. "The day will come when
we do not accept these types of impositions. It depends on unity between
countries. If Cuba cannot go, neither will we", foretold Chavez. The
Venezuelan president commemorated the renewal of the struggle against
imperialism in Latin America and the recent victory of Evo Morales in
Bolivia. He also announced a deal with the Bolivian government in which
Venezuela will supply Bolivia with fuel, and Bolivia will pay Venezuela
with products such as soya. "They are not going to pay me with money
because they don't have any. Bolivia was plundered for centuries". The
deal also forsees a literacy campaign for Bolivians, with the
participation of Venezuela and Cuba. "There will be 10 thousand
scholarships to study", he promised.

The offensive

What is happening on the American continent today favours the articulation
of social movements against anti-imperialism in order to bring down the
right, Chavez said. "We are one Caribbean and Latin American people.
Only united can we win". However, it is necessary to respect the
diversity and autonomy of the social movements.

According to him, there are reasons for optimism as the continent today is
experiencing things that five years ago did not exist, such as the "growth
of a conscious and united movement within the United States, where the
biggest terrorist in the world lives - Mr. Bush", Chavez said. "We can
conclude that the people who struggle for a different world are on the
offensive and they are on the defensive!", he said, bringing the crowd to
their feet. Chavez also spoke about the failed U.S. occupation of Iraq.
"As they do not recognize the defeat they have suffered, they keep
sacrificing the lives of Americans and Iraqis. We demand the end of the
agressions against the people of Iraq", he exclaimed. The 400 million
dollars spent each day to maintain the occupying army could be used to
invest in education, health and nutrition, said President Chavez.

The World Social Forum is important in the global offensive led by social
movements against imperialism, said the president of Venezuela, "but we
can not let it turn into a yearly folky event, a type of revolutionary
tourism", warned Chavez as he invited the coordinators of the Forum to
draw up a unified plan of action. Chavez declared that the 21st Century
is the defining century and that "we cannot leave for tomorrow what we can
do today". He cited Karl Marx, who, according to him, is more relevant
than ever: "Socialims or death! If nothing is done today, capitalism will
finish off the planet. Tomorrow may be too late", he concluded.

Translation: Amanda Procter