People's Democracy

An Evening Dedicated To Revolutions 

Chávez Finds Himself At Home In JNU

AS the huge convoy of Hugo Chávez Frias, president of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, entered the sports complex of Jawaharlal Nehru University on March 4 evening, Chávez must surely have wondered whether he was in India or back home in Venezuela or maybe in some other Latin American country.

The packed stands in this open auditorium, filled with students, academics, employees and hundreds of invitees, rose in unison amidst thundering slogans of “Viva Chávez,” “Red Salute to Comrade Chávez” and “One Solution! Revolution!” to welcome Hugo Chávez, the inspiring symbol of resistance to US imperialism. The prolonged standing ovation given by the audience was an indicator of the warm solidarity being expressed with this heroic leader who is fighting the savage US imperialism. There were slogans and banners in Spanish, lauding the work being done by Chávez.

Responding to this thunderous welcome by the JNU community and guests, Chávez enthusiastically waved to the gathering and gave a flying kiss. It was clear that this charismatic leader was feeling quite at home in the surroundings. He connected with the students at the beginning of his speech itself by singing – really singing and singing quite well – a few lines from a song written by a famous Latin American poet saluting the students. Its lines went like this: “Long live students who provide flavour to the bread the poor eat. Long live literacy.” And overwhelmed by the response, Chávez asked the audience as to how long it had been since Fidel Castro visited India, suggesting why not invite him again. The keenness with which he observed things became evident when he specifically greeted the Students’ Federation of India (SFI) for the rousing welcome.

Arriving almost an hour behind schedule, Chávez was in no mood to cut short his speech due to paucity of time despite the promptings of the officials accompanying him. He spoke in a lilting voice in Spanish for nearly one hour and a half. Chávez then spoke of revolutions of the past and connected them to the ongoing revolution in his country. His inspiration, the legendary Simon Bolivar, found repeated mention in his speech. He expressed his gratitude to the Cuban revolution for aiding his country in completing the revolution. Chávez linked the role played by Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru in the anti-colonial struggle and in the non-aligned movement to the present anti-imperialist struggle.

Chávez said that in Venezuela, with oil, land and capital concentrated in very few hands, the oligarchies did the bidding of US imperialism. And all presidents who attempted to change this were dethroned. A similar attempt was made against him in 2002 but it failed because of people’s support to him. Acknowledging that the coup attempt in 2002 and the oil blockade by the oligarchies hit the country hard, Chávez said people have learnt a lot from these counter-revolutionary moves and that today they are better prepared to hit back much harder.

Saying that after the referendum of August 2004, in which he won with over 60 per cent votes, the revolution in the social, political and economic spheres has entered a new speedy phase. He explained how they were changing the system in favour of the downtrodden sections. He particularly highlighted the Cuban help in the health and education sectors. Chávez asserted that they would be achieving most of their targets in the coming two years.

Chávez referred to the doomsayers who predicted the end of history after the collapse of the Soviet Union. He said, “Just after 15 years, it has been proved how wrong these doomsayers were. History will never end. They can never wipe out our consciousness. They can never impose the savage model of capitalism on us. We are returning to history. Long live Bolivar, Long live Che Guevera!”

Chávez concluded with a stirring call for the unity of Latin American, Asian and African people and for rebuilding the agenda of the South. He remarked, “This spirit of unity and future is evident here this evening. Let us together make the 21st century a century of freedom, equality and life, not a century of death.” (INN)