Categories: Global

Hugo Chávez Frías ¡Presente!

Taken from a March 5, 2013, audio recording from prisonradio.org.

He came from humble beginnings from among the teeming millions in Venezuelan poverty and joined the army as much to make a living as to serve the people.  He and a group of mid-level military officers staged an unsuccessful coup in February, 1992 against the corrupt regime of President Carlos Andrés Pérez. Within eight years, the man that led the coup would be elected president and Hugo Chávez would proclaim Venezuela as home of the revolutionary liberator, Simón Bolívar, who fought and prevailed against Spanish colonialists for Latin American independence early in the 19th century.

For Chávez, Venezuelan independence meant economic independence to use the vast national wealth of the nation to better the crippling poverty experienced by millions in the barrios.  He did so to the howls of the rich elites and foreign investors.

In 2002, rich elites with U.S. support staged a coup against Chávez but it was short-lived for within three days Chávez was once again in control, buoyed by the support of the teeming masses of Caracas, who saved his life, his presidency and his vision.  The people saved Chávez and he worked to save and better their lives.  Having escaped death, Comandante Presidente Hugo Chávez gave his life to the socialist cause and devoted the revenues from Venezuela’s oil wealth to creating a more egalitarian society.

For 13 years, he worked to deepen the Bolivarian Revolution and he saw a leftist tide sweep Latin America.  Hugo Chávez, who survived coups and countercoups, lost his final battle to cancer.  Hugo Chávez was 58.  From imprisoned nation, this is Mumia Abu-Jamal.

Mumia Abu-Jamal (guest author)

Share
Published by
Mumia Abu-Jamal (guest author)

Recent Posts

Thousands march in Manhattan against MAGA cuts

From New York’s City Hall to Bowling Green, the march stretched from curb to curb…

March 17, 2025

Teach-in, march protest university’s role in genocide

Buffalo, New York A group of students and staff joined up for a teach-in and…

March 17, 2025

China’s mega dam promises leap in renewable energy

China’s new mega dam project is being built along Tibet’s Yarlung Zangbo River in the…

March 17, 2025

Solidaridad con los y las estudiantes pro Palestina: ¡Liberen a Mahmoud Khalil!

No debería sorprendernos que la administración MAGA se haya centrado en los estudiantes activistas. O…

March 17, 2025

Musk/Trump war on trans people, workers of color includes veterans

New York City The author is a transgender veteran, retired from the Veterans Administration. Virginia…

March 14, 2025

Sit-ins target Starbucks

Starbucks Workers United is keeping the pressure on the company to agree to a decent…

March 14, 2025