[OPE-L] Hugo Chavez, "Capitalism is the road to hell"

[Jerry Levy <Gerald_A_Levy@xxxxxxx>]

Standing in front of a portrait of Abraham Lincoln, President

Hugo Chavez told a forum yesterday at Cooper Union, in the East

Village of Manhattan,  that "capitalism is the road to hell".

 

The forum occurred the evening of his historic speech before

the General Assembly of the United Nations.  That speech was

widely reported on in New York City: WCBS News compared

it to Khrushchev's shoe-tapping speech before the United Nations.

That was the speech in which he said that "the Devil"  (George

W. Bush) was in the same room the day before and in which

delegates from around the world gave him an enthusiastic

standing ovation.  He also referred in the Forum to Bush in a

similar vein -- noting that where Bush went  there were also what

Chavez called  "whiffs of sulfur" near him (he must have liked that

metaphor because it was repeated a few times -- much to the pleasure

of the audience).

 

In the packed-to-capacity forum in the Auditorium at Cooper

Union (a liberal arts college), he explained that because capitalism

was "privatizing everything" and waging and reproducing global

poverty, it represented the "kingdom of inequality" and the

"kingdom of injustice."

 

Chavez went on to claim that capitalism represented a threat

to the survival of the species.  In this regard, he cited Noam

Chomsky's "great book", _Hegemony or Survival?_.   "Capitalism

destroys everything", Chavez said.   In opposition to that "destructive

model",  the Bolivarians in Venezuela have "raised our flags for

socialism".

 

He spoke briefly of  "21st Century Socialism"  and claimed that

in Latin America it would be based on  Christian spirituality  but would

also in Venezuela embrace "African  socialism" and "Caribbean

socialism".

 

His speech had an unambiguous anti-imperialist and internationalist

content.  He spoke with passion against  the US-led  occupation of Iraq

and the recent Israeli war against Lebanon.  He talked about the

assault on Fallujah by the US military -- an assault in which he claimed

chemical and biological weapons were used.  When he then said with

emotion in his voice that "the President of the United States must be

charged with genocide" he practically brought the house down with a

thunderous standing ovation.

 

He spent a lot of the talk discussing two topics. The first was education.

He spoke with pride about the recent successes with spreading

education throughout Venezuela.  While the UN recommended that

nations spend about 7% of GDP on education, about 10% of GDP

was being spent on education in Venezuela.  But, he went on to

explain how GDP under-values education.  He emphasized the spread

of educational initiatives for groups ranging in age from toddlers to

the elderly.  Venezuela, he said, "has turned into a Cooper Union"

(i.e. a site of higher educational learning):  "More than 60% of the

[Venezuelan] population is studying", he proudly said.

 

The other message delivered at length was an address to the people of

the United States.  It was an explanation of how his remarks were not

"anti-American" but were in opposition to the current _government_ of

the United States. He spoke about the US with some knowledge of its

traditions and folklores  and explained that you can respect and love the

people of a nation even while condemning its government. Abraham

Lincoln and Mark Twain were held up as models to the US people.

"Continue with Abraham Lincoln's thoughts", he said.  He also urged

everyone to read Mark Twain's books and quoted from an impassioned

anti-imperialist message which Twain had penned.  Harry Bellefonte, who

introduced Chavez and is almost 80-years-old, was held up as a model

for US citizens as was "superwoman", Angela Davis.  I was not happy,

though,  with his model for a future US president -- Jimmy Carter (neither,

apparently, was most of the audience who simply reacted politely to that

part of the talk).  He should have stuck to lauding Lincoln.

 

Fidel Castro was 'in the house' at least in spirit.  Chavez spoke about

his health and his recent meeting with him.  When his name was mentioned,

the crowd of New Yorkers chanted "Fidel! Fidel! Fidel!".  Chavez said

that one reason he was making more international appearances was to fill in

for the breach for Castro.  He had told Castro to rest and get better and that

the world needed him to live.  "Who said I was going to die?", Castro

retorted.  One did get the sense of listening to a person who realized that

he had an important historical role to play now in the world and that he

thought he was following in the footsteps of Fidel and other revolutionaries

before him. One of those revolutionaries who Chavez identified with, Francisco

de Miranda, was especially singled out for honor last night.  Miranda

had a long and colorful revolutionary career, including being a fighter in the

War of Independence by the 13 colonies against the British empire.

 

Although everyone had to go through a metal detector and bags were

inspected by officers of the NYPD (a small pair of scissors were

confiscated and I was asked to drink from a container of water from

my backpack: obviously, the officer suspected poison or acid or ....)

my only criticism of the event was the security.  While there were

security guards surrounding Chavez and spaced throughout the

auditorium, it was just too easy in my opinion to get a ticket: many

(including myself) were able to simply show up before the event

started and get a ticket to attend simply by showing a picture

identification card (which was then recorded) and by looking the

woman giving out tickets directly in the eyes and saying "Long live

Hugo Chavez! [she stared into my eyes, though, before handing me

the ticket].  While I was a beneficiary of this, I believe that Chavez

just has too many enemies for such a lax security policy.

 

The speech -- which like his speech before the UN was not prepared in

advance -- was not one of Chavez's greatest pieces of oratory. At times

it was rambling and repetitive. The reason for this, though, became

apparent from his description of his schedule that day.  The speech

ended well after 11 PM.  I wonder how he has the energy to do this day

after day.  He clearly has a lot of  energy, enthusiasm, and endurance. 

Most of all, you could sense the  commitment that he has to a social cause

and the awareness of the important and historic role that he must play in a

global anti-capitalist movement.  It was obvious, from his interaction with

the crowd, that he was buoyed by his audience.  But, really, he needs to

follow his own advice to Fidel and slow down.  I doubt if he will, though. 

He is on a mission and he has a message which he wants the world to hear.

 

Viva Hugo Chavez!

 

In solidarity, Jerry