Monday, March 25, 2013

Those who die for life, cannot be called dead. Farewell Chavez!

Vanguard April 2013 p. 11
Max O.



The outstanding Venezuelan leader, Hugo Chavez is gone. Struggling with cancer for the last two years he passed away on the 5th March. The above heading penned by the revolutionary folk singer, Ali Primera sums up the revolutionary tenacity and will power of the life and times of Hugo Chavez.

He became a hero of the masses: as a result of breaking Venezuela out of the clutches of US Imperialism; nationalising the country's oil wealth so that it would benefit the people; instigating the social transformation of Venezuelan society where the poor gained access to universal education and a decent health system; creating mass democracy where workers ran communal councils and managed factories; creating a Latin American unity and independence from the dominating financial levers of such bodies as the IMF; and the revolutionary achievements go on! 

Consequently the old Venezuelan oligarchy and comprador capitalist class along with the US and Western European imperialists loathed Chavez. They went to great lengths to vilify and denigrate him. Local and US reactionaries attempted an illegal coup against the Chavez/Bolivarian government in 2002.

The CIA's evil and malevolent hand was involved but fortunately it was thwarted by the deep affection and popular support of the Venezuelan masses for their Commandante Chavez, and the allegiance of the rank and file soldiers from the Bolivarian Armed Forces.

Now that Chavez is no more and all progressives and revolutionaries mourn this outstanding people's hero, we can be confident that his legacy will continue. All the accomplishments of the Bolivarian revolution are not the result of Chavez alone, but the result of the Venezuelan masses who propelled him to lead their struggle for liberation. As the popular saying goes, "We created Chavez, we are all Chavez!"

As Mao Zedong pointed out on the issue of death: "All men must die, but death can vary in its significance. The ancient Chinese writer Szuma Chien said, "Though death befalls all men alike, it may be weightier than Mount Tai or lighter than feather." To die for the people is weightier than Mount Tai, but to work for the fascists and die for the exploiters and oppressors is lighter than a feather."

Chavez's has left an immense weight of profound revolutionary change that has served the world's peoples. His struggle lives on!

The Communist Party of Australia (Marxist Leninist) and all Australian anti-imperialists salute this significant fallen comrade and send sincere condolences to Hugo Chavez's family and to the Venezuelan Bolivarian revolutionary masses.

 


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