Spanish – Pay careful attention:
“The battle for Venezuela is the battle for the continent and the world. The triumph of the revolutionary forces in Venezuela represents the triumph of all the forces of the left in the entire world, and especially in Latin America and the Caribbean. Since the Bolivarian Revolution is the main target of attack by imperialism and its lackeys, Latin American and even the world revolutionary and progressive movement must prioritize the defense of the Bolivarian Revolution up to its ultimate conclusion in its plans of struggle and strategies.”
The quote is striking. And, before explaining what it is, I invite you to reread it. Break it down and digest it. It’s a battle cry. Long and resounding. A declaration of war in favor of the dictatorship of Nicolas Maduro. It is partly because the survival of those who support the dictatorship depends on the preservation of Chavismo, and in turn, on 21st-century socialism.
“Nuestra América en pie de Lucha” or “Our America continues its revolution” is the headline of the Final Declaration of the 23rd meeting of the Sao Paulo Forum, also published on 19th July 2017 in Granma, the official newspaper of the Cuban regime.
At the 23rd meeting in Nicaragua in 2017, more than a hundred Latin American political organizations gathered at the Forum expressed their unwavering commitment to defending the Bolivarian Revolution ” up to its ultimate conclusion.” There is no way to sugarcoat the proclamation, especially considering the situation in which the region finds itself today, at the end of October 2019.
Chile, Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia are in turmoil; Argentina is on the edge of the cliff, as is Colombia; and Mexico is now in the hands of the socialist project. Therefore, it is urgent to meditate on the capacity of Castroismo, even when it seems defeated, for it may settle down, display its fangs, and bite again. It tightens its grip and does not let go.
Apart from Cuba and Venezuela, six of the over one hundred organizations that signed the declaration of war in 2017 are in power today. In other words, six Latin American nations today are governed by parties or movements that a couple of years ago swore to defend Chavista tyranny at all costs.
In Bolivia, the Movement towards Socialism threatens to eternalize Evo; in Mexico, Lopez Obrador took power by collaborating with the Labor Party and the National Regeneration Movement; Daniel Ortega governs Nicaragua on the Sandinista Front; and in Panama, Laurentino Cortizo, representative of the Democratic Revolutionary Party, has just won. In the Dominican Republic, there is Danilo Medina, a militant of the Dominican Liberation Party, and in Uruguay, Tabare Vazquez rules with the Broad Front. Finally, we can add the imminent return of Kirchnerism to Buenos Aires, supported by a coalition made up of parties affiliated to the Forum.
Anyone who has not yet understood that the region is at war will be overwhelmed by the impact of reality. It is a conflict where the essential dispute is freedom, the great value that most of us cherish, and that a few have declared they want to destroy.
In the end, Venezuela has been reduced, or expanded, in fact, to the definitive scenario where the course of the continent is disputed. And anyone threatening to join the campaign to neutralize the focus that has plunged the region into an arena of criminal operations will face the fury of those who once swore to defend Chavismo “to the ultimate conclusion.” And they will see it in their own homes.