WORLD MEETING FOR SOLIDARITY WITH VENEZUELA: ‘There is a driving force behind this Revolution and nobody or nothing can stop it,’ states President Hugo Chávez

JOAQUÍN RIVERY TUR – Granma daily special correspondent –

CARACAS.— President Hugo Chávez successfully closed the World Solidarity with Venezuela Encounter; a four-day conference in the capital that demonstrated the strength of the Bolivarian people’s struggle to carry their dreams forward.

After greeting Carlos Lage and other visitors, President Hugo Chávez declared that neither the economy nor financial markets are able to dictate to the world because, to date, they have led the world down turbulent paths.

He expressed his gratitude at the clarity and passion of the ideas and suggestions expressed throughout the meeting, and stated that "the world is as important to us as Venezuela and if this wasn’t so, the Revolution wouldn’t be Bolivarian."

He emphasized that revolution and solidarity should be globalized, adding that this World Meeting had exceeded all expectations and should be repeated in the future, as it had been very fruitful.

Chávez mentioned that he and Evo Morales had discussed the idea of organizing a meeting in Venezuela for the continent’s indigenous populations. Some of the comrades in Miraflores Palace had also pressed for a campesino meeting and there were plans to stage a World Youth Festival in Venezuela as well.

He recalled that, shortly before he died, Bolívar had thought that he was not getting anywhere but, as Chávez pointed out, he is more alive today than ever before.

"Today we are commemorating the first popular victory of the 21st century," he stated. "And one of the reasons for this success can be attributed to what Túpac Amaru said when they were tearing him into pieces. He announced that he would return to the earth in a million different pieces."

Today the Venezuelan people cannot be manipulated by media campaigns and are taking up their own battles to defeat any internal or external attempt to set back the Bolivarian Revolution, he added.

The President stressed that today there is a driving force behind the Revolution and nothing or nobody can stop it. He went on to say, "we can only walk down the road of revolution, it is the only one allowed."

LAGE’S SPEECH

Carlos Lage made a brief speech on behalf of the Cuban delegation to express gratitude for the profound show of solidarity that Venezuela has given to the Cuban Revolution.

"It was almost impossible to walk the streets without someone approaching and saying ‘Viva Cuba,’ or sending greetings to Fidel and the Revolution. Even to the point of making unnecessary excuses for the terrorist aggression against the Cuban embassy in Caracas." He underlined that "the Cuban Revolution arose from our history, from our realities and the unity of our people and the wise leadership of comrade Fidel have beaten 40 years of imperialist blockade. The Bolivarian Revolution is born from Venezuela’s history, from the roots of the Venezuelan people, and it is here – and we must not forget this – that the struggle for Latin American independence began 200 years ago.

"Yesterday afternoon I saw the Bolivarian Revolution with my own eyes and I touched it with my own hands. I left the hotel where I was staying and I climbed the hills, Las Malvinas, Tamarindo, Gran Colombia. We visited people’s houses and when we came out there was a sea of children with their parents, chanting to us, ‘Ooo, aah, Chávez is not going.’ "