photo: Bill Hackwell
By Adán Chávez Frías on July 28, 2021
Today, July 28, Venezuelans are commemorating the 67th anniversary of the birth of Commander Hugo Chávez; a date of special significance for our People and other Peoples of the world, who recognize the important contributions of the historic leader of the Bolivarian Revolution.
Undoubtedly, the debate on the legacy of the Eternal Commander touches all of us revolutionaries deeply, given the dimension of the work he carried out, always faithful to the ideology of another birthday boy of the month of July: the Liberator Simón Bolívar; a work whose historical transcendence has its essence in having awakened the hope of profound changes and significantly transformed the reality of the country, and why not to say it, of the planet. Chávez’s struggle led Venezuela towards a better destiny and placed it at the forefront of the construction of a new international geopolitics, with an outstanding role in the integration of the Peoples of Our Latin America and the Caribbean and, beyond, of the Global South.
Therefore, this is a date to, as comrade President Nicolás Maduro once expressed, “…vindicate our condition of Chavistas, of revolutionaries, for today and forever, of authentic Bolivarians and Christians in action”.
Commander Chávez continues guiding us along the path of emancipation of the Peoples of the world and alerting us not to lower our guard against their historical enemy, which is none other than North American imperialism and its allies.
His legacy of humanity, dignity, sovereignty and independence is present in the daily life of the Venezuelan people; his combative spirit gives us the strength to face victoriously, in civil-military union, the battles we fight daily for the right we have to peace and to travel, without any kind of interference, the path we decided 22 years ago.
It is the loving reason of the Bolivarian leader, who not only awakened the conscience of Venezuelans, but also embraced other brother Peoples of Latin America and the Caribbean and the world; a loving reason that keeps him alive in their souls, despite the pretension of those who try to put an end to his work, and who directed all his efforts to make a better, more just and humane world a reality for all.
That is why, in a situation as complex as the current one, and at the same time defining for the Bolivarian Revolution; the daughters and sons of Bolivar and Chavez stand firm, raising the banners bequeathed by the Eternal Commander until we reach, sooner rather than later, the point of no return of our socialist construction.
Certainly, there is still a long way to go to reach this goal, and surely such transit will not be free of difficulties; but in spite of the situations we still have to resolve and the complications brought about by the permanent onslaught to which the heroic Venezuelan People are subjected, I am sure that they will continue to stand firm, walking the path of the Bolivarian Revolution, faithful to the legacy of Commander Chávez.
The commemoration of the giant’s birthday is propitious to continue making the call: let us be loyal to the ethical and moral principles that guide the actions of our socialist construction, to the ideals that sustain this revolutionary cause, to the legacy left to us by Chávez.
Those who place their personal interests above those of the collective, those who dare to doubt that the road we must travel is that of the construction of Bolivarian Socialism, those who far from assuming the thinking and the way of interpreting the reality of the Eternal Commander, appeal to unethical values, to sectarianism, to dogmatism, are not loyal.
Nor is he loyal to the revolutionary cause who does not feel on his shoulders the responsibility to move forward despite the difficulties, who does not feel the daily and permanent will to remain firm in the defense of the achievements of the Bolivarian Revolution in favor of our People.
It is about assuming such commitment with a strong revolutionary conscience, in order to be able to face any situation that may arise without losing, as Commander Chávez said, the drive towards the objective we have set ourselves, even at the cost of our own life if necessary.
Chávez continues to call us to never ever surrender until we achieve full emancipation, Latin-Caribbean integration and, beyond that, the consolidation of the multicentric and pluripolar world that he so rightly foresaw. That will be the definitive victory of the revolutionaries, of the chavistas, of the anti-imperialists.
That is why today, when the empire openly conspires against Venezuela and has ceased to conceal its interference and destabilizing purposes, and when the coup-plotting opposition insists on its violent plans, we Bolivarians continue working tirelessly, adding consciences and wills, determined to reach that point of no return of the Bolivarian Revolution to which we have referred before, demonstrating to the world the lineage of which we Venezuelans are made.
This is how it has been happening; hence, even when the criminal economic, financial and commercial blockade imposed on the country by the United States and Europe is accentuated, as well as the attempt to encircle us politically and diplomatically, and the brutal media attack against the nation, our People’s patriotic conscience is growing, its iron determination to continue being free and independent, and to respond to each imperial attack by deepening its unity and reaffirming its commitment to defend the legacy of the historic leader of the Bolivarian Revolution.
We face, with a road already traveled, but still with a long way to go, the same contest of two hundred years ago, between those who fight for freedom, independence, peace, sovereignty, dignity and the right to forge our own destiny; and those who promote dependence, war, slavery, the dark path of colonialism.
When these two options are so starkly evident, as is happening today, it is up to all patriots to continue defending what has cost us so many years of struggle. It is the legacy of Bolivar, it is the legacy of Chavez, it is the legacy of the liberators of this unredeemed Venezuela.
Let us unite, let us fight and let us be faithful to the commitment of the epochal change that throbs in the depths of the Peoples of Latin America and the Caribbean.
With Chávez We Will Always Win!
Happy Birthday, Commandante
Source: Cubadebate, translation Resumen Latinoamericano