All physical,
geographic and time barriers disappeared. It seemed unreal.
Never before had a dialogue of this nature taken place between
heads of State and government, most of whom represented nations
that had been pillaged by colonial and imperialist powers
for centuries. Nothing could have been more instructive.
The Saturday of November 10th, 2007, will go down in the history of our America
as a day of truth.
The ideological Waterloo took place when the King of Spain abruptly asked Chávez: “Why
don’t you keep quiet?” All hearts in Latin America raced at that
instant. The people of Venezuela, who will be called upon to vote “yes”
or “no” next December 2nd, were shaken
by the emotion of living the glorious days of Bolivar
again. The betrayals and the low blows that our
dear brother endures each day cannot change the
way the Bolivarian people feel.
When Chávez arrived from Chile at the Caracas airport and I heard him
directly mention his plans to mingle with the crowds, as he has done so many
times, I had the extremely vivid impression that, given the current circumstances
and the highly significant ideological victory he has attained, a paid assassin
of the empire’s, an oligarch corrupted by the reflexes that the empire’s
propaganda machine has inculcated into people, or a mentally disturbed person
could put an end to his life. It is impossible to avoid the impression that the
empire and the oligarchy are doing everything in their power to lead Chávez
to a cul-de-sac, that they can easily place him in the line of fire.
Venezuela must ensure its victory is transformed, not into a terrible setback,
but into a much greater victory, to prevent imperialism from leading our species
to suicide. We must continue to struggle and to face risks, but we must not play
Russian roulette or flip a coin every single day. No one escapes the logic of
probability.
In such circumstances, the modern means of communication through which the summit
debates were aired live are preferable.
Fidel Castro Ruz
November 12, 2007
4:45 p.m. |
