Address by President Comandante Daniel at the ALBA-TCP Summit
December 14th 2020
Thank you, brother President Nicolas Maduro Moros. Greetings and embraces to Delcy, equally to Asdrubal, and to all the sisters and brothers who are at the forefront of this battle for the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, a battle, naturally, fought with and by the People.
How happy we are to hear the words of the President of our Sister Republic of Bolivia, Brother Luis Arce... How happy we are! I would say that this victory of the Bolivian People is a victory of the Peoples of ALBA, and a Victory of the Latin American and Caribbean Peoples identified with the ideals, with the principles, with the heroic struggle of the Peoples of ALBA.
That is to say that we do not forget the terrible moment of the coup in Bolivia, and the open complicity of those who organized and facilitated the coup: the US government; likewise, the complicity of Latin American governments that did not condemn the coup, and what is no longer unusual any more, the abject complicity of the Secretary General of the OAS, which is nothing more than the archive of United States interventionist policy in Latin America and the Caribbean.
What can we say about European democracy? If North American democracy organized and promoted that coup against the Bolivian People and against Brother Evo Morales, then European democracy equally served as an accomplice to the Coup.
A Europe dominated more and more by fascist currents, by the currents of the Right. Already the European Parliament is a fascist type of parliament; it is true there are representations of non-fascist governments, but already the governments that are not fascist have fewer and fewer representatives in the European Parliament, and they are less numerous among European governments as well.
Europe is walking towards Hitler's path! We see how in Germany political groups are openly demanding fascism, and this is repeated in all European countries. We see the battle in countries like Spain, between fascism and a government that is looking for ways to survive, looking for broad alliances that are condemned by the fascists.
And we see Spain, not to mention Britain which is already out of the European Union, we see them totally in a situation where they have no choice but to join the decisions made by the fascist majorities. And if the Yankee sanctions Venezuela, that is to say, attacks Venezuela, if the Yankee sanctions and extends aggression against Cuba, if the Yankee attacks Nicaragua, if the Yankee attacks other nations of Our America, which, it also sanctions them even when they are nations with governments that are seeking ways to accommodate, accompanying the Yankee with all their votes, since the Yankee has no respect for anyone but think of themselves as monarchs of the Planet.
And the Yankee goes further, the Europeans go further, believing they are the owners of the Planet, they believe a new hegemony has already been established, the United States-Europe, and we have already seen that, while on the one hand they continue with their aggressions against Peoples who are act in defence of the principles of Self-Determination, of Sovereignty, they, the European and North American leaders, acting against international law, acting against the democratic principles they claim to defend and uphold, all became accomplices of the coup in Bolivia, just as they were at the time of the coup in Venezuela against Commander Hugo Chavez.
It already seemed that Bolivia was becoming a difficult battle, because it was an unequal battle, where even the dates of the elections that had been established again were not respected and the coup plotters decided to change the dates, more and more changes of date, and the coup plotters were already established as a Government recognized by the great powers that claim to be the owners of Democracy.
But the Bolivian People demonstrated there what the strength of the Peoples of Latin America and the Caribbean is, what the spirit of struggle is, the dignity of our Peoples. They stood up, that People stood up and managed to win those elections that were already designed and prepared so that they would not be won by the Bolivian People, and that the coup plotters would continue to rule.
A victory that tells us very clearly that the enemy, however powerful they may be, when they do not have historical right or law on their side, only force, then that enemy can achieve temporary victories, but the definitive victories are won by the Peoples.
What a joy it is to have Bolivia again in ALBA, and the words of President Arce! our greetings to the People of Bolivia, to President Arce, to Vice President Choquehuanca, and to Brother Evo Morales all our Greetings, all our Love.
We know, yes, that the struggle continues, because the enemy is the same, and the enemy is always there, conspiring, violating all the international laws and committing outrages heaping outrage on outrage, as a Nicaraguan poet expressed it . Heaping outrage on outrage, against its own People in the United States, against the Peoples of Latin America and the Caribbean, against the Peoples of the World, and with the complicity of the fascist governments that in majority govern the European Community and the European Parliament.
These are moments that are showing us that the spirit, the strength of a whole History, because ALBA, I would argue, is nothing more than the next great step Latin America and the Caribbean are taking after the great struggles that ave been waged from Independence against Spanish colonialism, to the battles fought against Yankee intervention.
That accumulation of Conscience, that accumulation of struggle, because our Peoples never surrendered, they always stood up against the colonialists, against the interventionists, against those who imposed military dictatorships, against those who provoked coups d'état, organized coups d'état, and the most emblematic of them, I would say, is that of Chile, where that heroic President Salvador Allende, said and demonstrated, that even with the coup becoming a reality, the Chilean People were not defeated.
Allende, it is true, passed to another plane of life with his heroic action, but Allende came out victorious, and the Chilean People came out victorious and that is why they had the strength to resist, to fight, and to continue fighting as they are doing now. The Chilean People have not stopped fighting, just as the Latin American Peoples have not stopped fighting who are governed by those who have become instruments of the interventionist policy of the Yankees against their own Latin American and Caribbean sisters and brothers.
The victory of Bolivia preceded the other great challenge: the parliamentary elections in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. There was the other great challenge. Without any shame, the countries that call themselves democratic and that are grouped in the Lima Group and that are at the same time led by the Government of the United States, and the Government of the United States, with the very declarations of their President, as our Brother Nicolás Maduro expressed it well, made the most terrible threats and intensifying the sanctions, the blockade, against the Venezuelan People, and betting that those elections would not be won by the Bolivarian People, or that they would not even be held, because the plans of the Empire there went beyond the electoral battle, they were in the field of military aggression, of terrorism, creating a situation of chaos that would not allow the elections to be held.
And the elections were held, and it was an exemplary election. If we compare the elections in Venezuela, with elections that are held in developed dountries when it comes to electing parliamentarians, deputies, congress people, first, the participation is always quite low, and nobody questions that, but in national elections too there are many Countries, including in the United States, where there have been electoral results where less than 50% of the population have voted; and they were elections with participation of different political forces and they attacked those political forces, they threatened the opposition political forces that decided to participate.
This only reminds me, Nicolas, and sisters and brothers of ALBA, of the 1984 Elections here in Nicaragua. We were in the middle of a war, imposed by the Yankees, but we had approved a constitution in the middle of a war, and that constitution established periodic elections, and we had to hold, according to the new constitution that was born with the Revolution, periodic elections for the year 1984, the first elections.
And there was an opposition force that was forming, gathering to participate in the Elections, but in the end the Reagan Administration, accompanied by that terrorist called Elliot Abrams and other senior officials of the Reagan Administration, they decided to make the policy combining the war they had against Nicaragua, the use of drug trafficking and organized crime to feed that war, and they pressured that opposition that had already formed a block, to withdraw and not participate in the Elections.
In the end, some parties of that bloc participated, but, really, with that the Yankees wanted to take away the legitimacy of the government elected in 1984.
How history, from 1984 to the year 2000, repeats itself in Venezuela, imagine, history repeats itself. But it was a great Victory, an extraordinary victory; aggainst well, I'd say everything they hoped for, despite their efforts, the resources they poured in to deliver that coup against the Bolivarian Revolution and the institutionality of the Venezuelan State, aimed also at toppling the government, toppling President Nicolás Maduro, in which all forms of terrorism have been tried, including the assassination attempt on President Nicolás Maduro.
There were no human rights organizations there, not from the United Nations, much less from the OAS, condemning that attack; there were no self-styled democratic governments condemning that attack, and it was an attack in full view of the whole world . It was a terrorist attack! And we already know how European countries and the United States persecute terrorism.
But, on the other hand, they who pride themselves in pursuing terrorism with all their force, and boast of their victories when they eliminate a terrorist; they are the first to put into practice State terrorism, which is more terrible, more aggressive for world stability, because it is those same countries, in this case the United States, practicing State terrorism, applying State terrorism.
Two great victories for the Peoples of Latin America and the Caribbean, for the Peoples who of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, CELAC, as well. Because we are sure that the Peoples feel inspired and represented in the battles we have been fighting.
And the battle of Bolivia, that recent election, which was won by the Bolivian People with our brothers Luis Arce and David Choquehuanca; and the battle of Venezuela, which was won by the Bolivarian People, the Venezuelan People, which was won by the firm, courageous, tenacious leadership, unwavering, of our brother Nicolás Maduro, heir of Chávez, heir of the Sword of Bolívar.
We know what Venezuela means in this battle, or what Bolivia means in this battle, and how the fire has been concentrated on Venezuela. And this victory is a great victory that the Venezuelan People, its Revolutionary Leadership, its Great Civic-Military Unity, has given to the Peoples of Our America.
So we see, two consecutive victories, while if we were to let ourselves be carried away by what the media were reporting, by what the traitors in the service of the Yankees have declared and are declaring, it already seemed that Venezuela was foundering and there were to be no elections, and it also seemed, on the other hand, that Bolivia was already fated to stay with the coup plotters governing. What does this tell us? That the strength of the Peoples is much more powerful, and this has been shown with the passage of time, by the resistance that our Peoples have made, by the long struggles that have been waged throughout our History.
And we can speak as Peoples under attack, we who have never attacked any European country, we who have never attacked the current government or any government of the United States. We have never attacked them! We have never attacked them! Rather we have sought relationships of respect, we have said it and we repeat it: We want, we demand respectful relationships, as mandated by international law, the principles of the United Nations. We have said that and repeated it over and over again.
Therefore, these victories must lead the American leaders, the European leaders, however fascist they may be, to understand that they have never, never succeeded in bringing any people to their knees. They have succeeded in installing repressive governments in the service of Empires, they have succeeded in dominating entire regions; this is always within the subconscious of the power of Europe, they forget that the colonial times have already passed, and the majority, if not all, of the European States were colonialist, some in America and the Caribbean, others in Africa, others in Asia.
That is, they felt they were the masters of the world, but they also killed each other disputing for dominance, and that led to the two World Wars. The two World Wars the world has had which have not been provoked by Latin America and the Caribbean, nor by Asia, Africa or the Soviet Union; they were provoked by governments of the so-called Western Democracies, in which the debacles took place, where those wars began into which other nations in the same region were later dragged.
Today we are, brothers and sisters of ALBA, today we are more full of vigor and glory. The victory of Bolivia gives vigor and glory to the Latin American and Caribbean Peoples who live the struggles, wage the struggles and continue to fight the battles every day, for the ideals of Justice and Peace that ALBA defends.
In this meeting we cannot fail to mention the starting point of this new stage of history in the struggle for the liberation and unity of the Latin American and Caribbean Peoples, which started after multiple battles throughout Latin America, when victory was achieved, the heroic People of Cuba, led by Fidel, achieved victory in Cuba.
And there it settled in our Region, illuminating all of Latin America and the Caribbean, offering its strength, leading by example, bringing its tenacity, Martí's, Fidel's, Raúl's, now led by our brother Miguel Díaz-Canel, President of the sister Republic of Cuba, giving the lead to firmly install a Revolution, where the first thing it knew how to give was Love, share the bread, giving unconditional solidarity, with no conditions at all.
And in spite of the aggressions and blockades, and the policies of defamation against Cuba, Cuba has developed, that is, it has not remained stagnant resisting in a trench, but from that trench it has developed socially, intellectually, technologically. It is an example of Social Wellbeing in Our America, an inspiration to all of us, an inspiration for our brother Comandante Hugo Chavez.
That is why it is not by chance that when the Bolivarian Revolution came to power with Comandante Hugo Chávez, he and Fidel took the great step of founding ALBA. Then together all the Peoples of ALBA, under the impetus of Chavez, of Fidel, strengthening ALBA, working for Latin American and Caribbean Unity to make Bolivar's Dream a reality, and with Raul, with Chavez, installing the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, the miracle came about. Yes, the miracle happened!
ALBA was a driving force making it happen, with political forces in governments diametrically opposed to our political and ideological thinking, it was still possible to found the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, CELAC, whose founding moment took place precisely in Caracas with Comandante Chávez presiding over that session.
And then the Declaration in Cuba, of the Zone of Peace of Latin America and the Caribbean. We have those commitments, we have those principles there, against which the Empire is conspiring, along with those governments that do not realize they themselves are discrediting, wearing out, weakening and betraying the very essence of their Peoples by lending themselves to that conspiracy.
But ALBA is getting stronger, mark my words, in these difficult circumstances of pandemic, hurricanes, natural disasters, but above all of the disasters caused by the North American power. Well, these are signs, signs that we are strengthening the way that we have been building since our ancestors resisted and confronted the colonizers, the colonialists. And the ALBA that some would like to see already disintegrating, instead comes out stronger in these extreme circumstances, yes, in these extreme circumstances of the hardest moment affecting us in the area of Health, this pandemic across the planet, that naturally affects developing countries the most.
And by strengthening ALBA with the great victory of Bolivar in Bolivia, with the great victory of Bolivar in Caracas, in Venezuela, those two great elections are a Victory of Bolivar, because they tell us: We are on the right path, heading towards Latin American and Caribbean Unity, with ALBA giving us the elements, giving us the instruments, giving us the steps to take, which, as Nicolas expressed very well, are steps that make us. stronger
And we ave that other great extraordinary victory of our brother Ralph Gonsalves, in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, the Caribbean. Yes, the Caribbean is powerful, it as dignity, and this has been demonstrated not only by St. Vincent and the Grenadines, but by all the Caribbean countries that are part of ALBA, of PETROCARIBE, and that have manage to resist sanctions imposed in the financial sector, above all, and the continuous threats from the Empire for them to stop working, contributing to this project for Peace, for Stability, for Development, for Social Security, for Health, for Education, for the Peoples of the Caribbean, for the Peoples of Our America.
And so we say to the People of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and to Ralph: Thank you also for this great Victory!
Yes, there are three Great Victories, that of Bolivia, that of Venezuela, and that of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, in this highly critical period; one when, at this most critical moment, when the imperialists of the world already believed they were advancing, sweeping everything from their path, these victories take place, and here we are, steadfast, gladdened, full of new energies, and ready to continue fighting the battle for Peace, for Democracy, for Stability and for the Well-being of our Peoples and the families who live in our Region.
Thank you, beloved Brothers and Sisters.