Houston commemoration of Hugo Chavez
Houston, TX – Over 20 students and community activists gathered at the Consulate of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, August 1, to celebrate the life and legacy of Hugo Chavez, the former president of Venezuela. The consul gave a presentation on Hugo Chavez, discussing how he transformed Venezuela and drastically improved the lives of the Venezuelan people.
The focus of the talk was the anti-imperialist policies of the Venezuelan government, and some of its progressive social reforms. He emphasized how the Bolivarian Revolution brought free education and free health care to Venezuela, and how this drastically improved the lives of millions of the poorest people in the country. He also emphasized the difficulties that the Venezuelan people faced as a result of U.S. imperialism and its hostility towards the Venezuelan government. There were a lot of students at the talk who were deeply inspired by the life of Hugo Chavez.
One student said, “I was so inspired by Hugo Chavez's devotion to providing free education for his people. As a student, I have a lot of debt as a result of high tuition costs. I would like to live in a society like Venezuela where the government provides free college education to its people.”
Another student said, “The U.S. corporate media has given a totally incorrect representation of Venezuela under Chavez. It is clear from this presentation that Hugo Chavez was a great leader who loved the Venezuelan people and devoted his life to their material well-being.”
Ian Cox, a member of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization, said, “The Venezuelan government has strong anti-imperialist policies that should be supported by leftists. These policies, such as the opposition to U.S. imperialism, the support of the Venezuelan government for the FARC-EP in Colombia, and the mobilization of the poor, are an important base of resistance to imperialism, and this is in the interests of all working people worldwide.”