A Conversation with President Hugo

Article Tools

Print

E-mail

Comments

RSS

And in Latin America, one feels that there is a powerful current of public opinion on these issues that one didn't see even two years ago. The path ahead still hadn't been scripted, it wasn't readily visible. To hear the Argentine president Kirchner say the kinds of things he said yesterday, such as "Argentina will pay its [foreign] debt [only] if things are going well for Argentina." It's a tremendous political commitment, and this will influence other countries down the road. To hear former Argentine president Duhalde introduce me as the key-note speaker at a private lunch for Latin American leaders -- this is very surprising. It was the same in Cusco [The Rio Summit of Latin American Presidents in Cusco, Peru], where I heard the reflections of presidents that 2-3 years ago would not have even dented a rose petal when it came to the topic of debt. They wouldn't have questioned the free-market model, and the need to follow the conditions of the IMF, the World Bank, etc. To hear 40 Congress people, 80 Congress people, to hear the indigenous leaders question the system of debt -- all this goes to show that the popular pressures are alive and well here, too. So this is all about a pressure game -- one has to understand each sphere of action where these pressures are being felt. You could say we've started the first battle.

M: And what role do you think that Venezuela has? One reason I ask this is that it often seems that there are times when the vast majority of people are ready for change, but one of the things that holds them back is when they think there is no hope of winning anything.

H: The Bolivarian process is at the forefront of this struggle. I'm laying in this hammock a calmer man than I was yesterday. Even a year ago, I felt almost alone. Today the situation is changing, that hope that you're speaking of, that's a moral impulse. It's showing up all over the place. The people are coming to life again. Brazil is just another example of this. It's not just about Lula, it's a phenomenon, it's the Brazilian people, millions of them. The Landless workers, the workers, the housewives, the favela [slum] dwellers -- they have a hope, a faith. And you know that faith can move mountains. The indigenous of Ecuador, they took Luis Gutierrez to the presidency. The indigenous are mobilized in Bolivia, where they almost took Evo [Morales] to the presidency. Almost. They're mobilized. In Central America, in Panama, things are happening too. In El Salvador, Farabundo Marti has come back strong. Sandinismo is the leading force in Nicaragua. In Uruguay, the Frente Amplio is occupying important spaces. There's a faith that's moving mountains, mountains of people. Which pressure will win out in the end? The pressure of the people that need to move the mountains merely to survive?

RSS | Comments | E-mail | Print