Talking About the Legacy of Hugo Chavez

Vincent Morin Aguado

HAVANA TIMES — A sea of people bid farewell to their president, the president of the poor. Not since Bolivar had there been anyone like him in Venezuela.

He wasn’t perfect, but nor was the “Liberator,” which was noted by Marti when he wrote: “The sun has spots. The ungrateful talk about those spots while the grateful speak of the light.”

Chavez led the way like an authentic Elegua of our Santeria, the route followed by others whose paths weren’t exactly the same but always pointed South, basing themselves on the left: Lula, Correa, Evo, Kirchner, Aumala Tabare, the aims of Zelaya, the unfortunate Lugo and the return of Ortega.

Even the right-wing minorities ruling in Mexico, Colombia, Chile, Costa Rica and other countries of Our America have been forced to catch up with the times by the wave that has enveloped them.

Where is their unity, what’s impossible to erase, that which leaves his opponents without arguments?

Chavez started a democratic revolution, respecting the constitution approved by popular vote during his fourteen years in power, without excluding his enemies, while accepting the “No” to his proposals when they were voted down.

During his fourteen years leading the government, Chavez showed that a socialist revolutionary project can be sustained — from the left and led by the majority — though not excluding the rest of the population.

Even after his passing away, respect is being given to the right to multi-party elections, the media and electoral campaigns.

This political commitment has demonstrated its validity in many other nations of the New World, strengthening institutionalism in the face of past dictatorships.

The traditional right wingers tried to kill the new reality that contradicted them, but fortunately they were defeated in the most important arena. This demonstrates that the time has come for political maturity in engaging in politics.

In oil-producing Venezuela and resource-poor Nicaragua — to mention only two extreme cases — the left governs without crushing the opposition, other parties, the media or the simple right to access to the Internet. This is a matter of history. Political processes have emerged and developed under these constraints, accepted by all, while the leftist leaders have learned to live with this reality.

During his fourteen years leading the government, Chavez showed that a socialist revolutionary project can be sustained — from the left and led by the majority — though not excluding the rest of the population. This meant accepting the challenges of the opposition, including criticism (excessive or not), but always within an ethical framework attached to constitutional legality.

Even the right-wing minorities ruling in Mexico, Colombia, Chile, Costa Rica and other countries of Our America have been forced to catch up with the times by the wave that has enveloped them.

This last and permanent political demonstration is rarely discussed, but I think it’s important to underline that still among the Latin American left there remains the outdated idea of ??achieving a supposed system, idyllic for comfortable tutelage, in which opponents disappear before the “supreme truth of infallible leaders.”

Of the many other legacies of Chavez that are spoken of, ideas that are not new and are yet to be fulfilled, although positive results are beginning to be seen: Latin American integration, the rescue of indigenous peoples, a fairer distribution of income earned by the substantial natural resources that are possessed as a common right of the citizens of a country … It’s a long list, but nothing new, here the contribution will be in making it a reality.

However, something new is being proposed, fought for and won. People are seeing the possibility that the previous long list of popular demands can become a reality within democracy, increasingly participatory, with innovations being adopted in each specific country, as has been done in Venezuela, Ecuador and Brazil.

The omission of this authentic legacy, not mentioning that there is democracy in Venezuela, with opposition parties, their media and the ability to answer their adversary, is frightening to me. The fact is there exists a democracy, endorsed by Hugo Chavez, where he even lost a referendum and accepted the results, a concept worth reiterating into infinity.
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To contact Vincent Morin Aguado, write: morfamily@correodecuba.cu