Developing nations must unite against colonisation

THE EDITOR: In his annual message to the Venezuelan people and the international community, in the Legislative Palace on January 20, 2005, President Hugo Rafael Ch?vez made several pertinent points that countries of the developing south should pay attention to. Once again he pledged commitment to multilateralism. President Ch?vez stressed that a uni-polar world dominated by one country would only court disaster and inevitably fail. Hence he outlined Venezuela’s growing partnership with its new friends. Soon Iran’s President Khatami will be visiting Ch?vez to continue talks that would give rise to greater economic ties between the two countries. Venezuela is already one of the biggest recipients of foreign investment from China in the Western Hemisphere. In his speech he indicated that China has offered Venezuela a line of credit of $800 million to build affordable houses in Venezuela.

Ch?vez also emphasised integration among developing countries. Once again he spoke of a regional petroleum company suggesting the name Petroamerica. He spoke of the importance of a South Bank and even proposed a common currency, recommending the name Sucre. Very importantly, Ch?vez raised the importance of the Bolivarian Alternative For The Americas (ALBA). This proposed alliance among nations of Latin America and the Caribbean would be the only realistic alternative to the FTAA. The FTAA as everyone knows would wreck our fragile economies. These developments, he added would engender greater economic development without outside interference from the North American colonial power.

The model that Venezuela is building is succeeding, despite threats from inside and outside. In the speech, Ch?vez pointed out that under the Barrio Adrento programme there were 80.5 million visits in the new medical centres in 2004. Compare this to the pre-Revolution period of 1993-1998 when there were a mere 70 million visits. As the programme expands, 20,000 young people will begin training this year to be general practitioners. How many young people in Trinidad and Tobago are being trained as medical workers to go into the hills of Laventille or to the rural areas to assist the sick and the poor? Sadly proper health care is only a luxury for the rich. In education there has been a record one and a half million students accessing tertiary education. Ch?vez stated that this has been done without privatising education or health.

Instead special gratitude should be extended to the Cubans who have worked tirelessly to improve these services in Venezuela. Unfortunately these plans for democracy and development by President Ch?vez and other like minded friends around the world seems to be threatened by the Americans who have reverted to their old colonial wars to protect their empire. If the dreams and desires of the world’s poor and downtrodden are destroyed by Bush and his gang, the future will be apocalyptic.

RAPHAEL JOHN LALL
Buenos Ayres Main Road
Erin