A meeting took place between former Cuban President Fidel Castro and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on November 9, 2010. The four-hour fraternal exchange was done in conjunction with the 10th anniversary of cooperation between the two states.
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November 10, 2010
Affectionate meeting between Fidel and Chávez
YESTERDAY afternoon, compañero Fidel visited Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías, President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, with whom he had a fraternal four-hour meeting.
During their conversation, the two leaders recalled the start of exchanges that led to the signing of the Cuba-Venezuela Integral Cooperation Agreement which, over the past 10 years, has made it possible to consolidate political, economic and social relations between our peoples.
Fidel congratulated Chávez on his warm and moving words during the event at the International Conference Center, where an announcement was made regarding the 6th Congress of the Communist Party of Cuba, which is to take place on the 50th anniversary of the declaration of the socialist nature of our Revolution and the Bay of Pigs victory.
Chávez expressed his satisfaction at meeting with Fidel once again and recounted the work undertaken by ministers from the two countries which permitted them to re-launch the bilateral Integral Cooperation Agreement for the 2010-2020 period. He also expressed contentment over the emotional event.
Fidel and Chávez exchanged opinions on the complex international situation and expressed their conviction that relations between Cuba and the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela constitute an example of fraternal relations between two revolutionary peoples who are fighting for a better future for the entire human race.
Translated by Granma International
Havana. November 10, 2010
I want to pay tribute to Fidel and his long travels among our peoples, rousing us
States President Hugo Chávez Frías of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, speaking at the event marking the 10th anniversary of the Integral Cooperation Agreement between his country and Cuba
Oscar Sánchez Serra
THE political necessity of the union of our countries of Latin America and the Caribbean is over and above the ideology of each nation, affirmed President Hugo Chávez, speaking at the event celebrating the 10th anniversary of the Integral Cooperation Agreement between his country and Cuba, also presided over by President Raúl Castro, in Havana’s International Conference Center.
He noted that such a union could come to perfection among nations which – like Cuba and Venezuela – "are disposed to the challenge, to the challenge of believing in revolutionary processes and in independence."
He recalled that, 10 years ago, when Comandante en Jefe Fidel Castro visited Caracas and signed the bilateral Integral Cooperation Agreement, Venezuela was submerged in poverty.
"It was criminal that our nation, which had produced so much wealth, was in such a condition, but – thanks to this collaboration with Cuba – the panorama totally changed," he stated.
He analyzed the course of his country over one century as an oil producer and the existence there of an elite bourgeoisie, with no sense of patriotism, and which acted against its own land.
Chávez went on to read extracts from the book Todo el Tiempo de los Cedros, on Fidel’s family life, and commented on the Cuban leader’s travels through various Latin American countries.
"I wish to pay tribute to Fidel and his long travels among our peoples, rousing us," he affirmed.
Returning to the theme of unity, the Venezuelan president stated that a new world is being born in Latin America, but the imperial threat to revert that situation continues.
"We have to finish defeating imperialism, and that task is the responsibility of our two peoples," Chávez observed. "Imperialism lacks the morals to stand up to socialist ethics and it is also necessary to defeat that regime in the economic order, because it is already well on the way to being defeated in the political order," he added.
The Venezuelan head of state praised the steps that Cuba is taking to update its economic model, which he referred to as the "updating of socialism," and commented that he has been following them.
Chávez also spoke positively of the development of a number of integration mechanisms in this part of the world, such as the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) and the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America (ALBA).
Chávez talked of the characteristics, heritage and independence processes which each country in this region has experienced in order to attain their genuine emancipation. He went on to confirm that, like the Cuban Revolution, the Bolivarian Revolution will not be detained, while referring to the obstacles faced and reiterating the will of both processes to continue advancing. "Cuba is an example of revolutionary consequence," he stated, on paying tribute to the island’s Revolution, 51 years ago last January.
Chávez also spoke of distinct moments in Venezuelan history, and the significance of oil in that nation’s economic and social development.
He explained that, for almost all of the 20th century, his country was the top world exporter of oil and that that wealth was not invested in a higher standard of living for the people of that South American nation, who were then submerged in a horrific poverty that extended to more than 50% of the population.
All of us who, as presidents, wanted to control the oil, were overthrown but, in my case, the yankis came up against some soldiers and a people who said ‘No,’ he recalled.
Chávez explained that, very soon, Venezuela is to start prospecting in order to initiate offshore oil drilling in Cuba’s territorial waters, and stated that this project to obtain crude is included in the re-launch of the cooperation agreement program.
Then and there, Chávez commissioned Rafael Ramírez, Venezuelan minister of energy and oil, to rapidly organize construction of the oil platform in order to start drilling in the undersea beds which exist there, according to research.
Returning to the 10th anniversary of the Integral Cooperation Agreement, the Venezuelan leader affirmed that, with the signing of this accord, "we laid the cornerstone, the column of all that we are going to do in the next 10 years, and in the 100 to come."
"Today we are here, we are working and we have re-launched the cooperation plan for 2010-2010, which will be a decade of great advances in the building of socialism and the independence of Latin America," Chávez affirmed, concluding his speech with a resounding "¡Viva Fidel, carajo!" •
Translated by Granma International
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