The hall was filled to capacity – 12,000 cheering, banner waving youth from Venezuela and all over Latin America and the rest of the world. The scene was the “trial” of imperialism, which occupied the entire weekend and culminated on Sunday afternoon with the testimony of the President of Venezuela, Hugo Chavez.
The sessions were presided over by Jose Vicente Rangel, the Vice President of Venezuela. At his side on the platform was the editor of Marxist.com, Alan Woods. On the other side of the platform sat Juan Barreto, the mayor of Caracas. The rest of the panel of ex tempore judges were from Cuba, Spain, Vietnam, Mexico, Syria, Zimbabwe and North Korea.
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Alan Woods to left of Jose Vincente Rangel presiding over the trial. |
This event was a response to the constant aggression, wars, bullying and arrogant intimidation that now forms the basis of the foreign policy of the USA. The collapse of the Soviet Union has left the entire world in the hands of the sole super power, whose military budget dwarfs anything seen in previous history. In a world where eight million men, women and children die every year because they lack the most basic means of sustenance, the USA spends $500 billion a year on arms.
With colossal power comes colossal arrogance. The so-called Bush doctrine gives to the USA the right to intervene in any country that in its opinion represents a threat to US interests. This was what was used to justify the criminal invasion of Iraq, which has caused endless suffering to millions. This event was a crushing indictment of the real nature of the monster of US imperialism, which likes to hide behind a mask of hypocrisy. One by one, the witnesses called to the stand provided a wealth of factual information and frequently moving human testimonies that pitilessly tore away the smiling “civilised” and “democratic” mask to reveal the nature of the beast hiding behind it.
The proceedings open
On Saturday morning
the tribunal was opened by the young American-Venezuelan lawyer Eva Golinger, whose recent book The
Chavez Code is a stunning exposure of US conspiracies and intervention
against the Bolivarian Revolution. The first witness she called was Bui The
Giang, who gave harrowing details of the US war against Vietnam and in
particular the atrocious consequences of the chemical warfare and the use of
“Agent Orange”, based on the most poisonous substances known to man.
The consequences of this barbarity were revealed all too clearly in a series of horrific images of unimaginable deformities in children born in the affected areas years after the ending of hostilities. Yet the US government and the big chemical companies that produced these substances have not been prepared to accept responsibility or pay reasonable compensation to this day.
The imperialist criminals have not only escaped from any consequence for their crimes, but they continue to use chemical warfare in Colombia, where, under the guise of the so-called war on drugs, they are fighting against the Colombian guerrillas, spraying tons of poisonous chemicals on farm land, crops, forests and rivers. And not a word is said about it.
The next witness was the Puerto Rican, Luis Rosas Perez, who described the horrific conditions in the prisons of the USA where he was held for years on offences connected with his opposition to the US occupation of Puerto Rico. He was sentenced to 108 years and actually served 19 years and 5 months. But at least he got out in the end. Others were not so lucky.
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One of the most moving testimonies was by a Mexican American, Fernando Suarez del Solar, whose 20-year-old son was killed in Iraq. Fernando spoke quietly and simply, with no trace of rhetoric. This was the voice of the ordinary working class American, not the smart political establishment. But it was a voice deeply marked by suffering. His son left school at thirteen and a half to join the ranks of the numerous unemployed Latinos. He was lured into the US army by the prospect of a better life.
“He was too young to vote, or get social security, or buy cigarettes and beer. But he was not considered too young to join the army and go to Iraq. He was killed soon after he arrived, after waiting two hours for medical assistance because of the callous indifference of an officer.” The family did not even get enough compensation from the government to pay for his funeral.
Other subjects considered by the tribunal were the treatment of Mexican migrants by the US authorities, the problems of landless labourers in Brazil and the control of that country’s resources by giant foreign corporations, the problem of poverty in Africa, the problem of the West Sahara, occupied by Morocco with the complicity of the international community, and many other matters.
Given the location of the tribunal, it was perhaps inevitable that most of the questions raised were related to Latin America and the Caribbean. There were several witnesses from Cuba, who in the second session on Sunday morning denounced the continual terrorism to which the people of the island have been subjected ever since the Revolution by the giant that faces them just a few miles across the sea.
The first Cuban witness was Percy Albarado a former agent in the Cuban security services, who had infiltrated counterrevolutionary groups in the United States and was able to testify in great detail to prove the existence of the preparation of terrorist attacks against Cuba organized with the complicity of the US government. These included a whole series of attempts to assassinate Fidel Castro.
Cross examining the witness, Alan Woods asked him whether on the basis of his experience he thought that the CIA would be capable of organizing an assassination attempt against president Chavez. The witness answered in the affirmative. The editor of Marxist.com made the following commentary:
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“The USA argues that both Cuba and Venezuela represent a threat. Yet it is perfectly clear that in the military sense no such threat exists. Neither Cuba nor Venezuela possesses weapons of mass destruction, as the USA does in abundance. But there is a weapon that is far more powerful than weapons of mass destruction. It is the weapon of ideas (enthusiastic applause).
“Terrorism is not an admission of strength but weakness. The USA only began its terrorist activities against the Cuban revolution after the failure of the Bay of Pigs adventure. They resorted to terrorism because they had absolutely no base of support within Cuba itself. The same is true of Venezuela. The counterrevolutionary forces backed by Washington attempted on three occasions to defeat the Bolivarian revolution: by a coup d’état in 2002, then by economic sabotage, and lastly by the recall referendum. They were defeated on every occasion by the movement of the masses (applause). Therefore they are obliged to adopt terrorist methods, because they do not have a serious base of support in the population.
“It is inevitable that they will attempt to organize an assassination attempt against President Chavez. Can they succeed? We sincerely hope not. But it is very easy to kill a human being. We are very fragile creatures and can be killed by a bullet, a knife or poison. But there is one thing that cannot be killed. You cannot kill an idea (enthusiastic applause). Above all, you cannot kill and idea whose time has come. In the last analysis, they can never assassinate Chavez, because every person in this hall is Chavez, the working class and the people are Chavez and will carry out the revolution until the end (wild applause).”
One of the subjects raised was the terrorist act organized by the United States that brought down a Cuban passenger airliner in 1976, causing the death of 73 people. The person responsible for this atrocity is known to be in the United States, which, despite its supposed opposition to terrorism, has refused to hand him over for trial. The man who spoke on this subject, Camilo Rojo Alvarez, is the son of one of the victims.
This part of the session was closed by a speech of the Speaker of the Cuban National Assembly, Ricardo Alcorcon de Quesada, who detailed a hundred years of US interference in Cuba’s affairs. He then went on to demand the release of the five Cubans illegally detained in US prisons. This issue is rapidly being transformed into an international scandal. These Cubans are guilty of no crime other than combating terrorism and exposing terrorist acts being prepared on US soil. US courts have found them guilty of no legal offence, yet they are still being detained. This action amounts to simple kidnapping and state terrorism.
From the tribunal, Alan Woods pointed out that Hands off Venezuela was prepared to raise this issue in the international labour movement, since the defence of the Venezuelan revolution was inseparable from the defence of the Cuban revolution. This declaration was met by enthusiastic applause.
Chavez speaks
The final witness was Hugo Chavez, whose entry into the hall was greeted by an explosion of enthusiastic chanting and cries of “Long live Chavez!”, “Long live the Revolution!”, “Another world is possible – socialism!” When the tumult was eventually brought under control, Chavez launched into a long speech, in which he paid tribute to the great revolutionary leaders of the past, Bolivar, Sucre, Miranda.
Significantly, his opening quotation was from Karl Marx: “The choice before us is socialism or barbarism”. This has been the central theme of all his speeches in the last few days. He poured scorn on Bush and US imperialism and rejected outright the idea that it was necessary to surrender or compromise with imperialism:
“We have had enough of the sprit of cowardice and the defensive attitude. It is time we went onto the offensive. The best form of defence is attack!” he thundered. “What is at stake is the future of the planet, of life on earth. When Marx and Rosa Luxemburg spoke of socialism or barbarism they were thinking of the future. But now we must not think in terms of decades but of years.” This sense of urgency runs like a red thread through all his latest speeches.
Chavez appealed to the youth not merely to cheer and then go home after the Festival. “You must multiply. You must be like the early Christian missionaries. You must carry this message to the ends of the globe.” He then proposed to move the centre of the Festival to Caracas.
He urged the young people to read and study revolutionary literature. “We must set up a Publishing House for the publishing of every kind of anti-imperialist books and we must distribute them everywhere,” he added. He pointed out proudly that the new Telsur TV station set up on his initiative is now broadcasting to all Latin America and even to the United States: “Right now in Chicago they are watching this meeting being transmitted live,” he said.
Then he turned to the possibility of an assassination attempt. “I have no doubt whatsoever that every time I speak these truths, truths as hard as diamonds and as clear as mid-day, the possibility of my assassination grows.” At this point there was an explosion of indignation. Eventually, the shouts subsided. “Don’t worry,” he said. “We are going to live. But I wish to make it clear to this tribunal that if anything – any accident should happen to me, the sole person responsible is George Bush.” And he warned Washington that the consequences of his death would be worse for them than before. He warned of explosions all over Latin America, and that the oil supplies would immediately be cut off.
Above all, he appealed to the youth to dedicate themselves absolutely to the cause of socialism and the revolution. “I am very optimistic,” he said. “The time for pessimism is over.”
After this inspiring speech, the panel retired to pronounce its verdict. The verdict was guilty on all charges. But the important thing is not just to pass sentence on imperialism and capitalism but to use this event as the launching pad from which to build a mass revolutionary movement all over the world capable of carrying the sentence out and abolishing capitalism once and for all. As Hugo Chavez told the cheering audience: “This sentence is only the first step. I say to George Bush: Just wait and see what we have got in store for you!”
Caracas, 15 August 2005.