Cubans and Venezuelans commemorated the historic return of Commander Hugo Chávez to power after the failed coup that led to his kidnapping in 2002.
At the Casa del Alba Cultural Center in Havana, those present recalled the rescue of the Bolivarian leader, which allowed for the restoration of constitutional order in the nation and the continuation of the revolutionary process that began three years earlier.
According to Venezuela’s ambassador to Cuba, Orlando Maneiro, the immediate popular reaction and that of loyal military forces was not accidental, but rather the result of a process of raising awareness promoted by Chávez, even before he assumed political power in 1999.
Once in the presidency, the Bolivarian leader implemented economic, political, and social changes aimed at empowering the population to lead the transformations, focused on defending sovereignty and self-determination, and seeking Latin American unity, he noted.
For his part, the Defense Attaché of the Venezuelan diplomatic mission in Havana, Major General Luis Bustamante, stated that the president’s kidnapping was followed by a wave of repression and the dissolution of state powers to establish a dictatorship with the support of the United States.
This coup attempt was thwarted thanks to the coordination of popular mobilizations and the actions of Bolivarian military personnel, demonstrating the choice of the majority of Venezuelans for the construction of the representative and participatory democracy proposed by Chávez, he noted.
In their remarks, the diplomats acknowledged the solidarity of Cuba and the historic leader of the Revolution, Fidel Castro, in the face of these events, and highlighted the attitude of the island’s diplomatic mission in Venezuela in the face of the siege of its headquarters.
[ SOURCE: PRENSA LATINA ]
