President Hugo Chavez welcomed in London

Not a difficult choice at all

Chavez and Venezuela deserve the support of all who believe in social justice and democracy

By Ken Livingstone

05/15/06 "The Guardian" -- President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela will today become the second head of state -- after the Queen -- to be welcomed to London's City Hall. When it comes to the social transformation taking place in Venezuela, the political qualifications often necessary in our imperfect world can be set aside. It is crystal clear on which side right and justice lies. For many years people have demanded that social progress and democracy go hand in hand, and that is exactly what is now taking place in Venezuela.

It therefore deserves the unequivocal support of not only every supporter of social progress but every genuine believer in democracy in the world.

Venezuela is a state of huge oil wealth that was hitherto scarcely used to benefit the population. Now, for the first time in a country of over 25 million people, a functioning health service is being built. Seventeen million people have been given access to free healthcare for the first time in their lives. Illiteracy has been eliminated. Fifteen million people have been given access to food, medicines and other essential products at affordable prices. A quarter of a million eye operations have been financed to rescue people from blindness. These are extraordinary practical achievements.

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NOTE: U.S. President George W. Bush and his followers have tried to vilify Chavez for alleged "undemocratic" tendencies and his close personal relationship with Fidel Castro of Cuba. Further, the government of Venezuela recently has taken the rare action of nationalizing certain oil and natural gas assets in the country, exacerbating an already strained relationship with the Bush administration and the U.S.

Yet Venezuela's government-owned oil company operates freely in the U.S., just as any other international oil conglomerate, selling its products through CITGO service stations and elsewhere. This scenario sounds schizophrenic, yet it is a good example of how politics divides while international business, despite its shortcomings, is often an instrument of international cooperation.

LP