Mumia Abu-Jamal: Hugo Chávez Frías ¡Presente!

He came from humble beginnings from among the teeming millions in Venezuelan
poverty and joined the army as much to make a living as to serve the people.
He and a group of mid-level military officers staged an unsuccessful coup
in February, 1992 against the corrupt regime of President Carlos Andrés
Pérez. Within eight years, the man that led the coup would be elected
president and Hugo Chávez would proclaim Venezuela as home of the
revolutionary liberator, Simón Bolívar, who fought and prevailed
against Spanish colonialists for Latin American independence early in the 19th
century.

For Chávez, Venezuelan independence meant economic independence to use
the vast national wealth of the nation to better the crippling poverty
experienced by millions in the barrios. He did so to the howls of the
rich elites and foreign investors.

In 2002, rich elites with U.S. support staged a coup against Chávez but
it was short-lived for within three days Chávez was once again in control,
buoyed by the support of the teeming masses of Caracas, who saved his life, his
presidency and his vision. The people saved Chávez and he worked to
save and better their lives. Having escaped death, Comandante Presidente
Hugo Chávez gave his life to the socialist cause and devoted the revenues
from Venezuela’s oil wealth to creating a more egalitarian society.

For 13 years, he worked to deepen the Bolivarian Revolution and he saw a
leftist tide sweep Latin America. Hugo Chávez, who survived coups
and countercoups, lost his final battle to cancer. Hugo Chávez was
58. From imprisoned nation, this is Mumia Abu-Jamal.