Festive Left Friday Blogging: Lucky 13

It’s 13 years now since Chavecito was sworn in as president of Venezuela. And, contrary to all the right-wing lamestream media naysayers up here, he’s not dead yet, and neither is Venezuelan democracy, which is going stronger than ever.

And of course, that was the plan 13 years ago yesterday, when Chavecito swore on the “moribund” constitution of 1961, as he called it, to give the country the constitution and participatory democracy it deserved. Since then, not only has that plan prospered in Venezuela, it’s caught on like a wildfire throughout Latin America and the Caribbean, with the ALBA alliance, and Mercosur all shaking their feet to the Bolivarian beat. Cuba is now out of the cold (or Cold War isolation, if you will), and the only tyranny in sight is that of a good example. Education and access to healthcare are up; poverty is way, way down. Illiteracy is wiped out, and childhood malnutrition is becoming an endangered species. International co-operation is in vogue between Latin American countries, and the only ones not happy are the gringos and their local lackeys. Workers are drafting their own labor laws, instead of letting Washington and multinationals dictate them. That’s something that’s never happened there before, and it puts the lie to the common media quackings about how 21st Century Socialism is just old 20th century Soviet communism repackaged.

Yes, it’s been a lucky 13 years for Venezuela, and it looks like they’re in for a good many more. In that time, the Revolution can only solidify. As it stands, both inside and outside disruptors have had zero luck in dislodging it. And while that’s not Chavecito’s doing alone, it all couldn’t have happened without him as its unifying leader.

¡Viva Venezuela, y VIVA CHÁVEZ CARAJO!