Hugo Chavez: Hero of the Revolution

Viva Chavez! La Lucha Continúa!

Yesterday, the world lost a great anti-imperialist and champion of the poor and downtrodden.

Hugo Chavez's legacy of fighting against injustice, poverty and oppression will live on in Venezuela and across the world.
As former US President Jimmy Carter stated, "We came to know a man who expressed a vision to bring profound changes to his country to benefit especially those people who had felt neglected and marginalized.  Although we have not agreed with all of the methods followed by his government, we have never doubted Hugo Chávez’s commitment to improving the lives of millions of his fellow countrymen... President Chávez will be remembered for his bold assertion of autonomy and independence for Latin American governments and for his formidable communication skills and personal connection with supporters in his country and abroad to whom he gave hope and empowerment.  During his 14-year tenure, Chávez joined other leaders in Latin America and the Caribbean to create new forms of integration.  Venezuelan poverty rates were cut in half, and millions received identification documents for the first time allowing them to participate more effectively in their country’s economic and political life."

Hugo followed in the footsteps of other great heroic Latino revolutionaries such as Simon Bolivar, Augusto Sandino, Che Guevera, Salvador Allende and Daniel Ortega who fought to free their people from colonialism, neo-colonialism, elitism, brutality & poverty.

Chavez has and will continue to be an iconic role model across the continent. His success in standing up to the oil oligarchs, their right-wing political lackeys in the USA and compliant indigenous corrupt wealthy governing elites, inspired progressive democrats in many South American countries to organise and win elections in Bolivia, Peru, Paraguay, Ecuador and elsewhere,

As an Irishman, I see in Chavez and other South American revolutionaries the courageous visionary patriotic spirit that imbued so many Irish rebels from Wolfe Tone and Robert Emmet through to Pearse and Connolly in their struggles to free our people from brutal foreign occupation.

La Lucha Continúa

The Hypocrisy of ICTU bosses

I happily took part in yesterday's ICTU (Irish Congress of Trades Unions) march in Galway against the austerity policies of the Labour-Fine Gael government.
I joined the march because of my concern over how this government is continuing the policies of the last government in making ordinary individuals and communities pay for the greed of the bankers, property speculators, politicians and compliant trade union leaders. So i joined a protest that was made up of those that are at the front-line of the cuts, namely the teachers, nurses, firemen and community workers.
The organisers said there was 5,000 participants. I think that was too big an estimation. But it was still a good size crowd. The first speaker on the stage stated it was the largest protest parade that the city had ever seen. He was totally wrong on that sweeping statement as I have participated on many Galway marches that were much larger including the protest outside Labour Party conference in 2012.

But I was particularly angry at the hypocrisy of trade union leaders on stage in Galway and elsewhere condemning government cuts when they were an integral part of the 'old boys network' who enjoy(ed)  lavish wages, pensions, expenses and membership of quango boards. In the latter, they failed to see or do anything about corruption and misuse of public funds. "See no evil, speak no evil" was their motto.

Time and time again, these overpaid mandarins have defended privilege and vested interests, from the huge wages of top civil servants to protecting the King's Birthday and Empire Days as days of rest for public service workers. So much for their republicanism and socialism!

This year we celebrate the great lockout of 1913. James Connolly and James Larkin though would have nothing but contempt for the majority of today's trade union bosses who have little in common with the lives of ordinary people, but share so much with the lifestyles of William Martin Murphy and his fellow villeins.