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The King, Chávez and the shoe repairman
But he wasn’t the only cause of my problem. Bolivian President Evo Morales and Prime Minister Jose Zapatero of Spain also had a part to play as each of them took a turn at speaking during the Iberoamerican Summit in Santiago, Chile.
It was about 11:00 p.m. and I was exhausted. I crawled into bed. But then, for some strange reason, I turned on the television set. Evo Morales was speaking. He was talking about how the opposition in Bolivia call him a “macaco,” a deprecative word for him and the majority indigenous people he represents, meaning “monkey,”
But, in spite of the opposition’s opinion of him and the charge that he would bring fiscal ruin to the country if he were to have been elected president, he said that for the first time in decades Bolivia didn’t have to borrow money to pay Christmas bonuses to the government servants—a clear sign that the economy was improving.
Then the Spanish prime minister spoke. It seemed to me to be five verbal slaps in the faces of many of those present. 1) He spoke highly of “social cohesion.” 2) He promised that Spain would continue to send lots of money to Latin America. 3) He told those present that they shouldn’t blame their problems on other nations. 4) Privatization was the way to go. 5) All the great ideas of civilization have come from Europe.
The Summit meeting was supposed to end with Zapatero’s remarks. Spain started these summits as a means of doing more business with Latin America. It is my understanding that they also finance these meetings and so Zapatero felt entitled to have the last word. But Chávez demanded that he be able to speak again and the Chilean president, Michelle Bachelet, somewhat reluctantly let him do so as the participants signed the final documents of the meeting. As is his custom, Chávez spoke too much, but he did make some important points that I will mention among my remarks that follow.
First of all, the theme of the summit, “Social Cohesion” was not an all together happy one. Even before the meeting Chávez called into question how one could speak about social cohesion in Latin America when there is still such an economic disparity between the people. He felt social justice had to be a priority before one could speak of social cohesion.
Secondly, for the Spanish prime minister to speak of the money that Spain will give to Latin America is a total distortion of history. Spain has a debt to pay to Latin America for all that it took from this part of the world - an accumulated debt of almost five hundred years of looting. Once that is paid, the prime minister can start talking as a generous friend.
Thirdly, other nations have clearly been a great part of Latin America’s problems. The audacity to make a statement to the contrary in Chile is incredible. As Chávez pointed out in his remarks, it is clearly documented that the U.S. played a protagonistic role in the overthrow of Allende and the installation of the dictator Pinochet. And it was the ambassadors of Spain and the United States who met with coup leader Pedro Carmona in Venezuela the day after Chávez was kidnapped in 2002.
Fourthly, how could Zapatero speak of how wonderful privatization is when in Venezuela the Spanish airline, Iberia, was responsible for the bankruptcy of the Venezuelan airline, Viasa?
Finally, Zapatero said that the whole world agrees that the great ideas of civilization have come from Europe, such as equality and fraternity. He said that even Marx was a European. Match these wonderful ideas of civilization with the massacre of the indigenous people and the enslavement of the Africans. What does “civilization” mean to Zapatero?
The king of Spain felt he had the right to tell Chávez to shut up, but the other leaders at the summit should have said the same to the Spanish prime minister.
Like it or not, the winds are changing in this part of the world—and there is a heating of the atmosphere in more ways than one. It is interesting to note a change that is being proposed in Article 153 of the Venezuelan constitution. It presently reads that “the Republic will have privileged relations with Iberoamerica.” The change has dropped that phrase and has replaced it with one that speaks of the “Great Nation,” that which Simon Bolivar called “A Nation of Republics.” Sorry, Spain, that doesn’t include you as an essential player.
Maybe Spain did foot the bill for the Iberoamerican Summit, but the summit could have taken place without Spain. Although Spain paid for it, Spain should have seen itself as the invited guest on the American continents.
It is not uncommon in Venezuela to see a man walking through the streets and to hear him shouting “Za-pa-te-ro, za-pa-te-ro.” He is not saying anything negative or positive about the Spanish prime minister. Zapatero means shoemaker, and the man is simply a shoe repairman, providing an important service to his community. It would be nice if the prime minister of Spain could see himself simply as an equal among other world leaders—especially those of Latin America.
Let me add a few more thoughts since as I write this on the morning of November 26, relations between Venezuela and Colombia are at a new low. It appears that President Uribe of Colombia has decided to jump into the same bed with the king of Spain and the emperor of the United States. Why he is suddenly “spitting in the face” of Chávez is not yet clearly understood, but something is brewing.
My advice to President Uribe would be that he tell the United States to get out of his country and to let him be the president instead of being a puppet. Uribe’s job should be supporting a peace process in his country instead of supporting the mercenaries from the U.S. in spite of all financial benefits they may bring with them.
If the United States wants to keep meddling in the affairs of other countries in the interest of “democracy” maybe it should invade Spain so that the people can finally elect their own king.
Charles Hardy is author of Cowboy in Caracas: A North American’s Memoir of Venezuela’s Democratic Revolution, published by Curbstone Press. Other essays by Hardy can be found on his personal blog Cowboyincaracas.com. You may write him at cowboyincaracas@yahoo.com.