Revolution International!

Last July 5^th the revolutionary government of Venezuela commemorated the 197^th anniversary of the country’s independence, which happened in the 5^th of July in 1811. The embassy of Venezuela in Portugal organized 4 different events to celebrate the occasion, even though the events had no media this reporter attended 3 of the events as the director of the small Portuguese and Spanish language magazine “Revolution” published by the Bolivarian revolution friendly Portuguese Free Revolutionaries Circle.

Heading for 21^st Century Socialism conference

The first event was staged at the Casa da America Latina (Latin America House) in Lisbon, June 27^th, a conference titled “Positive Venezuela: heading for 21^st Century Socialism” and was held by the ambassador of Venezuela in Portugal, general Lucas Rincon, that held several key positions in the government of Venezuela, among them Minister of Defence, Minister of Internal Affairs and head of the armed forcers of Venezuela, a heavy weight that seemed to me as a very passionate man and gave us all a very good impression of the revolutionary steps the Bolivarian regime is taking in Venezuela.

I was very surprised by the public recognition and compliment he have in his introductory speech – before the conference – in which he mentioned “Revolution” magazine and myself, by name, most likely surprising the representatives of the Portuguese Communist Party that where also present and had no idea who we were (even though I had reported, in the past, the visits between Zyuganov and the PCP).

During the conference we had the chance to be aware of the projects that Venezuela is working on with the revolutionary government of Iran and the (sadly not so revolutionary) government of Portugal, serving the best interests of all the parties involved. The conquests of the last 9 years of Venezuelan Socialism rule are really outstanding and an example for all the peoples of the world. After the conference we had the pleasure of being served beverages (and what a delicious Cuba Libre they had there) and traditional Venezuelan food.

Luso-Bolivarian music night

July 1^st we had the pleasure of attending a Luso-Bolivarian musical night, in the Mirror Room of the Foz Palace in downtown Lisbon, we had the joy of listening the Venezuelan classic music musicians Ana Beatriz Manzanilla, Pedro Saglimbeni and the Portuguese Joao Santos playing Schumann, Martinu, Sarasate, Massenet and Racel in piano, violin and viola. After that Celeste Moreira, a Portuguese born fado singer that has lived in Venezuela since her early years, she sang all the Portuguese classics of fado also a few Venezuela music, including the National Anthem, a very patriotic moment given that one of the songs was titled “Two Fatherlands” dedicated to the Portuguese communities of Venezuela and the Venezuelan communities of Portugal.

As a side note Renato Epifanio, from the International Lusophone Movement and one of the directors of the New Eagle magazine was also present for a brief moments, listening only to the introductory remarks of General Lucas Rincon.

Bolivar remembrance and brindis

In the morning of the 5^th of July the diplomatic corps of Venezuela visited the statue of Simon Bolivar on Avenida da Liberdade in Lisbon and offered a huge crown made up of fresh flowers in honour if their founding father, Portuguese officials were also present as well as a numerous crowd constituted of Venezuelan immigrants living in Portugal. After the reading of the Chart of Independence, a minute of silence was held in memory of Heroes of the Fatherland.

At noon we all gathered in the Pestana Palace Hotel for a toast and lunch in honour of the independence of Venezuela, the lunch was held in the gardens and animated by the musical band Espiritu Nativo (Native Spirit), we also could enjoy the photographic exhibition titled Venezuela Magic Land by Roberto Collantoni.

Among many others there were present the ambassadors of Cuba, Libya, Colombia Sao Tome e Principe and of the Islamic Republic of Iran – to whom I had the chance of chatting given that he already knew my work through the Iranian officials stationed at the embassy in Lisbon. I also did try to track down the ambassador of Libya but without success, too bad.

All the commemorations where very sound, it’s amazing to witness the dedication of the Venezuela officials stationed in Lisbon to the revolution that our beloved Hugo Chavez Frias has been leading, democratically, over the last 9 years.