Heinz Dieterich // The day ties with Hugo Chávez were severed

[ChangoLoa]

1. Fraying ends at the World Youth Festival
On August 13, 2005, during the World Youth Festival, the president (of Venezuela Hugo Chávez) had scheduled a great public event on Socialism of the 21st Century at the Teresa Carreño Theater in Caracas. With an expected turnout of roughly twenty-two hundred participants from all over the world, (pro-government deputy) Darío Vivas, (Minister of Foreign Affairs) Nicolás Maduro and I were set to discuss the new social order. I would be followed by the president, who would close out the event.

Backstage, as Darío, Nicolás and I were reviewing our respective lectures, we were called to an impromptu meeting. Once we were seated, a major who was part of the presidential protection service approached me and said: "Doctor, once this event is over, you will head out by car to Fuerte Tiuna (Caracas military base) with the president and then you will explain to four hundred international guests what the Socialism of the 21st Century stands for."

2. Scientific truth or diplomatic endeavor?
To address over two thousand young minds from all over the world and speak to them about the Socialism of the 21st Century was an outstanding opportunity to shed light on the theory of the new scientific socialism. This great chance, however, brought about certain concerns. While the voice of the State and my diplomatic obligations urged me to say what was politically correct—that Venezuela galloped triumphantly on the anti-capitalist path of the Socialism of the 21st Century—my scientific and political ethics compelled to speak the truth before the youths of the world.

I stood behind the truth and uttered: "There is no socialism here, not in the historical sense of the term. We are paving the way for a fairer society. <...> Venezuela was savaged by poor administrations, and the strategy chosen by President Chávez to rebuild it is the same course of action taken by Germany after its own destruction in 1945: establishment of a social market economy <...> The 21st century socialism would serve as a transition from our current status to an economy that would not be aimed at individual growth. <...> The idea would be to return <...> to an economy of equality, democratically structured by citizens, where value (time invested in the product) would supersede price <...>."

3. The president's reaction
http://www.eluniversal.com/2011/08/20/the-day-ties-with-hugo-chavez-were-severed.shtml

Original article:
http://www.kaosenlared.net/noticia/dia-de-ruptura-con-hugo-chavez

[naaman fletcher]

1. I gotta say,

It sounds like Dietrich is just butt-hurt that Chavez doesn't kiss his ass enough.