Friday, July 1, 2011

President Chávez appears on Venezuelan TV in Working Meeting

RIght now, footage of President Chavez in a meeting with members of his cabinet, including Foreign Minister Nicolás Maduro, General Henry Rangel Silva and Adan Chávez, is airing on Venezuelan television. The working meeting took place this Wednesday, June 29, from Havana, where Chávez is recovering from his recent surgery to remove first a pelvic abscess and later a cancerous mass, which was successfully extracted in entirety. The Venezuelan President appears fully energetic, strong, and pretty much his usual chatty self, talking about issues in Venezuela, foreign policy and the latest books he's reading. He is smiling, full of his usual passion and concerns for everything happening in Venezuela. Of course, he didn't fail to respond to the latest threats made by Washington against Venezuela when just this Monday, the US State Department put Venezuela on a list of countries allegedly "trafficking in persons". "The only threat is the Yankee Empire", exclaimed Chávez, with his usual fervor. Ah yes, this is the Chávez we know well!!!

[You can view his speech made last night, June 30, to the Venezuelan people here with English subtitles ]

President Chavez's Address to the Nation, 30 June 2011

[PLEASE NOTE, PRESIDENT CHAVEZ IS NOT IN CRITICAL CONDITION. MEDIA CONTINUE TO SPIN & DISTORT THIS STORY. HE IS ADVANCING EXCELLENTLY AND SOON WILL REACH FULL RECOVERY. HIS HEALTH ISSUES WERE UNEXPECTED AND PREVIOUSLY UNDETECTED BEFORE, AS HE EXPLAINS IN HIS SPEECH, ARRIVING TO CUBA ON THE FINAL STOP OF HIS LATIN AMERICAN TOUR IN EARLY JUNE. AFTER EXPERIENCING DISCOMFORT WHILE THERE, IT WAS FIDEL CASTRO WHO INSISTED HE UNDERGO MEDICAL EXAMS. AT THAT TIME, THE PELVIC ABSCESS, ON THE VERGE OF BURSTING & SPREADING TO A SYSTEMATIC INFECTION, WHICH COULD HAVE BEEN QUITE SEVERE, WAS FOUND & DRAINED. IT WASN'T UNTIL DURING HIS RECOVERY PROCESS THAT THE OTHER MASS WITH CANCEROUS CELLS WAS FOUND & IMMEDIATELY REMOVED IN ENTIRETY. WHILE MANY COULD RIGHTLY CRITICIZE THE FACT THAT THE VENEZUELAN GOVERNMENT DID NOT IMMEDIATELY INFORM THE PUBLIC OF THIS SECOND PROCEDURE, PRESIDENT CHAVEZ HIMSELF EXPLAINS THAT BECAUSE OF MEDICAL UNCERTAINTIES, HE DID NOT WANT TO INFORM THE PUBLIC UNTIL HE WAS 100% CERTAIN OF HIS CONDITION. HE SAYS IN HIS SPEECH BELOW THAT HE TAKES FULL RESPONSIBILITY FOR SUCH A DECISION. AFTER ALL, IT IS HIS PRIVACY RIGHT AND HIS RIGHT TO DISCLOSE THE INTIMATE AND VERY PERSONAL DETAILS OF HIS LIFE TO OTHERS, EVEN THOUGH HE IS BOTH A PUBLIC FIGURE AND HEAD OF STATE. THE MYTHS, RUMORS AND EXAGGERATIONS REGARDING HIS HEALTH RESULTED FROM NOT ONLY THE SPECULATION BECAUSE OF THE PERCEIVED LACK OF INFORMATION, BUT ALSO FROM THE LUST OF MANY TO EXPOSE THE INTIMATE, PRIVATE DETAILS OF OTHERS. THE FRENZY IN THE MEDIA TO KNOW EVERY INKLING OF WHAT PRESIDENT CHAVEZ WAS EXPERIENCING REFLECTS THE DECAY OF OUR SOCIETY, IN WHICH EVERYTHING IS TWEETED, TEXTED, BLOGGED AND MESSENGERED, AND OFTEN TIMES REFLECTION, RESEARCH AND RESPECT FOR ACCURACY AND TRUTH IS NEGLECTED, OR EVEN FORGOTTEN. IN THE END, I PERSONALLY BELIEVE THE MOST VALUABLE INFORMATION CAME FROM PRESIDENT CHAVEZ HIMSELF. AND I DON'T MIND THAT HE TOOK THE NECESSARY TIME TO ENSURE HE HAD THE MOST ACCURATE ACCOUNT OF HIS STATUS - AN ISSUE THAT IS INCREDIBLY DELICATE FOR A HEAD OF STATE - BEFORE HE INFORMED THE WORLD. THAT SHOWS RESPONSIBILITY AND COURAGE. -Eva Golinger]

On Thursday Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez spoke to the Venezuelan people live on national television, referring to recent health issues he has faced that include a cancerous tumor that was succesfully removed by medical professionals in Havana, Cuba.

President Hugo Chávez's Address to the Venezuelan People:

"I put my hope on time. Its huge womb holds more hopes than past events, and future events shall be superior to the past ones." Simón Bolívar.

Time and its pace; time and its mandates; time and its designs, as noted in Ecclesiastes, makes me read this communiqué over to the Venezuelan nation and international public opinion, for they are waiting to learn about the progress in my health conditions, since it has now been several weeks since it started showing deterioration.

After our superb tour of Brazil and Ecuador, between the fifth and seventh days of last June, we arrived in the always supportive Cuba to complete the tour with the wrap-up and signing of new cooperation agreements. I must admit that, as for my health, I had only planned to check out my left knee, which was almost recovered from an injury that occurred in early May.

Throughout my life I have always made one of those mistakes that could perfectly fit into a category that some philosopher called fundamental errors - neglecting my health and being reluctant to get checkups and medical treatments. What a fundamental error indeed! Particularly in a revolutionary with some humble responsibilities such as the ones entrusted to me by the revolution over 30 years ago.

Notwithstanding the aforementioned, on Wednesday evening, June 8, in Havana, there we were again, with Fidel, with such a giant who has gone beyond all times and places. Surely it was not difficult for Fidel to note some discomfort, in addition to my left knee, that I had been trying to conceal for several weeks. He inquiried as to the discomfort, almost as if he were a doctor; and I made my confession, almost as if I were a patient. That same night, the whole medical breakthrough achieved by the Cuban revolution for the sake of its people and for most of the world was made available to us and a set of diagnostic tests started.

Hence, a foreign mass in the pelvic area was found, leading to an emergency surgery in the face of the impending risk of widespread infection. That was on Saturday, June 11, very early in the morning, some hours before the address read over to the country and the world, giving rise to many expressions of solidarity, which do not stop moving me every single moment.

After that surgery which initially succeeded in draining the abscess, an intensive antibiotic treatment started with a positive assessment, I mean, positive progression, which brought along notable improvement. Nevertheless, despite the overall favorable progress, throughout the process of drainages and cures, some suspected additional cell masses thus far undetected arrose.

Therefore, another set of special cytochemical, cytological, microbiological and anatomical pathology studies was conducted and we confirmed the existence of an abscessed tumor with cancerous cells. This made a second surgery necessary which allowed us to fully remove said tumor. It was a major surgery without complications. After that, I have continued evolving satisfactorily, whereas I receive supplementary treatments to fight the various cells found and thus keep along towards my full recovery.

In the meantime, I have kept up and continue to be informed and in command of the actions of the Bolivarian government, in direct contact with the Vice-President, comrade Elías Jaua, and all my government staff.

I am immensely grateful for the numerous and enthusiastic expressions of solidarity received from the Venezuelan people and other fellow peoples, as well as from Heads of State and Government of numerous countries around the world, convinced that all that love, all that solidarity, are the most lofty energy which drive and will drive my willingness to vanquish in this new battle that life has put in front of me. And I am especially grateful to the Cuban people, the Cuban nation, Fidel, Raúl, all that medical legion who has been in the front of this battle in a really sublime way.

However, I have been keenly aware of some degree of anguish and uncertainty that has been overwhelming throughout these days, these nights, in the soul and body of the Venezuelan nation. I think that beyond the manipulating attempts of some well-known sectors, such feelings were and are unavoidable. They form part of the very human condition which nature is also surrounded by, its circumstances, and many times is shaken off, as in this case.

From the very beginning, I took on every responsibility concerning strict care of the veracity of the information to be delivered, based on a two-fold set of reasons - firstly, the medical-scientific reason and secondly, and with utmost, special care from the bottom of my soul and conscience, the human reason, the loving reason. To be more precise; The loving reason.

We have talked somewhat about the first reason. It has been a slow and careful process of approaches and diagnoses, advances and discoveries throughout several stages, where a rigorous scientific procedure has been applied, which procedure admits neither haste nor pressure whatsoever. The supreme rule which governs this mighty reason is full scientific verification beyond any indications and suspicions that might emerge.

As regards the loving reason, I feel obliged now to speak to you from deep inside myself. At this moment, I can remember February 4 of that thunderous year 1992. That day, I had no choice but to address myself to Venezuela from my decline, from a road that I felt was leading me to a bottomless abyss. From sort of a dark cavern of my soul, the "for now" emerged; afterwards, I plunged.

Also, those ill-fated hours of April 11, 2002 come to my memory right now. Then, I also sent to my beloved Venezuelan people that message written from the naval base of Turiamo, where I was held prisoner, a toppled president made prisoner. It was like a painful chant from the bottom of another abyss which I felt was swelling me in its throat and sinking me, and it sank me.

Again, at this new time of troubles and above all, since the very Fidel Castro, the same one of Moncada Military Barracks, the same one of the Granma, the same one of Sierra Maestra, the everlasting giant, came to give me the tough news of the cancerous finding. I started begging my Lord Jesus; my parents' God, as Simón Bolívar would say; the Virgin's gown, as my mother Elena would say; the savannah spirits, as Florentino Coronado would say, for them to give me the possibility to speak to you, not from an abyss or a dark cavern or a night without stars. I wanted to speak to you with the sun of the dawn that I feel rising. I think we have achieved it, thank God.

And finally, my beloved fellow countrymen and countrywomen; my beloved daughters and sons; my dear comrades; young people, boys and girls of my people; my dear patriotic women; my people, all and only one in my heart, I tell you that wanting to speak to you today as I prepare once again to return has nothing to do with myself but with you, patriotic people, good people, with you.

I did not want and do not want you at all to join me on any path leading to any abyss whatsoever. I urge you to continue together, climbing up to new summits, "for there are cherries over there, on the hill and a beautiful song to be sung," as the people's singer, our dear Alí Primera, keeps on telling us from his eternity.

Let us go, then, with our Father Bolívar, in the vanguard, to continue climbing up to the summit, Chimborazo! Thank God; thank you my people; thank you my life. Until victory always! We will win! Havana, this beloved and heroic Havana, on June 30, 2011.

I tell you from the great homeland, from my heart, from my whole soul, from my supreme hope which is the hope of the people, now and forever. We will live and win. Thank you very much. Until my return.

Hugo Chávez Frías
President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela
30 June 2011

CHAVEZ'S MESSAGE TO THE PEOPLE (EN ESPAÑOL)

Cadena Nacional
Mensaje del presidente de la República Bolivariana de Venezuela, Hugo Chávez a la nación
La Habana. Cuba
Jueves, 30 de junio de 2011

Presidente de la República Bolivariana de Venezuela, Hugo Chávez Mensaje al pueblo venezolano.
“Yo espero mucho del tiempo, su inmenso vientre contiene más esperanzas que sucesos pasados y los acontecimientos futuros han de ser superiores a los pretéritos”. -Simón Bolívar.
El tiempo y sus ritmos, el tiempo y sus mandatos, el tiempo y sus designios, como está señalado en el Eclesiastés, me llevan hoy a leer este comunicado a la nación venezolana y a la opinión pública internacional, muy pendientes como sé, han estado de la evolución de mi salud, desde que hace varias semanas comenzó a dar muestras evidentes de deterioro.
“Después de la excelente gira que hicimos por Brasil y Ecuador, entre los días 5 y 7 de junio próximos pasados, llegamos a la Cuba solidaria de siempre para concluir la jornada, con la revisión y firma de nuevos acuerdos de cooperación. Confieso que, desde el punto de vista de mi salud, sólo tenía previsto hacerme un chequeo en la rodilla izquierda, ya casi recuperada de aquella lesión de comienzos de mayo.
A lo largo de toda mi vida, vine cometiendo uno de esos errores, que bien pudiera caber perfectamente en aquella categoría, a la que algún filósofo llamó errores fundamentales, descuidar la salud y además ser muy renuente a los chequeos y tratamientos médicos.
Sin duda, que error tan fundamental. Y sobre todo en un revolucionario, con algunas modestas responsabilidades, como las que la Revolución me vino imponiendo desde hace más de 30 años. Sin embargo, ya en La Habana, cuando caía la tarde del miércoles 8 de junio, allí estábamos de nuevo con Fidel, con aquel gigante que ya superó todos los tiempos y todos los lugares.
Seguramente, no fue difícil para Fidel, darse cuenta de algunos malestares que más allá de mi rodilla izquierda, yo había venido tratando de disimular desde varias semanas atrás. Me interrogó casi como un médico, me confesé casi como un paciente y esa misma noche, todo el inmenso avance médico que la Revolución Cubana ha logrado para su pueblo y una buena parte del mundo, fue puesto a nuestra plena disposición, iniciándose un conjunto de exámenes de diagnóstico.
Fue así como se detectó una extraña formación en la región pélvica, que ameritó una intervención quirúrgica de emergencia, ante el inminente riesgo de una infección generalizada, eso fue el sábado 11 de junio muy temprano en la mañana, algunas horas antes del anuncio que fue leído al país y al mundo y que ha desatado tantas manifestaciones de solidaridad que no dejan de emocionarme a cada instante. Luego de aquella operación que en principio logró el drenaje del absceso comenzó un tratamiento antibiótico intensivo con una positiva evaluación, corrijo, con una positiva evolución, que trajo una notable mejoría, sin embargo, y a pesar de la favorable evolución general a lo largo del proceso de drenajes y de curas fueron apareciendo algunas sospechas de la presencia de otras formaciones celulares no detectadas hasta entonces; comenzó por tanto y de inmediato otra serie de estudios especiales cito-químicos, citológicos, microbiológicos y de anatomía patológica que confirmaron la existencia de un tumor abscesado con presencia de células cancerígenas lo cual hizo necesaria la realización de una segunda intervención quirúrgica que permitió la extracción total de dicho tumor.
Se trató de una intervención mayor realizada sin complicaciones tras la cual he continuado evolucionando satisfactoriamente mientras recibo los tratamientos complementarios para combatir los diversos tipos de células encontradas y así continuar por el camino de mi plena recuperación, mientras tanto me he mantenido y me mantengo informado y al mando de las acciones del Gobierno bolivariano, en comunicación permanente con el vicepresidente, compañero Elías Jaua y todo mi equipo de gobierno, agradezco infinitamente las numerosas y entusiastas demostraciones de solidaridad que he recibido del pueblo venezolano y otros pueblos hermanos, así como de jefes de Estado y de Gobierno de numerosos países del mundo, desde la convicción de que todo ese amor, de que toda esa solidaridad constituyen la más sublime energía que impulsa e impulsará mi voluntad de vencer en esta nueva batalla que la vida nos ha puesto por delante y de manera muy especial al pueblo cubano, a la nación cubana, a Fidel, a Raúl, a toda esta legión médica que se ha puesto al frente de esta batalla de una manera verdaderamente sublime.
Sin embargo también he estado muy consciente de cierto grado de angustia e incertidumbre que ha estado recorriendo a lo largo de estos días, de estas noches el alma y el cuerpo de la nación venezolana, creo que más allá de los intentos manipuladores de algunos sectores bien conocidos, esos sentimientos eran y son inevitables y forman parte de la propia naturaleza humana rodeada ésta, además, por las circunstancias que la enmarcan y muchas veces la sacuden como en este caso ocurre; desde el primer momento asumí todas las responsabilidades en cuanto al cuidado estricto por la veracidad de las informaciones a ser transmitidas, fundamentándome en un doble conjunto de razones, la razón médico-científica en primer término y en segundo lugar, y de manera especialmente cuidada desde lo más profundo de mi alma y de mi conciencia, la razón humana, la razón amorosa para ser más preciso, la razón amorosa; de la primera, es decir, de la razón médica ya hemos hablado un poco, ha sido un proceso lento y cuidadoso, de aproximación y diagnósticos, de avances y descubrimientos a lo largo de varias etapas en las cuales se vino aplicando un riguroso procedimiento científico que no aceptaba ni acepta apresuramientos ni presiones de ningún tipo, la norma suprema que sustenta esta poderosa razón es la plena verificación científica, más allá de los indicios y sospechas que vinieron apareciendo, y acerca de la razón amorosa estoy obligado ahora a hablarles desde lo más hondo del mí mismo, en este instante recuerdo el 4 de febrero de aquel estruendoso año 1992, aquel día no tuve más remedio que hablarle a Venezuela desde mi ocaso, desde un camino que yo sentía me arrastraba hacia un abismo insondable, como desde una oscura caverna de mi alma brotó el por ahora y luego me hundí, también llegan a mi memoria ahora mismo aquellas aciagas horas del 11 de abril del 2002, entonces también le envié a mi amado pueblo venezolano aquel mensaje escrito desde la Base Naval de Turiamo donde estaba prisionero, presidente derrocado y prisionero, fue como un canto de dolor lanzado desde el fondo de otro abismo que sentía me tragaba en su garganta y me hundía y me hundía.
Ahora, en este nuevo momento de dificultades y sobre todo desde que el mismo Fidel Castro en persona, el mismo del Cuartel Moncada, el mismo del Granma, el mismito de la Sierra Maestra, el gigante de siempre vino a anunciarme la dura noticia del hallazgo cancerígeno comencé a pedirle a mi Señor Jesús, al Dios de mis padres diría Simón Bolívar, al manto de la virgen, diría mi madre Elena, a los espíritus de la sabana, diría Florentino Coronado, para que me concedieran la posibilidad de hablarles, no desde otro sendero abismal, no desde una oscura caverna o una noche sin estrellas, ahora quería hablarles desde este camino empinado por donde siento que voy saliendo ya de otro abismo, ahora quería hablarles con el sol del amanecer que siento me ilumina; creo que lo hemos logrado, gracias Dios mío, y finalmente mis amados y amadas compatriotas, mis adoradas hijas e hijos, mis queridos compañeros, jóvenes, niñas y niños de mi pueblo, mis valientes soldados de siempre, mis aguerridos trabajadores y trabajadoras, mis queridas mujeres patriotas, mi pueblo amado, todo y uno solo en mi corazón, les digo que el querer hablarles hoy de nueva escalada hacia el retorno no tiene nada que ver ya conmigo mismo sino con ustedes pueblo patrio, pueblo bueno, con ustedes no quería ni quiero para nada que me acompañen por senderos que se hundan hacia abismo alguno, les invito a que sigamos juntos escalando nuevas cumbres, “que hay semerucos allá en el cerro y un canto hermoso para cantar” nos sigue diciendo desde su eternidad el cantor del pueblo, nuestro querido Alí Primera, vamos pues, vamos con nuestro Padre Bolívar en vanguardia a seguir subiendo la cima del Chimborazo.
¡Gracias Dios mío!, ¡gracias pueblo mío!, ¡gracias vida mía!, hasta ¡la victoria siempre!
Nosotros venceremos. La Habana, esta querida y heroica Habana. 30 de junio de 2011.
Desde la patria grande, les digo, desde mi corazón, desde mi alma toda, desde mi esperanza suprema que es la de un pueblo; por ahora y para siempre, viviremos y venceremos.
Muchas gracias. ¡Hasta el retorno!