President Luis Arce Highlights the Legacy of Hugo Chávez

The President of Bolivia, Luis Arce, referring to President Hugo Chávez, said that the commander represented for an entire generation the hope that was born at a time when theorists were predicting the end of history.

Arce, who is in Caracas to pay homage to President Chávez ten years after his physical departure, regretted that the United States continues its aggression against Venezuela, despite international calls to avoid this type of interventionist policy.

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The Bolivian President explained that when Chávez won the elections in 1998 and took power in Venezuela in February 1999, he called for the realization of a Constituent Assembly and radically changed the way of governing.

For us socialists, the arrival of Chávez meant the hope that was needed when many were faltering before the onslaught of neoliberalism and criticism of the socialist system," he said.  

In an interview with teleSUR, Arce recalled that Comandante Chavez had always insisted on the integration of Latin American peoples and that it was through Latin American unity that the nations of the region would face aggression.

The Bolivian President pointed out that Chávez's Bolivarian thought should be consolidated concerning the full integration of the region's countries, an authentic integration when the economic moment in the world should call our attention.

The effects of globalization that all countries suffer now raise the question of what we can do. In the past, Latin America looked to the United States or Europe, but today, more than ever, Chávez's ideas are getting more attention.

The objective is to get out of this crisis better, without doing it separately, but doing it together, solving our problems as a region, as Latin America, he explained.

In this sense, he pointed out that Latin American countries such as Argentina, Brazil and Mexico are in the process of discussing common solutions to the current economic crisis and that Bolivia, in particular, has its own experience that can be useful in this framework of dialogues, he pointed out.

Arce said that the point is to have our own policies to defend ourselves against the trends imposed by the phenomena derived from capitalism in the economy.

"The countries of the region must have our own policies and instruments to defend ourselves against the pathology of the capitalist system," he said.

In Bolivia, the old neoliberal model was confronted in 2006 through the exploitation of natural resources for the benefit of our people after decades of plundering these resources by large transnational corporations, Arce said.

The Bolivian President recalled that lithium is now at the center of international attention due to the energy crisis that the world is going through.

We are the first world reserve of lithium and we have agreed with a Chinese company to make the productive chain, from its extraction to its commercialization. Still, during all the stages of the industrial process, the Bolivian state will participate in the profits generated, he said.

Regarding domestic politics in Bolivia, Arce accused Governor Luis Fernando Camacho of leading the Santa Cruz Civic Committee movement to destabilize his government by threatening to call for the recall of President Arce.

Arce pointed out that Mr. Camacho must be brought to justice to explain his role in the 2019 coup, the 36-day civic strike in Santa Cruz, and the burning of public institutions, among other crimes.

When we campaigned, the people asked us to solve the pandemic problem; we did it; the people asked us to reactivate the economy, and we did it; they asked us for justice, and we did it in different massacres like Sacaba and Senkata.

And also in several regions where there were injustices during the de facto government. Arce said someone has to take responsibility for these crimes, acknowledging that the justice issue in Bolivia needs to be accelerated.