By Yalma Puig Meneses
Translated by Tamara Hansen
An exchange between Delcy Rodríguez Gómez,
President of the National Constituent Assembly
of Venezuela and the Cuban press, addressing
different topics of interest to both countries.
CARACAS, Venezuela - Delcy Rodríguez
Gómez is combative and intelligent. A lawyer
by profession, she has defended the Bolivarian
Revolution and the right to self-determination
of her people with vehemence and courage in
diverse situations.
In the diplomatic arena, she gained wide
recognition in her position as Venezuela’s
Foreign Minister between 2014 and
2017; becoming one of the most
recognizable figures within the
government, both nationally and
internationally.
Since August 4, 2017, by popular
decision, she now serves as President
of the National Constituent
Assembly, which was formed
– ending of a period of intense
violence in Venezuela – “with the
consolidation of peace and the
constituent electoral process,” which
has now marked the last year in the
life of this sister nation.
In a dialogue with the Cuban press,
a few days after the extraordinary
victory at the polls by the Bolivarian
Revolution on May 20, Delcy Rodríguez
Gómez assures us that “the Constituent
Assembly brought political rebalancing to
Venezuela [...] peace came again.” This was
consolidated with the constituent electoral
process and the re-election of President
Nicolás Maduro Moros by a majority vote.
The people of Venezuela granted Maduro “a
clear mandate, [...] anti-imperialist, because
they voted for self-determination.”
“The people had a lot of wisdom with that 68%
that they gave to President Nicolás Maduro”;
this mandate will be “anti-neoliberal, for
Bolivarian socialism, and for social security
programs [...]. We do not want civil war in
Venezuela, we do not want destabilization,
political stability is needed here to move
forward economic reforms” and will protect
the country from economic aggression.
Inquiring about the complex context in
which her country lives – subjected to intense
pressure by the Government of the United
States and its allies – Rodríguez Gómez could
not avoid talking about the Cuban people. She
recalled their numerous examples of dignity
in the face of adversity, which she considers a
historical reference that Venezuela has taken
as a guide, as a beacon.
That is why our call, she said, is to readjust
international relations between governments
of the region that are not looking to the unity
of the great Homeland, but “to satisfy imperial
mandates from the north [...] and have turned
their backs on their peoples”.
Cuba is a recurring theme; it is inevitable.
Beyond mere cooperation, the Cuban and
Venezuelan peoples are united by ties of
brotherhood and sisterhood. A connection
born of the determination and love that Fidel
and Chávez gave to this brotherhood, giving
“soul to our social programs”.
With frank certainty, the President of the
National Constituent Assembly is convinced
that with the re-election of President Nicolás
Maduro Moros and the government of
continuity that exists in Cuba, led by President
Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, both nations
will not only maintain their bilateral relations,
“but we will deepen them further”.
“This is also part of the defense of the ‘Patria
Grande’ that Martí and Bolívar dreamed of;
which is the ideological foundation of our
kinship [...] so Cuba and Venezuela will
continue to build one heart”.
“Because every time one of the Cuban
cooperators works here in a mission, we
are saying that this is the true love between
peoples. And that is what should reign if
we want a more just humanity, they should
see themselves in the mirror of the sister
relationship that exists between Cuba and
Venezuela,” she said.
She continues revealing to the cameras her
deep emotions for Cuba and its people;
evoking Fidel, who is stamped forever “in
the heart of humanity [...] we continue with
his legacy, with his example, inspired by his
actions”; and thanking Army General Raúl
Castro Ruz, whose presidency meant so much
for the political process of transformation in
the region.
“The cooperation of the Cuban
people fills us with pride,” she
says and smiles. “For us they are
heroes and heroines ... there is the
expression that ‘another human
being is possible’, a human being
of solidarity, who accompanies the
people in their hardships, listening
to their pain, but also sharing their
joys.”
Venezuela has continuously
overcome obstacles in these almost
twenty years of the Bolivarian
Revolution. Economic war; siege
from the outside and from the
internal opposition forces; all kinds
of unconventional warfare; fierce
media campaigns and much more. All have
endowed the Venezuelan people, whose
history is steeped in resistance, with their
main strength - in the words of President
Maduro - the popular conscience.
That is why, adds Rodríguez Gómez, “a
conscious people is indestructible, it is
invincible, and the Venezuelan people are a
conscious people”, and that “since the arrival
of Comandante Hugo Chávez, they became
political power.”
Immense are the challenges that Venezuela
continues to face. The President of the
National Constituent Assembly recognizes
this, but is convinced that popular conscience,
or collective conscience, is what has allowed
them to confront and defeat the aggressions
against the Bolivarian Revolution. Against
which national pride has been raised as a
protective shield.
From: www.juventudrebelde.cu
