Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
05CALCUTTA97
2005-03-09 09:37:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Consulate Kolkata
Cable title:  

INDIAN COMMUNISTS EMBRACE VENEZUELAN PRESIDENT

Tags:  PREL PGOV EPET VE IN 
pdf how-to read a cable
This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.
UNCLAS CALCUTTA 000097 

SIPDIS

STATE FOR SA/INS AND WHA/AND

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PGOV EPET VE IN
SUBJECT: INDIAN COMMUNISTS EMBRACE VENEZUELAN PRESIDENT

UNCLAS CALCUTTA 000097

SIPDIS

STATE FOR SA/INS AND WHA/AND

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PGOV EPET VE IN
SUBJECT: INDIAN COMMUNISTS EMBRACE VENEZUELAN PRESIDENT


1. SUMMARY. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez' March 5-6 visit
to Calcutta provided West Bengal's Communist government an
opportunity to show the world that the Left is still relevant -
even if that relevance was expressed mostly through shopworn
anti-imperialist sloganeering. Chavez appeared to enjoy the
attention and the approving audience he found for his
anti-American jabs. END SUMMARY.


2. West Bengal's ruling party, the Communist Part of
India-Marxist (CPM),pulled out all the stops to welcome
"Comrade" Chavez on March 5. The hammer-and-sickle fluttered on
both sides of the road as the presidential entourage drove past.
Party members assembled at prominent intersections to welcome
their comrade. "Up, up socialism, down, down capitalism" was
the dominant refrain greeting the Venezuelan President as he
drove past cheering cadres, waving enthusiastically at them.
Although President Chavez was running behind schedule by more
than a couple of hours, over 10,000 people waited in a stadium
where the Government of West Bengal accorded him a civic
reception. To his hosts' embarrassment, however, Chavez' speech
in Spanish was murdered by an interpreter who bungled the
Bengali translation of such simple - yet crucial - words as
"imperialism" and "truth." Finally, with Chavez playing to the
home crowd by reciting a poem by Nobel laureate Rabindranath
Tagore in Spanish, Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee
banished the offending interpreter and came out with the
original Bengali version himself, setting off huge rounds of
applause. The visiting President pardoned his comrades for the
interpreter's gaffes and newspapers the next day splashed
pictures of the Venezuelan President embracing a beaming Bengal
CM.


3. According to press accounts, Chavez played up his
differences with the United States on several occasions during
the brief visit. At the reception, he stated, "I want to
strengthen Third World unity against the U.S. This is one of
the reasons why I have come to India;" and, "The U.S. cannot
expect to grab and enjoy all the good things in the world. We
will not let that happen." He also warned, "There is one person
who will be responsible if anything happens to me -- U.S.
President George Bush." Regarding Venezuela's energy exports he
stated, "We will provide more oil to countries like India and
China. We have come forward to help India with oil so that it
can become a front ranking country in the world." In wishing
the Chief Minister a long tenure, he said, "Like the Cuban
government, the Communists in West Bengal have been fighting the
U.S.-led imperialism for 27 years."


4. On March 6 President Chavez spent the day among school
children and in studying the Panchayat system of rural
self-governance, an important building block of political power
for the CPM. On business matters, West Bengal sought
Venezuela's cooperation in petrochemical, leather, agriculture
and marine products processing industries. The Government of
West Bengal also requested the Venezuelan President to consider
opening a consular office in Calcutta. For all the warm
rhetoric, however, there was no evidence of any concrete
outcomes.


5. COMMENT. The Calcutta leg of Hugo Chavez's visit was about
photo opportunities, public relations and ideological bonding
for the West Bengal government. The Indian Left remains opposed
to most U.S. policies even as the majority has reluctantly
accepted the need for foreign investment, and especially
American investment, to drive economic growth. In this context,
the strong anti-U.S. statements by the Venezuelan President were
evocative of a simpler time when ideology was unsullied by
considerations of economic reality. As a practical matter, with
Venezuela offering to sell oil and possibly open some of its oil
blocks to India, the Chavez-CPM camaraderie may also provide a
future role for the Left in India's energy diplomacy. END
COMMENT.

SIBLEY