Chavez Focuses Meeting of International Leftist Parties on

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E.O. 12958: DECL: 2029/11/20
TAGS: PGOV PREL KDEM VE
SUBJECT: Chavez Focuses Meeting of International Leftist Parties on
Criticism of the United States

REF: 2009 CARACAS 1493

CLASSIFIED BY: Robin D. Meyer, Political Counselor, DOS, POL; REASON:
1.4(B),(D)


1. (C) Summary: At the November 19-20 Meeting of
International Leftist Parties, President Chavez called on the
parties to unite against the United States and said the Defense
Cooperation Agreement between the U.S. and Colombia (DCA)
threatened the entire hemisphere. He also called convicted
terrorist Ilich Ramirez Sanchez, aka "Carlos the Jackal," "a
revolutionary fighter," and said former Ugandan President Idi Amin
may have been "a nationalist, a patriot." He closed the meeting
by calling for a Fifth Socialist International conference, saying
the Socialist International should combine the thinking of Marx,
Lenin and Engels with that of Simon Bolivar, Francisco Morazan and
Cesar Augusto Sandino. End Summary.



1st Meeting of International Leftist Parties and 5th Socialist
International




2. (U) Hosted by the United Venezuelan Socialist Party
(PSUV),over 150 delegates from 45 countries attended the First
Meeting of International Leftist Parties in Caracas on November
19-20 (reftel). Delegates signed the "Caracas Agreement" to
re-invigorate socialism in the 21st century, condemned the
"imperialism of the United States," and agreed to President
Chavez's proposal of holding the 5th Socialist International in the
near future.



United Against the United States and the DCA




3. (U) As Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro emphasized in the
opening session on November 19 (reftel),President Chavez called on
the leftist parties to unite against the United States, and said
"the empire is preparing for a war in Latin America using Colombia
and the installation of six military bases as a platform." Chavez
said that "Colombia does not have its own government now; its
government has been given to Washington." Delegates from other
countries criticized the DCA and expressed their solidarity with
Venezuela against the "U.S. and Colombian aggression."



The Jackal is a Revolutionary, Ida Amin May Not Be So Bad, and
Venezuela is Not Alone




4. (C) In the closing session, Chavez expressed his support
for Carlos Ilich Ramirez Sanchez, aka " Carlos the Jackal," who is
serving life imprisonment in France. Chavez called him a
"revolutionary fighter" and said he did not care about what
Europeans might think about such a statement. Chavez also said
that former Ugandan President Idi Amin may have been "a
nationalist, a patriot," much as Zimbabwean President Mugabe now
is. In Chavez's newspaper column on November 22, Las Lineas de
Chavez, he said "this meeting was a new ratification that
Bolivarian Venezuela is not alone, it has more supporters than ever
before." (Note: The French Ambassador to Venezuela told PolCouns
November 23 that he would not respond publicly to Chavez's
statement about "Carlos the Jackal," and that the French Foreign
Ministry Spokesperson had simply referred to the issue as a legal
one handled by the judiciary. End Note.)
DUDDY