MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Chávez is not dead, Maduro says

Chávez lives in the Venezuelan people, Maduro insisted

Venezuelan ruler Nicolás Maduro stressed Wednesday that Bolivarian leader Hugo Chávez had not died. He became “immortal and indestructible,” his successor insisted during a speech before the so-called People's Power Assembly on the 12th anniversary of his passing. Maduro also recalled that Chávez revitalized the legacy of Simón Bolívar and inspired movements across the globe. Bolivian President Luis Arce also honored Chávez's contributions to socialism and regional integration.

Commander Hugo Chávez (1954-2013) did not die, but rather he became immortal and indestructible by multiplying himself in millions of women, men and children throughout Venezuela, Maduro argued while mentioning that 12 years ago he had to fulfill the “most painful mission” he had ever been entrusted with. Faced with adversity, Maduro quoted Chávez when he told him that “in any circumstance he will trust the people.”

Today, at the same time, “I have to say that ”Chávez is alive, the Revolution is alive, it became a people, immortal and indestructible,“ Maduro stressed.

”Chávez did not die, he multiplied himself into millions of men, women, and children,“ he stressed, and emphasized that he became a giant in the 21st century by transcending our America, the Caribbean and the world, where the peoples of Africa, Asia, the United States and the sincere people of Europe remember him.

”It is not only a slogan, a song, a poem, it is the truth,“ and recalled that when the Bolivarian leader passed away, the oligarchy said ”no one will give him back.“ But we said: “Chávez is me, it is you, it is all of us, it is a people and 12 years later this people is standing, victorious and continues to advance in the Socialist Revolution of the 21st century in Latin America and the Caribbean,” Maduro pointed out while congratulating the Venezuelan youth who ”took to the streets in a beautiful mobilization” to pay homage to the revolutionary leader.

In Bolivia, President Luis Arce Catacora recalled Chávez's support to his Movement for Socialism (MAS) party. He referred to the former Venezuelan president as the “historical leader of the Bolivarian Revolution” who “fought tirelessly to build a more just and equal Venezuela” and “embraced the socialist ideal and revitalized it.”

”Together with Fidel Castro, they were the founders of the (Bolivarian bloc) ALBA and promoters of the Celac (the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States),” Arce also underlined.