Customer Reviews

Venezuela y Chavez (Spanish Edition)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

"Venezuela Y Chavez" is a rich, fascinating history of the relationship between Cuba's Fidel Castro and Venezuela since the earliest days of the Cuban Revolution. Venezuela is of course grabbing headlines these days due to the controversial Bolivarian Revolution headed by Hugo Chavez and his friendship with Castro, yet the relationship between Cuba and Venezuela has been close for 50 years now. Here we have a great chronicle of Castro's admiration for the land of the liberator, Simon Bolivar who Castro admires on the same level as Jose Marti and Abraham Lincoln. This is one of the latest releases from Ocean Press's Spanish division, Ocean Sur, and once again they deliver an important package because this is not a historian's take on the events, but an actual document composed of Fidel Castro's speeches, interviews and conversations. We get to read the man's words without having them analyzed or filtered. The book opens with speeches Castro delivered in 1959 when he made Venezuela his first Latin American tour stop a few weeks after the triumph of the revolution in Havana. These are interesting, sometimes exciting pieces as we read the words of a young Castro still marching strong with the fever of victory and the possibilities for the future of Latin America that the Cuban Revolution represented and still represents to many. He speaks of the dream of a united Latin America, of Bolivar's dream for a united Hispanic peoples. These are of course pieces that are much more relevant today with the formation of ALBA and the Banco Del Sur spearheaded by Chavez's efforts to unify South America with Central American and Caribbean nations like Nicaragua and Haiti already joining as well. The book also features an interesting press conference from 1989 where Castro answers questions from journalists from various Latin American countries at a time when the Soviet Union was crumbling and Cuba's future seemed uncertain, it's very interesting to read his response to questions about "revolutionary" movements in countries like Colombia. The final pieces of material cover very recent events as late as 2006 showing the close relationship between Castro and Hugo Chavez through speeches and interviews including an interview on Chavez's popular "Alo Presidente!" program. Readers will be interested to learn about how Chavez was already visiting Cuba as far back as 1994, soon after the failed coup attempt against the corrupt Venezuelan government of the time. "Venezuela Y Chavez" is important reading to understand the history of Venezuela that has contributed to the events we are seeing today unfold, it is the best book available on the long relationship between Fidel Castro and this country and Hugo Chavez, but it is also a fascinating political document showing the powerful revolutionary ideas these men are faithful to and that we don't hear much about in today's sensationalized media. I would highly recommend this book to anyone wanting to read Castro's words for themselves, to get a glimpse into the man's actual ideas and thoughts about Latin American unity and the need to stop being bullied as "backward" and "underdeveloped." Consider that Castro's speeches are much more impressive than anything George Bush or Bill Clinton have ever written or spoken. Political students will enjoy this as will anyone wanting to understand Venezuela's history and revolutionary struggle.

This is a great book to learn about past and present relationships between Cuba ( during and after the Revolution) and Venezuela. It explains the role Venezuela played during the guerrila in Cuba and how these two countries are related today.