Chavez Letters to General Assembly

8/3/2019 Chavez Letters to General Assembly

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66th session of the United Nations General AssemSeptember, 2011


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Our commitment to peace and justice in the world

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"Peoples of the world, the future of a multipo

world, in peace, resides in us, in the organizat

of the majority of the people on earth to def

ourselves against the new colonialism, in order

achieve a balance in the universe that is capable

neutralizing imperialism and arrogance."

Hugo Chvez Fr

Our commitment to peace and justice in the worldHugo Chvez Fras

Letters from President Hugo Chvez to the United Nations. September, 2011

Coleccin Claves

CORREO DEL ORINOCO

Alcabala a Urapal, Edificio Dimase, La Candelaria, Caracas-Venezuela

www.correodelorinoco.gob.ve - Rif: G-20009059-6

BOARD OF D I R ECTORS

Hugo Rafael Chvez FrasPresident of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela

Andrs IzarraMinister of People's Power for Communication and Information

Alejandro BoscnVice-minister of Communication Strategy

Ldice AltuveVice-minister of Communication Management

Edited byEmbassy of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela to the U.S.Department of International Communication - Ministry of People's Power forCommunication and Information.

Design: Ingrid Rodrguez

Photo by: Nstor Snchez CorderoEmbassy of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela to the U.S.

Printed in the Bolivarian Repub lic of Venezuela.Legal deposit: lf26920113203526

ISBN: 978-980-7426-16-9October, 2011


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Acknowledgment ofPalestinian sovereignty:Act of historic justice

Miraflores Presidential P

September 17, 2

His Excellency

Ban Ki-Moon

Secretary General of the United Natio

Mr. Secretary General:

Distinguished representatives of the peop

of the world:

I address these words to the United Natio

General Assembly, to this great forum t


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Hugo Chvez Fras

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We dont need memories

because we carry within us Mount Carmel

and in our eyelids is the herb of Galilee

Dont say: If only we could flow to my coun

like a river!

Dont say that!

Because we are in the flesh of our countryand our country is in our flesh.

Against those who falsely assert that w

has happened to the Palestinian people is

genocide, Deleuze himself states with unfalter

lucidity: From beginning to end, it involv

acting as if the Palestinian people not only m

not exist, but had never existed. It represents

very essence of genocide: to decree that they

not exist as a people; to deny them the rightexistence.

represents all the peoples on earth, to ratify,

on this day and in this setting, Venezuelas full

support of the recognition of the Palestinian

State: of Palestines right to become a free,

sovereign and independent state. This represents

an act of historic justice towards a people who

carry with them, from time immemorial, all the

pain and suffering of the world.In his memorable essay The Grandeur of

Arafat, the great French philosopher Gilles

Deleuze wrote with the full weight of the truth:

The Palestinian cause is first and foremost the

set of injustices that these people have suffered

and continue to suffer. And I dare to add that the

Palestinian cause also represents a constant and

unwavering will to resist, already written in the

historic memory of the human condition. A will

to resist that is born of the most profound love

for the earth. Mahmoud Darwish, the infinitevoice of the longed-for Palestine, with heartfelt

conscience speaks about this love:


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Hugo Chvez Fras

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against Palestine. It is worth mentioning that an

Semitism is a Western European scourge in wh

the Arabs do not participate. Furthermore, l

not forget that it is the Semite Palestine peo

who suffer from the ethnic cleansing practiced

the Israeli colonialist State.

I want to make myself clear: One thing is

denounce anti-Semitism, and an entirely differthing to passively accept that Zionistic barbari

enforces an apartheid regime against the Palestin

people. From an ethical standpoint those w

denounce the first, must condemn the second.

A necessary digression: it is frankly abusive

confuse Zionism with Judaism. Throughout ti

we have been reminded of this by several Jew

intellectuals such as Albert Einstein and Er

Fromm. And today there is an ever increas

number of conscientious citizens, within Isr

itself, who openly oppose Zionism and its crimi

and terrorist practices.

In this regard, the great Spanish writer Juan

Goytisolo is quite right when he forcefully states:

The biblical promise of the land of Judea and

Samaria to the tribes of Israel is not a notarized

property contract that authorizes the eviction

of those who were born and live on that land.

This is precisely why conflict resolution in the

Middle East must, necessarily, bring justice to thePalestinian people; this is the only path to peace.

It is upsetting and painful that the same people

who suffered one of the worst examples of

genocide in history have become the executioners

of the Palestinian people: it is upsetting and painful

that the heritage of the Holocaust be the Nakba.

And it is truly disturbing that Zionism continues

to use the charge of anti-Semitism as blackmail

against those who oppose their violations and

crimes. Israel has, blatantly and despicably, used

and continues to use the memory of the victims. And they do so to act with complete impunity


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Hugo Chvez Fras

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Read and reread the document historica

known as the Balfour Declaration of 1917:

British Government assumed the legal author

to promise a national home in Palestine to

Jewish people, deliberately ignoring the presen

and wishes of its inhabitants. Christians a

Muslims lived in peace for centuries in the H

Land up until the time when Zionism beganclaim it as its complete and exclusive property

Lets not forget that beginning in the seco

decade of the 20th century, Zionism started

develop expansionist plans by taking advanta

of the colonial British occupation of Palesti

By the end of World War II, the tragedy of

Palestinian people worsened, with their expuls

from their territory and, at the same time, fr

history. In 1947, the despicable and illegal U

resolution 181 recommends dividing Palest

into a Jewish State, an Arab State, and an aunder international control (Jerusalem a

We must spell it out: Zionism, as a world

vision, is absolutely racist. An irrefutable proof

of this can be seen in these words written with

terrifying cynicism by Golda Meir: How can we

return the occupied territories? There is nobody

to return them to. There is no such thing as a

Palestinian people. It is not as people think, that

there existed a people called Palestinians, whoconsidered themselves as Palestinians, and that

we came and threw them out and took their

country. They didnt exist.

It is important to remember that: from the

end of the 19th century, Zionism called for the

return of the Jewish people to Palestine and the

creation of a national State of its own. This

approach was beneficial for French and British

colonialism, as it would later be for Yankee

imperialism. The West has always encouraged

and supported the Zionist occupation ofPalestine by military means.


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Hugo Chvez Fras

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transnational media outlets, what happened a

continues to happen in Palestine using Sa

words is not a religious conflict, but a politi

conflict, with a colonial and imperialist stamp. It

not begin in the Middle East, but rather in Euro

What was and continues to be at the heart

the conflict? Debate and discussion has prioritiz

Israels security while ignoring Palestines. Thicorroborated by recent events; a good exampl

the latest act of genocide set off by Israel dur

its Operation Molten Lead in Gaza.

Palestines security cannot be reduced

the simple acknowledgement of a limited s

government and self-policing in its enclav

along the west bank of the Jordan and in

Gaza Strip. This ignores the creation of

Palestinian State, in the borders set prior to 19

with East Jerusalem as its capital; and the rig

of its citizens and their self-determination a

people. This further disregards the compensat

Belem). Shamefully, 56 percent of the territory

was granted to Zionism to establish its State. In

fact, this resolution violated international law

and blatantly ignored the will of the vast Arab

majority: the right to self-determination of the

people became a dead letter.

From 1948 to date, the Zionist State has

continually applied its criminal strategy againstthe Palestinian people with the constant support

of its unconditional ally, the United States of

America. This unconditional allegiance is clearly

observed by the fact that Israel directs and sets

US international policy for the Middle East.

Thats why the great Palestinian and universal

conscience Edward Said stated that any peace

agreement built on the alliance with the United

States would be an alliance that confirms Zionist

power, rather than one that confronts it.

Contrary to what Israel and the United States

are trying to make the world believe through


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Commitment to justice,equality and peace

Miraflores Presidential Place

September 27, 2011

Mr. Secretary General:

Distinguished representatives of the peop

of the world:

I address these words to the United Natio

General Assembly, to this great forum wh

all the peoples of the earth are represented,

express Venezuelas truths and to reassert o

inalienable commitment to justice and equal

that is to say, to peace.

I would like to conclude with the voice of

Mahmoud Darwish in his memorable poem On

This Earth: We have on this earth what makes

life worth living:

On this earth, the lady of earth, Mother of all

beginnings

Mother of all ends. She was called

Palestine

Her name later becamePalestine.

My Lady, because you are my Lady, I deserve life.

It will continue to be called Palestine: Palestine

will live and overcome! Long-live free, sovereign

and independent Palestine!

Hugo Chvez Fras

President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela


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Hugo Chvez Fras

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We have to look directly at the terrify

reality of the world we live in. It is necess

to ask a series of questions on the basis of

risks and threats we face: Why is the Uni

States the only country that fills the plan

with military bases? What does it allocate su

a staggering budget for increasing its milit

power? Why has it unleashed so many waviolating the sovereignty of other nations wh

have the same rights to their own fates? H

can international law be enforced against

United States insensible aspiration to milit

hegemony of the world in order to ensure cont

over energy sources to sustain their predat

and consumer model? Why does the UN

nothing to stop Washington? If we answ

these questions sincerely we would understa

that the empire has awarded itself the role

judge of the world, without being granthis responsibility by anyone, and, therefo

imperialist war threatens us all.

Peace, peace, peace We do not look for the

peace of the cemetery, as Kant said ironically,

but a peace based on the most zealous respect

for international law. Unfortunately, the UN,

throughout its history, instead of adding and

multiplying efforts in favor of peace among

nations, has ended up supporting, sometimes

through its actions and other times by omission,the most ruthless injustices.

We should always remember that saving future

generations from the scourge of war is mentioned

in the Preamble of the Charter of the United

Nations but its just dead letter. From 1945 on,

wars have done nothing but inexorably increase

and multiply. We see, once again, Libya destroyed

and bloodstained by the will of the powerful.

I call on the governments of the world to

reflect: Since September 11th, 2001, a new and

unprecedented imperialist war has begun, a

permanent war, in perpetuity.


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Hugo Chvez Fras

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Washington knows that a multipolar worl

already an irreversible reality. Its strategy cons

of stopping, at any price, the sustained rise o

group of emerging countries, by negotiating gr

interests with its partners and followers in ord

to guide multipolarity along the path the emp

wants. What is more, the goal is to reconfigure

world so it is based on US military hegemonyHumanity is facing the very real threat o

permanent war. The empire is ready to cre

the political conditions for triggering a w

anywhere, and the case of Libya is proof. Wit

the imperial view of the world, Clausewitzs axi

is being reversed: politics are the continuation

war by other means.

What is behind this new Armageddon? T

absolute power of the military-financial leaders

that is destroying the world in order to accumul

even more profits; a military-financial power t

is subordinated, de facto, to an increasingly lar


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the conquistadors Cortes and Pizarro, as

influential French thinker Edgar Morin righ

pointed out, leads to continuously degrad

and destroying. Energy and food crises

sharpening, but capitalism continues to tresp

all limits with impunity.

Given such a meager outlook, the great

scientist Linus Pauling, awarded the Nobel Pron two occasions, continues enlightening our pa

I believe that there is a greater power in the wo

than the evil power of military force, of nucl

bombs there is the power of good, of mora

of humanitarianism. I believe in the power of

human spirit. Let us mobilize all the power of

human spirit. It is time now. It is imperative that

unleash a great political counter-offensive in or

to prevent the powers of darkness from find

justifications for going to war, from unleashin

widespread global war through which they attemto save western capital.

group of States. Keep in mind that war is capitals

modus operandi: war ruins the majority and

makes only a few wealthier.

Right now, there is a very serious threat to

global peace. A new cycle of colonial wars, which

started in Libya, have the sinister objective of

reviving the capitalist global system which is going

through a structural crisis today. There are nolimits to its consumerist and destructive voracity.

The case of Libya should alert us to the attempt

to implement a new imperial kind of colonialism,

that of military interventionism backed by the

antidemocratic organs of the United Nations and

justified on the basis of prefabricated media lies.

Humanity is on the brink of an unimaginable

catastrophe. The world is marching inexorably

towards the most devastating ecocide. Global

warming and its frightening consequences are

announcing this, but world perspective on the

ecosystem, which resembles the ideology of


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Remember that the Libyan Case w

brought before the Security Council on the ba

of an intense propaganda campaign by west

mass media, who lied about the alleged bomb

of innocent civilians by the Libyan Air Force,

to mention the grotesque media manipulation

Tripolis Green Square. This premeditated bun

of lies was used to justify irresponsible and hadecisions by the Security Council, which pav

the way for NATOs military regime chan

policy in Libya.

It is worthwhile to ask: What has the no

zone established by Security Council resolut

1973 become? How could NATO perform m

than 20,000 missions against the Libyan peo

if there was a no-fly zone? After the Libyan

Force was completely annihilated, the continu

humanitarian bombings show that the W

through NATO, intend to impose their interein North Africa, turning Libya into a colon

protectorate.

Venezuela calls for the establishment of a broad

alliance for peace and against war, with the supreme

aim of avoiding war at all costs. Warmongers, and

especially the military-financial leadership that

sponsor and lead them, must be defeated.

Lets build the balance of the universe foreseen

by the Liberator, Simon Bolvar the balance that,

according to his words, cannot be found withinwar; the balance that is born out of peace.

Remember that Venezuela, alongside the

member countries of the Bolivarian Alliance

for the Peoples of Our America (ALBA), was

actively advocating for a peaceful and negotiated

solution to the Libyan conflict. That is also what

the African Union tried. However, in the end, the

logic of war decreed by the UN Security Council

and put into practice by NATO, the armed wing

of the US empire, was imposed. And, the logic

of war is spearheaded by corporate mass media,

do not forget.


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By the way: the Residence of the Venezue

Ambassador in Tripoli was invaded

looted, and the UN did nothing, remain

ignominiously silent.

We call for the immediate cessation of bombi

operations in Libyan territory. Similarly, we w

continue calling for respect for internatio

law in the case of this sister nation. We wnot remain silent in light of the evil intent

of destroying the basis of its sense and reas

Therefore, we ask this Assembly: Why is

Libyan seat in the UN granted to the natio

transition council, while the admission

Palestine is blocked by ignoring, not only

lawful aspiration, but also the existing will of

majority of the General Assembly? Venezu

hereby ratifies its unconditional solidarity w

the Palestinian people and its total support

the Palestinian national cause, which naturaincludes the immediate admission of Palestine

a full member state within the United Nation

How can we say that an arms embargo was

imposed on Libya when it was NATO itself

that introduced thousands of heavy weapons to

support a violent upheaval against that countrys

legitimate government?

The embargo was, of course, meant to

prevent the Libyan government from defending

its sovereignty.

This demonstrates, once again, the cruel logic

of international relations, where the law only

applies to the weak. What is the real reason for

this military intervention? Recolonizing Libya in

order to capture its wealth.

Everything else is related to this goal. Nobody

colonizes innocently, as the great Martinican

poet Aime Cesaire said, quite rightly, in his

extraordinary essay called Discours sur le

colonialisme.


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And the same imperialist pattern is being

repeated regarding Syria. If some permanent

members of the Security Council had not taken

the firm stance that was missing in the case of

Libya, it would have authorized shooting missiles

and bombs at Syria.

It is intolerable that the powerful of this world

intend to claim for themselves the right to orderlegitimate and sovereign governments rulers to

step down. This was the case in Libya, and they

want to do the same in Syria. Such are the existing

asymmetries in the international setting and such

are the abuses against the weakest nations.

It is not for us to bring forward a conclusive

judgment about the national situation in Syria.

First, because of the inherent complexity of

any national reality and, second, because only

the Syrian people can solve their problems and

decide their fate in light of the peoples right to

self-determination, which is an inalienable right

in all respects.


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how much is being spent to destroy Libya. Thi

the answer of US congressman Dennis Kucini

who said: This new war will cost us $5

million during its first week alone. Obviously,

do not have financial resources for that and

will end up cutting off other important dome

programs funding.

According to Kucinich himself, with amount spent during the first three weeks

Northern Africa to massacre the Libyan peop

much could have been done to help the ent

region of the Horn of Africa, saving tens

thousands of lives.

The reasons behind the criminal milit

engagement in Libya are not humanitarian

all: they are based on the Malthusian notion t

there are just too many people in the wor

and they have to be eliminated by generat

more hunger, destruction and uncertainty, a

creating at the same time more financ

If we direct our eyes to the Horn of Africa we

will witness a heartbreaking example of the UNs

historical failure. Most serious news agencies

report that 29,000 children under the age of 5

have died in the last three months.

The great journalist Frida Modak, in her

article, To Die in Somalia, reveals all the misery

there, which is worse than that ravaging the restof the vast region of the Horn of Africa, and

which undermines the role of large international

organizations, such as the UN. She writes: What

is needed to face this situation is $400 million,

not to solve the problem, but just to address the

emergency that Somalia, Kenya, Djibouti and

Ethiopia are going through. According to all

sources, the next two months will be crucial to

prevent more than 12 million people from dying,

and the worst situation is in Somalia.

This reality could not be more atrocious,

especially if, at the same time, we ask ourselves


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imposed against the Cuban people, but also

release of the five Cuban antiterrorist fight

held hostage in the prisons of the US Empire

the sole reason of seeking to prevent the ille

actions of terrorist groups against Cuba, un

the protection of the US government.

Mr. President of the General Assembly a

distinguished representatives of the peoples the world, we want to reiterate that it is impossi

to ignore the crisis of the UN. Before this sa

General Assembly we expressed, back in 2005, t

the UN model had been exhausted. Back then,

also expressed the urgent need for it to be rebuil

Up until now, nothing has been done. T

political will of the powerful has prevail

Certainly, the UN, in its current functioni

docilely serves their interests. For us, it is obvio

that the UN is not improving, nor will it impro

from the inside. If the Secretary General, alo

with the President of the International Crimi

profits. In this regard, it is frankly regrettable

that in the opening address of the 66th General

Assembly of the UN, an immediate appeal to

solve humanitarian crisis in the Horn of Africa

was not made, while instead we were assured

that the time has come to act on Syria.

As of 2010, 19 UN General Assembly

votes confirm the universal will demandingthat the United States stop the economic and

trade blockade against Cuba. Since all sensible

international arguments have been exhausted,

we have no choice but to believe that such cruel

actions against the Cuban Revolution result

from imperial arrogance in view of the dignity

and courage shown by the unsubmissive Cuban

people in their sovereign decision to determine

their own fate and fight for their happiness.

From Venezuela, we believe it is time to

demand of the US not only an immediate and

unconditional end to the criminal blockade


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law while the North violates it, destroying a

plundering us.

If we do not make a commitment, once a

for all, to rebuilding the United Nations,

organization will lose its remaining credibil

Its crisis of legitimacy will be accelerated unt

finally implodes. In fact, that is what happened

its immediate predecessor: the League of Natio

A crucial first step in rebuilding the Uni

Nations would be to eliminate the category

permanent members and veto power wit

the Security Council. Likewise, the decisio

making power of the General Assembly must

maximized democratically. We also demand

immediate, in-depth revision of the UN Char

with the aim of drafting a new Charter.

Peoples of the World:

The future of a multipolar world, in pea

resides in us, in the organization of the major

Court, take part in an act of war, as in the case

of Libya, nothing can be expected from the

current structure of this organization and there

is no longer time for reform. The UN does not

accept any reform whatsoever; the illness at its

core is deadly.

It is unbearable that there is a Security Council

that turns its back, whenever it wants to, on theclamor of the majority of nations by deliberately

failing to acknowledge the will of the General

Assembly. If the Security Council is some sort

of club with privileged members, what can the

General Assembly do?

Where is its room for manoeuver, when Security

Council members violate international law?

Paraphrasing Bolivar when he spoke of

nascent US imperialism in 1818, we have had

enough of the weak following the law whilethe strong commit abuses. It cannot be us, the

peoples of the South, who respect international


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and anti-imperialist governments, seeking w

to break the prevailing international order a

strengthening the capacity of the people to fa

together, the reigning powers. But this does

prevent its members from making an enthusia

push for the consolidation of the Union of Sou

American Nations (UNASUR), a political b

that federates the 12 sovereign States of So America with the purpose of grouping th

under what the Liberator Simon Bolivar cal

a Nation of Republics.

Furthermore, the 33 countries of La

America and the Caribbean are curre

preparing to take the historic step of establish

a great regional entity that joins us all, with

exclusions, where we can together design

policies that will ensure our wellbeing, o

independence, and our sovereignty, on the ba

of equality, solidarity, and complementarCaracas, the capital of the Bolivarian Repub

of the people on earth to defend ourselves against

the new colonialism, in order to achieve a balance

in the universe that is capable of neutralizing

imperialism and arrogance.

This broad, generous, respectful, and inclusive

call is addressed to all the peoples of the world,

but especially to the emerging powers of the

South, which must assume, with courage, therole that they are called on to play immediately.

From Latin America and the Caribbean,

powerful and dynamic regional alliances have

emerged, seeking to shape a regional democratic

space, respectful of differences and eager to

emphasize solidarity and cooperation in order to

foster the ties that bind us and settle what keeps us

apart politically. And this new regionalism allows

for diversity and respects the various rhythms

of nation. Thus, the Bolivarian Alliance for

the Peoples of Our America (ALBA) advances

as an avant-garde experiment of progressive


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I want to conclude by remembering wo

of the great Venezuelan singer, Ali Prime

In one of his songs he asks us: What is ma

struggle to achieve peace? And what peace

they want to leave the world just as it is? Tod

more than ever before, the worst crime agai

peace is to leave the world as it is. If we le

the world as it is, the present and future willdetermined by perpetual war. On the contra

to quote Ali Primera again, achieving pea

involves radically reversing all that impe

humanity from being humane.

Hugo Chvez Fras

President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venez

of Venezuela, is proud to host, next December

2 and 3, the Summit of Heads of State and

Government that will establish, definitively, the

Community of Latin American and Caribbean

States (CELAC).

The people of Venezuela place our hopes

on a broad alliance among the regional

organizations of the South, such as the Unionof South American Nations (UNASUR),

CARICOM (the Caribbean Community), SICA

(the System of Central American Integration),

the African Union, ASEAN (the Association of

Southeast Asian Nations) or ECO (the Economic

Coordination Organization), and especially the

cross-regional organizations among emerging

powers, such as BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India,

China, and South Africa), which should become

a pole of influence in coordination with the

peoples of the South.


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During the UN General

Assembly 66th Session,

President Hugo Chvez addressed

the Assembly through two letters in whichhe pleaded for the inclusion of Palestine as a UNO

permanent member. He also demanded the establishment

of true world peace and respect to self-determination of the

peoples, in the view of the imperialist neocolonialism that

intends to spread in the world.

Documents

Chavez Letters to General Assembly