The War on Democracy Page #2

This is not a matter of getting the deeds

and saying, "I'm sorted now, I can go,"

and stop coming

to the parish assemblies,

because after the deeds,

there are better things to come,

Like the development of our barrios,

Soon after Chavez was elected in 1 999

Venezuelans voted on a constitution

and this little blue book

has become a bestseller ever since

This is one of a chain of supermarkets

set up in the barrios

funded by the proceeds of oil

Here prices are kept low

and on the back of every rice

and soap powder packet

are printed people 's rights

under the constitution

Does it really mean something to you

to see it there?

Of course, because I didn't know

we had rights like everyone else,

but this one, article 23,

tells us about national politics,

and this makes us feel included,

Democracy, as I said recently,

before our people,

as Lincoln said, has a simple definition -

the difficulty is making it a reality,

We are making it a reality -

government of the people,

by the people and for the people,

A society where people are included

and equal, where there is no exclusion,

there is no poverty,

where human values reign,

For some of his supporters

Chavez has not gone far enough

Familiar obstacles remain from the past -

a stifling bureaucracy

and widespread corruption

And although poverty has fallen dramatically

in recent years, it's far from eradicated

When you drive in

from the airport at Caracas,

the one thing that shocks a first-time visitor

are the barrios,

the numbers of poor people,

Why is it, in Venezuela, which earns

so many billions of dollars in oil money,

that there still is this poverty,

in spite of all the changes you've made?

The poor of Venezuela

carry on being poor, yes,

I always say that we don't want to be rich,

Our aim is not material wealth,

It is to live with dignity,

of course to come out of poverty,

and to come out of extreme poverty

above all,

And to live, to live with dignity,

this is the objective,

Not to become millionaires,

the American way of life, No, that is stupid,

I'm telling you this because the issue of poverty

affects us deeply,

It's most of our daily struggle,

The daily struggle is made easier here

Ten years ago

this clinic would not have been dreamed of

Now, all over Venezuela

ordinary people have free health care -

many seeing a doctor

for the first time in their lives

(Speaking Spanish)

For the first time, children of the poorest

have a full day at school

and at least one hot meal a day

They're learning history and music and dance

often for the first time, and all of this is free

Under the constitution the poorest housewives

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