Hugo Chavez Quotes

We must confront the privileged elite who have destroyed a large part of the world. ~ Hugo Chavez

Privatization is a neoliberal and imperialist plan. Health can't be privatized because it is a fundamental human right, nor can education, water, electricity and other public services. They can't be surrendered to private capital that denies the people from their rights. ~ Hugo Chavez

Capitalism is the way of the devil and exploitation. If you really want to look at things through the eyes of Jesus Christ
who I think was the first socialist
only socialism can really create a genuine society. ~ Hugo Chavez

I was a farm kid from the plains of South Venezuela, from a very poor family. I grew up in a palm tree house with an earthen floor. ~ Hugo Chavez

I have always said, heard, that it would not be strange that there had been civilization on Mars, but maybe capitalism arrived there, imperialism arrived and finished off the planet, ~ Hugo Chavez

Confronting the US made him [Hugo Chavez] a target for demonization. Partisan and/or lazy journalism exaggerated his faults, ignored his virtues, and downplayed the influence of strident and on occasion anti-democratic opponents. The flip side is his anti-imperialist posturing so dazzled his cheerleaders they overlooked his flaws, flaws which worsened over time, and they created their own caricature. ~ Rory Carroll

Fascists are not human. A snake is more human. ~ Hugo Chavez

It makes one sad to see the sell-out of President Fox, really it makes one sad. How sad that the president of a people like the Mexicans lets himself become the puppy dog of the empire. ~ Hugo Chavez

What hurts me most is poverty, and that's what led me to become a rebel. ~ Hugo Chavez

We also exchange oil for software technology. Uruguay is one of the biggest producers of software. We are breaking with the neoliberal model. We do not believe in free trade. We believe in fair trade and exchange, not competition but cooperation. I'm not giving away oil for free. Just using oil, first to benefit our people, to relieve poverty. ~ Hugo Chavez

He [Hugo Chavez] put poverty at the heart of political debate. Rightly so, given the country's immense inequality and poverty. He invested heavily in social programs such as literacy, health clinics, and education. He promoted Venezuela's indigenous culture and urged compatriots to take pride in its pre-Columbian history. He called time on the US treating Latin America as its backyard. ~ Rory Carroll

Convinced as I am and as I am from my government that the world needs a new moral architecture over all I believe that this should be the first topic to debate in our world of today, ethics, moral. ~ Hugo Chavez

I hereby accuse the North American empire of being the biggest menace to our planet. ~ Hugo Chavez

We're not perfect, but we do have democracy. ~ Hugo Chavez

Every factory must be a school to educate, like Che Guevara said, to produce not only briquettes, steel, and aluminum, but also, above all, the new man and woman, the new society, the socialist society. ~ Hugo Chavez

The grand destroyer of the world, and the greatest threat ... is represented by U.S. imperialism. ~ Hugo Chavez

I nationalize strategic companies and get criticized, but when Bush does it, it's OK ... Bush is turning socialist. How are you, comrade Bush? ~ Hugo Chavez

I think developed countries - so-called developed countries - should reflect upon the way of living and the waste of energy. ~ Hugo Chavez

What they have implanted here, which is really a 'gringo' custom, is terrorism. They disguise children as witches and wizards, that is contrary to our culture. ~ Hugo Chavez

Hugo Chavez has tried to steal an inspiring phrase 'Patria o muerte, venceremos.' It does not belong to him. It belongs to a free Cuba. ~ Mitt Romney

We must reduce all the emissions that are destroying the planet. However, that requires a change in lifestyle, a change in the economic model: We must go from capitalism to socialism. ~ Hugo Chavez

The ones who close the path for peacefull revolution, at the same time open the path for violent revolution. ~ Hugo Chavez

I can see why people find him [Hugo Chávez] charming. He's very ebullient, as they say. I've heard him make a speech, though, and he has a vice that's always very well worth noticing because it's always a bad sign: he doesn't know when to sit down. He's worse than Castro was. He won't shut up. Then he told me that he didn't think the United States landed on the moon and didn't believe in the existence of Osama bin Laden. He thought all of this was all a put-up job. He's a wacko. ~ Christopher Hitchens

Mr. Bush is an illegitimate President. In Florida, his brother Jeb deleted many black voters from the electoral registers. So this President is the result of a fraud. ~ Hugo Chavez

If the climate were a bank, they would already have saved it. ~ Hugo Chavez

I'm a Christian. I want the world of justice and equality. This is the only way to achieve peace. ~ Hugo Chavez

The only way to save the world is through socialism, but a socialism that exists within a democracy; there's no dictatorship here. ~ Hugo Chavez

The imperialist, genocidal, fascist attitude of the U.S. president has no limits. I think Hitler would be like a suckling baby next to George W. Bush, ~ Hugo Chavez

I remember. How many minutes do I have left President? About one, one minute. ~ Hugo Chavez

The descendants of those who crucified Christ ... have taken ownership of the riches of the world, a minority has taken ownership of the gold of the world, the silver, the minerals, water, the good lands, petrol, well, the riches, and they have concentrated the riches in a small number of hands. ~ Hugo Chavez

I have said it already, I am convinced that the way to build a new and better world is not capitalism. Capitalism leads us straight to hell. ~ Hugo Chavez

For us Catholics, John Paul II will be remembered as a traveling Pope ... and we should also remember he preached world peace. When the United States invaded Iraq, for example, John Paul II said it was an illegal and immoral act. ~ Hugo Chavez

Don't let yourselves be poisoned by those wandering Jews. ~ Hugo Chavez

Unfortunately, in this Obama Government, we have charges of drug trafficking and terrorism. For Evo, it's drug trafficking. For Hugo, it's terrorism. Evo Morales, drug trafficking. Hugo Chavez, terrorism. ~ Evo Morales

I would like to invite the citizens of Great Britain and the citizens of the U.S. and the citizens of the world to come here and walk freely through the streets of Venezuela, to talk to anyone they want, to watch television, to read the papers. We are building a true democracy, with human rights for everyone, social rights, education, health care, pensions, social security, and jobs. ~ Hugo Chavez

We must reduce the emissions 100 percent. In Venezuela, the emissions are currently insignificant compared to the emissions of the developed countries. ~ Hugo Chavez

Venezuelan interests are to be defended by Venezuela. The U.S. should defend the interests of the U.S. Where are the U.S. people, where are the intellectuals, who could put limits on their government? ~ Hugo Chavez

You know, I don't know about this doctrine of assassination, but if [President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela] thinks we're trying to assassinate him, I think that we really ought to go ahead and do it. It's a whole lot cheaper than starting a war. And I don't think any oil shipments will stop. [ ... ] We have the ability to take him out, and I think the time has come that we exercise that ability. We don't need another $200 billion war to get rid of one, you know, strong-arm dictator. It's a whole lot easier to have some of the covert operatives do the job and then get it over with. ~ Pat Robertson

Even socialist dictators have an interest in gorgeous supermodels. ~ Hugo Chavez

I was an altar boy. My mother wanted me to be a priest. I am very Christian and Catholic ... I'm very faithful. I believe in God, in Jesus Christ. ~ Hugo Chavez

The world should forget about cheap oil. [The price] will keep going up and some day arrive at US$100 per barrel. ~ Hugo Chavez

I don't want to die. Please don't let me die. ~ Hugo Chavez

Democracy is impossible in a capitalist system. Capitalism is the realm of injustice and a tyranny of the richest against the poorest. ~ Hugo Chavez

I haven't any thirst for revenge. ~ Hugo Chavez

The left is back, and it's the only path we have to get out of the spot to which the right has sunken us. Socialism builds and capitalism destroys. ~ Hugo Chavez

The Devil is right at home. The Devil, the Devil himself, is right in the house. And the Devil came here yesterday. Yesterday the Devil came here. Right here. And it smells of sulphur still today. Yesterday, ladies and gentlemen, from this rostrum, the president of the United States, the gentleman to whom I refer as the Devil, came here, talking as if he owned the world. Truly. As the owner of the world. ~ Hugo Chavez

Venezuela has the biggest oil reserves in the world. And the biggest gas reserves in this hemisphere, the eighth in the world. Venezuela was a U.S. oil colony. All of our oil was going up to the north, and the gas was being used by the U.S. and not by us. Now we are diversifying. Our oil is helping the poor. ~ Hugo Chavez

Let the dogs of the empire bark, that's their job; ours is to battle to achieve the true liberation of our people. ~ Hugo Chavez

One of the greatest rebels, who I really admire: Christ. He was a rebel. He ended up being crucified. He was a great rebel. He rebelled against the established power that subjugated. ~ Hugo Chavez

If the United States was mad enough to attack Iran or aggress Venezuela again the price of a barrel of oil could reach $150 or even $200. ~ Hugo Chavez

To paraphrase Karl Marx, the great Karl Marx, a specter is haunting the streets of Copenhagen ... Capitalism is the specter, almost nobody wants to mention it ... Socialism, the other specter Karl Marx spoke about, which walks here too, rather it is like a counter-specter. Socialism, this is the direction, this is the path to save the planet, I don't have the least doubt. Capitalism is the road to hell, to the destruction of the world. ~ Hugo Chavez

Can you imagine what Bush would say if someone like Hugo Chavez asked him for a little piece of land to install a military base, and he only wanted to plant a Venezuelan flag there? ~ Jose Saramago

If he [Hugo Chavez] thinks we're trying to assassinate him, I think that we really ought to go ahead and do it. ~ Pat Robertson

The good ones

who listen

to women

to children and the poor

die too soon,

their lives bedeviled

by opposition:

our hearts grieve for them.


This was the world my father knew.


A poor man

he saw good men come and mostly go;

leaving behind

the stranded and bereft.

People of hopes, dreams, and so much

hard work!

Yearning for a future
suddenly

foreclosed.


But today

you write me all is well

even though the admirable

Hugo Chavez

has died this afternoon.


Never again will we hear that voice

of reasoned anger

and disgust

of passionate vision

and of triumph.


This is true.


But what a lot he did in his 58 years!

You say.

What a mighty ruckus

Hugo Chavez made!


This is also true.


Thank you for reminding me.


That though life -

this never-ending loop -

has passed us by today

but carried off

in death

a hero

of the masses

it is his spirit

of fiercely outspoken

cariño

that is not lost.


That inheritance

has gone instantly

into ~ Alice Walker

It's a lie! I am not an anti-Semite. The World Jewish Congress supported me and said that I am not anti-Semitic. ~ Hugo Chavez

Venezuela has changed forever. ~ Hugo Chavez

There is no turning back. ~ Hugo Chavez

I painted. I wanted to be a painter. I sang. ~ Hugo Chavez

I shook Obama's hand and I said, 'I want to be your friend.' My hand is still outstretched. I am not Obama's enemy, but it's difficult not see imperialism in Washington. Those who don't see it don't want to see it, like the ostrich. ~ Hugo Chavez

An infernal machine that produces every minute an impressive amount of poor, 26 million poor in 10 years are 2.6 million per year of new poor, this is the road, well, the road to hell. ~ Hugo Chavez

Down with the U.S. empire! It must be said, in the entire world: Down with the empire! ~ Hugo Chavez

Our policy is to deepen the relations with all the countries in the world - monarchies, kingdoms, large powers - we want to respect all differences and have our relationships based on mutual respect. ~ Hugo Chavez

What is the U.S. government looking for? And the elite governing this country? They're looking for oil. ~ Hugo Chavez

This has been a great victory for the Venezuelan people. ~ Hugo Chavez

No part of the human community can live entirely on its own planet, with its own laws of motion and cut off from the rest of humanity. ~ Hugo Chavez

Oil is a very valuable resource for life - electric heaters. We must have to transition ourselves to a post-oil era. And that's what we must discuss: searching and developing new sources of energy. And that requires scientific research. That requires investment. And the developed countries must be the ones to assume this responsibility first. ~ Hugo Chavez

We shall remember Gaddafi our whole lives as a great fighter, a revolutionary and a martyr. ~ Hugo Chavez

I wish Obama would focus on governing the United States and would forget his country's imperialist pretensions. ~ Hugo Chavez

The world needs a true leader, an Obama that promotes peace and understanding in the world. ~ Hugo Chavez

Some people point to me as the cause of all society's problems, others as if I am the benefactor, responsible for everything good, but I am neither the former nor the latter. I am but a man in particular circumstances, and the most beautiful part is that an individual human life is capable of contributing to the growth, the awakening of the collective strength. That is what matters! ~ Hugo Chavez

But Cuba doesn't have a dictatorship it's a revolutionary democracy. ~ Hugo Chavez

The U.S. people have a major role to play to solve, to save this planet. ~ Hugo Chavez

The United States is like Count Dracula who at six o'clock in the morning has not sucked [any necks]. ~ Hugo Chavez

I am convinced that the path to a new, better and possible world is not capitalism, the path is socialism. ~ Hugo Chavez

For fiction, I'm not particularly nationalistic. I'm not like the Hugo Chavez of Latin American letters, you know? I want people to read good work. ~ Daniel Alarcon

We have to re-invent socialism. It can't be the kind of socialism that we saw in the Soviet Union, but it will emerge as we develop new systems that are built on cooperation, not competition, ~ Hugo Chavez

Israel criticizes Hitler a lot, so do we, but they've done something very similar, even worse, than what the Nazis did. ~ Hugo Chavez

Venezuela is a free country, and we will not be blackmailed by anyone. We will not accept being told what to do over Iran; we will not accept being anyone's colony. ~ Hugo Chavez

Israel has gone mad. It's attacking, doing the same thing to the Palestinian and Lebanese people that they have criticised - and with reason - the Holocaust . But this is a new Holocaust. ~ Hugo Chavez

Knowing English is important, but for us Venezuelans I think it would also be important to know Portuguese . For that reason, we should evaluate the possibility of it being taught in our schools. ~ Hugo Chavez

Mutual respect! That's what it takes to be friends. ~ Hugo Chavez

My greatest regret at the passing of America-hating strongman Hugo Chavez is that he didn't live long enough to party with Dennis Rodman. ~ Rob Lowe

Most governments in the United States in a hundred years have not respected the peoples of Latin America. They have sponsored coup d'etats, assassinations. ~ Hugo Chavez

I think the United States and the secretary of State should be concerned about the poverty in this country - people without health insurance. The United States should stop being the empire and be concerned about other countries. You've got to be more worried about your own people. ~ Hugo Chavez

In the United States, the government is bailing out banks, intervening in the economy, yet in Latin America, the Right continues to talk about 'free markets.' It's totally outdated; they don't have arguments; they don't have any sense. ~ Hugo Chavez

This child whom we Love, Brings daylight Into our soul. ~ Victor Hugo

Across the board, Australian films need to have a lot more money spent on selling them. ~ Hugo Weaving

God was as visible in this affair as was Jean Valjean. God has his instruments. He makes use of the tool which he wills. He is not responsible to men. ~ Victor Hugo

Trivial, - there are no trivial facts in humanity, nor little leaves in vegetation, - are useful. ~ Victor Hugo

So long as there shall exist, by reason of law and custom, a social condemnation which, in the midst of civilization, artificially creates a hell on earth, and complicates with human fatality a destiny that is divine; so long as the three problems of the century - the degradation of man by the exploitation of his labour, the ruin of women by starvation and the atrophy of childhood by physical and spiritual night are not solved; so long as, in certain regions, social asphyxia shall be possible; in other words and from a still broader point of view, so long as ignorance and misery remain on earth, there should be a need for books such as this. ~ Victor Hugo

They're going to need a DNA test to identify him after the fight (Chavez Jr.) ~ Sergio Martinez

For love is like a tree; it grows of itself; it send its roots deep into our being, and often continues to grow green over a heart in ruins. ~ Victor Hugo

Communism and agrarian law think that they solve the second problem. They are mistaken. Their division kills production. Equal partition abolishes emulation; and consequently labor. It is a partition made by the butcher, which kills that which it divides. It is therefore impossible to pause over these pretended solutions. Slaying wealth is not the same thing as dividing it. The ~ Victor Hugo

These women rob me of my mind. And I don't care.~Dr. Hugo Peralta ~ Kate Richards

Abstruse speculations contain vertigo. ~ Victor Hugo

Examine the road over which the fault has passed.
- Charles Francios Bienvenu Myriel ~ Victor Hugo

That men saw his mask, but the bishop saw his face. That men saw his life, but the bishop saw his conscience. ~ Victor Hugo

God has bestowed two gifts on man: hope and ignorance. Ignorance is the better of the two. ~ Victor Hugo

Who has been unhooking the stars without my permission, and putting them on the table in the guise of candles? ~ Victor Hugo

Tis long ere time can mitigate your grief;
To wisdom fly, she quickly brings relief. ~ Hugo Grotius