Hugo Chavez Speech at United Nations General Assembly (August 2009)
Representatives of governments of the world, I wish you all a very good morning. I would like to express
my happiness on my visit to this assembly – to a country that has changed much since my last visit here.
I am now more proud than before to set foot in the United States than I was at any time before.
Only a few years ago, I stood here and recommended that you all read a book by Noam Chomsky that
spoke of the Imperialist Strategy of the United States. Today, just three years later, we live in a world
that has the right to hope more than ever before to look up to a responsible leader nation in the United
States.
The people of the United States have finally elected a man who is worthy to hold the office of the
Presidency in this great nation. This is the nation of Lincoln, Edison, Chomsky and other great minds,
which should be loved and respected by the people of the world – not hated, as it has been by me and
my people, along with the millions of people around the world who have been at the receiving end of
American hegemony.
America today finds itself at a crossroads of sorts. It can choose to continue along the path of mindless
and unregulated capitalism, or it can choose to take the path of more compassion and sense. America
can continue down the road of arrogance, or it can choose the path of humility. I stand here as a friend
to America and to offer a few words of reminiscence to show that the Americas can be united as one.
America today finds itself at a similar spot as Venezuela found itself in 1999. When I took office in 1999,
the economy of my country was in collapse. We were in a recession. My first few months in office were
dedicated to dismantling corrupt and conniving cartels of political power by means of legislation and
constitutional reform, and my second focus was to allocate new government funds to social programs.
The ongoing recession at the time due to the lowest oil prices in history, combined with soaring
international interest rates threatened to derail the Venezuelan economy. I embarked then on a
program which many saw as foolish, but which I knew would yield results. The one institution in
Venezuela which was the costliest for the government to maintain but did little for social development
was summoned. I am talking, ladies and gentlemen - of the Venezuelan Military.
As you all know, and as the American media does not let you forget- I am an Army man myself. I enjoyed
the respect of the Armed forces in my country. I instructed all branches of the military to devise
programs to combat poverty and to promote civic and social development. Projects within the scope of
Plan Bolivar 2000 included road building, housing construction and mass vaccination.
The idea of this plan is not mine, my friends. The idea of the Army working for the common good in
times of peace is a common one. I have my friend and guide Fidel Castro to thank for giving me the
strength to follow through with my plan in those difficult years. Mr. Castro himself led a similar plan to
better the lives of the Cuban people post the Soviet Collapse in 1991.

Speaking of improving legislations, I remember that in those days, I personally undertook the task of
making sure that American companies like Phillips Petroleum and ExxonMobil paid taxes that they owed
to the Venezuelan people. They were paying as little as 1% of the tens of billions of dollars of
Venezuelan oil that they were extracting.
I urge the new president Mr. Obama, who seems to me to be a sincere man, a man of his word, and a
man of true vision, to get control of the financial services institutions of his country. Financial Services
are the United States what energy is to Venezuela. This is not a time to let so called private enterprise
play games with your country. This is a time to govern, and to guide.
To return to the troubled times of the year 1999 in my own country, when all else was failing, I stepped
in with the idea of writing a new constitution. A Constitutional Assembly was formed after being ratified
by the Venezuelan People. The judicial process was reformed, and the ideology of the country and its
people were better reflected among the judges.
Many of my critics, almost all of whom are unsurprisingly from the United States and have never visited
my country, point out that through my reforms I strengthened the presidency and my own powers in
Venezuela. They point out that I gave myself the power to dissolve the National Assembly at will. What
they do not tell you is that the Venezuelan constitution was constructed to provide for the office of a
Public Defender. The Public Defender is the moral branch of the Venezuelan government who has the
power to check the President’s actions.
The United States must take responsibility for its public offices. The qualifications of people in power
and their mandate should be made clear. Never again should there be a situation, where a president
comes to office without being elected. Never again should there be an election as shameful as the one
conducted in Florida in 2000. In Venezuela, we have tried to ensure accountability at all levels. Even the
judges to our supreme court are installed after they pass public examinations, and are not nominated.
People in North America are fond of criticizing the governments of the South. They love to portray
leaders like Castro, Morales and myself as fools, and despots. Do they ever ask the people of Cuba,
Bolivia or Venezuela whether they are satisfied with their lives? No! Let me tell you about Venezuela.
Over the course of the last 9 years since I was elected leader, my country’s GDP has risen by $20b. This is
an increase of 50% over the figure in 1999. Unemployment in 1999 was at a staggering 14%. After
prudent government spending and social programs this figure has fallen to about 7% today. We still
have a long way to go, but I am confident that we are on the right path.
I believe that at the heart of any good government is compassion. Compassion for people, and
compassion for their aspirations. I am proud to belong to Venezuela, a country that banned the death
penalty in 1863. We are the country where the death penalty has been abolished for the longest time in
the world.
We have managed to remain a voice of moderation within the OPEC, and have ensured our country’s
prosperity though the gift of our oil wealth. We have used this wealth for the benefit of our people. As a

result of our free health care systems, the infant mortality rate in Venezuela is the lowest in South
America.
Real income in my country grew by 137% between 2003 and 2006. The World Bank has registered a 10%
drop in poverty levels. When we noted the success of our economic policies, we withdrew from the IMF
and the World Bank after paying back all our debts in 2006. The growth forecast for Venezuela is about
7% today, making us one of the fastest growing economies in the western hemisphere.
Yes, I know that a major problem in Venezuela today is one of inflation. The Venezuelan people are
today enduring inflation levels of close to 15%. Yet, contrary to appearances this is not the result of a
failed economic policy. We as a government have been spending for the public. Yet, we do not live in an
isolated world anymore. We trade; in fact our largest trading partner in the United States. In this
scenario, inflation is but an unavoidable certainty. However, as in the case of many countries, notably
the United States in the 1930’s, inflation in Venezuela will be thwarted.
In conclusion, I would like to extend a hand of friendship to the United States again, at this august forum
of nations. It is a time to stand united against common foes – like international drug traffickers and
terrorists. It is a time to rebuild nations. It is time to go back to the basics – to believe in revolution of
sorts. In the words of Simon Bolivar, the liberator of Venezuela – ‘The art of victory is learned in defeat’.
I am here to offer help and advice to the United States to help them get back on their feet from the
current morass of financial failure.
I hope, that this Assembly meet will end historically, and see the beginning of a new era in which the
Americas will truly set an example to the world in peaceful cooperation, based on mutual respect.
Thank You.