With the presidential elections in Venezuela due to take place this weekend on 14th April, we publish here an article on the legacy of Hugo Chávez by Jorge Martin, the International Secretary of the Hands Off Venezuela campaign, which originally appeared in the April edition of Labour Briefing. It is almost an impossible task to sum up the legacy of Hugo Chávez in 650 words, but that was the space which was available.

In the last week of March, Alan Woods, founder of the Hands off Venezuela campaign and leading figure of the International Marxist Tendency (IMT) was in Venezuela. He was invited to participate in the Meeting of Intellectuals and Artists in Defense of Humanity. We publish here a report of the week’s events at this crucial turning point for the Bolivarian Revolution, with the presidential elections due to take place on 14th April.

Marx wrote in the 18th Brumaire that history repeats itself first as a tragedy and then as a farce. This is what is happening in Cyprus. We are witnessing a situation similar to two years ago when the EU put pressure on Greece to accept a bail-out, but this time around 56 Cypriot politicians have created a huge problem for capitalists across Europe.