Book Launch on Hugo Chávez’s 69th Birthday: ‘Chavismo as a Political Identity’

p style=”text-align: right;”>The book Chavismo as a Political Identity by Jesse Chacón and Wilfer Bonilla, was presented and launched at the Casona Cultural Aquiles Nazoa, as part of the celebration of the 69th birthday of the commander of the Bolivarian Revolution, Hugo Chávez.</
The event took place on Friday, July 28 and was attended by the Minister of Popular Power for Culture Ernesto Villegas, the Venezuelan Ambassador to Austria, co-author of the work Jesse Chacón, and other personalities from the cultural sphere.

Minister Ernesto Villegas expressed his gratitude to the international ambassadors present for visiting the Casona Cultural Aquiles Nazoa and participating in the heartfelt tribute: “Thanks to all the ambassadors for being here, in a space that Commander Hugo Chávez shared with his family, where he carried out various activities in the political sphere.”

The minister highlighted that the book Chavismo as a Political Identity is the result of the intellectual effort made by Chavismo, the political movement: “I thank Jesse Chacón and Wilfer Bonilla for making this intellectual effort, which is rooted in this political movement called Chavismo. Against all odds the commander was able to form this movement and face any battle, perhaps without being aware of the concept of division.”

The minister claimed that “We are all Chávez” to highlight the transcendence of Chavismo as a political, economic, social, and cultural movement that permeates different sectors of society. He highlighted that: “You are also Chávez, man, soldier, woman, and peasant. We take an individual Chávez and bring it to a collective Chávez. That is the key to why, against all hegemonic forecasts, this movement continues to strengthen.”

The co-author of the book, Wilfer Bonilla, pointed out via video conference, that he arrived in Venezuela in the year 2000. He stated that, “Many people ask me if I am Colombian, and now I answer that I am Chavista.”

Bonilla suggested that this book is a contribution to Latin American, because Commander Hugo Chávez, together with his sons, founded Chavismo in Latin America. He concluded by saying: “Chavismo is not a political expression. Chavismo, as Chávez used to say, is frenzy. It is highly emotional. This book is a contribution to the Venezuelan youth.”

Jesse Chacón, the other co-author of the text, pointed out that the book’s cover summarizes what Hugo Chávez was and what Chavismo represents: humanity. He highlighted that: “Today is the 69th birthday of a the grand personality that goes by the name of Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías. There is no better moment than now to present and launch this book.”

Chacón noted that Chávez, besides being a demanding man, was a man attentive to detail and one who augured for a fruitful future through the work he did: “Let us hope that this book will be an object of political debate for the future.”

The event was livened up with a performance from the Llanero music group Aquí canta Venezuela.

The book Chavismo as a Political Identity by Jesse Chacón and Wilfer Bonilla, published by Monte Ávila Editores Latinoamericana, presents a political philosophy and seeks to conceptually define the specific characteristics of the political current that emerged in Venezuela in the years 1980-1990 and was forged throughout twenty-five years of practice by Hugo Chávez.