00:00President, President of the people, ratified by the Venezuelan people, and complying
00:27with the mandate of Chavez, back then you said, and he said to the people, the Venezuelan
00:49people, here, Nicolás is here to continue the battle.
01:11And it is truly admirable the energy, the effort, the dedication towards the defense
01:30of your people, that you continue doing day by day, and despite the sanctions, the coup
01:51that attempts, defamation, lies, this people is loyal to Chavez, to Bolivar, and knows
02:16that the sword of Bolivar, that was given to you by Chavez, is being sewn in order to
02:36defend against any threat, against any aggression attempt, because aggressions take place, and
02:52conspirations take place every single day, every single day, because we are defending
03:05peace.
03:09But the demon, the devil, is the enemy of peace.
03:22We are always thinking about ways to destroy our process, a process that has made our
03:37America emerge once again.
03:46And I remember the day, it was about 6 p.m. in the afternoon, and they told me that Fidel
04:05wanted to introduce Chavez, and we went to the Bolivar house.
04:22We embraced ourselves, we greeted him, we sat down, and we heard the words from a historian
04:31from Havana that presented us and introduced Chavez, and then he discussed the thinking
04:42of Chavez.
04:46And I was amazed because those who didn't believe in him never thought about a man of
05:10the military would go to Cuba to have a meeting with Fidel.
05:20But I was even more amazed when I heard Chavez and his message.
05:33It was the voice of Bolivar, it was the soul of Bolivar in the soul of Chavez coming out
05:47from his mouth.
05:48It was impressive.
05:54And after the meeting ended, Fidel brought us there.
06:06There was Chavez, Fidel, and in the seats that were in the back, we were just chatting,
06:15and Chavez was talking with such enthusiasm, with such strength.
06:23It was incredible.
06:32And those days, there was a meeting in El Salvador, and I dare to say that I was seeing
06:50a revolutionary in him.
06:54And I shared with him that there was a meeting of the Sao Paulo Forum in San Salvador City.
07:09And I was sure he was going to accept the invitation, and he attended.
07:20And that's how we started to get together and discuss, and I was so happy to find a
07:41revolutionary in a military man.
07:47A revolutionary that here, in this same Bolivarian revolution, has multiplied in the army, in
08:05the police forces, in the whole people.
08:17And 20 years after the creation of ALBA, when Chavez and Fidel, over time, met in San Salvador,
08:46met in Havana, and decided they were going to create ALBA, they started and gave the
09:00first step.
09:08And back then, I thought about Jesus, because I am a revolutionary, and when you know the
09:24life of Christ amongst the poor, the most vulnerable, the way he became a hero, he became
09:43the up-highest revolutionary.
09:54And then we went to the classics of the revolutions, Marx, for example, but I became a revolutionary
10:03because I met Christ, I met Jesus, and Chavez always had Christ in his heart.
10:17And when they met, Chavez and Fidel, that saw how our peoples were shedding blood, hopeless,
10:28vulnerable, he said, as Christ said, stand up and let's push the peoples of our America
10:41and the Caribbean.
10:49And I saw how fast other nations joined other countries, how quick we started to execute
11:11the programs of ALBA.
11:18It was something without precedent.
11:30And the way in which we shared and distributed richness has no precedent in the history of humanity.
11:50Today, 20 years afterwards, we are more committed than ever to continue walking forward, moving
12:11forward, and we must continue doing so, incorporating new initiatives as the ones we have shared
12:23today.
12:29And amidst a world where the imperialists of the land continue assassinating
12:45ALBA with the flag of Fidel and Chavez, the soul of Fidel and Chavez, we reiterate that
13:12we are not going to fail any of you.
13:15We will continue waving the battle.
13:19Yes, in the battle I'm building victories here, there, there, here, in the whole geopolitical
13:30panorama of our region, in the global south, and the world.
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