HUGO CHAVEZ’S LOVE FOR AFRICA

What may have been revolutionary Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez’s final public document was a letter addressed to the Third Africa-South America Summit, hosted 20-23 February 2013 in Equatorial Guinea. He expressed regret for not being able to attend the conference. At the time, he was battling cancer, which took his life just a few weeks later, on 5 March 2013.

This video shows the Burkinabé people organising a tribute to Chávez after his passing. The event took place at the l’Université Ouaga 1 Professeur Ki-Zerbo (formerly the University of Ouagadougou). Chávez was the first Venezuelan leader to publicly claim an African heritage. He stated, ‘He [my father] is mixed Indian and Black, which makes me very proud.’

Throughout Chávez’s presidency, he fought for the liberation of and attempted to deepen the diasporic connection with African people. That effort took place both within Venezuela as well as throughout ‘our America,’ a term used to describe the landmass from Canada to Chile.