Peter Boyle
When George Bush addressed the UN General Assembly on September 19, he spoke like an angry emperor admonishing the majority of the world. But Bush's arrogant pretensions were punctured the next day by President Hugo Chavez of the revolutionary government of Venezuela.
"Yesterday the Devil was here, in this very place. This table from where I speak still smells like sulfur. Yesterday, ladies and gentlemen, in this same hall, the President of the United States, who I call 'The Devil', came here talking as if he owned the world."
The hall broke into spontaneous laughter and applause, although not from the US delegation. Their seats had been vacated.
The Devil was not amused and his minion, US ambassador to the UN John Bolton, dismissed Chavez's speech as a "comic-strip approach to international affairs". Australian foreign minister Alexander Downer parroted the line, telling the Fox Network that Chavez's speech was "undignified" and "classless". However, Chavez spoke to the world's people with much more dignity and class than Bush.
You can access Chavez's speech at < http://ratbaggy.blogspot.com/2006/09/hugo-chavez-at-un-sept-A HREF="mailto:20-2006_21.html"><20-2006_21.html>. That blogsite is one of several set up by Green Left Weekly supporter Dave Riley. Health problems keep Dave housebound much of the time, but he's found that he can do a lot of activism via the internet. He is working hard to give our internet outreach a multimedia dimension.
Another blogsite that Dave maintains is VenSol, at <http://vensol.blogspot.com>. There you can listen to regular audio recordings by volunteers Jim McIlroy and Coral Wynter from Green Left Weekly's Caracas bureau in Venezuela.
Jim and Coral return to Australia at the end of this year and we would like to continue this very valuable reporting post in the heart of progressive change in Latin America. But if we are to do this, we need to make our fighting fund target of $250,000 by the end of this year.
Last week our supporters raised $6797, taking the total raised so far to $133,884, or 54% of our target. We need your help to raise the remaining $116,116. It sounds like a lot to raise in three-and-a-half months, but we've done it before — with your help.
You can deposit a donation to the Green Left Weekly Fighting Fund at: Greenleft, Commonwealth Bank, BSB 062-006, Account No. 901992. Alternatively, send a cheque or money order to PO Box 515, Broadway NSW 2007, phone it through on the toll-free line at 1800 634 206 (within Australia), or donate online at <http://www.greenleft.org.au/fogl.htm>.