Speech by the President of the Republic of Venezuela, Hugo Chávez, at the Opening Ceremony of the Presidential Summit of the Andean Community of Nations
Santa Cruz de la Sierra, January 30, 2002

I would like to say a few brief words, first to express my appreciation for the hospitality we have received since our arrival in this lovely land of Bolivia once again, and for the first time in Santa Cruz, which has impressed us with its vigor, its liveliness, its people, its warmth, this South American land, this land filled with human warmth, to which we have come to continue working for the good of our integration.

Venezuela, needless to say, once again brings with it a reflection, the product of both our recent history and our history of days long gone. Some 177 years ago, Bolívar traveled in this area, calling on the Presidents and the Heads of State and the leaders of this part of the Americas, then called Southern America, to convene the Amphictyonic Congress in Panama in order to establish a league of nations and, as his Convening Letter sent from Lima in 1824 stated: "To negotiate regarding peace, the economic, the political and war under equal conditions with the other three parts of the world." Bolívar already foresaw the advent of the multipolar world and barely after casting off the chains of the Spanish empire traveled from the Orinoco to the Potosí to summon us to form one of the power centers of the world here. We had the wealth to do it, the people to do it and the vision to do it.

So it is that we in Venezuela modestly believe that the equation of the integration in which we are galloping –at least, I would that we were galloping—, in which we are moving ahead, striding ahead and frequently falling back, must be inverted. Our economy is leading us, and we do not believe that the economy and the trade agreements, while necessary, should be the moving force for an integration project like that which we South Americans need.

We believe, and I so propose, that we should place the political will of our integration at the forefront and I believe that this Special Meeting in Santa Cruz is guiding us in that direction because these mechanisms for an integration like ours were prepared –and this is a self-criticism that we consider to be necessary for interpreting the moment in which we live and for seeking alternatives-- , they were conceived using models or ideas that are framed within the concept of neoliberal capitalism that has proven to be so damaging to this continent. An economic model that benefits a minority and that excludes the majority. From Venezuela, we ask: Are we going to be able to attain the full integration of our region by using this economic model? Are we going to integrate our continent as we need to by using this model that excludes the masses, that excludes the peasant farmers, that excludes the indigenous dwellers, that excludes youth, that denies the masses their basic rights, their right to education, to health, to the land, to life itself. No, we in Venezuela say no, we do not believe this is the right course.

We need to find it. This is a good time to come to Santa Cruz de la Sierra to continue invoking the memory of Bolívar –and not just the memory of Bolívar and his glories, but the true Bolivarianism, that which summoned us to a political union. We propose –and this is a meeting that has been pending, dear colleagues, since its approval by the Andean Presidential Council two years ago, and which we have been unable to carry out for several reasons— and Caracas is at your service for this, to meet there to discuss the political future of integration.

It is the political dimension that should be placed at the forefront, like the cavalry. It is not the economic dimension that should drive the process, but the political; the economic should follow the political. If we continue to discuss economic variables, the Customs Union, the Free Trade Area, etc., without placing the highest level political will ahead and without first establishing a political integration agreement, I don’t think we will move forward as we need to, and above all not as those of us who are seated in this room this January morning in Santa Cruz de la Sierra need to and as the millions upon millions of men, women and children of this Bolivarian land need to.

With the expression of these feelings, frankly, harshly, but at the same time with great hope for our common future, we wish to say that we feel happy to be here in Santa Cruz de la Sierra and, like Bolivar, state that here in Bolivia we are at the center of a great sphere: the Bolivarian integration of our lands and of our peoples.

Thank you.