Venezuelan President Congratulates Syriza on Election Victory

Venezuelan President, Nicolas Maduro, has described the triumph of the leftwing coalition, Syriza, in the presidential elections in Greece as a “new wave of hope for Europe” after the party was elected with 36.3% of the vote on Sunday night. 

“Alongside the Bolivarian government and the Venezuelan people, I congratulate the Greek people, who by fully exercising the sovereignty of the people, have declared through their participation and vote, their unquestionable democratic commitment,” said the head of state in an official government communication. 

Led by former Communist youth militant, Alexis Tsipras, and standing on a radical anti-austerity platform, Syriza has taken Greek politics by storm. According to Maduro, their “historic victory” sends a message to the international rightwing “to change their blind devotion to the theory of privatization, of handing themselves over to global capital, to eliminating the rights of pensioners, the houses of the middle and working classes, and the right to education for the young”. 

Tsipras, who at 40 years of age will become Greece’s youngest prime minister, has often commented on his admiration for the Venezuelan Revolution and hailed it as a successful example of a people’s rebellion against neoliberalism. Despite entering into a coalition with the rightwing Independent Greeks party, Anel, on Monday, the new Greek Prime Minister said that he would do everything possible to protect the “interests of the Greek people”. 

In comments made on Venezuelan state TV channel on Monday, Maduro stated that the young leader had triumphed despite a huge international campaign against him. 

“They paid thousands of Euros to try and prevent the victory of this young Greek, a leader who has emerged from the depths of the people and from the sectors demanding change in Greece. The Bolivarian Revolution emerged from the depths of the Venezuelan people, From Bolivar’s people, from a leader, Hugo Chavez,” he declared. 

The Venezuelan president also travelled to Saudi Arabia this Sunday, where he attended the funeral of recently deceased Saudi Arabian King, Abdullah Ben Abdelaziz

“Ive come to directly express my condolences to King Salman and King Abdalas’ whole family,” explained Maduro. 

The head of state said that he would take advantage of the visit to discuss bilateral cooperation between the two countries, which are both members of OPEC (Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries). Saudi Arabia is currently the largest oil exporter in the world.