Chávez Praises Cuban Victory Over Bay of Pigs Invasion on 50-Year Anniversary
President Chávez lauded the achievements of the Cuban people who, in the space of 60 hours, were able to organise and defeat the military invasion; funded by the C.I.A and led by Cuban exiles, who eventually surrendered at Playa Giron on April 19th, 1961.
Maracay, April 17th 2011 (Venezuelanalysis.com)–On Saturday, April 16th, the Cuban people celebrated the 50th anniversary of their triumph against U.S. imperialism at Playa Giron. A military procession made up of thousands of Cuban soldiers marched from La Plaza de la Revolución in Havana, followed by hundreds of thousands of Cubans who marched and chanted slogans in support of the Revolution.
President Chávez lauded the achievements of the Cuban people who, in the space of 60 hours, were able to organise and defeat the military invasion; funded by the C.I.A and led by Cuban exiles, who eventually surrendered at Playa Giron on April 19th, 1961. In a statement celebrating 50 years since the Cuban Revolution proclaimed itself to be socialist, Chávez congratulated the ‘brave and heroic’ Cuban people on behalf of Venezuela and the Bolivarian government and expressed his “unshakable solidarity with revolutionary and socialist Cuba,” also publishing on Twitter “50 Years since the triumph of Playa Giron! Long live Fidel, long live socialist Cuba, we shall overcome!”
Chávez also acknowledged the defeat of North American imperialism on the shores of Playa Giron as the first step towards the construction of continental socialism and integral to the development of popular resistance to the neo-imperialist project within the region.
“Since then, the path towards socialism initiated heroically by Cuba has continued to extend throughout this continent, to the point that today hopes for a socialism at the height of the 21st Century are crystallised more strongly and more vigorously every day in each of the countries that constitute the ‘Bolivarian Alternative for the People of Our America’ – ALBA”.
As the longest-standing socialist state within the region, Cuba has been extremely important in contributing to the progression of ‘Socialism of the 21st Century’. Cuba’s political trajectory and experience has helped to inspire initiatives in politics, such as popular referenda and local popular power, as well as within the sphere of military, agricultural, health and educational programmes. Today the Sixth Congress of the PCC (Partido Comunista de Cuba) was inaugurated.