Hugo Chavez

[Tracey]

~  a few quotes gleaned from the Democracy Now interview w/ Hugo Chavez and Amy Grant

"You should know that the U.S., I already said this, 5% of the world population lives in this country and you consume 25% of the energy. That this consumption is partially rational, I am convinced that the U.S. people will wake up to the reality of things."

"Out of a hundred cars, ninety-nine were occupied by a single person, the driver only. Cars occupying the highways, and burning fuel, how many gallons of fuel were burned yesterday morning, polluting the environment? That's the extreme of individualism."

"The U.S. people have a major role to play to solve, to save this planet."

"What is the other super power? Public opinion. The peoples of the world. That's the other super power."

"In any transformation process, social transformation process, economic transformation process, political-- is doomed to fail without the participation of the grassroots and the population. The people, the communities, they are like the fuel."

"That what we say here is to transfer power to the people, especially the poorest of the poor. If you want to get rid of poverty, we need to empower the poor. Not to treat them like beggars."

"we are reducing to zero, the possibility of corruption because we give the money to the population themselves. And they put it in the bank, they help to make withdrawals and then execute the budget."

"There will be no probability of success without the creative participation and the powerful participation of women."