The Prime Minister of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and Pro Tempore President of Caricom, Ralph Gonsalves, sent this Sunday a message of congratulations to the people of Venezuela for the commemoration of the 209 years of the Declaration of Independence.
The message below:
On Sunday, July 5, Venezuela commemorates its 209th anniversary of independence from Spain. Venezuela is one of the countries in Latin America that in the early nineteenth century carried out a democratic and nationalist struggle for the independence and well-being of the people, to overthrow colonialism, and to guide the country to the construction of its own development, not isolating itself, but with a view to build a fraternal connection with countries and peoples, and to ensure that international solidarity became the centerpiece of public policy.
The ideals of Simón Bolívar found their best expression in the establishment of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela under his indomitable and heroic leader Hugo Chávez, whose memory I bless, and continued under his successors, including the legitimate president of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro.
Since the beginning of the 21st century, Venezuela has tried to ensure that its citizens live a life of peace, democracy, and in the evolution of a more egalitarian society, ensuring that the poor and the working class, who for a long time were marginalized by the Neoliberalism in Venezuela and in the Region, enter the scene, and that the Nation as a whole follow the principles established by Bolívar, which have been refined by distinguished leaders, with Hugo Chávez being the most important in the modern period.
Venezuela has suffered for its principles of resisting imperialism, but as we say in our part of the Caribbean, the time is longer than the rope, and in the process of this monumental struggle the people of Venezuela, Latin America, and the Caribbean, will emerge triumphantly.
I express deep solidarity with the government and people of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, happy anniversary Venezuela, God bless you.