To the People of Venezuela,

To the Government of President Hugo Chávez,

To the Social Movements of Venezuela,

Dear Friends,

Twelve years ago, the Venezuelan people decided to change the course of history of their country and break the long night of neoliberalism and decades of manipulation by an oligarchy that is satiated with the resources of oil, with no benefit at all to the people.

The Venezuelan people paid the price of poverty and social inequalities.

On February 2, 1999, as the result of many popular mobilisations, and a slaughter in Caracas that killed thousands of citizens, we finally had a democratic election and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez assumed the presidency of Venezuela, with the commitment to the people of reshaping the country through a process of social transformation, based on popular participation in the rescue of the State as the agent of public policy to the advantage of the majority of the population.

Thereafter, we began a program for the eradication of illiteracy, a universal primary health system, opening of new universities, the democratization of land ownership in the countryside and the city, and the construction of an economic project to use oil resources to solve people's problems of housing, education, health and access to energy. An internationalist vocation was taken of helping other people through the ALBA project, following the example of Simon Bolivar.