"Everyday I become more convinced, there is no doubt in my mind, as many intellectuals have said, that it is necessary to transcend capitalism. But capitalism can not be transcended through capitalism itself; it must be done through socialism, true socialism, with equality and justice. I’m also convinced that it is possible to do it under democracy, but not in the type of democracy being imposed by Washington." Hugo Chavez speech to the World Social Forum in Porto Alegre, Brazil. January 31, 2005
On December 6, 1998 the great leftist leader Hugo Chavez won the presidential election in Venezuela launching the Bolivarian Revolution that continues to resist neo-liberalism and imperialism to this day despite cruel US and western sanctions.
On November 21, his successors Nicolas Maduro and the Chavist Great Patriotic Pole leftist electoral alliance won a resounding victory in the Venezuelan regional and municipal elections.