Fidel, Chávez, AMLO and Petro

ByMexico Solidarity

This editorial by Antonio Gershenson originally appeared in the August 3, 2025 edition of La Jornada, Mexico’s premier left wing daily newspaper.

The leaders of Cuba, Venezuela, Mexico, and Colombia, along with other prominent statesmen, have detailed the reasons why popular uprisings for emancipation proliferated on our continent, despite the harsh repression and subjugation that the people suffered in each attempt. The suffering came on the ships that brought that handful of invaders from 15th-century Europe.

The four leaders mentioned in the title spoke of all the evils that the policy of plunder has caused. AMLO’s administration also spoke of the blatant theft carried out by neoliberal officials, a policy the national oligarchy wants to return to. However, this hidden, predatory plunder continued without most of us noticing. This is proof that the evils must be uprooted from society, from the roots. That’s why the 4T is radical.

In recent days, it has come to light that the theft of hydrocarbons from Pemex has been discovered, and punishment will come because that’s what we expect. The people who voted in 2018 are waiting for the transformation of our country’s political life to advance.

The difference between the PRI and PAN governments, that of Andrés Manuel López Obrador, and the current administration of Dr. Sheinbaum is that not only did the PRI and PAN governments not pursue criminals, but corruption was considered part of Mexican culture. It’s that simple, blatant, and lamentable.

Countless movements have emerged in defense of natural resources. In the Americas, we have seen exemplary actions, such as the expropriation of oil in Mexico, in Venezuela under Commander Hugo Chávez, and the defense of the natural resources of our sister country, Colombia, plundered since the fateful year of 1492. The aforementioned presidents have agreed that the policies pursued by the oligarchies are the true cause of our misfortunes.

We cannot continue in a world of threats. We must condemn the conduct of war tests aimed at intimidating countries that disagree with the policies of those seeking to dominate the world economically and politically. This is further evidence that there are those who want to divide the world into “first-class” countries, which would include all those that already have atomic bombs—including the one that dropped them on Japan in World War II—and the rest, “second-class” countries, which have no right in this regard, not even to conduct tests.

“Nuclear energy applied to the benefit of the population must eradicate the characteristic policy of terror, especially promoted by the United States against countries that do not submit to its economic impositions.” (The words of the leader of the Cuban Revolution)

The commanders agree that if we want to save humanity from self-destruction, the most important step is to prevent theft, corruption, and, ultimately, eliminate poverty. These are complicated, but fundamental steps.

The distribution of wealth is a humanitarian condition. Therefore, science and technology must be at the service of humanity and at the disposal of all people to eradicate world hunger.

Those who fought with weapons in hand for the liberation of their countries, with the exception of López Obrador, continue to say that for the people, luxury is something expendable. Less luxury and less waste in the richest countries on the planet. This way, poverty and inequality will decrease.

Eliminating the luxury of a few and reducing the hunger of millions is not a simple slogan; it is a social and cultural law that must be fulfilled to prevent the disappearance of life on Earth.

“No more transfers to the Third World of lifestyles and consumption habits that ruin the environment. Make human life more rational. Implement a fair international economic order. Utilize all the science necessary for sustained development without pollution. Pay the ecological debt, not the foreign debt. Eliminate hunger, not humanity.” (Commander Fidel Castro)

It’s incredible that in the 21st century, right-wing discourse still blames communism, socialism, and revolutions that vindicate the needy. Those who claim that there are no more excuses for cold wars, arms races, and military spending are quite right. What prevents us from immediately dedicating these resources to promoting the development of poor (or Third World) countries and combating the threat of ecological destruction of the planet?

Let selfishness, hegemony, insensitivity, irresponsibility, and deceit cease. Tomorrow will be too late to do what we should have done long ago.

Perhaps the mayor has read some history. Does citizen Alessandra Rojo de la Vega know that those who defend humanity have been recognized by millions and that those wise words came from the voice of the figure on one of the statues she considers useless and that would be better served as molten metal?

Let’s rise up in resistance, there’s still time!

“For Ximena Guzmán Cuevas and José Muñoz Vega, justice will come.”