Venezuela: Tariq Ali interviews Nicolas Maduro on the launch of teleSUR English

July 24, 2014 – TeleSUR, posted at Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal – The renowned scholar Tariq Ali conducted an interview today with Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro in Caracas, marking the launch of teleSUR English.

During the interview, which took place in Simon Bolivar's birth home as celebrations marked 231 years since his birth, Ali and Maduro spoke about the legacy of former President Hugo Chavez, the Venezuelan opposition, the economy, and the most recent world developments.

Regarding the Venezuelan opposition's stance against his government, Maduro underscored the importance of recognizing democratic rule. “In 15 years of revolution, we have won 18 out of 19 elections, we have built a solid majority based on our projects and on national and international values. The oligarchy...has a superiority complex and has not been able to respect this new majority that was built by Commander Hugo Chavez” he said.

President Maduro highlighted the importance of the recent changes in world affairs, assuring that the new mechanisms – such as the SUCRE monetary mechanism – and the New Development Bank announced by the BRICS countries would reshape the world economy.

“We have new mechanisms that have been born ... the power of these [BRICS] economies will eventually determine, inevitably, the new world system, and Latin America must spearhead this process”, said Maduro.

During the interview, the Venezuelan president also took the opportunity to call on the Arab leaders to stop the ongoing massacre in Gaza.