Belafonte tells the truth in Venezuela

The Internet is burning with the news of a statement made about President George W. Bush by well-known singer and actor Harry Belafonte on Jan. 8.

Harry Belafonte with workers in Caracas Jan. 6.

Belafonte told the truth.

Belafonte was in Venezuela as part of an important delegation that included Danny Glover, Dolores Huerta and Cornel West. At the radio show regularly hosted by Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez Frías, Belafonte made comments that quickly spread around the world.

“No matter what the greatest tyrant in the world, the greatest terrorist in the world, George W. Bush says, we’re here to tell you: Not hundreds, not thousands, but millions of the American people ... support your revolution,” said Belafonte.

On Jan. 15, Belafonte was at Duke University in North Carolina where the Durham mayor presented him with a key to the city. Responding to both praise and criticism back in the U.S., Belafonte said, “I don’t live by consensus. And when I talk about Bush, in the dictionary under terrorists there are many different subtitles and ... if people are coming to open your mail and tap your phones, and the people of Katrina are desperate for help and they are not getting it from the most powerful man in the world, he has brought terror in the hearts of people and in the dictionary anyone who brings fear is bringing terrorism and is a terrorist.”

The next day, in New York City, Belafonte was at an event organized by the Children’s Defense Fund, a mainstream advocacy group. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton also attended the event. The Daily News reported that she shunned Belafonte. Despite the fact that earlier at a Black church in Harlem she called the U.S. Congress a “plantation” where dissent is not allowed, Clinton feared associating with someone who truly was dissenting.

Belafonte indeed represents the sentiment of tens of thousands in the United States who are organizing to stay the hand of U.S. imperialism in Venezuela and wholeheartedly support the Bolivarian process.

Belafonte has it right when he said millions in the U.S. support the Venezuelan Revo lution. Why? Because when confronted with the truth about Venezuela—that its government is carrying out policies contrary to the U.S. that are improving healthcare, education and welfare for the people—millions in this country abso lutely agree with that kind of society.