On May 14, Venezuela's socialist President Hugo Chavez spoke to a meeting of 800 people in London, with hundreds more being turned away, during a triumphant two-day visit hosted by Mayor Ken Livingstone. Thousands of people turned out to greet Chavez during his visit to Britain. Two days earlier, Chavez addressed more than 5000 people in Vienna, Austria. Speaking at the London mass meeting, Chavez insisted that socialism was the alternative for humanity and that imperialism could be defeated. He also made an unexpected offer of cheap heating oil to poor neighbourhoods in London, which Livingstone accepted. Indymedia photo.
From Green Left Weekly, May 24, 2006.
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