By Larry Rohter.
The New York Times. October
30, 2000
CARACAS, Venezuela, Oct. 29 — Fidel Castro has been known to make
speeches that last up to eight hours, and Hugo Chávez, the president of
Venezuela, can be nearly as garrulous. So there was no telling what would happen
when Mr. Chávez invited Mr. Castro, who is making a five-day state visit
here, to join him today as the only guest on his weekly radio program, "Aló
Presidente."
What resulted was a four-hour gabfest that offered plenty of star turns for
the two men who personify the past and the future of the Latin American left.
Dressed in matching military fatigues, they discussed Latin American
history, geography and politics, joked, took turns criticizing a world order
dominated by the United States, answered phone calls from listeners and, at the
very end, even sang a song together.
Somewhat surprisingly, though, it was Mr. Chávez, a former army
colonel who led an unsuccessful coup attempt here in 1992, who dominated the
proceedings.
He was the one who set the agenda, delivered the sharpest attacks on social
and economic injustices and pressed Mr. Castro to join him in singing a
Venezuelan folk song despite the Cuban leader's protests, well-founded as it
turned out, that "I am always so out of tune."
As is his habit, Mr. Chávez pleaded for Latin American unity,
offering the increasing closeness of ties between Venezuela and Cuba as an
example to the rest of the region, and condemned what he called the "cursed
individualism" of unrestrained capitalism.
His goal, he said, is "the integration of our peoples to find economic
development and economic and social justice," but he added that "we
still have many bridges to cross."
At several points the "Hugo and Fidel Show" turned into little
more than an exercise in stroking and mutual flattery. Mr. Chávez praised
Mr. Castro for "giving us a lesson in Venezuelan history," while Mr.
Castro extolled his host's efforts to revive the Organization of the Petroleum
Exporting Countries, giving him credit for the dramatic rise in world oil prices
in the last 18 months.
As was the case Friday evening in a speech he delivered to Venezuela's
National Assembly, Mr. Castro's remarks had a valedictory tone that seemed to
indicate that he regards Mr. Chávez as his ideological or spiritual heir.
"I have confidence in you," Mr. Castro told his Venezuelan
counterpart. "At this moment, in this country, there is no one who can
substitute for you."
Playing the role of wiser older brother, Mr. Castro, 74, whose voice
occasionally cracked, also offered advice on governance to Mr. Chavez, who is a
very vigorous 46. "Chávez can't be the mayor of all of Venezuela,"
he said before urging his host to make more of an effort to mobilize Venezuelan
society behind the "peaceful social revolution" he leads.
The site of the program was a guest house at Carabobo Park in Valencia,
where the troops of Simón Bolívar, the hero of South American
independence, defeated a Spanish colonial army in 1821.
Mr. Chávez and Mr. Castro gave every sign of wanting to stay on the
air all day but said they had to cut the radio program short because Mr. Chávez
was going to take Mr. Castro on a tour of the battlefield before heading back to
Caracas.
The format of Mr. Chávez's weekly program, which began not long after
he took office early last year, calls for him to answer questions phoned in by
listeners, and that was the arrangement followed today. But all four of the
calls taken, two from Venezuela and two from Cuba, were creampuff queries that
allowed both men to sermonize at length.
Much of their conversation had to do with Bolívar, who was born in
Venezuela and is Mr. Chávez's most important intellectual influence, and
José Martí, Cuba's national hero.
At one juncture Mr. Castro approvingly quoted a famous statement of Bolívar's
that "the United States seems destined by Providence to plague Latin
America with misery in the name of liberty," and suggested that Mr. Chávez
had come to the same conclusion.
Perhaps even more eloquent than their words, though, was the affectionate
body language between the two men, whose previous public appearances during the
state visit, which started on Thursday, have been in more much formal settings.
They repeatedly touched each other on the arm and shoulder, and smiled or
made amused faces at each other's jokes during the program, which was also
televised.
Much of their ribbing had to do with a Saturday night baseball game in the
city of Barquisimeto that pitted a team of retired Venezuelan all- stars against
a similar Cuban squad. Mr. Chávez had pushed for the game, a rematch of a
contest in Havana last year in which the Cubans defeated the Venezuelans 5-4
with the help of ringers drawn from roster of the current Cuban national team.
This time the results were even more lopsided. Despite the presence of the
former major league slugger Tony Armas in the cleanup slot of the Venezuelan
lineup, the Cubans, managed by Mr. Castro, won 17-6, aided by eight Venezuelan
errors.
Mr. Chávez, who started at first base for the Venezuelan team, did
not perform much better than his teammates. He hit into a double play during his
first at-bat, and after coming in as a relief pitcher in the ninth inning, gave
up hits to the first two batters he faced before walking Mr. Castro, who had
decided to insert himself as a pinch hitter, on a 3-2 pitch that was down the
center of the plate but was deemed a ball by the Cuban leader.
At the start of the radio program this morning, Mr. Chávez
acknowledged to Mr. Castro that "you gave us a real beating last night,"
but then jokingly complained that Mr. Castro had "negotiated" a walk
with a compliant home plate umpire.
"Everything depends on the size of the strike zone, Chávez,"
Mr. Castro retorted, offering a justification that his critics will no doubt say
applies to politics as well as baseball, "and in Cuba, ours is narrow."
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