Like the constitutional defense of private property as the means of production and communication and the deepening of the commercial ties with the United States of America, especially oil-related ties....

Giving up before internal and external criticism from conservative sectors that reflect the economic and political interest of world corporate elites, Chavez seemed desperate, on one hand, to establish anti-Marxism once and for all, and to affirm the pro-Capitalist defense of the world economic and political order of the Bolivarian Revolution, on the other.

* Especially on the eve of the presentation of his project of Constitution Reform to the National Assembly ... a paper that the most radical and conservative sectors in Venezuela and abroad fear to be the ultimate drive to turn Bolivar's birthplace into a "Socialist" haven.

It's a real pity that the leader of the Cuban Revolution, Comandante Fidel Castro ... an icon of the concrete socialist praxis and theory, and "father" to Chavez, according to the Bolivarian leader himself ... at 80, perhaps does not have the interest, the patience or the time to take the trouble to turn Chavez into a Marxist ... the same way Chavez took the trouble to turn Castro into a Christian (in the social sense) as Venezuela's President is proud to have achieved.

It would have been interesting to see if Chavez would had shown the same openness and tolerance toward the concrete socialist wisdom treasured by Fidel Castro, as he has shown to Christianity and his obstinacy to find socialist roots within this religious tendency.

It is very frustrating to many people in Venezuela who have studied Socialism and Marxism seriously through many years, to see the contempt shown by Chavez towards true Socialism ... discarding it as "obsolete," while deepening unhealthy religion ... ideology per se ... taking into account Christian-ism is way older than Marxism ... by using his charismatic leadership to legitimize his poorly-based ideas ... instead of calling them to build his socialist model.

Hugo Chavez does not seem to have spent on Marxism the same time he spent studying Christian-ism, vainly believing that this will grant him popular support forever.

Let's see when the US dollar collapses in a country where its economy is anchored to the decadent American currency because of the oil trade and an inevitable domino effect as the world market collapses under the stresses of class contradictions on a global scale.

Let's see if "Socialist Christian-ism" or "Christian Socialism" will be able to give valid and update answers to the ignorant and faithful people.

We will be eager to see if Jesus Christ's 'Sermon on the Mount,' Parables and Miracles will help disoriented people to understand why the "Empire" will be blocking their seaports and taking over their oil wells to lay their hands on the fuel for upcoming genocidal wars, seizing state properties and foreign reserves, sabotaging their Capitalist prosperity but Socialist economy and so removing the veil from their petro-dollarized and christian-ized eyes.

For we, poor Venezuelans there is still hope, before it is too late, for Venezuela and the rest of the dying world, that Fidel Castro, the one and only living Marxist leader ... the one and only person with influence enough over Chavez ... assumes his perhaps last big historical challenge: to turn Hugo Chavez into a truly original Marxist leader and thinker of the 21st Century, as he himself was in praxis and theory in the 20th Century.

If not ... let us pray to the Lord and beg for mercy for all our ideological sins ... and let's hope He receives us in His bosom and gives us another chance in His next creative and creating plan. Amen.