Maduro to travel to Havana on Wednesday

Executive Vice-President Nicolás Maduro on Wednesday said at a rally to commemorate the 55th anniversary of the fall of dictator Marcos Pérez Jiménez that with President Hugo Chávez people regained the historical flag of January 23.

He announced that in the next few minutes he would depart for Havana, Cuba, along with Energy and Mining Minister Rafael Ramírez. They are to visit President Hugo Chávez, who is recovering from a cancer surgery he underwent on December 11.

At the 23 de Enero parish, west Caracas, Maduro said that on January 23, 1958 it was not possible to bring about a leadership unifying all the revolutionary energy. Soon after that, the bourgeoisie betrayed people.

"Beyond people shouting slogans of democracy and good intentions, there was no leadership unifying all the revolutionary energy that ignited on January 23 and in no time the presidential palace of Miraflores was taken over by representatives of the bourgeoisie," Maduro added.

Maduro summarized the bipartisan period of democracy known as the Punto Fijo pact as repression, torture, forced disappearances, looting, corruption, and high treason.

On the contrary, Maduro claimed that President Chávez's revolution means sovereignty, independence, dignity, Bolivarianism, patriotism, the great homeland, inclusion, equality, education, social justice, labor and solidarity.