Chavez: Under socialism ownership is legal

CARACAS, June 1 (Prensa Latina) Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez denounced a smear campaign aimed at distorting the course of social justice in the process of changes he has led since 1999.

The president warned in his Sunday column, Las lineas de Chavez, of the attempt to make the population believe they will lose their homes, cars or ‘anything legally owned through effort and work such as property.’

If for ten years, he explained, ‘these oligarchs have attacked the right to food, education and health it is not surprising that they warn against Venezuelan rights to property, furniture or a home.’

The president cautioned even ‘those compatriots who are not sympathizers of the Revolution who may suffer through the overwhelming perversity of those who claim to be their defenders and representatives.’

Chavez added that ‘we must continue to work establishing equality and achieving it through the principle ‘To each according to his capacity and to each according to his needs’ and that this is not only a principle of socialism but also a Christian principle that has its roots in primitive Christianity.

He recalled that in the Sermon on the Mount (Luke 6, 20-25) Jesus condemned the rich saying ‘Oh of thee who are full, why are you hungry! Oh of thee, who laugh here! why do you cry and wail!’

On the contrary, he explained, capitalism brags of the inexistence of classes and alleged equal opportunities while its perversity is fundamentally to break any balance possible between legality and justice.

Referring to the Venezuelan situation and illegal activities of several entrepreneurs, including those linked to the media, Chavez warned that during times of crisis capitalists are revealed as real capos.