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Islington MP Jeremy Corbyn pays tribute to Hugo Chavez

By: Sarah Pilchick

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Jeremy Corbyn. Image: Chris Beckett

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Jeremy Corbyn. Image: Chris Beckett
Jeremy Corbyn. Image: Chris Beckett

An Islington MP paid tribute to controversial Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who died on Tuesday after a two-year struggle against cancer.

Jeremy Corbyn, MP for Islington North and a member of the Labour Party’s Socialist Campaign Group, was a long-term supporter of the Venezuelan leader, whose struggles against “Western imperialism” have long been documented.

The first tweet was published almost immediately after the news of Chavez’s death:

(Source: Twitter)

He tweeted again twice on Wednesday afternoon.


(Source: Twitter)

But Corbyn is not the only London left-winger to praise the late Socialist president. Former London Mayor Ken Livingstone was criticised for his close relationship with the Venezuelan leader.

In October 2012, Corbyn and Hackney MP Diane Abbott, along with Grahame Morris, Owen Jones, and ex-Labour MP Colin Burgon, all flew to Venezuela to monitor the country’s presidential elections.

In his post on popular left-wing blog Labourlist entitled ‘Thank you Mr Chavez”, Corbyn praised the late president because he stood up to the Bush administration and “forged alliances to try to bring about a different narrative in world politics”.

Chavez was often described as a dictator but Corbyn rejected this claim: “It is a strange dictator that has a mass media in Venezuela in permanent opposition to him, a wealthy elite who regularly condemned him and a new constitution and independent judicial system.”

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32 COMMENTS

  6. Yes indeed wealth can be shared. The Chavez family are estimated to be worth in excess of 1 billion dollars.
    Clever man Hugo. Insted of arbitarily closing newspapers and radio stations down he had his supporters buy them. I lived in Venezuela and the only English language newspaper was bought and closed down.
    Independant Judiciary,rubbish all the serious opposition figures are in Jail.and there they will rot

  8. Go Native, Sir.

    It’s so frigging easy for these people to praise Chavez’ “legacy” from the safe and comfy distance of dilettantism. I’m so sick of it that I think a reality check is in order here.
    I would like to invite them to come and live in my country for just three months to get a mouthful of El Proceso’s real flavor. My only conditions would be that they didn’t bring their entourages or their money.
    Also that they would have to live in any of our barrios (that’s where most of Chavez’ supporters live anyway) to see how things really are beyond their books and their microphones.
    Could they make ends meet with a baseline salary of about 15US$ a month?
    How about standing in line or even sleeping on the sidewalk to buy food, soap, sanitary napkins, diapers and whatever else you need? And remember we’re talking about the country with the biggest oil deposits in the world.
    Would they be able to see the corruption that permeates every single level of our “socialist, revolutionary” government?
    What would they think of our once hand to mouth politicians that now, after sixteen years of revolucion, have amassed personal fortunes of millions of dollars?
    So, do please come over and live with us Mr Corbyn (and bring your friends too). Talking to you after that will be interesting to say the least.

  9. Corbyn you’re an idiot !! Anyone who formulates such a praiseworthy opinion of Chavez and his Cuban overlords with so little accurate knowledge only demonstrates your lack of empathy and understanding for Venezuelans …my family suffer daily at the hands of Chavez’s uneducated puppet Maduro’as do most of the rest of the country and god help you if you don’t share this manipulative military run government so called “elected” ideologies. ..so called ‘ elected’….unless you were perhaps one of the inhabitants wanting Capriles in power and on the way to the polling booth was either beaten up or staring down the face of a Kaleshnikov rifle !!!! So next time you align allegiance with world figures, spend a little time unobtrusively living under such regimes , and maybe after taking opportunity that so few ordinary Venezuelans can ever hope to realise, you can return to these shores a little more enlightened factually and a little less romantically aligned with such despotic figures. Normally I would never waste words on such pathetic political actions of any party persuasions, but in this case , a little retribution seems totally necessary. As a human being …I wish you the enjoyment of living each day in the comfort you have afforded yourself …sadly for most honest Venezuelans, this luxury is unattainable.

  17. Corbyn shows time and time again his true colours…what a disgrace that he leads the Labour Party! Long may he remain, as he ensures 100% our victory in the next General Election!!

  24. This guy is doped, mean and blind. Don’t vote for the Labour party. Vote for the right wing instead.

  29. Corbin,

    I have not idea who you are, but CHAVEZ was the bigest corrupt person in the history of Venezuela. I agree that previous democracy governments in Venezuela were currupt as well, not doubt about that, but CHAVEZ WAS THE WORST OUT ALL!!! In my country are a lot of people diying because the citizen can not coop with the inflation. But I want you to kknow that when we WIN this BATTLE, Where ever you are, the VENEZUELAN PEOPLE will come for yo too!!!

  30. […] During that activity I was interviewed and asked about how our country was devastated as the idea spread worldwide that the “well-intentioned government, saviour of the poor from the evil of capitalism, made Venezuelan society richer, healthier, and happier.” I was asked why if socialism or communism was so great – they are the same with regards to the denial of the individual person and their values – we were all complaining. Then I was told that one of the candidates running for Prime Minister in the UK declares himself as an admirer of Hugo Chavez, his work and his “legacy”. As recently as 2013, the Islington MP paid tribute to controversial Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez… […]

  31. No words it is disgusting thoses poor poor people we need to help them not praise a regime that is starving its people n killing its patients in hospital needlessly.

  32. Corbyn is a communist, we shouldn’t be surprised by these statements. Communism is misery and death.

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