Day-O! Viva la Revolucion!

"No matter what the greatest tyrant in the world, the greatest terrorist in the world, George W. Bush says, we're here to tell you: Not hundreds, not thousands, but millions of the American people ... support your revolution," said Harry Belafonte to Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez on a telecast on Sunday.

From the Associated Press:

Belafonte led a delegation of Americans including the actor Danny Glover and the Princeton University scholar Cornel West that met the Venezuelan president for more than six hours late Saturday. Some in the group attended Chavez's television and radio broadcast Sunday...

The 78-year-old Belafonte, famous for his calypso-inspired music, including the ''Day-O'' song, was a close collaborator of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and is now a UNICEF goodwill ambassador. He also has been outspoken in criticizing the U.S. embargo of Cuba.

Chavez said he believes deeply in the struggle for justice by blacks, both in the U.S. and Venezuela.

"Although we may not believe it, there continues to be great discrimination here against black people," Chavez said, urging his government to redouble its efforts to prevent discrimination.

Chavez accuses Bush of trying to overthrow him, pointing to intelligence documents released by the U.S. indicating that the CIA knew beforehand that dissident officers planned a short-lived 2002 coup. The U.S. denies involvement, but Chavez says Venezuela must be on guard.

Belafonte suggested setting up a youth exchange for Venezuelans and Americans. He finished by shouting in Spanish: "Viva la revolucion!"

According to Wikipedia, Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías (born July 28, 1954) is the 53rd President of Venezuela. As the leader of the "Bolivarian Revolution", Chávez is known for his democratic socialist governance, his promotion of Latin American integration, his heavy criticism (which he terms anti-imperialism) of neoliberal globalization and United States foreign policy. Because of these views, he has been the target of criticism from in several industrialized countries on the grounds of lack of electoral transparency and constantly attacking groups with prejudice in his speeches.

A career military officer, Chávez founded the leftist Fifth Republic Movement after a failed 1992 coup d'état. Chávez was elected President in 1998 on promises of aiding Venezuela's poor majority, and reelected in 2000. Domestically, Chávez has launched several programs he dubbed Bolivarian Missions to combat disease, illiteracy, malnutrition, poverty, and other social ills. Abroad, Chávez has acted against the Washington Consensus by supporting alternative models of economic development, and has advocated cooperation among the world's poor nations, especially those in Latin America.

A poll carried out between Feb 19 and March 2, 2005 put Chavez 's approval rating at 70.5% (Peter Millard Dow Jones Newswires).