NYTr Chavez, Cheered in the Bronx, Welcomed Home in Caracas

BY PABLO BACHELET

NEW YORK - Clad in dark slacks and his signature red shirt representing his "Bolivarian revolution," Venezuelan President Hugo Ch�vez took his magnetic charisma to a South Bronx community gathering Saturday -- and the people loved it.

He kissed, hugged and mixed it up with gusto with a Dominican music band, almost as if he were courting voters.

His audience included representatives of faith-based groups and charter schools. They came intrigued that a president from another country would trek uptown, away from the wealth and power in Manhattan. And they got a firsthand taste of Ch�vez's talent for mingling with ordinary people, a trait that has made him wildly popular among Venezuela's poor.

"You'd better put in there that I got a kiss from Ch�vez," said Catherine Scott, a 59-year-old black Spanish teacher as she wiped tears from her eyes. "I never even got a kiss from President Clinton," she added, laughing at her joke.

Fifteen organizations had set up tables in The Point Community Development Corp. on Garrison Avenue, displaying their work much like in a fifth-graders' exhibition. The event had been arranged by Rep. Jos� Serrano, a New York Democrat who, a decade earlier, brought Cuban leader Fidel Castro to the Bronx.

BEAMING CROWD

Castro, whom Ch�vez openly admires, spoke then for about 30 minutes, mostly about baseball. Ch�vez spent more than two hours at the center, in Hunt Point in the South Bronx, moving from table to table in a chaotic cluster of aides, journalists, bodyguards and beaming Bronx residents taking pictures.

He asked Heidi Hynes, the executive director of the Mary Mitchell Family and Youth Center if her organization was headquartered nearby. He wanted to know what the kids did, and who Mary Mitchell was.

"And what is your budget?" he asked.

Hynes replied that it was around $300,000 a year.

Ch�vez turned around and told an aide to take down the name. He instructed the Venezuelan Embbutty in Washington to make a donation.

Hynes said her center had been visited by famous athletes but never by a top-level politician. The Bangladeshi ambbuttador to the United Nations came once. "We're delighted to be able to host a foreign dignitary in the Bronx," she said.

Serrano said it was Ch�vez who had insisted on meeting with community leaders of the Bronx, a community of 1.7 million people, and, to many, still a symbol of America's urban underclbutt.

Speaking with about a dozen journalists, he said there was "more soul and power" in The Point than in the U.N. General buttembly. Ch�vez had spent the previous two days meeting with world leaders and made his mark by delivering a blistering attack on the United Nations and the Bush administration Thursday.

He then hoisted up 2-year-old Marquez Hunter. He kissed him and said in his elementary English, "This is my boy!" pointing to the startled child, then he added: "This is my summit, this was his summit." The cameras flashed.

DIPLOMATIC QUARREL

Ch�vez's arrival in New York was delayed by nearly two days, marred until the very end by his long feud with the Bush administration, which he accuses of plotting to overthrow him. His staff quarreled over visas for his security detail. Venezuelan officials complained that Ch�vez's security chief and his doctor were not let off the plane for lack of visas.

He met with U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, no friend of the United States. But on Saturday, Ch�vez was focused on folks like Lucretia Jones, who heads Mothers on the Move, a group that seeks equal opportunities in education and housing. She had only a vague notion of Ch�vez before Saturday. She had first heard about him during the April 2002 coup. Ch�vez was briefly overthrown, but returned triumphantly two days later.

Jones heard about Ch�vez again last month, when Rev. Pat Robertson caused an uproar when he called on the United States to buttbuttinate the Venezuelan leader.

The Palo Monte, a group of musicians from the Dominican Republic, were playing catchy, fast-paced tunes. Ch�vez mingled with them.

He played a g�ira, a sort of aluminum cylindrical percussion instrument, and then grabbed two maracas, essentially large rattlers. As Ch�vez swayed to the music, the band sang, "�Ooh, ah, Ch�vez no se va!" (Ch�vez is not leaving).

'IMPERIALIST CURRENTS'

But Ch�vez also showed his confrontational side.

The Venezuelan said the final U.N. declaration, which was worked out amid much diplomatic haggling, was "very suspect."

"They're trying to legalize the imperialist currents," he said.

And the Bronx cheered again.

~ ***

Agencia Cubana de Noticias (AIN)

Venezuelan President Receives Warm Welcome Home

Havana Sep 19 (AIN) The peoples of the world will not accept the legitimization of imperialism in the UN, underscored President Hugo Chavez, speaking before Venezuelans who welcomed him home from a speech before that body.

Chavez�� thought-provoking statements at a UN summit of heads of state have received worldwide coverage. In his speech, he laid heavy criticism on the UN��s final statement and denounced maneuvers carried out by the US to gain control over the entire world.

Fundamental topics such as action necessary to eliminate poverty were neglected during the summit, pointed out Chavez. ��Poverty must be a world concern. Even in the US there are 40 million of poor and needy people,�� he said, adding, ��I just did my duty. I have always talked on behalf my nation and that will never change.��

Chavez also noted the US��s attempts to thwart his participation at the 60th Session of the UN Summit by denying visas to his security and medical staff to enter the US. However, nothing could stop his attendance to the event in the country where, as he said, ��someday there will emerge the strength to set humanity free from war.��

President of the Venezuelan Parliament Nicolas Maduro, speaking on behalf of the Venezuelan people, expressed satisfaction and support for the leader of the ��Bolivarian Revolution.��

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