On the occasion of the sad and premature death of President Hugo Chavez I would like to take the opportunity to say this: the socialism practised in Venezuela and Latin America in recent years has nothing to do with the Soviet socialism or communism we know of.

Likewise, the capitalism practised until recently in Venezuela and in most Latin American countries is not the capitalism that emerged in Europe since the war.

During my 25 years plus in Brazil I used to tell the people that if Margaret Thatcher had to be President of any Latin American Republic, the capitalists in Latin America would condemn her as an outright Communist – so savage was the Latin American style of capitalism.

Also, the Church in Europe suffered harsh persecutions and martyrdoms under Communist regimes. On the contrary, in Latin America, the Church suffered persecutions and martyrdoms under capitalist regimes.

Having offered and made these distinctions, I salute Chavez jointly with the millions of Venezuelans. Whoever passed through Latin America understands them.