"We have called everybody in Venezuela to study. Just about everybody is studying—grandmothers, grandfathers, children, grandchildren. Those who did not finish primary school are finishing it, those that did not finish secondary school are finishing it, and there are men and women, 50, 40, 20, 80, or even 90 years old, studying. " --"Capitalism is Savagery," Excerpts from a speech by the Venezuelan president,Hugo Chavez, at the World Social Foum, 2005.
Olivia Delfino spoke in a poor Caracas barrio:
"Can you imagine what's it has meant to me, at 52 years old, to now have a chance to read?" she said. "It's transformed my life."
See also: Why He Crushed the Oligarchs: The Importance of Hugo Chavez by Tariq Ali. "Just under a million children from the shanty-towns and the poorest villages now obtain a free education; 1.2 million illiterate adults have been taught to read and write; secondary education has been made available to 250,000 children whose social status excluded them from this privilege during the ancien regime; three new university campuses were functioning by 2003 and six more are due to be completed by 2006."
--Librarian
