Latin America is living a second independence, says Ernesto Cardenal, Cubadebate, Oct 22, 2009

http://www.cubadebate.cu/noticias/2009/10/22/america-latina-vive-una-segunda-independencia-afirma-ernesto-cardenal/

The writer Nicaraguan Ernesto Cardenal said today that many South American countries "true revolutions are under way" representing a "second independence" of Latin America after the fall of the Spanish empire.

Cardinal was speaking at the Spanish city of Valencia (east), where he presented the show "Cardinal ascends to heaven .. Canary Islands, a musicalization of his poems "Cosmic Canticle" and "Telescope on the dark night, by a group of musicians in these Atlantic islands, led by Caco Senante.

The poet spoke of the political and social situation of South American countries and stressed the change of the official name of Venezuela -called The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, which, in his view, "renews the dream" of a Simón Bolívar united Latin America.

Also, he called it a "miracle" that in Bolivia an Indigenous man is president, as it is the country where the natives, who are the majority, "have been most discriminated against and humiliated."

Cardinal continued his analysis of the situation of these countries and stressed that Paraguay, "after a lengthy dictatorship", now has a president, Fernando Lugo, who as bishop was a supporter of liberation theology and "had to resign" from that ecclesiastical office to become a candidate.