What do you get when you combine, more than 15,000 students from over 100 countries, live music, a parade, a stray dog with her tits a swinging (clearly having the time of her life), armed guards, flags, dancing, and the leading voice of the Bolivarian Revolution?  Well, on Aug 8th, 2005 in Caracas, Venezuela that equals the opening ceremony for the 16th World Festival for Youth and Students.  

The slogan for the festival is “Por La Paz y La Solidaridad Luchamos Contra el Imperialismo y la Guerra!"  This means "Together in Peace and Solidarity we Fight against Imperialism and War!" That's a serious mandate and not one you find at most gatherings for young people. The fact that this many youth from around the world are coming together for a united cause is truly amazing. Let's face it, most of the change we have seen on this planet has been born of the hearts, minds and actions of young people.

Today was something special, we got a chance to see one of the most dynamic and controversial leaders on the planet in person. After spending 3 hours standing at attention, saluting and personally welcoming all of the delegates, the man of the hour, President Hugo Chavez, took the stage and the crowd went nuts. As he settled into his speech one thing became glaringly obvious, this man is a great orator.

My Spanish is far from functional but from the crowd's reaction, the strength in his voice and his charisma you could see why this man is becoming a leader on the world stage and a hero to many people. Time will be his ultimate judge, but rest assured that the true revolutionary spirit is alive and well in Venezuela, the kids can feel it, and their leader proclaims it. It's refreshing to experience an alternative approach to politics and interesting that the world's mainstream media was not really around to show it.