Paul Getting Political in Venezuela
In a recent article (May 2005) with Oidossucios.com, Paul Di'Anno took a political stance supporting the Hugo Chavez governement in Venezuela.He said that he fully supported the system put in place by the President and that the country shall be number 1 very soon. No word about what number 1 meant...
He was in Venezuela to take part to the GillmanFest 2005, a metal festival.
Source: Oidossucios.com
Thanks to doncella76
17 Comments
What does Paul know about politics?
OMG, that is sick!!! 
Having a Venezuelan wife, being busy in trying to move to Venezuela, and seeing how difficult that has become due to "the beloved gran libertador Chavez" (NOT!), I must say that I am honestly dissapointed in Paul. 
Here I was expecting to see him make a stand AGAINST Chavez's dictatorial reign, ooops, sorry I mean 'government'. I just checked the original article; indeed, "Chavista indoctrination all along". Obviously a free concert organised by the Chavistas for political gain (note the governmental propaganda in the background, as well as the red Chavista clothes).
Sure... Venezuela will soon be number one in Latin America: once the CIA has ejected him. 
BTW: It shows how well the reporter is informed: he called Paul "one of the founding members" of Iron Maiden, yeah right, like that didn't happen some 3 years before he joined. 
Oh well, more than enough politics for now, I actually checked in to the forum to enjoy myself, and not to get annoyed by it...
Please pardon my blatant rant. 
Cheers!
Mystery Madman
Well, I was at that show, and yes, Paul was involved in some political stuff. However, I must say that I think he really didn't know about Chavez, he was just being nice with his promoters. The real problem is that the venezuelan goverment used Paul as propaganda tool.
The festival was organized by Paul Gillma, a guy that is obsessed with Iron Maiden, in fact, he keeps saying that he even auditioned for Maiden when Bruce left. He released many albums with crappy artworks, but when he teamed up with Chavez, then he released an album with some Derek Riggs cover, a real one made by Riggs, really.
Then, he invited Paul (to have some piece of the legend) to this "Gillmanfest". Paul was here for about 4 days, and I can bet that Gillman brainwashed Paul, telling him stories about how happy the venezuelan people is right now. They took him to the beach, rent the greatest hotel room for him, and just showed him the good side of the story. They didn't tell him that many many children lives on the streets thanks to Chavez... they didn't tell him that here in Venezuela, Police and military forces kill people on the streets... in fact, one of those "soldiers", who punched a few women in a protest, is now in charge of one of the venezuelan states.
Paul was just a victim of politics... shitty trick. I'm sure that Paul just didn't know about it, he didn't know what was really going on, and for me, to see Paul wearing a Goverment's t-shirt and saying "Arriba la revolucion" (Up the revolution) was just too sad. That revolution he was talking about is the one that has Cuba in full misery, and the same revolution that's driving us nuts over here.
But our time will come... I know that. Soon or later, we will be a truly democratic country.
Cheers and up the real irons!
Thank you all for the sensitive responses. And thank you Jedbans for the very informative post !
I avoided putting anything opinionated in my news, for I wanted to avoid causing discomfort. Everyone's is entitled to have political opinions.
But, Jedbans, your answer is very interesting. The backstory of why Paul was invited there is very informative. Was the Derek Riggs design nice, then ? 
Cheers
I didnt know that background, Jedbans.
But, no one except people from Venezuela can say sth about Chavez. Outside latin america, everybody thinks that any person against capitalism and against US politics is crazy.
In any case, US doesnt have to do anything there... they only want their petrol...
Well, US companies are not the only ones in Venezuela. TotalFinaElf (a very big player) is french, Repsol in spanish, Petrobras is brazilian, Royal Dutch Shell is dutch, China National Petroleum Corp is chinese, BP is british, Statoil is norwegian, OMV is german, Nynas is swedish, Fortum is finnish, Petro-Canada is canadian, Teikoku is japanese...
Well, out of the major players in Venezula, the Americans are ChevronTexaco, ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips. Smaller players are Anadarko and Harvest Natural Ressources.
Finally, PDVSA, Citgo, Otepi and Inepetrol -hardly philanthropy companies- are venezuelian. PetroFalcon is both US and venezuelian.
Seems a lot of countries are to blame and not only the US
Cheers
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As the chair of a student socialist society in the UK, i take great offense at that generalisation, but I suppose that's what you have heard from the capitalistic american media, so it's not your fault. I and many of my friends, would be glad to see the end of american imperialism. not having a go, just trying to state that not everyone wants to live in the arse of mcdonalds!
taffy
Come on, Paul is fucking crazy, but he sure as hell isn't some tool who would be brainwashed into taking a political statement, I'm sure about that.
taffy
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Ok, I know I promised to stick to only Maiden-related comments for a while, but this needs BS called on it man.
First of all, it's awesome that you're taking an active role in political discourse (even though I don't agree with your stance). America is not imperialist. They are capitalist. Despite what Marx may have written, imperialism is NOT the highest stage of capitalism. Capitalism and imperialism often go hand in hand, but they have mutually exclusive goals.
As far as global hegemonies go, America ain't all that bad compared to the alternatives. I'd much rather the nukes be controlled by Washington than by Beijing or Moscow.
Well, let me clear things up a little bit... People outisde Venezuela know Chavez because he's always fighting against US politics or whatever, so, many people think he's some kind of hero. Paul hates the United States and hates Bush (as many other people does), so probably, when he came and found out that Chavez and his goverment were against America as well, he just felt that was a good excuse to support the "Revolucion", that's why I say that he was brainwashed... they just took advantage of his anti-Bush thoughts to make him part of this revolution shit.
Paul Gillman used this festival to make some propaganda, and the crowd just wasn't there for that, in fact, many people there were against Chavez, but that didn't matter, because as I said, nobody attended to be part of a political meeting, they were there to rock along with Di'Anno and many other bands.
About the Gillman cover made by Riggs, it's not that good really. Derek used an old painting he made for a theme park, and turn it into some kind of "indian warrior eddie" (as Gillman is obsessed with Maiden). The name of that Gillman album is "Cuahtemoc", and the album is based in the legend of Guacaipuro Cuahtemoc, an acient mexican indian.
Anyways, I want to let everyone know here that I really don't blame Paul Di'Anno for what he did here in Venezuela, I'm sure that he just didn't know the whole story behind Chavez goverment. Not too many people are able to know the truth... so, let's move on and forget about it 
Be safe mates...
Up The Irons
thats it I think
As a very proud capitalist American, I laugh at all of the Anti-Americanism throughout the world. It's really very hypocritcal if you think about it. Half of the world wouldn't be free to listen to Iron Maiden if it wasn't for us "evil imperialist" Americans.
If it is so terrible, why is everybody trying to cross our borders to live here? You don't have too many people trying to get out (although they are fre to leave if they wish).
When you think about all of the good that America has done for the entire world, you can't possibly be Anti-American unless you are an absolute idiot.
I hate it when people in the entertainment industry try to get involved in politics, like their oppinion matters more than youre average Joe on the street. I also hate to see these forums hi-jacked by pollitical discusions, like the time Blaze got punched in the eye for making durrogatory comments on stage about President Bush.
Secondly, if Paul allowed himself to be used in such a manner, that makes him a sellout in my book.
You know, Rock and Roll + Heavy Metal = "Antiestablishmentarianism!"
Stick to the music Paul and don't allianate half of your fans.
I think the second post of Jedbans is right on the point of why Paul acted this way.
Let's not fight here about something Paul did. After all, it's not as if Paul's words will matter much in today international relations
Cheers
I haven't heard the story about Blaze getting whalloped for making comments about Dubya, what happened?
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As reported by Shadow
June 30 2004
After onstage anti-George Bush rhetoric by Blaze Bayley (he began a song by saying "Kill & Destroy George Bush!"), the singer from CAGE (Sean Peck) asked him what was up with slagging Bush and the USA. Both participants had finished their sets and were drunk. Words exchanged, Blaze reportedly asked, "Do you want to have a go at me?" and lunged towards Peck, who clocked him.
As the former Iron Maiden singer was (ironically) falling down, Peck grabbed his collar and in best hockey fight fashion, pummeled Bayley a few more times. The result a quickly swollen and discolored eye.
http://forum.maidenfans.com/index.php?show...926&#entry75926
June 30 2004
After onstage anti-George Bush rhetoric by Blaze Bayley (he began a song by saying "Kill & Destroy George Bush!"), the singer from CAGE (Sean Peck) asked him what was up with slagging Bush and the USA. Both participants had finished their sets and were drunk. Words exchanged, Blaze reportedly asked, "Do you want to have a go at me?" and lunged towards Peck, who clocked him.
As the former Iron Maiden singer was (ironically) falling down, Peck grabbed his collar and in best hockey fight fashion, pummeled Bayley a few more times. The result a quickly swollen and discolored eye.
http://forum.maidenfans.com/index.php?show...926&#entry75926
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Good stuff, thanks for sharing.