Paris, June 30, 2024 – Former President of Bolivia, Jorge Quiroga, delivered a compelling speech at the Free Iran 2024 World Summit, emphasizing the parallels between the struggles for freedom in Iran and Venezuela. Speaking to an audience that included Maryam Rajavi and numerous former leaders and parliamentarians, Quiroga highlighted the importance of the fight against oppressive regimes to achieve democracy and liberty.
Quiroga highlighted the interconnected nature of these regimes, referring to them as “octopuses” with tentacles that strangle democracy. Drawing from his own experiences, the former President recalled the AMIA bombing in Buenos Aires in 1994, orchestrated by Iranian operatives, and the recent assassination attempt on Dr. Vidal Quadras in Spain. He pointed out the consistent tactics of terror and repression used by these regimes, noting the extraterritorial assassinations and the use of proxies.
Quiroga condemned the recent elections in Iran, describing them as a “charade and a masquerade” and rejecting the notion of calling them elections. He emphasized that such elections under a theocracy are nothing more than autocratic appointments.
Full Text of former Bolivian President Jorge Quiroga’s speech follows:
Good afternoon, Madam Maryam Rajavi, people, friends of the NCRI, former leaders, parliamentarians, and all the future leaders, parliamentarians, and presidents of a free Iran in the back, I salute you from here.
Madam Rajavi, you know very well that I came here because I have learned that in parts of my region, in your country, the issue is not left against right, like perhaps it is today in France or next Thursday in the United Kingdom, the issue is not that in our parts of the world, in the Pirates of the Caribbean, Venezuela, Cuba, Nicaragua, that is not the issue. The issue is them or us. They are for tyranny. We are for liberty. They are for autocracy. We are for democracy. They are for one-man rule forever. It’s always a man. It’s never a woman. We are for the rule of law with alternation in power. They are for oppression and muscling the free press. We are for freedom, including that of the press, and they are very good at managing, articulating, and leveraging amiable appeasers in the Western world. We want committed, consistent partners like many of the ones you’ve invited here to always be on the side of freedom and liberty for Iran, for Venezuela, and for every country in the world.
I learned a long time ago that we are facing the octopuses, the octopuses of “the niners.” I like octopus in the salad. I do not like tyrannical octopuses with tentacles that strangle democracy, particularly “the niners.”
If you look at the history of the world, Cuba, the Castros, 59, Iran, the Ayatollah, 79, Putin, Russia, 99, Chavismo, Venezuela, 99, and they are global octopuses whose tentacles reach, interweave, and interact with each other. They do coordinate. They do help out each other, and we very seldom help each other in the struggle for freedom against these octopuses that we have to fight against, and I’ve seen it in my country.
Thirty years ago, on July 18, 1994, the biggest terrorist attack took place in South America. AMIA, Buenos Aires, Argentina, 84 dead, six Bolivians. Who was the mastermind? Vahidi. Where is he from? Iran. The minister. He paraded around my country in 2011, and nothing happened to him while he was parading there.
Who comes to Venezuela, Cuba, and Nicaragua? Last year, Raisi. Who comes to Venezuela, Cuba, and Nicaragua? Lavrov. Twice. To coordinate and see what they can do together. The issue that I want to focus on in July, the world’s attention, and I realize there are too many other things happening, are Iran and Venezuela. Two countries that used to be oil powers are mired in high inflation, massive corruption, economies that have been destroyed, and criminal conglomerates that create political prisoners that murder people, exile people, and do extraterritorial assassination attempts.
.@tutoquiroga: "It pains me, Madame Rajavi, when I hear the word 'election' used. No matter how you qualify it—sham, fraudulent election. No, no, that is a charade and a masquerade."#MaryamRajavi4FreeIran #FreeIran2024https://t.co/qDqV0PdST0
— NCRI-FAC (@iran_policy) June 30, 2024
Like they tried with Vidal Quadras in Spain like they just did with Ojeda in Chile. A military from Venezuela in Santiago, Chile, was pulled out of a room, spliced into little pieces, put on a suitcase, and buried a meter and a half under cement in Santiago, Chile.
The dictatorships coordinate. They share their techniques. They learn from each other, and they do the exact same thing, and they even have proxies. Everybody talks about the horrible ages, Hamas, Houthis, Hezbollah. We see them in Latin America.
In Latin America, we’re talking about Tren de Aragua, the criminal proxies that Venezuela is starting to export as well. We know all about the appeasement. In Venezuela, we have seen hostages being swapped for criminals, like you have in Iran, so the techniques are all the same. I’ll close with two points on Iran and Venezuela.
It pains me, Madam Rajavi when I hear about the election. No matter how you qualify, sham, fraudulent election, no, no. That is a charade and a masquerade. It does not deserve the word theocracy and elections do not go together.
If in a row here there are ten people, and one is dancing and nine are sleeping, that is not an electoral festivity when a little more than ten percent of the people are voting. You cannot call that anything except a dictatorial designation, an autocratic appointment. That is what is taking place.
The press always likes to find out who’s the bad guy, who’s the good guy, who’s Real Madrid, who’s Bayern Munich, who’s the conservative, who’s the reformist. Finding a reformist approved by the theocracy in Iran is like finding a Catholic nun in a drug cartel in Latin America. It does not exist. You will never find it.
I’ll close with Venezuela. Venezuela, Madam Rajavi, on July 28th, we have elections. We were supposed to run a woman, Maria Corina Machado. We have to register a substitute. We’re down now to the substitute of the substitute of the one that should have been running. But no matter what, there is a chance to regain democracy in the land of the liberator Bolivar and free it from the pernicious influences of Cuba, Russia, Iran, FARC, Hamas, Hezbollah, make it export energy, not people, not re-export cocaine, and make it a beacon of democracy like it was.
We do have the opportunity, and what’s common between Iran and Venezuela is that we have organized opposition in Venezuela like you have in Iran. You have a Ten-Point Plan. Maria Corina Machado has the plan that’s called Tierra de Gracia, Land of Grace, what Christopher Columbo said when he touched foot in Venezuela. We have something else that is exceptional. Two women engineers are leading the movement, and their names are Mariam and Maria Machado. Let’s hear it for Mariam and Maria Corina Machado, two women leaders who can take these countries together.
I thank you for this opportunity. To all the friends from Ukraine, Slava Ukraini, Heroyan Slava, Women, Life, Freedom for Iran, and glory to the brave people of Venezuela. There is a soap opera in Spanish that’s called Dos Mujeres, Un Camino, Two Women, One Pathway.
Look out in July and keep your eyes on Mariam Rajavi, and Maria Corina Machado. It will be two women, one destiny. Freedom for Iran, freedom for Venezuela.
Thank you.