Maradona, people’s love 

maradona1

Maradona, Number 10, is our love.

People stand with Maradona. People are in solidarity with Maradona. People mourn.

Our Maradona stands with the oppressed, the exploited.

Maradona was with that spirit called Rebellion. Rebellion is the spirit of the oppressed, of the exploited. Rebellion is the spirit against the oppressors, the exploiters, the imperialists, the empire. It’s the human spirit. People’s Maradona was with this eternal human spirit – Rebellion.

Diego Armando Maradona, son of a laborer, a boy from a slum, from a poor family, raised in dire poverty, is people’s love, as he never renounced his position – for the poor, for the exploited, for the oppressed, against the exploiters, against imperialism. The contradiction between the exploited and the exploiters is one of the basic contradictions in today’s world. There’s no scope to forget this contradiction for a moment. This was Maradona’s audacity – stand with the exploited, always stand with the poor.

Maradona felt disgusted with golden ceilings during one of his visits to a place. He told the chief of the place to sell the gold if the chief wanted to help the poor. Maradona was quoted by The Independent in 2005: “I’ve […] seen the gold ceilings. And then, I hear [concern] about poor kids. So? Sell the ceilings, mate!” According to El País: Maradona said, “I […] saw that golden roof. And I said to myself how could somebody […] live with a golden roof and then go to poor countries and kiss children […]?”

Maradona’s pain for the poor was unequivocal. Here’s the difference between analysts and commentators spending hours with analyses and perceptions for people of this land and that land, for this sect and that sect as the analysts, etc. ignore the basic question of the poor while Maradona never forgets the issue – exploitation, the exploited and the exploiters.

With a pro-people view, Maradona upheld leftist position. The Cuba Revolution led by Fidel was close to his heart. Maradona had a very close relation with Fidel. To Maradona, Fidel was his “Second Father”. He was also close to Hugo Chavez, Danile Ortega, Evo Morales and Kirchner.

Maradona expressed support to the Bolivarian Revolution in Venezuela.

Maduro said: “Diego Armando Maradona was loyal to our friendship, to our cause, to the people of Venezuela.” Maduro wrote in his Twitter account: “Much sadness has left us the departure of the legend of football, a brother and unconditional friend of Venezuela. Dear and irreverent ‘Pelusa’, you will always be in my heart and in my thoughts. I have no words at this moment to express what I feel. So long Pibe de America!”

Evo described Maradona as “a person who felt and fought for the humble, the best football player in the world. [….] Diego was a great friend of just causes.”

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva wrote: “Diego Armando Maradona was a giant of football, of Argentina and the whole world, a unique talent, and personality. [….] His genius and passion in the field, his intensity in life and his commitment to Latin American sovereignty marked our era. [….] I thank him for all his solidarity with popular causes and with the Brazilian people.”

Dilma Rousseff said: “Maradona deserves to be admired for his defense of the rights of the peoples of Latin America and the Caribbean, of sovereignty, democracy, and social justice.”

Maradona opposed neoliberal policies. He was a strong supporter of the Latin American governments that stand against imperialism.

Fidel and Che were Maradona’s icons. During paying respect to Fidel in Cuba, Maradona said: “He was like a father to me. [….] When they told me last night, I cried like hell. [….] [H]e will keep guiding us like Che, like Chavez.”

On another occasion, Maradona said: “In the name of all Argentines that love Fidel and Che, I ask you for forgiveness because we have a president that knows absolutely nothing. [….] I’m a Cuban soldier, I’m available for whatever Cuba needs instead of being Macri’s soldier, which I will never be. I would give my whole body for this [Cuban] flag.”

While paying respect to Chavez, Maradona said: “What Hugo left me was a great friendship, an incredible political wisdom. Hugo Chavez changed the way Latin America thinks. We were bowed to the United States and he showed us that we can walk by ourselves.”

Yes, Maradona despised the empire. The empire always tries to cow everybody, all the peoples in all countries.

Maradona unceasingly supported Maduro. He once told Maduro: “Don’t give up. In soccer, it doesn’t matter if you lose three to zero, never give up. You never gave up and you’re giving everything for Venezuelans. Long live Maduro! We’re soldiers of Nicolas, I came here to give him my support.”

The Latin American leaders’ messages on Maradona, and Maradona’s messages tell his position: With people, against imperialism.

In this area, the area of people and people’s politics, Maradona was unerring. In football field, Maradona missed opportunities to make goals as do every player. But in the area of people and people’s politics, he had no confusion regarding people’s interest, and imperialism. However, a section with a pro-“people”, pro-“democracy” flag regularly omits imperialism in their agenda. They never see imperialism. Their “democracy”-dream is the dream of lackeys. Their “democracy”-dream is the dream of imperialist intervention that brings in deaths and destruction in intervened countries. Their strength is imperialist backing, not people-support. They don’t look at the present state of imperialist democracy. It’s their shameless position. To hide this position, they utter a few leftish words and sound “anti”-empire rhetoric. But they never expose empire’s backing to them, and their ties to reactionary interests.

Maradona was opposite to these. Maradona was never with imperialism. Maradona was never with the exploiters. This makes Maradona an eternally living love.

Farooque Chowdhury writes from Dhaka, Bangladesh.


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