Recently, Senator Bernie Sanders from Vermont who is running to be the Democrat nominee for president of the USA in 2016 responded to an "attack" on him by a Super PAC (Political Action Committee) that supports one of his opponents, Hillary Clinton.

The "attack" linked Sanders to deceased Democratically Elected populist Hugo Chavez of Venezuela. I emphasize "Democratically Elected" because Chavez survived several elections and one recall attempt in what ex-president Jimmy Carter called, "the world's most valid elections." I also emphasize Democratically Elected because instead of Sanders doing the right thing and speaking courageously about President Chavez who had so much courage and integrity himself and provided low cost heating oil to residents of Vermont and other places in the Northeast USA through the US subsidiary of Vz oil, CITGO (no other oil company did so), Sanders used the deceitful language of the US Empire and propaganda media to call Hugo Chavez a "dead communist dictator."

The slur came in a fundraising letter from the Senator's campaign and signed by the Senator himself on September 15, 2015.

Chavez did much good for Venezuela and Latin America (indeed, the world) in his public career and was a good friend to the poor and oppressed of the planet. Chavez opposed US imperialism with his whole heart and survived many attempts by the US to overthrow or undermine his administration. Many of us were devastated when he lost his courageous battle against cancer and are devastated that politicians and media in the US won't allow him to simply rest in peace, or give him his rightful place in history as a very important and influential figure.

While slamming a very popular humanist, Sanders said this to CNN on August 9. 2015 of his "opponent" Hillary Clinton, who is an imperialist, corporatist,  war monger,  "So all that I can say is I have known Hillary Clinton for 25 years. I admire her. I respect her. I like her. "

We the undersigned demand that Bernie Sanders retract his statement about President Hugo Chavez (RIP) and apologize to the people of Venezuela and to we who are admirers of Hugo Chavez and the Bolivarian Revolution.