Istvan Meszaros greets Venezuelan Ambassador in his home

President Hugo Chávez sent Istvan Meszaros a bust of Francisco de Miranda as part of the Liberator Prize for Critical Thought for 2008 awarded to him in September of this year in Caracas, Venezuela.

The bust was sent to the Embassy of Venezuela in the UK and last Friday Ambassador Samuel Moncada handed it personally to Meszaros at his residence in London.

In addition to the bust, Moncada presented him with a painting by Manuel Espinoza; sent by his personal friend, the Venezuelan Minister of Planning and Development Jorge Giordani.

Moncada and Meszaros took the opportunity to talk about a range of topics related to economics and global politics. In the meantime Ambassador Moncada invited Mr Mezaros to give a lecture in the spaces of the Bolivar Hall.

Meszaros also explained that he met President Chavez through Giordani in 1993, when the President was still in the Yares prison.

"In 1993 I wrote about Chavez and at that time I urged him to run for president", said Meszaro.

Meszaros is a professor at the University of Sussex, England, and his most famous books are: Beyond Capital (2000) and The Challenge and the Burden of Historical Time: Socialism of the XXI century (2008), for which he was awarded the Liberator Prize for Critical Thought.

Press Office of the Embassy of Venezuela in London, Monday November 2, 2009