Cilia Flores: The Flower of Venezuelan Struggle
— The Wheels of History Never Stop
By Ok Hyo-jeong
Free Cilia, the anti-imperialist fighter!
Down with imperialism, the oppressor of women!
The dark hands of imperialism,
masked in the false light of liberty,
reach hungrily toward the lands of Bolívar’s descendants,
strangling the breath of sovereignty.
They measure peace in barrels of oil and stacks of dollars,
and guard their crumbling throne with the madness of war.
They may imprison the body of Cilia—
the first fighter of Venezuela—
yet the spirit of anti-imperialist freedom
lies beyond the reach of their prisons.
Cilia is not merely one woman.
She is the living banner of Venezuelan sovereignty,
standing unbowed before imperial tyranny—
the pride and courage of the Venezuelan people.
The flower of struggle, blooming from the red soil of Caracas,
climbs the harsh ridges of the Andes,
crosses the restless Atlantic, and blossoms anew
as tens of thousands of Cilias
in the squares of the world.
Today, on International Women’s Day,
we raise high the banner of anti-imperialist liberation.
It is a torch of solidarity for Cilia,
and an arrow aimed at the heart of imperialism.
With solidarity hardened like steel,
we will tear down the walls of oppression.
We will break the chains of empire
and win a world reborn—
a world of sovereignty,
democracy, and peace.
The wheels of history
do not turn for tyrants.
They turn with the pulse
of the struggling people.
We are the blood,
the breath, and the beating heart
that drives them forward.
The rusted clock of imperialism
ticks toward its own end,
while the drums of liberation
shake the earth with growing thunder.
And when the flowers of freedom
bloom over the grave of hegemony,
we shall meet again
and sing the song of victory.
Cilia—
your name is the promise of triumph.
Cilia—
your struggle is our victory.
Free Cilia now!
Free Cilia!
