Analysis
Opinion
The 2002 oil lockout in Venezuela: 10 years later pagege 7
Border crossings: The Venezuelans are coming! page 8
Friday, December 7, 2012 | Nº 138 | Caracas | www.correodelorinoco.gob.ve
Venezuela stands with Palestine
ENGLISH EDITION/The artillery of ideas
Venezuela’s “Dancing Devils”: Cultural Heritage of Humanity, says Unesco
Venezuela last week stood firmly with the global majority at the United Nations in its vote to recognize Palestinian statehood. Perhaps one of the most avid voices among countries backing Palestine’s bid to be a “non member observer state”, Venezuela went even further and demanded Israel be “held responsible” for the “crimes against humanity inflicted on the Palestinian people”. page 4 Politics
Chavez govt demands efficiency A new policy of accountability and action is being implemented in all sectors. page 3 Environment
Change the system Venezuela backed clear initiatives to address climate change in Doha this week. page 5 Social Justice
Advances for disabled citizens
Venezuela has become a reference in disabled people’s rights. page 6
One of Venezuela’s most celebrated traditions was granted Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity status by the United Nation’s Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco) on Thursday during a committee meeting of the international body in Paris. With the status, Venezuela’s Dancing Devils take their place alongside such cultural manifestations as Spain’s Flamenco, Turkey’s Mevlevi Sema Ceremony, and, more recently, Mexico’s Mariachi music. Page 2
Beacon of Hope Leading experts in the field of Latin America addressed a large audience on the latest developments in Latin America and hailed the continent’s tide of progressive governments as a “beacon of hope” at the annual Latin America Conference on Saturday December 1 in London. Under the theme “making a better world possible”, over 20 seminars, workshops and film screenings addressed the progressive movements sweeping the continent and celebrated their political and social achievements. The conference examined a wealth of themes including the misrepresentation of Latin America in the western media, US intervention in Latin America, social progress in Venezuela, what socialism in the 21st century really means for the Venezuelan people, and the impact that ALBA has had on social and economic development in Latin America. Against a backdrop of austerity in Europe, the Latin America Conference provided a timely reminder of what is possible if governments put people before profit.
INTERNATIONAL Kyoto: Only protocol for saving environment on global scale The Kyoto Protocol is the only legal and binding instrument on a global scale that allows saving and preserving the environment, said Venezuelan Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Claudia Salerno, representing Venezuela in the 18th UN Climate Change Conference, which culminated this Friday in Doha, Qatar. The Venezuelan representative rejected the fact that the final statement of the conference be decided by developed countries, hence “multilateralism must be respected” and “the voice of everybody must be heard” in order to achieve a “unbiased outcome”. Salerno warned that developed countries do not want to be committed to the Kyoto Protocol ratification, so they are aiming at a “transitory political implementation” of such agreement. The Kyoto Protocol was endorsed on December 11, 1997 in Japan. It aims at reducing the emissions of greenhouse gases that cause global warming. The Kyoto Protocol has been supported by 187 countries, except Australia and United States, which is the most polluting country in the world. Salerno remarked that Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has warned of the urgent need to take concrete measures to save both the planet and humanity. The stance of the government of Venezuela is against “capitalist interests” that prioritize profits over human welfare, said the representative. TeleSur’s correspondent in Doha, Aissa Garcia, reported on Monday morning that “there are no agreements yet to establish a binding document to substitute the Kyoto Protocol”, which will expire next December 31.
2 Impact | . s Friday, December 7, 2012
The artillery of ideas
Venezuela’s Dancing Devils receive country’s first intangible heritage recognition by Unesco T/ COI P/ Agencies
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ne of Venezuela’s most celebrated traditions was granted Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity status by the United Nation’s Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco) on Wednesday during a committee meeting of the international body in Paris. Government officials and 22 members of the eleven guilds that make up the Dancing Devils of Corpus Christi, a network of devoted Christians who imitate defeated demons through the use of masks and choreographed movements, traveled to France earlier this week to receive the verdict and celebrate the recognition. “We’re sure that this time the Holy Sacrament will bless us because the communities support us. The homage being paid to the most holy isn’t just through the devils but also the community which respects us and which is praying for us”, said Jose Echenagucia from the Ocumare branch of the guild before the decision. The first attempt to qualify the Devils as Intangible Heritage happened in 2002 at which time the request was denied due to technical errors and a lack of documentation. This time, a greater emphasis was placed on the meaning of the tradition for the local communities and more effort was made to include the people from those communities in the solicitation. “The first time, the communities weren’t consulted... But this year a team from the Center of Diversity traveled to our communities to interview the people who are a witness to our demonstrations”, said Militzo Vega from the state of Carabobo. With the recognition, the Dancing Devils have become Venezuela’s first cultural expression to receive Unesco’s Intangible Heritage status. The measure, largely symbolic, sets standards to safeguard the practice of living traditions and provides a series of guidelines to ensure a non-intrusive conservation of the arts, rituals, and festive events. “While fragile, intangible cultural heritage is an important factor in maintaining cultural diversity in the face of growing
globalization. An understanding of the intangible cultural heritage of different communities helps with intercultural dialogue, and encourages mutual respect for other ways of life”, states Unesco’s website. With the status, Venezuela’s Dancing Devils take their place alongside such cultural manifestations as Spain’s Flamenco, Turkey’s Mevlevi Sema Ceremony, and, more recently, Mexico’s Mariachi music. “It’s Venezuelan-ness that is being recognized”, said Culture Minister Pedro Calzadilla regarding the practice that dates back to the 1600s. “It’s through expressions such as that these our identity is supported”, he said. The celebrations take place on the ninth Thursday following
Holy Week in the central states of Miranda, Guarico, Carabobo, Cojedes, Vargas and Aragua. On that day, members of the local parishes dress in red and adorn highly elaborated masks representing the devil, who after hours of struggle eventually bows to the beneficence of the Holy Sacrament. “You can’t just dance because you like it. It’s a promise to the King of Kings and to the Holy Sacrament”, said Ernesto Herrera, a 26 year-old devotee. Herrera is from Yare, Miranda state, where the largest celebration takes place, incorporating some two thousand dancers. At noon the day before the Feast of Corpus Christi, participants arrive at the town church to receive permission from the
parish priest to engage in the acts. A procession is then carried out and a vigil for the Cruz de Mayo is undertaken until dawn. Following the vigil, the devotees assume their disguises and pay homage to those departed in the local cemetery. The dancers then pledge promises to the Lord and engage in a procession of the Holy Sacrament accentuated by various types of local music and different ritual practices depending on the locality. “We also dance when we are invited by others. I’ve been dancing since I was 7 years old. I feel proud to be a part of this tradition. I have a spiritual commitment with the Holy Spirit as well as my great grandfather who was the first President of the Devils. He and my grandfather passed the faith and devotion to me. Although it was offered to me for 7 years, I swore my allegiance for my whole life”, Herrera said. While the Dancing Devils are now recognized as an intrinsic part of the Caribbean country’s heritage, Vice Minister for Cultural Identity and Diversity, Benito Irady, expressed alarm at the fact that many Venezuelans are not familiar with the tradition or its characteristics.
Irady attributes this lack of knowledge to the influence that outside cultures, such as those from the Global North, have exerted over Venezuela. For the Vice Minister, it is crucial that Venezuela continue on the path towards reaffirming it’s own cultural identity in the face of a globalized mass media. As such, officials are hopeful that Unesco’s Intangible Heritage status will help aid in raising the consciousness among the population at large with respect to the country’s rich cultural patrimony. “The challenge is very great. It’s the need that we have to return our gaze towards ourselves - who we were and who we are”, the Vice Minister said. Activities have been planned around Venezuela’s central states to celebrate the Unesco recognition starting on Friday. A mass and a parade, which will include the participation of more than 500 devils, have been organized to take place in Caracas on Sunday. “This will be the first, after 400 years of the tradition, that a mass with all eleven guilds of the tradition will take place in the country”, said Irady last week.
. s Friday, Dicember 7, 2012
The artillery of ideas
“Efficiency or nothing” goes into action in the Venezuelan countryside
dios, and redistribute the land to small farmers. The reform has been implemented to fight inequality in the countryside and boost Venezuela’s domestic agricultural production, thereby guaranteeing food sovereignty for the OPEC member country. Last weekend’s encounters touched on themes of infrastructure, labor, and produc-
With respect to public transportation, the metro of Caracas will receive 3.3 billion ($767 million) bolivars for improvement and expansion while the metro of Los Teques, adjacent to the capital, will receive 4 billion ($930 million). Also allocated are 6.3 billion bolivars ($1.4 billion) to Venezuela’s National Electricity Corporation (Corpoelec) to strengthen the country’s energy production. Opposition congress members abstained from Tuesday’s vote, considering the budget to be “a joke” that “doesn’t translate into social spending”, according to minority leader Vestalia Sampedro. For the chair of the Assembly’s Finance Committee, Ricardo Sanguino, the Venezuelan conservatives’ abstention is indicative of their elitism. “Who can turn their back on a government that is sending resources to the people? To-
day the opposition is denying the existence of the missions by refusing to vote for the national budget”, Sanguino said. In criticizing the opposition’s abstention, the congressman from the Andean state of Tachira pointed out the advances that Venezuela has seen in living standards as a result of the spending policies implemented by the government of Hugo Chavez. “Today Venezuela exhibits the most important social indicators than any government has been able to display in such short a time. We have improved our social indicators, we have the greatest wealth redistribution in Latin America, the highest levels of employment, the social missions, and we’ve seen progress in health, education, housing, alimentation, culture, science, and technology”, he affirmed.
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ed by the government to inspect their progress and inquire on their needs. “We’re taking part in the ‘Efficiency or Nothing’ campaign, fulfilling the instructions of our commander-inchief Hugo Chavez as part of the reorientation that he gave us”, Melendez said. In the plains state of Apure, the Minister met with farmers
from a group of governmentfunded Socialist Production Units while in the neighboring state of Barinas, the presidential dispatch visited two similar agricultural centers. Most of the units are the product of Venezuela’s 2001 agrarian reform law which has sought to break-up large unproductive plantations, known in Spanish as latifun-
Venezuelan parliament approves budget, increases spending on social programs T/ COI
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enezuela’s National Assembly ratified the nation’s budget last Tuesday in a move that will strengthen social spending and boost financing for a multiplicity of welfare programs designed to improve living standards for low-income citizens. The entire budget accounts for 396 billion bolivars ($92 billion) and is calculated on a $55 barrel of oil price to safeguard against volatility in the international market. Over 147 billion bolivars ($34 billion) have been designated to social spending, representing 37.3 percent of the entire package and a 27
percent increase in the same figure from last year. Key among the spending is the allocation of financing to the Chavez administration’s anti-poverty programs, known as missions. This will translate to increased spending for public education, health care, social security, housing, maternity, and job creation. Public safety will also benefit heavily from the new spending with an allocation of just over one billion bolivars ($232 million) for the country’s National Bolivarian Police (PNB) force. The PNB was created in 2009 by the Chavez administration to transform Venezuela’s repressive and ineffective security institutions into a commu-
nity-based police that focuses on community engagement and respect for human rights. “The principal objective of [this spending] is to guarantee the reduction of the crimes with the highest indices of occurrence in the national territory. These resources are going to put emphasis on the deepening of our intelligence strategies”, said socialist congressman Alexander Dudamel during the budget debate. Other sectors that will see higher levels of funding include transportation and communication which has been increased by 185 percent; industry and commerce which will receive a 35 percent hike; and energy, mines and oil which has had its line increased by 31 percent.
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tion mechanisms, officials report. As part of the visits, Melendez was shown the different work processes employed by the socialist farms in the area, the different crops being produced, and the types of challenges facing the units. The overall goal, as stated by the Ministry, is to ensure that productivity in the countryside is on track, that government resources are being used as they are intended, and that the rights of workers are being respected. “We’re very pleased with the visit”, the high official said upon arriving by helicopter on the farm El Cedral in Apure. “The most important aspect of these visits are the workers who have made their observations and articulated what is causing them problems... Our commitment is to find solutions and correct mistakes”, she said. In this first leg of the efficiency campaign, the Ministry will cover thirteen states in the country with thirty teams of inspectors comprised of a total of 234 people, Melendez told reporters last Friday. These include engineers, accountants, social workers and others who will provide a holistic analysis of each production unit to be handed in to the Executive for review. While Minister Melendez’s visit to the farms last weekend was brief, a team of inspectors will remain with the workers until a complete analysis of the agricultural projects can be concluded.
T/ COI P/ Agencies he Minister of Government Management, Carmen Melendez, officially began carrying out inspections of agrarian production centers last weekend in a bid to increase the accountability of publicly-funded development projects around the nation. The visits form part of a new campaign, called “Efficiency or Nothing”, that was announced by President Hugo Chavez shortly after his sweeping election victory on October 7. The idea, according to the head of state, is to improve government services and to ramp up the efficacy of public sector initiatives. “The workers of any development project, any agricultural or industrial project in any part of the country should not be surprised if [Vice President] Nicolas Maduro or a minister appears to carry out an unannounced inspection”, Chavez said during a cabinet meeting early in November. Last weekend, Minister Melendez followed up on this commitment by dropping-in unexpectedly on a number of agricultural settlements fund-
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4 Integration | . s Friday, December 7, 2012
The artillery of ideas
Venezuela stands with Palestine
ezuela (PSUV), lawmaker Fernando Soto Rojas said the Venezuelan legislature voted to “promote an end to hostilities between Israel and the Palestinians”. “The Palestinian people are a heroic people that represent a historic experience”, said Soto Rojas. “They are a cultured people we’ve known for decades and their struggle is for a homeland, for a land on which to live freely, for a place to stand”. The PSUV and numerous Venezuelan social movements marched on the streets of Caracas during Israel’s recent bombing of Gaza, demonstrating against the “disproportionate use of force” by Israel and showing both “unity and solidarity” with the Palestinian people.
OFFICIAL DELEGATION
T/ COI P/ Agencies
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n another clear demonstration of its sovereign defense of the poor and oppressed, Venezuela last week stood firmly with the global majority at the United Nations in its vote to recognize Palestinian statehood. Perhaps one of the most avid voices among countries backing Palestine’s bid to be a “non member observer state”, Venezuela went even further and demanded Israel be “held responsible” for the “crimes against humanity inflicted on the Palestinian people”. Venezuela, Cuba, and other ALBA nations were among the 138 countries that helped secure the two-thirds needed within the UN General Assembly to pass the historic resolution recognizing Palestine. Only nine countries, including the United States and Israel, voted against the Palestinian bid, while another 41 nations abstained.
VENEZUELA STANDS FIRM Of the many countries to express their steadfast support for Palestine during last week’s historic UN vote, Venezuelan Ambassador to the UN Jorge Valero was possibly the most adamant spokesman. Addressing the UN General Assembly on Thursday, Valero affirmed, “the Palestinian people have the legitimate right to seek dignity, justice, and to defend their inalienable right to self-deter-
mination and an independent state”. Valero described Israel as an “occupying power” that “represses the Palestinian people for the simple act of struggling for their rights”. He also said Israel “practices state terrorism” and is a “factory of pain and suffering for Palestinians”. “Israel”, he continued, “violates international law, violates human rights, and fails to respect numerous UN resolutions, placing itself outside the rules that govern the international community of nations”. Valero also insisted that Israel “must explain itself to the UN as it relates to its crimes against the Palestinian people” and denounced Israel’s “use of collective punishment and weapons prohibited by international law, as well as its application of policies aimed at ethnic cleansing which have resulted in the deaths of many innocent men, women, and children”. Venezuela’s Ambassador to the UN added that “an entire set of inhumane policies have been used to secure the segregation and control of the Palestinian people within a colonized territory. Laws have been passed and institutions established to violate the rights of Palestinians, to rob them of their land, among other things”.
“The General Assembly”, he affirmed, “must not remain indifferent to the suffering of the Palestinian people”.
SOLIDARITY WITH PALESTINE In the words of its UN Ambassador, Venezuela “is a country committed to the principles and values of liberty, sovereignty, independence, peace and solidarity”. As such, Valero added, “and to advance the common good, in defense of territorial integrity, co-existence, and international law, the Venezuelan government of President Hugo Chavez backs the Palestinian bid to be recognized as an observer state within the United Nations”. “Venezuela votes yes”, he said, “in solidarity with the cause of Palestine”. In response to the successful vote, Venezuela’s representative to the Latin American
Parliament (Parlatino) Rodrigo Cabezas expressed his country’s “profound satisfaction”. According to Cabezas, the vote is “an important step forward in the Palestinian struggle for recognition as both a nation and state”. In stark contrast to global sentiment, the US and Israel immediately criticized the vote. US Ambassador to the UN Susan Rice called it an “unfortunate and counterproductive resolution (that) places further obstacles in the path of peace” while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promised the vote “won’t change anything on the ground… won’t advance the establishment of a Palestinian state, but rather, put it further off”. The US and Israel were joined by Canada, the Czech Republic, the Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, Palau and Panama in voting against the Palestinian proposal. In a recent show of support and solidarity, the socialist majority within the Venezuelan Nation Assembly passed a resolution condemning Israel’s November bombardment of the Gaza Strip. The bombings killed over 100 Palestinians, wounding another 900. Speaking on behalf of the United Socialist Party of Ven-
Speaking to reporters over the weekend, Palestinian Ambassador to Venezuela Farid Suwwan announced, “The first official delegation of the Palestinian state (since the UN vote) is coming to Venezuela”. “Relations between Venezuela and Palestine have never been better”, explained Suwwan, “which is why Venezuela is to receive a large delegation from Palestine”. The delegation “will include five ministers, three vice ministers, and two general secretaries” who will meet with their Venezuelan counterparts to “discuss and sign some eight bi-national agreements in the areas of tourism, culture, sports, health and education”, explained Suwwan. In what he called a “strategic area of cooperation”, Suwwan described plans to “maintain and expand agreements which provide scholarships to young Palestinians looking to study in Venezuela, increase collaboration for medical student exchange programs, and approve the formal recognition by both states of university degrees obtained in either nation in the fields of engineering and agriculture”. In tourism, Suwwan added, “Israel’s ongoing attempts to destroy the Palestinian economy have failed and tourism is steadily increasing”. For this reason, he said, “agreements will be discussed on how the people of Palestine can best host Venezuelan visitors who travel year after year to the holy sites of Palestine”. Venezuela and Palestine have had formal relations since 2009, when the government of President Hugo Chavez formally recognized the Palestinian state.
. s Friday, December 7, 2012
The artillery of ideas
Venezuela at the COP-18: “Change the system, not the climate”
T/ Paul Dobson P/ Agencies
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hange the system not the climate” was the message that Venezuela took to the 18th UN Conference of the Parties (COP-18) to address climate change and greenhouse emissions, held this week in Doha, Qatar. The representatives of the socialist government of Hugo Chavez demonstrated to the 194 countries present in the Qatar National Convention Center the positive advances that have been made in Venezuela since the previous COP-17 in Durban last year. These advances include Mission Tree, new mass transport systems, infrastructural investment which includes two wind farms, extensive hydroelectric dams, community based solar based technology, and extensive reforestation. The message taken to the conference by Venezuela was very clear: that capitalism is the cause of our environmental problems, and only under socialism can the human race survive and prosper. One of the five policy areas of recently reelected President Chavez is to activate programs which deepen socialism, and that have as
their final aim “saving humanity” and “rescuing our planet”. “Markets are not the solution to achieve ambitious emission reductions”, the Venezuelan delegation told the conference in its opening statement. “Fostering education about new patterns of living goes beyond the Green merchandising” which capitalism has taken advantage of to profit from environmental consciousness. There exists, the delegation complained, a gap in the level of commitment to reducing greenhouse emissions between developed capitalist economies and developing nations. “Developing countries continue to do their part through all means available to them but more could be done though the facilitation of appropriate technology, capacity building and financing. Developed countries have to be more ambitious, not less”. Venezuelan emissions currently make up a mere 0.48% of the world’s carbon emissions, while it is estimated that the United States contributes 30% of all the greenhouse emissions. The effects of this are starting to be seen with rising sea levels and temperatures, as well as increasingly unpredictable and severe weather phenomena.
Both Venezuela and the Bolivarian Alliance of the People of Our Americas (ALBA), present at the conference, stressed the link between sustainable development, models of consumerism, and environmental consciousness. “There has been a recognition that poverty eradication, changing unsustainable patterns of consumption and production, and promoting sustainable ones, and protecting and managing the natural resource-base of the economic and social development are the overarching objectives of and essential requirements for sustainable development”. A statement from ALBA raised the issue of agricultural development in the mark of environmental controls. “Agricul-
ture is, without a doubt, a highly sensitive topic, socially and economically”. It is a theme, they explained, “that is about sovereignty and food guarantees, and this can’t be discussed within the scope of mitigation”. The ALBA statement also raised the issue of deforestation. “We want to insist in the need to recognize different focuses for the reduction of emissions with regards to deforestation and forestry degradation, the setting up and deepening of mechanisms which promote the sustainable use of the forests with an eye on climate change, in a holistic and integral way”. Speaking on the topic of deforestation and the wood trade, Venezuelan Minster for Industry, Ricardo Menendez, an-
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nounced that as part of the next Plan of Government 2013-2019, the Chavez administration plans to reforest 120,000 hectares to be used in part by the wood trade. “This is practically multiplying by ten the amount of reforestation that was done in the previous period”, he stated. In 2011, Venezuela reforested 15,000 hectares, which has increased to 20,000 hectares this year, amounting to roughly 21 million trees planted. In their presentation to the UN conference, the Venezuelan delegation highlighted the multiple systems of mass transportation which are being rapidly constructed in various parts of the country, such as the Metro of Valencia, various metrocables, cable cars, and tram and train networks. These systems are being made available to the poorest sectors of society, through conscientious planning and heavily subsidized prices. Some are free to use. The delegation also highlighted the role of Mission Tree, which organizes communities to reforest their localities, and which involves more than 47,000 activists who have planted more than 43 million trees since its creation in 2006. The mission has reforested over 31,266 hectares and currently has more than 126 tons of seeds in its seed bank. Similarly, it was explained to the conference that there are over 222 protected areas, such as national parks, across the country, which cover roughly 60% of the national territory and include vast areas of mangroves and swamplands considered to be essential ‘carbon sinks’. Amongst these is the National Park Cienagas de Juan Manuel, in the western region of the country, where the lightening phenomenon of Catatumbo is considered to be the most important regenerator of the ozone layer in the world. They also drew attention to the policies implemented to reduce consumption in Venezuela, such as replacing light bulbs with energy efficient ones, and changing the models of consumption to products with low energy consumption, especially in white line goods and air conditioning. These high-technology products, they explained, are being made available to the people at subsidized prices thanks to the Chavez government. Finally, they explained that over $500 million has been invested in developing the energy infrastructure in Venezuela, with particular focus on renewable energy sources. Currently 70% of national energy consumption is provided by renewable sources.
6 Social Justice | . s Friday, December 7, 2012
The artillery of ideas
Venezuela celebrates advances for disabled citizens
The inclusion of disabled people into the national workforce is rapidly increasing, Araujo explained. “Every day the number grows of disabled people who contribute with their work in the institutions, they are useful people, and demonstrate their abilities”. December 3 was celebrated with the slogan ‘One Disability, A Thousand Abilities”. The wreath laying in Caracas was
attended by National Program of Healthcare for Disabled People (Pasdis) and the Ministry of Health, amongst others, which plays a vital part of the CubaVenezuela health agreements that greatly benefit disabled citizens. The number of free integral attention health centers for citizens with disabilities has risen from 67 in 1999, which only attended physicalmotorary disabilities, to 580 in 2012, which now attend all types of disabilities. Conapdis currently has 42 centers for its work across the country, and over 2927 community committees to propel projects that integrate disabled workers into socio-productive roles, and which take advantage of their potential. Henry Betancourt, Director of the Asperger’s Syndrome Foundation, reinforced the idea that only as an included part of communal power can disabled people further achieve the equality that they deserve. “We disabled people have potential and capabilities as all do, and we are an organized people’s power. This is why we have to continue working in the context of inclusion”. Finally, Araujo warned that despite the great steps the revolution has made alongside organized disabled communities, there is still a long way to go in achieving a fair, equal society where disabled people are treated with full respect. “We have advanced, but there is a lot more to do. We still have part of the capitalist system that we inherited, which didn’t take into account people with functional diversity”.
tences of 15 to 25 years for public servants that cause physical or psychological damage to any citizen under their custody in order to punish, intimidate, or obtain a confession. The law also proposes to give 13 to 23 years in prison to any official that intentionally mistreats a person behind bars or breaks their mental or physical resistance, generating physical or psychic harm. The instrument would, however, would not consider cruel the progressive, differentiated and proportionate use of potentially lethal force by state police forces. A proponent of the law, Congressman Juan Carlos Aleman of the PSUV, said that workers that are victims of cruel or inhumane treatment would be protected under the law and given job stability.
Aleman said in his presentation yesterday that the law would also put a stop to abuses against visitors to penitentiary centers by protecting them from physical searches. He said that to guarantee this right a scanner will be used instead, and a pilot project is already underway at the El Rodeo prison. The law would also create a commission to guarantee compliance with the norms, which would be under the Office of the Public Defender. The law stems from an Venezuela’s constitution, which requires the National Assembly to approve “legislation on the punishment of torture, through a special law or reform to the penal code”. It was approved in a first discussion by the National Assembly earlier this year on June 12.
T/ Paul Dobson P/ Agencies
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s disabled people marched in protest at austerity measures which are rolling back their rights in many capitals of the world, particularly Madrid and Athens, events organized by disabled citizens to celebrate their substantial gains under the Bolivarian Revolution were held this week in Venezuela to commemorate the International Day for those with Disabilities on December 3. “Currently, Venezuela is the reference point in the organization of people with disabilities across the world. More than 10,000 disabled people have received political and project training”, explained Edgar Araujo, President of the National Council of Peoples with Disabilities (Conapdis). Various organizations took advantage of the main event in Caracas to contribute their proposal to the national debate on the Socialist Plan of Government 2013-2019 for the establishment of a Ministry for Disabled Peoples, which was received by Vice President of Venezuela’s National Assembly, Blanca Eekhout. The organizations highlighted the legal and social gains that have been made in the past years for disabled people, starting with the revolutionary Constitution of 1999, and continuing with the recent Labor Law. “In article 81 of the Carta Magna… we are defined as people with disabilities, and with this we left behind the social stigma, and we converted ourselves into subjects with rights”, stated Lenín Molina, who suffers from motor disabilities, and represents the Foundation of Social Action in the Caracas mayoral office. “We have seen a development in the attention towards disabled people like never seen before in Venezuela, the government has dedicated important efforts for the re-vindication of this sector and for us to be able to enjoy our rights”. Araujo highlighted the legal framework that includes disabled people into the socioproductive sector of the country. “For the first time we have rights, we also have duties to continue contributing in the
construction of Venezuela”, he explained. The 2007 Law for Disabled People forced employers to provide medical attention, transportation, and inclusion in the labor and educational sectors. It also forces public and private firms to have at least 5% disabled people in their workforce. Araujo also explained some of the linguistic-social changes that the Chavez government
has bought with it: “This process began by dignifying the way in which we were referred to. Before, we were labeled invalids or handicapped. Today we are first and foremost people who have some type of disability”, he stated proudly. “There is still a long way to go, but the important thing is that we count on the support of the state and the sensitivity of the Venezuelan people”.
Venezuelan lawmakers debate law against torture T/ Correo del Orinoco
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he domestic affairs committee of Venezuela’s National Assembly held a session last week to approve 15 articles of the new Special Law to Prevent and Punish Torture and Other Cruel, Inhumane and Degrading Treatment. The Vice President of the committee, Congressman Jose Javier Morales of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV), said that the green light was given to 15 articles and two were deferred. Debates are expected to continue next week on the 18 remaining articles before the
committee makes its presentation at a plenary session of the National Assembly. He said that this legal measure will be important in helping prevent any type of cruel or degrading treatment toward persons serving jail sentences by authorities. In his opinion, the Law Against Torture is another demonstration of respect for human rights that exists in Venezuela. The country was recently elected to serve on the United Nations Human Rights Council for the 2013-2015 period.
ABOUT THE LAW The Law Against Torture would establish prison sen-
. s Friday, December 7, 2012
The artillery of ideas
The 2002 oil lockout: 10 years later T/ Yuleidys Hernandez Toledo – Ciudad CCS P/ Agencies
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uilding nearly a million homes, strengthening the national healthcare system, and creating productive sources of new employment are just a few of the things the national government could have done with the $20 billion dollars lost during the oil lockout launched by the Venezuelan opposition on December 2, 2002. That’s the way Fernando Travieso, economist and petroleum expert, interprets the opposition sabotage of Venezuela’s vital industry some ten years ago. According to Travieso, interviewed by Venezuelan daily Ciudad CCS, the opposition’s conduct in late 2002 and early 2003 resulted in a 25% drop in the country’s oil-based Gross Domestic Product (GDP), a blow to the economy that affected all related industries and daily life for the Venezuelan majority. “The oil sabotage was, economically speaking, a catastrophe”, said Travieso. “With the resources lost during the stoppage giant things could have been done for the benefit of society”, he affirmed.
According to statistics released by Venezuela’s stateowned oil company, Petroleos de Venezuela (Pdvsa), measured in unsold oil during the twomonth lockout the public firm suffered $14.4 billion dollar loss in revenue. This massive hit to Pdvsa’s annual income resulted in a $9.9 billion dollar reduction in contributions to the national coffers. The final result: the Chavez administration found itself with a reduced capacity to invest in, and advance, widelyneeded social programs, putting an almost-complete stop to the national government’s social investment plan for the 2002/2003 period. According to David Paravisini, oil engineer and analyst, the lockout organized by the so-called Venezuelan Workers’ Federation (CTV), the Venezuelan Chamber of Commerce (Fedecamaras), a right-wing coalition known as the Democratic Coordination (CD), and other sectors of the Venezuelan opposition, caused a wave of scarcity in basic goods (milk, rice, meat, etc.) since gasoline used to transport foods became limited. At the same time, private industry knowingly closed its doors to citizens in need, turning scarcity into depravation.
As such, the Venezuelan people were forced to live with the daily consequences of a clearly insurrectional lockout, a political maneuver aimed simply at overthrowing the President of the Republic. Paravisini also explained that the paralyzing of the oil industry, which lasted 63 days, inflicted damage to Pdvsa that has yet to be overcome, leaving “over a thousand wells…with some 50 million barrels of oil left in them…broken during the lockout with yet no possibility (technically speaking) of getting them back into production”.
NATIONAL STRIKE? On December 2, 2002, the CTV, Fedecamaras, and the opposition’s Democratic Coordination called a “national strike” backed by the so-called “meritocratic” administrators of Pdvsa – together, they brought oil production to a halt. The objective of their action: force President Chavez, Venezuela’s democrat ica l ly- elected President, to resign. This was the fourth stoppage called by the opposition within a year, all of which came in re-
sponse to the signing by President Chavez of 49 revolutionary laws in November 2001. The first lockout came on December 10, 2001. The second came February 9, 2002, followed by the third on October 21, 2002. All three of these, however, were limited to a stoppage in commercial activities (sales). Not unrelated, the April 2002 coup went much further, including orchestrated acts of violence and a failed attempt within the Venezuelan Armed Forces, which lasted only 48 hours, to end Venezuela’s democratic experiment with socialism. Of the aforementioned laws passed by President Chavez, one of the issues that provoked the strongest resistance within Venezuela’s oil-based elite was the Law of Hydrocarbons regained “oil sovereignty” for the nation and increased royalties paid by foreign companies from an embarrassing Fourth Republic (1958-1998) policy of 1%, to its current level of 33.33%.
SABOTAGING INFORMATICS WITH FOREIGN AID On January 17, 1997, a company known as Informatics, Business, and Technology (Intesa) was formed and tasked with optimizing the structures of information technologies used by Pdvsa. This company was born with Pdvsa investing, and owning, a 40% share, while another firm – Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) – owned the rest (60%). Surprising to many, however, was what the Venezuelan Ministry of Communication and Information (minci) later revealed: SAIC is a USbased company and has, among other members of its executive, ex military intelligence officials
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and former directors of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). According to Minci, during the oil lockout “INTESA exercised its ability to control our computers by paralyzing the charge, discharge, and storage of crude at different terminals within the national grid. It also altered the functionality of most oil substations, compressing and processing plants, etc”. Intesa made sure, in advance, that the manipulation of PDVSA’s networks was only possible for those with access to secret internal codes – a small group of people working directly for Intesa who knowingly joined the oil lockout and kidnapped Pdvsa’s entire network using a clandestine, carefully-elaborated, pre-meditated scheme. This scheme included the use of hidden modems installed in desks and office walls, the use of phone and internet systems to paralyze Pdvsa operations, and the destruction of databases needed to keep operations running. This past October, Pdvsa announced that some thirty ex employees had been sanctioned with fines between $21 and $26 million dollars for their role in the oil lockout. On November 11, 2012, investigative journalist Jose Vicente Rangel reported that numerous legal proceedings against saboteurs of Pdvsa are currently “advancing”. According to Rangel, “a group of 185 ex Pdvsa employees, most of which held administrative or management posts, are under investigation for acts against the Venezuelan people and public property”. Regrettably, many of these saboteurs are also fugitives of justice currently living in selfimposed exile.
Friday, December 7, 2012 | Nº 138 | Caracas | www.correodelorinoco.gob.ve
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! PUBLICATION OF THE &UNDACION #ORREO DEL /RINOCO s Editor-in-Chief %VA 'OLINGER s Graphic Design Pablo Valduciel L. - Aimara Aguilera
Opinion
Border crossings: The Venezuelans are coming!
T/ John Densmore P/ AFP
T
he milagro (magic) of El Sistema, Venezuela’s program of taking impoverished kids and teaching them classical music, can be summed up in one sentence uttered by its founder, Dr. Jose Abreu: “If you put a musical instrument in the hand of a kid, he or she will not pick up a gun”. It is somewhat of a miracle, although it is an old idea. The creative impulse (which resides in everyone) can act as a curandero, or healer, to re-imagine deadend paths down which poor children are headed, and find new roads that are limitless. America is slow to realize this. With weak economic times, we always cut funding for the arts, when that is a time to increase fields that foster new imagination, new ways of thinking. Holding on to our narrow vision that South America stole our name, we know something
is happening south of the border, but we “don’t know what it is, do we, Mr. Jones?” And it’s completely under the CIA’s radar. Well, New York is about to get a dose of what has healed 400,000 young Venezuelans. On December 10 and 11, the Simon Bolivar Orchestra, under the baton of Gustavo Dudamel, will return to Carnegie Hall for two concerts. The LA Philharmonic’s new wunderkind conductor, Gustavo Dudamel, is a living example of the results of El Sistema. His enthusiasm for El Sistema is boundless because he knows that he was saved, and wants to give back. Gustavo and his maestro, El Sistema’s Dr. Abreu, really care about these kids. It is culture shock to sit at the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles and look down at 100 twenty-something musicians with jet-black hair and olive-complexioned skin. They rip into the repertoire of European classical music like there’s no tomorrow. The
Simon Bolivar Orchestra from Venezuela plays the music of 200-year-old white European composers with such gusto that audiences immediately jump out of their seats as if they were at a rock concert, yelling, “Encore, encore!” On a recent PBS Special about Dudamel, Tavis Smiley asked the correct question and the maestro gave the correct answer: Smiley inquired as to whether Dudamel was playing “dated music,” to which the ever-present Gustavo replied, “It’s not the same... we’re reinterpreting it!” And reinterpreting it they are. It’s as if none of us saw it coming: Beethoven’s butt needed a direct shot (mainline) of Salsa! The Venezuelans have Latin music coursing through their veins. Never seen a symphony orchestra stand up and dance while playing? Just check out some of the Simon Bolivar Orchestra’s euphoric performances of Leonard Bernstein’s “Mambo” from all over the globe. The obvious enthusiasm
comes from most of the musicians knowing that El Sistema is probably their only chance of getting out of the dire environment into which they were born. That’s why they practice their asses off: it’s not a handout, but a hand up. The shadow side of all this passion is that the seasoned players of the LA Phil warn young musicians that pacing will make for a longer career. Like Rafael Nadal, the passionate young Spaniard on the tennis court, Dudamel, the gifted young conductor from Caracas, occasionally suffers from physiological problems. Gustavo and Rafa are just a couple of years apart (31 and 29 respectively), yet Nadal hits every ball as if it’s the last, putting everything possible into it. Dudamel is the same with every note of every symphony he’s conducting. The tennis player has knee problems; the conductor’s shoulder and neck give him occasional trouble. But, of course, there is something thrilling about watching
someone “go for it” in every moment. The concentration is palpable. So yes, there’s a revolution going on, and I had a sense that it was coming when I saw “The Dude” guest-conduct the LA Phil, but I didn’t know the extent of it. I didn’t know that when Dudamel’s hometown musicians came to LA, my eyes would be glued on Felix Mendoza, the Bolivar’s tympani player -- the instrument that I’d played in high school. Like his conductor, Mendoza’s entire being is engaged when he plays. Tympani players spend a lot of time counting bars with classical music, because they’re mainly required to provide the dramatic climaxes. To see this young man, who looks like he could have wound up in a gang (except when he smiles!) actually “grooving” to Mahler, while doing the math of counting until he comes in, is mind boggling. What this is, and what El Sistema has produced, is a border crossing. If Latino musicians can understand European classical music as well as or better than their white European counterparts, a healing occurs. Racism diminishes. If Caucasians can get into salsa, if African-Americans can appreciate country music, if, if, if... Gosh, and all this is coming from a country that our previous president called one of the “Axes of Evil”. Art and culture are the glue between peoples. If we can be open to understanding the “other,” we just might get along better. Venezuela is doing something right. More than just right, it is a worldwide classical music phenomenon. It’s almost embarrassing that with all of America’s resources we are cutting funding for the arts, not expanding it. We are a great melting pot, the great experiment that has more diverse cultures than any other nation. And a way to fasttrack all cultures on earth to get along is through the power of the arts... each other’s. John Densmore is a founding member of The Doors.