Analysis
Opinion
Sanctions on Cavim highlight US hypocrisy page 7
The harassment of a patient page 8
Friday, March 1, 2013 | Nº 148 | Caracas | www.correodelorinoco.gob.ve
Africa & South America unite The Third South AmericaAfrica Summit (ASA) took place just outside the capital of Malabo, Ecuatorial Guinea, where heads of states and high-ranking officials outlined ways to improve commercial, technological and transportation collaboration between the two continents. Twentyseven new economic and social agreements were signed between the nations of South America and Africa where more than 60 countries were represented. page 2
ENGLISH EDITION/The artillery of ideas
Venezuela celebrates defeat of neoliberalism Venezuela in HR Council
Politics
Polls show Chavez popular The latest surveys show the Chavez government maintains high approval ratings. page 3 Economyy
Extraordinary social advances Venezuela has achieved major social gains during the past decade. page 5
Environment
Trees for life
Venezuelans remembered the popular rebellion that unfolded 24 years ago on February 27, 1989, an event known as the Caracazo, by paying tribute to the many victims that confronted the neoliberal economic “shock” policies imposed by then President Carlos Andres Perez. A mass march and rally was held in Caracas, attended by the Vice President and other high level officials and ranking members of the nation’s military, along with thousands of citizens. A Truth Commission was also established to investigate human rights crimes committed during the Caracazo. [Continued below]
Venezuela commemorates popular uprising T/ Telesur
Venezuela’s Mission Tree is providing greener spaces and cleaner air for the South American nation. page 6
INTERNATIONAL
A spontaneous popular outcry occurred in Venezuela’s capital city of Caracas and in other cities around the country on February 27, 1989 in response to economic policies that mandated a halt to social spending and the rapid privatization of public companies, generating a crisis marked by soaring prices and food scarcity. The economic plan announced by Perez was a response to the demands of the Inter-
national Monetary Fund, and the resulting protest was heavily and violently repressed by the government. The plan caused a dramatic rise in the price of gasoline, interest rates and the cost of public services, and eliminated subsidies and currency controls. That year, the inflation rate reached 84.5%. Poverty swelled to 62%, and 30% extreme poverty. An astronomical rise in the cost of public transportation sparked the first rebellion by the Venezuelan people at dawn on February 27. Workers and students refused to pay the new prices and protested against the abuse.
Venezuela successfully became a part of the United Nations Human Rights Council this week during a ceremonial meeting in Geneva, Switzerland where the international body is based. According to Venezuelan Deputy Foreign Minister Temir Porras, the inclusion of Venezuela in the Human Rights Council is a tribute to the “struggle of the Venezuelan people and President Hugo Chavez”. “The entrance of Venezuela into the Human Rights Council on a day like February 27 is profound tribute to the people of Venezuela, a people who knew how to transform their pain into creative strength, channelling their dispair, their hunger, their indignation from unjustice and converting it into an engine to consolidate a true participatory democracy”, said Porras in Geneva. The UN Human Rights Council was created in 2006 with the objective of strengthening the protection of human rights around the world. Venezuela will be part of the Council for the period 2013-2015.
The response by the government was unbridled repression. In some areas, the police fired automatic weapons indiscriminately into crowds. At the end of the evening on February 27, President Perez appeared on television to suspend constitutional guarantees and declare a state of emergency. The armed forces and the National Guard were ordered to repress disturbances, and a second wave of violence against the population ensued. Poor and densely populated neighborhoods of Caracas such as Catia, Petare and El Valle were fired on by troops, who had been ordered to do so by the president.
2 Impact | . s Friday, March 1, 2013 T/ COI P/ Presidential Press
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he signing of twenty-seven new economic and social agreements between the nations of South America and Africa was the product of three days of meetings held between representatives of more than 60 countries in Equatorial Guinea last week. The Third South AmericaAfrica Summit (ASA) took place just outside the capital of Malabo where heads of states and highranking officials outlined ways to improve commercial, technological and transportation collaboration between the two continents. Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff as well as Bolivia’s President Evo Morales were in attendance on Friday as were the presidents of Nigeria, South Africa, Senegal, Suriname and Cape Verde, among others. “We are here to contribute with our experiences together, always thinking about the liberation of our countries in Africa as well as in Latin America and the Caribbean”, said President Morales on Friday. During his speech, Morales drew attention to the need to take back the natural resources that have been “looted” by the United States and Europe, highlighting the gains that have been made as a result of such policies in the Americas. “We began to take back our resources and the result has been a change in the economic and financial history of much of the countries in Latin America and the Caribbean”, the Bolivian head of state asserted. “Unity for the dignity of our peoples, unity for equality, and, above all, unity for our liberation”, he added. This sentiment of economic and political independence was echoed by the majority of ASA representatives including Nigerian Foreign Minister, Viola Adaku Onwuliri. “Let’s show our ability to make tangible decisions that will lead to economic development and the integration of Africa and South America. With true political will, we will be able to achieve it, just as we have already been able to overcome the burdens of colonialism and racism”, Onwuliri said. For his part, Venezuelan Foreign Minister Elias Jaua read a letter written by Hugo Chavez who apologized for his inability to participate personally in the conference. “I truly lament, in the deepest of ways, my inability to be physically present with you and I reiterate once again...my most
The artillery of ideas
ASA Summit promotes South-South ties, regional integration
President Nguema of Equatorial Guinea described the absence of these nations as “unjustifiable” given the important commonalities that exist between Africa and the developing nations of the Americas. “The history of our continents, largely exploited by other countries, compels us to take measures of South-South cooperation which will allow us to emerge with liberty, independence and coexistence in this globalized world of confronting interests”, Nguema said. Following this line, the President of the Spanish-speaking African nation proposed that ASA be incorporated into the recently established Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) alliance that includes all countries in the Americas except the United States and Canada. Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jaua reported that Nguema’s proposal has received the support of many allied Latin American nations and that “what needs to be done is to discuss [the proposal] with Unasur and then with CELAC”. Jaua additionally informed that there will be an encounter between the leading members of ASA next month in the Venezuelan capital of Caracas to guarantee the materialization of the agreements signed last weekend. “On April 26, there will be a meeting of the Follow-Up Commission which is made up of Nigeria, Brazil, and Equatorial Guinea to see through the accords that have been solidified in this third summit,” the Venezuelan Minister said.
FINDING ITS FOOTING
irrevocable commitment to the cause of union between our people”, the Venezuelan President wrote. In his missive, Chavez hailed the “indivisible historic ties” that bind the regions and which have obliged the two continents “to walk together until the very end”. “I will never be tired of saying it: we are one people. We must find each other, beyond the formalities and the speeches, in the feeling of unity. In this way
we will take our people out of the labyrinth where they had been cast by colonialism and, in the 20th century, by neoliberal capitalism”, the head of state said.
EXPANDING THE ALLIANCE Apart from the commercial accords inked on Saturday, participating countries also expressed their support for Argentina in its territorial dispute with the United Kingdom over the Falkland Islands.
A further resolution saw the condemnation of the more than 50 year-old US blockade on Cuba and a declaration calling for Palestine to become a full member of the United Nations. Many countries expressed their desire for the expansion of the ASA alliance, advocating the inclusion of all of Latin America and the Caribbean, not only those members belonging to the Union of South American Nations (Unasur) bloc.
The tri-annual ASA first took place in Abuya, Nigeria in 2006 and was followed by a second encounter in Margarita Island, Venezuela in 2009. While many member nations agree that more needs to be done to strengthen the alliance, trade between the continents has grown from $7.2 billion in 2002 to $39.4 billion in 2011. Ecuadoran Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino explained that relations between the two regions have not been easy over the years “because we don’t know each other very much and we don’t have much work experience together.” At the same time, Patino affirmed that there are great possibilities for collaboration and that the two continents “have much to offer one another” in ways that go beyond pure commercial relations. Ecuador is slated to host the next ASA summit in 2016.
. s Friday, March 1, 2013
The artillery of ideas
Latest polls show favorable outlook for Venezuelan government T/ Ewan Robertson P/ Agencies
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ecent opinion polls have depicted a positive political and economic outlook for the Venezuelan government, with a majority of the population approving of the government’s performance and expecting the country’s economic situation to continue improving. In one of the opinion studies, private Venezuelan pollster Hinterlaces found that 70% of Venezuelans felt their personal economic situation and that of their family is “good”. The study, which conducted 1,230 interviews from January 30 to February 9, also showed that 57.7% of respondents positively rated the performance of Venezuelan Vice President Nicolas Maduro, while 67.5% felt the Bolivarian Revolution had “helped Venezuela”. The findings indicate that the government continues to enjoy strong support among the population while President
Hugo Chavez recovers from cancer surgery undergone last December. The Hinterlaces study also found that 56% of respondents had a negative view of the opposition’s role in Venezuelan politics, and that only 23% felt they supported the opposition, compared with 57% for the government. The poll will come as a blow to the political opposition, which has tried to make politi-
cal capital out of the situation with Chavez’s health.
CHAVISMO STANDS GROUND However, the Hinterlaces poll predicted that even if Chavez decided to stand down and fresh presidential elections were to be called, Vice President Maduro would beat opposition leader Henrique Capriles by 14 percentage points. Hinterlaces further reported that “independent of their politi-
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idelined members of the Venezuelan opposition fiercely criticized their so-called Democratic Unity Roundtable (MUD) this week after it began backroom discussions to select a presidential candidate in case President Chavez decides he is unable to carry out his full 2013-2019 term. Though the recently re-elected Venezuelan President continues to be on an authorized medical leave granted to him by the National Assembly and ratified by the Supreme Tribunal of Justice (TSJ), the US-backed MUD coalition is pushing relentlessly for his resignation and a new round of presidential elections.
JUMPING THE GUN Overlooking President Chavez’s sweeping October 2012 victory and his authorized permission to recover from his latest phase of cancer-related medical treatment, a select group within the opposition coalition held
closed-door meetings on Sunday aimed at choosing what they called a “preventative” presidential candidate. Arguing that the Venezuelan President should resign instead of carrying out his full recovery, the opposition is looking to secure the implementation of a constitutional clause that calls for new presidential elections when a President is deemed unable to govern during the first half of his six-year term. The process of selecting their “preventative” candidate, however, is revealing longstanding fissures within the opposition camp. In a telling example, as failed right-wing presidential candidate Henrique Capriles Radonski is working to secure the candidacy for himself, Secretary General of the opposition’s Democratic Action (AD) Henry Ramos Allup published an online piece describing the 2012 Capriles campaign as a “candidacy filled with hot air, contempt, mistreatment of others, leaving a trail of broken glass behind that wrought havoc on our unity”.
UNINVITING Apart from internal divisions among those present at the MUD’s weekend meeting, several opposition spokesmen also criticized the coalition’s leadership for leaving them out of the selection process. Longtime opposition advocate Pablo Medina, for example, told reporters that the MUD “has become an exclusionary entity that seeks to make decisions behind closed doors”.
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Meanwhile, the investigation reported that unemployment was down to 5.9%, extreme poverty down to 7.1%, monthly inflation down to 2.3%, and GDP up
to 5.5%; all improvements on the same indicators in the November – December GISXXI study. Venezuelans also hold an overall positive outlook on the political and economic situation in the country, with 52% of respondents feeling that the political situation would continue to improve, compared with 20% who felt it would get worse; and 67.7% expressing the opinion that the economic situation was improving, against 9.8% thinking it would get worse. Venezuelan journalist Jose Vicente Rangel examined the polls on his weekly television show last Sunday. He observed that the Chavez government had started 2013 in a good position, with major electoral victories in October and December last year, strong political support, and positive social and economic indicators. However, he advised that “there must be on-going evaluation of the effects that recent economic and financial (government) measures could have, among others the adjustment in the value of the dollar from 4.3 to 6.3 bolivars”. Rangel, who is also a former Vice President under the Chavez government, added that the situation around Chavez’s health continues to dominate the political agenda in Venezuela, and affects public opinion toward the political and economic spheres.
“In my particular case”, Medina told the press on Monday, “I wasn’t even invited”. Medina belongs to the 2D Movement, a largely internetbased organization that issues press releases and paid advertisements to denounce what it calls “threats” to “liberty and democracy” in Venezuela. “Even though I tried finding a way to participate”, Medina explained, “there was no way
to do so, no way to be present or participate in that process”. Medina described himself as “a man of unity” but said he wants “a unity with opendoors, with a transparent, democratic process in which people can feel free to decide what criteria will be used to make decisions”. Medina added that in the coming days he will join right-wing politician Diego Arria to denounce the opposition coalition for carrying out what he called “an anti-democratic act”. Meanwhile, Segundo Melendez, of the opposition’s Movement toward Socialism (MAS), also criticized the recent opposition proceedings. Speaking to reporters early this week, Melendez described the opposition of today as “a small grouping of parties that makes decisions, discusses things among themselves, comes to agreements, only to impose them on the rest”. “There has been a process of exclusion during important debates”, he said, “and we strongly encourage the opposition leadership to make participation and inclusion a possibility”.
cal sympathies, 56% (of respondents) believe that Maduro would win, and 30% Capriles”, suggesting that in any of the political scenarios that Venezuela may face in coming months, the opposition looks to continue being an unattractive political option for the majority of Venezuelans. A comprehensive study of the general situation in Venezuela by the 21st Century Social Investigation Group (GISXXI) has also depicted a range of political, economic and social indicators evolving in the government’s favor. The study, which interviewed 2,500 people from January 19 to 23, found that 70.3% of Venezuelans rate the role of Hugo Chavez as “good or very good”, compared with only 13.6% of respondents holding a negative view.
LOOKING UP
Members of Venezuelan right feel excluded from opposition T/ COI P/ Agencies
| Politics
4 Economy | . s Friday, March 1, 2013
The artillery of ideas
Venezuelan official: Social development “extraordinary” Venezuela’s Chavez gives orders to confront economic speculation, hoarding T/ COI P/ Presidential Press
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T/ COI P/ Agencies
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enezuela’s Finance and Planning Minister Jorge Giordani outlined the gains that have been made by the Bolivarian Revolution led by President Hugo Chavez last Sunday during an televised interview with journalist Vicente Rangel. Giordani referred to the improvement in the living standards of ordinary Venezuelans over the past decade as “extraordinary”, attributing the progress to the social investments made by the Chavez government and the country’s sharp break with neo-liberal economic policies. “What we have achieved is an extraordinary advance. That is what the indicators reflect: the [UN’s] millennium goals, the diminution of poverty, the GINI index that shows the greatest redistribution of income in Latin America. These are things that need to be preserved”, the Minister said during the interview. Giordani cited the greater degree of government regulation of market forces as key to the social development of the country and blamed the current global economic crisis on laissez faire doctrines. “One of the characteristics of the capitalist system, above all at the end of the last century, has been de-regulation because there is a myth that [the market] will resolve everything. That
would be great, but the market hasn’t been able to resolve the big crises”, the high-level official pointed out. In contrast with countries that have followed the de-regulation path, Venezuela has weathered the global crisis well as a result of its tighter control over capital markets and the rising prices of crude which have allowed for greater spending on social programs. According to the Minister, Venezuela has been able to invest more than $500 billion in social spending over the past 14 years, leading to drastic reductions in poverty, the elimination of illiteracy, the construction of more than three hundred thousand new homes, and the establishment of free medical care for all residents. Yet, while Giordani praised the free programs created by the Chavez administration, the Finance Minister also highlighted the need to continue improving the nation’s economic performance. In this respect, the cabinet member described some of the goals for the period 2013-19 which marks the third six year term of government won by Hugo Chavez during last October’s presidential elections. The focus will be on enhancing productivity, rationalizing the distribution of foreign exchange in a way that will maximize economic growth, preserving the social gains already realized, and sustaining the financial stability of the so-
cialist model being implemented in Venezuela. Lessening the reliance on imports will also be fundamental in maintaining economic growth of over 5 percent, Giordani said, pointing out that there is a great imbalance in the amount of foreign exchange being solicited by private businesses for purchases outside of Venezuela and the amount of foreign exchange coming in from these same businesses. “The private economy produces $3 billion dollars but solicits $30 billion [in foreign exchange]. So, we have a very profound asymmetry”, he said. Improving the way that Venezuela distributes its foreign exchange, 95 percent of which is a product of the state oil company Pdvsa, will help improve productivity and efficiency as well as maintain the availability of basic commodities. Giordani commented that a new government agency, created earlier in February, is setting upon the task of evaluating the foreign exchange system, regulated by the government since 2005, and prioritizing the approval of US dollars for vital imports. “The first priority is health and medicine as well as medical supplies. After that, food. With these priorities we are working with the Foreign Exchange Administration Commission (Cadivi) so that the flow of products continues”, the minister said.
enezuelan Vice President Nicolas Maduro announced the heightening of measures against economic sabotage in the country last Friday after meeting with President Hugo Chavez, currently recovering from cancer surgery in the military hospital Dr. Carlos Arvelo in Caracas. Maduro reported that the convalescing head of state gave orders to confront sectors of the Venezuelan private sector that through hoarding and pricehiking have been attempting to sow instability in the country. “The President was very clear in saying that we have to increment the actions to confront the economic war that the bourgeoisie is waging against the people. It’s a real economic war and we must continue winning it”, Maduro said in a press conference. Friday’s meeting with Chavez lasted for more than 5 hours and included the presence of Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez, Science Minister Jorge Arreaza, Communication Minister Ernesto Villegas, and the head of the national intelligence service Miguel Rodriguez. While details on the actions that will be taken against those members of the business community who engage in illicit activity were not forthcoming, Maduro said that they would be formulated “to favor the public and our national interests”. For months, Venezuela has seen a shortage of some basic commodities as unscrupulous businessmen seeking to subvert government price-controls on staple products withhold the commodities from the shelves. The products are then either sold on the black market at double the price or shipped illegally to Colombia as contraband. Many retailers are also taking advantage of a recent
devaluation in the country’s currency, the bolivar, to raise prices exponentially. Vice President Maduro said last week that his discussions with Chavez included proposals on how to limit inflation in the country, maintain economic growth and ensure food security for the population. “These are topics that will be decided upon and implemented in the coming weeks in order to strengthen agricultural and food production and solidify productive investment as well as industrial development”, Maduro said. The Venezuelan VP also suggested that many of the problems associated with the market in recent months have their origins in external interests. “The attacks against the economy in general have as their source the enemies of our country. Some of them have Venezuelan ID cards, others have documents from other countries”, Maduro imputed, adding that the conspiracy “will be dismantled”. With respect to the health of President Chavez, the VP reported that the head of state is rigorously following his medical program. “The President is receiving his treatment. He has a problem with respiratory insufficiency that is being treated intensively”, Maduro informed. “He is making an effort with extraordinary spirits, with a smile and bright, vibrant eyes... We left [the meeting] full of energy and strength that we are passing on to the people”, the Vice President added. Chavez was operated on in Cuba on December 11 after a relapse of the cancer that first appeared in his pelvic region in June 2011. He returned to Venezuela on February 18 and has since been receiving treatment at the Military Hospital Dr. Carlos Arvelo in the capital Caracas.
. s Friday, March 1, 2013
The artillery of ideas
Venezuela: Pharmacy prices to be regulated T/ Paul Dobson P/ Agencies
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easures were announced this week to curb one of the most damaging practices in Venezuelan private enterprise: over-pricing in the pharmaceutical sector. Meetings were held between the heads of the private sector pharmaceutical enterprises, the State-run FarmaPatria pharmacy chain, and the National Superintendence of Prices and Costs (Sundecop) to explain a new system of price regulations and follow up checks that is being enforced upon the industry in order to guarantee affordable products. President of FarmaPatria, Freddy Arenas, announced that from Thursday onwards, all 7,000 pharmacies in Venezuela, public and private, have to register their sale prices in an online system called the Integral System of the Control of Medications. This will enable the verification of sale prices and the eliminating of overthe-counter over-pricing. The website will also be accessible to the public so people have knowledge of and ground-
ing to enforce the announced prices. “This is a system which is easily implemented, which has been up and running since May last year. What the pharmacies will do is register the sale prices to the public, that’s all”, he explained. It was also announced that price enforcers Sundecop will shortly finish their investigation into the pharmaceutical industry, and based on their finding will announce regulated prices for medications, which, by law, all pharmacies will have to comply with. Karlin Granadillo, speaking on behalf of Sundecop, ex-
plained that “retail prices will not be able to be above the regulated ones”. Furthermore, she went on to calm those claiming there will be medication shortages: “No one is contemplating withdrawing any medications from the market, because they are necessary products to live. Be it just one case in all of Venezuela, it’s about the life of a Venezuelan. This is why we will not be prioritizing within the sector”.
PRIVATE ENTERPRISE SATISFIED Representing private pharmacies, the Executive Vice President for the Chamber of
the Pharmaceutical Industry (Cefar), Angel Marquez, stated that the businessmen and women are being well attended in their discussions with government representatives. “We can’t say that the Government doesn’t want to pay attention to us. They have done it through the technical roundtable of the Ministry of Commerce. We are being listened to”, he clarified. He also stressed that measures are being taken to develop pharmaceutical production and facilitate the importation of those medications that aren’t produced nationally, and hence there is no danger of shortages. He explained that roughly half of Venezuela’s medications are produced nationally, and half imported. In light of the recent devaluation of the national currency, and its impact on imports, he explained that CEFAR is opening discussions with the Bank of Venezuela regarding the releasing of dollars at the pre-adjusted rate for those importation contracts signed previous to the currency adjustment. Many private businesses have used the excuse of the devaluation to increase prices well in excess of the corresponding increase in exchange prices, with the aim of extracting more acute profit margins.
PROTECTING CUSTOMERS Granadillo further explained that the price regulations will apply to roughly 9,000 products which make up the pharma-
| Economy
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ceutical sector, of which 1,400 are considered essential. Last May, prices for services in private clinics were regulated in similar meetings between the private sector and the state, however in November it was announced that this agreement was being widely flouted by the clinics, with some severe cases showing private sector doctors failing to cure patients merely to force them to spend more time at the clinic, and hence run up a larger bill. Carlos Carcione, an economist from the Miranda International Center, explained that “there are many examples of price speculation in the country, but one of the most severe that you will find is in the health sector. The insurance firms and private clinics sell the medication at a price over three times the real price”. President of the Venezuelan Pharmaceutical Federation, Fredy Ceballos, which represents the private pharmacies, explained that the regulation of medication prices, despite being against to the ideas of free market that govern private sector business and allow them to exploit customers to create gross profit margins, “is part of the politics of the national government which we have to accept”. “We know that they are planning a control of prices”, he went on to say, “but there is no problem with this. What the Federation has requested from the state is that there be periodic revisions of prices, that there is a balance between the profitability of the commercial activity and the access to medication for all people”. In response, Sundecop representative Granadillo explained that “we will be permanently revising prices; we understand this necessity and the importance of maintaining the prices adjusted to reality”. The Pharmaceutical Director of the public sector Social Security Hospital network (IVSS), Mercedes Pereira, stressed that Venezuela is the only country in Latin America which offers free, comprehensive medication to the people, with no need for insurance coverage: “we are the only country where the state guarantees free treatment to the patients, where one doesn’t need to be covered by any insurance to have access to medication. In other countries this only reaches the second level of treatment (hospital treatment) but afterwards the State doesn’t take care of you and even less so if the patient doesn’t have money to pay”.
6 Environment | . s Friday, March 1, 2013
The artillery of ideas
Venezuela: Greener spaces through National Seed Collection Plan
In mountainous areas too inaccessible for volunteers to transplant seedlings by hand, Francisco stated that helicopters would be deployed to drop seed packages. Mission Tree’s Carabobo coordinator, Gustavo Alvarez, told media that, “with these types of activities, participants, especially youth, learn to protect the environment and to value it”. Venezuela is considered by many environmental organizations as one of the ten most ecologically diverse nations on the planet, but conservation
groups have argued that more needs to be done to preserve the country’s unique ecology. According to the London based Energy, Environment and Resources Program of Chatham House, between 1995 and 2005, Venezuela lost 8.3% of its forests, making it one of the world’s most rapidly deforesting countries. However, on Saturday, Francisco cited a 47% reduction in deforestation since the 1990’s as evidence that the government is making progress towards greater environmental protection.
The Minister attributed the reduction to a slew of environmental policies and initiatives undertaken by the Chavez administration over the past 14 years, including Mission Tree. Last June, Vice Minister for Environmental Conservation, Alexander Cegarrra cited the 2008 Law on Forests and Forest Administration as another hallmark of Venezuelan environmental policy. The law imposed new restrictions on logging, including bans on the clearing of indigenous species such as lbizia Saman, Cordia Alliodora and mahogany. In the same year, the government announced that no new permits for open-pit mines would be issued, and imposed new restrictions on gold mining. Upon announcing that 47.6 million hectares of the country were then forested, Cegarrra stated in June that, ”the state’s policies and the implementation of specific forest norms demonstrate to the world how the country’s wooded areas have been recovered and how the deforestation rate has been reduced, an important achievement...”. “Before the revolution, areas of land would be put in the hands of [private companies] in the country that would devastate and degrade them”. “Fortunately, that practice has been reverted and now we have established minimum standards for logging that guarantee the natural regeneration of forests”. Government figures now indicate that over 55% of Venezuelan territory is now protected; the highest national percentage in South America.
warming, given that unsustainable patterns of human consumption are the main problem. For this reason, promoting energy consumption has been another key government policy in combating climate change. A program called “Mission Energy Revolution” offers Venezuelans incentives to change
their behavior and habits to bring about a more efficient and rational use of energy and natural resources. This program hopes to generate change by raising the consciousness of the population, stabilizing the supply of services, meeting the demand for electricity and reducing levels of contamination and environmental impact. The Ministry of Electricity has developed several projects, such as one that substitutes traditional incandescent light bulbs with energy-saving ones in homes and public places throughout the country. This involves a public information campaign about the benefits of saving electricity. From 2006 to 2012, Mission Energy Revolution replaced 155 million light bulbs. The National Electricity Corporation, Corpoelec, plans to install another 20 million energy-
saving light bulbs throughout the country. Matos said that “Here in Venezuela we have the tools… we have taken steps to reduce CO2 emissions, because each country has to do its part”, also mentioning that Venezuela signed the Montreal Protocol in 1987, an agreement to control ozone-depleting substances. The Montreal Protocol was designed to save the ozone layer by reducing the amount of chlorofluorocarbons, or CFCs, that are put into the atmosphere. In 2006, the Environment Ministry began converting 88 refrigerant gas companies in Venezuela, moving away from the use of Freon gases four years earlier than required. With this sustained policy, Venezuela stopped over 50 million tons of CO2 from entering the atmosphere.
T/ Ryan Mallettouttrim P/ Agencies
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pproximately 4700 community groups, environmental organizations, schools and the Bolivarian National Guard participated in a nationwide effort to collect 12,000 kilograms of seeds for the National Seed Collection Plan last weekend. Organizers hoped to collect seeds from seven million plants; most of which will be used in reforestation efforts. Twenty national and recreational parks also participated. In an interview on VTV’s Contragolpe program last week, Environment Minister Cristobal Francisco not only praised the initiative for its ecological benefits, but also as an example of popular power in action. According to Francisco, the plan is advancing the “organization of popular power, with the involvement of the communal councils”. Although the weekend’s main event took place in Puerto La Cruz, Anzoategui, collections took place all over the country. In Naguanagua, Carabobo, over 150 volunteers collected 111 kilograms of seeds from native plants including saman, guasimo, mahogany, jabillo, carob, carocaro, leucaena, jabillo.
The National Seed Collection Plan is part of Mision Arbol (Mission Tree), a project aimed at regenerating Venezuela’s natural environment. Launched in 2006, Mission Tree is mandated by the Venezuelan government to collect native seeds and undertake reforestation. Seeds collected last weekend will be planted in 3796 nurseries in different parts of the country, according to Francisco. When the rainy season begins around May, volunteers will begin planting many of the seeds.
Green spaces in Venezuela help minimize harmful emissions T/ AVN
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enezuela is putting into practice various strategies to minimize harmful carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions derived from energy consumption, including planting trees. Venezuela’s Ministry of the Environment has promoted a program called “Mission Tree” throughout the country since 2006, and so far, the program has reforested more than 34,000 hectares of land to contribute to emissions reductions. Forests act as “carbon sinks”, capturing and absorbing carbon dioxide during photosynthesis. The Director of Environmental Quality for the Min-
istry, Maria Leny Matos, explained in an interview with Agencia Venezolana de Noticias: “The leaves of the trees produce chlorophyll that, when it is exposed to light, undergoes a process of photosynthesis. Photosynthesis consumes CO2 from the atmosphere, and each plant that we have helps greatly to reduce our CO2 levels”. These projects are unfolding hand-in-hand with local communities. Mission Tree has formed 4,700 conservation committees, planted about 45 million plants and built 3,809 gardens, generating 62,365 direct jobs and 107,000 indirect jobs. Matos said that planting trees is just one way to fight global
. s Friday, March 1, 2013
The artillery of ideas
T/ Ryan Mallett-Outtrim
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espite being one of the world’s largest suppliers of arms to repressive regimes, the United States has imposed sanctions on a Venezuelan arms manufacturer for allegedly trading with Iran, Syria or North Korea. On February 11, the US Department of State announced new sanctions on numerous companies and individuals under the Iran, North Korea, and Syria NonProliferation Act (Inksna). The Venezuelan state arms manufacturer, Venezuelan Military Industry Company (Cavim) featured on the list. According to the Department of State, “Inksna sanctions were imposed … because there was credible information indicating they had transferred to, or acquired from, Iran, North Korea, or Syria, equipment and technology listed on multilateral export control lists … or items that are not listed, but nevertheless, could materially contribute to a weapons of mass destruction (WMD) or cruise or ballistic missile program”. The Venezuelan Government has previously stated that its relationship with Iran is for peaceful purposes. In January 2012, then Foreign Minister (and current Vice President) Nicolas Maduro stated that Venezuela and Iran have a “peaceful relationship … of cooperation for development … and above all, for peace”. Last year, Venezuela and Iran signed a number of bilateral agreements aimed at promoting scientific, technological and political collaboration.
BUILDING HOMES, NOT BOMBS In 2011, Iran contributed to housing and agricultural projects in Venezuela, while in 2010 a number of agreements were signed in Tehran regarding oil, gas, textiles, trade and public housing. Prior to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s visit to Caracas last January, US Department of State spokesperson Victoria Nuland told media that, “now is not the time to be deepening ties, not security ties, not economic ties, with Iran”. The US remains critical of relations between Venezu-
Sanctions on Cavim highlight US hypocrisy ela and Iran, largely due to the latter’s contentious nuclear program, and the new sanctions are not the first time that the arms trade between these two countries has drawn criticism from Washington. In 2006, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez stated that his country’s military was considering selling its fleet of F-16 fighter jets to Iran, and at least one F-16 was delivered to Tehran. This move was strongly condemned by the US. Venezuela again drew the ire of Washington in April 2007, when Chavez first detailed plans to modernize the country’s military. The centerpiece of this modernization project is a multilayered air defense network, and investment in improving Venezuela’s ability to manufacture small arms and ammunition. The latter has been undertaken with financial assistance from Russia, which has provided Venezuela with over US$4 billion to buy military equipment. A setback occurred on January 31, 2011, when a Cavim
arms factory was severely damaged by a fire described by Chavez as “suspicious”. However, with Russian support, Chavez announced last June that Venezuela will produce 250,000 assault rifles each year, plus ammunition and other military equipment. The Venezuelan Government maintains that these investments are for defensive purposes, and are reasonable steps to upgrade the country’s previously neglected armed forces.
US HYPOCRISY Ironically, for all its condemnation of the actions of other governments, the US remains the world’s largest arms exporter; it continues to support aggressive regimes, and has a long history of selling arms to countries it considers undemocratic. In November 2001, the Washington-based Center for Defense Information (CDI) published a report on arms exports to countries and organizations considered by the Department of State as hotbeds of terrorist activity.
According to the report, between “1990-1999, the United States supplied 16 of the 18 countries on the State Department list with arms through the government-togovernment sales under the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program, or through industry contracted Direct Commercial Sales (DCS) programs, or with military assistance”. “Recipients included Algeria, Iraq, Lebanon, and Sri Lanka … In addition, the US [sic] military (and the CIA) has trained the forces of many of these 18 countries in US [sic] war fighting tactics, in some cases including individuals now involved in terrorism”. By 2000, according to the Arms Trade Oversight Project, “[the] US [sic] controlled half of the developing world’s arms market … [and] routinely [sold] weapons to undemocratic regimes and gross human rights abusers”. In 2003, 80% of the largest 25 purchasers of US arms in the developing world were considered by the Department of State as undemocratic regimes, or perpetrators of
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gross human rights abuses, according to a 2005 World Policy Institute report. In 2011, the value of US weapons exports tripled, driven by unprecedented sales to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Oman, all of which were criticized in Amnesty Internationals’ (AI) 2012 World Report for excessive suppression of popular protests. In a press release on February 11 this year, AI recommended the global adoption of a “strong” global Arms Trade Treaty (ATT), “with effective rules to protect human rights” by limiting the flow of arms to regimes with poor human rights records. When the ATT was first proposed in 2009, then US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton argued that it “presents us [the US] with the opportunity to promote the same high standards for the entire international community that the United States and other responsible arms exporters already have in place to ensure that weaponry is transferred for legitimate purposes”. These “high standards” of arms exports do not prohibit arms sales to the second largest recipient of US aid, Israel. The United Nations has passed more resolutions condemning Israeli actions than every other country combined; most of these resolutions concern aggression towards its neighbors, and treatment of ethnic Palestinians. Among others, the US also continues to provide arms to the governments of Colombia and Honduras, both of which have been accused of using death squads to assassinate political dissidents. A final round of discussion on a proposed ATT will take place in March. Members of the UN Security Council, including the US, previously rejected propositions for a supranational regulatory body, instead sponsoring a legally non-binding agreement. The US will therefore remain free to trade arms with regimes even it considers repressive. While the US remains dedicated to controlling arms trade between countries like Iran and Venezuela, it clearly has little concern in regulating its own trade with human rights abusers.
Friday, March 1, 2013 | Nº 148 | Caracas | www.correodelorinoco.gob.ve
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Opinion
Chavez: The harassment of a patient T/ Eleazar Diaz Rangel Ultimas Noticias
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don’t believe modern history has ever seen a medical patient so pressured, hounded, and harassed as Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez Frias has been over the course of the last month. In particular, a medical patient has never been so under assault as President Chavez has been in the days since he returned from Havana, where he recently spent several weeks in cancer-related convalescence. The forces behind the harassment of this patient (the President) are based both at home and abroad, with the most recent example coming out of Washington last week. There, in the United States capital, US State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland not only attempted to interpret the Constitution of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuelan (1999) but went as far as to recommend what we the Venezuelan people should do “if the President becomes unable to govern”.
No one needs to tell us, Venezuelans, what we must do in that case, or any other case for that matter, and that is precisely the opportune response given to Ms. Nuland by our Foreign Minister, Elias Jaua. According to the State Department, however, the response Jaua gave was somehow “disproportionate”. Considering the fact that Washington’s statements were nothing less than the open meddling into issues that are for Venezuelans to resolve, how else should our Foreign Affairs Ministry respond? By denouncing “another new and grotesque example of Washington’s meddling in Venezuela’s internal affairs”, Caracas was responding to a historical record that exists – a record that includes the creation of an “office” tasked with studying the “problem of transition” in our country back in 2002. What did they expect? Did they expect Venezuela to remain silent? Did they expect us to thank them for their “cooperation”?
Now, with respect to the hounding at home, this has manifested itself in the most varied, disrespectful, and coarse of manners. This domestic hounding has arisen from a diversity of sources, from a pool of media that includes social networks (Twitter, for example) used repeatedly with the greatest deal of irresponsibility. If I’m not mistaken, the most recent case of Venezuelan assaults on the patient (President) was the filing of a petition to the Supreme Tribunal of Justice (TSJ) demanding President Chavez be sworn into office immediately and that a medical board be assigned the task of assuring he is capable of doing so. Perhaps the petition’s authors are unaware that the formation of such a medical team must be approved by the country’s National Assembly, the same National Assembly that unanimously approved President Chavez’s medical leave, leading us to the conclusion that nothing will come of the petition even if the TSJ were to consider it.
As it relates to the President’s swearing in, the irreversible ruling by the nation’s only legitimate Constitutional Court (the TSJ) is sufficiently clear: Chavez’s oath of office will be taken before the TSJ “once confirmation is given that the intervening motives impeding his swearing in have been overcome”. Clearly, this is not yet the case. And even more obvious, the authors of the aforementioned petition know that this is not yet the case. One pending issue to be resolved is the unanimous authorization granted by the National Assembly to President Chavez so that he carry out an extended medical leave in neighboring Cuba. It seems logical to suppose that once the President returned to the country that authorization is no longer relevant – considering the authorization was given, as stipulated in the Constitution, so that the President remain legally outside of Venezuelan territory for over five days. If it becomes necessary for him to return to Cuba again,
it’s also logical to assume that another authorization can be requested. My guess is that it won’t be necessary given the caliber of medical care and conditions at the Military Hospital (where Chavez is currently being treated) as well as the capacity of the team of medical professionals accompanying him (in Caracas). In any event, if his health required him to do so, the President himself could decree a temporary absence for a period of 90 days. Like all the other battles he has faced, and always with the support of the people, Chavez is sure to win this one as well. *Eleazar Diaz Rangel is currently Editor-in-Chief of Ultimas Noticias, Venezuela’s most widely-read newspaper. He served as Dean at the Central University of Venezuela (UCV) School of Social Communication, President of the Association of Venezuelan Journalists and member of the Board of Directors of the country’s National Press Workers Union. He is also a founding member of the Latin American Federation of Journalists (FELAP).