Politics
Opinion
Venezuela debates Chavez in National Pantheon page 7
Chavez’s legacy: world impact page 8
Friday, March 15, 2013 | Nº 150 | Caracas | www.correodelorinoco.gob.ve
Venezuela swears in interim President Nicolas Maduro was sworn in as Venezuela’s Acting President last Friday by the nation’s congress, the National Assembly, replacing the recently deceased Hugo Chavez as the South American country’s head of state. Maduro will be acting president until new elections are held in the OPEC member state on April 14th. The transition took place in compliance with Venezuela’s constitution. page 3
ENGLISH EDITION/The artillery of ideas
Venezuela to Elect new President april 14
Politics
Who is Nicolas Maduro?
Venezuela’s National Electoral Commission (CNE) established April 14th as the date for new presidential elections to be held in the country following the death of Hugo Chavez on March 5th after a nearly two year battle with cancer. The new elections will take place in compliance with the Venezuelan constitution, which stipulates the convocation of the democratic process within 30 days of the death of an acting president. According to polls, Acting President and Chavez political successor Nicolas Maduro is heavily favored to win the April 14th electoral contest. Page 2
UN honors Chavez From bus driver to Head of State, Maduro represents power to the people. page 4
Disarmament policies advancing The Chavez administration efforts to fight crime are bearing fruit. page 5 Social Justice
Helping artisan fishers Venezuelan government is improving the lives of local artisan fishers through socialist policies. page 6
On Wednesday, the General Assembly of the United Nations held a special session to pay tribute to Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who passed away on March 5th. More than 20 delegations and regional representatives gave heartfelt speeches in the world forum, referring to the Venezuelan head of state as one of the “most charismatic leaders to ever have appeared in our history”. St. Lucia’s representative to the UN lauded Chavez’s tireless efforts to help the poor in his own country and throughout the region. “Poor people have lost an incredible ally who dedicated himself to improving their lives”, she said. Venezuelan Foreign Minister Elias Jaua spoke at the end of the UN session, thanking the profound expressions of member nations. “Chavez wanted to strengthen the Revolutionary process that has brought great change on a social level to much of the world, consolidating unity in Latin America, the Caribbean, Africa and amongst all peoples. He was a good man, a great humanist”, he said.
INTERNATIONAL Venezuelan diplomats expelled by US T/ Agencies The United States has expelled two Venezuelan diplomats, following the expulsion of two US attaches from Caracas last week, accused by the Venezuelan government of being “implicated in conspiracy plans”. The Venezuelans were asked to leave a day after President Hugo Chavez’s funeral, US officials said on Monday. They were Victor Camacaro, in charge of passport dispatch, and Orlando Montanez, responsible for information and sports relations. The two countries have not had ambassadors in each other’s capitals since 2010. The latest expulsions came as Acting President Nicolas Maduro and challenger Henrique Capriles registered as candidates to succeed President Chavez. The second secretary in Venezuela’s Washington embassy, Orlando Jose Montanez, and New York consular official Victor Camacaro were declared personae non gratae on Saturday and left the US on Sunday, state department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said. “Around the world, when our people are thrown out unjustly, we’re going to take reciprocal action. And we need to do that to protect our own people”, she said. The US officials were expelled hours before Chavez’s death was announced on Tuesday. At the time, Vice President Nicolas Maduro accused them of “attempting to destabilize the country” by meeting with members of Venezuela’s Armed Forces and trying to obtain sensitive information from them about the government. Venezuelan Foreign Minister Elias Jaua called the US action a “retaliation” and not reciprocity. “Our diplomats weren’t conspiring with US armed forces against Obama”, he said.
2 Impact | . s Friday, March 15, 2013
The artillery of ideas
Venezuelans prepare to go to the polls to elect a new President
(PCV) also endorsed the former union leader on Sunday. “What we’re going to do is continue on the historic path of independence and socialism, of Venezuela as a power, a leader and a motor of a multi-polar and anti-imperialist world”, Maduro said in his acceptance speech.
OPPOSITION DESPERATION
T/ COI P/ Presidential Press
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enezuela’s National Electoral Commission (CNE) established April 14th as the date for new presidential elections to be held in the country following the death of Hugo Chavez on March 5th after a nearly two year battle with cancer. The announcement was made on Saturday by CNE President Tibisay Lucena who declared the date after a meeting of the electoral authority that “thoroughly studied the legal, constitutional and technical confines in order to make the process possible”. “In order to guarantee the electoral process, we’ve had to reduce our timeline but there will be all the audits [of voting machines] and activities to ensure that there will be transparency and dependability in the electoral process as we have always done”, Lucena said. The new elections will take place in compliance with the Venezuelan constitution, which stipulates the convocation of the democratic process within 30 days of the death of an acting president. It will be the third time in seven months that Venezuelans will go to polls following the presidential elections of October and the Gubernatorial contests of December last year.
In both processes, the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) emerged victorious, dealing heavy blows to the fragmented and divided right-wing opposition. Mayoral elections, slated for July 14th of this year, have been suspended by the CNE and will be rescheduled for a later date. On Saturday, CNE head Lucena informed that international guests from the Union of South American Nations (Unasur) regional bloc will be invited to participate once again in the elections as will representatives from all domestic political organizations. “We also approved 20 international guests for each candidate”, Lucena said. More than 140 thousand members of the Armed Forces will be present to provide security for over 13 thousand voting centers that will be operational on April 14th Per the Venezuelan elections rules that limit campaign activity during the week immediately preceding voting day, candidates will only have 10 days to canvass the country.
MADURO: CANDIDATE OF THE REVOLUTION At noon on Monday, Acting Venezuelan President Nicolas
Maduro officially inscribed in the electoral registry as candidate for the April 14th contest, amidst a crowd of thousands gathered outside the CNE headquarters in the capital Caracas. Maduro will be facing Henrique Capriles, opposition governor of Miranda state and loser in last October’s presidential elections. In his first campaign speech, the former Vice President avowed to strengthen the democratic revolution ignited by Hugo Chavez. This means, Maduro said, analyzing the gains made over the past 14 years and confronting the challenges that still exist in the country. “Let no one believe that this struggle is going to let up. Today, more than ever, we have
to revise everything that Hugo Chavez has left us as his legacy”, he declared. The socialist candidate also made a special call to fight the insecurity and violence that has plagued Venezuelan cities for decades as a result of high levels of organized crime and drug cartels. “We have a responsibility to protect the people”, Maduro exclaimed, adding that the problem of violence “has to end”. “People have a right to peace in their neighborhoods”, he asserted, encouraging residents to fight crime with the same vigor that they have fought foreign intervention over the years. While Maduro will be the candidate of the PSUV, the Communist Party of Venezuela
In addition to Maduro, opposition candidate Henrique Capriles officially registered his candidacy for the presidential elections with the CNE on Monday but did so without a support rally. The evening before, the current governor of Miranda state confirmed his participation in the contest during a press conference that saw the candidate employ hostile rhetoric against the ruling socialists. Capriles’ questioned the veracity of the government’s account of Chavez’s death and accused the PSUV of manipulating information regarding the former president’s health. “You [the PSUV] had everything planned. You’ve been campaigning for a while now”, the opposition leader said. “[Maduro] lied to the country for weeks... You, Nicolas, went in front of the cameras and played with the hopes of millions of Venezuelans. Who knows when President Chavez died?” Capriles asked rhetorically. The comments drew strong criticism from Chavez supporters and defenders of Venezuela’s Bolivarian Revolution, who attributed the pugnacity to the desperation that has marked the conservative opposition after a long string of electoral defeats. President of the Venezuelan congress, Diosdado Cabello, referred to Capriles’ statements as tantamount to a “declaration of war” while Maduro called the remarks “slanderous”. “What this failure of a candidate has given is the most vile declaration that could be made during this time of pain... Our people won’t allow their souls to be poisoned. Faced with this attempt at violence, we react with peace, consciousness, intelligence and action”, Maduro said on Sunday evening. “The grave insults that have been launched [by Capriles] mark today as the day of the utter sinking of this sad character who is unable to hide the defeat that is in his eyes before the campaign even begins”, the acting president added. According to polls, Maduro is heavily favored to win the April 14th electoral contest.
. s Friday, March 15, 2013
The artillery of ideas
Maduro sworn in as Venezuela’s interim president T/ COI P/ Presidential Press
N
icolas Maduro was sworn in as Venezuela’s Interim President last Friday by the nation’s congress, the National Assembly, replacing the recently deceased Hugo Chavez as the
South American country’s head of state. Maduro will be acting president until new elections are held in the OPEC member state on April 14th. The transition took place in compliance with Venezuela’s constitution, which specifies that the Vice President of the
republic shall assume the presidency in the event of an “absolute absence” of the elected commander in chief. During the ceremony, the former VP of the Chavez administration pledged his loyalty to the principles of the nation’s Bolivarian Revolution led by his predecessor.
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eaders from around the world gathered in Caracas for Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez’s funeral last Friday. More than 30 heads of state and various other diplomats from Latin America and all over the world were present for the event, which began Friday morning and was televised live around the country, lasting several hours. Meanwhile, multitudes of supporters surrounded the Military Academy, still waiting for their chance to pay respects to their beloved President. Interim President Nicolas Maduro led the ceremony, giving an emotive speech on Chavez’s legacy. “He made us rediscover the history of our homeland, he raised the flag of Simon Bolivar and embodied it”, said Maduro.
“His soul and spirit are so strong that his body could not handle it, and now his soul and spirit roam the universe, spreading and filling us with blessing and love”, he said. Maduro explained that Chavez had asked them to help him write some final words in case he died, a sort of final message, but that his ministers simply could not do it. “We couldn’t do it, it was impossible. But he had already written his will. His whole life had been his will, his actions, his work, his people, and all the humble ones in this world”, he said. Maduro outlined several major tasks that Chavez left for the Venezuelan people to continue, including a continuation of what Chavez called 21st Century Socialism. “He left us the task of continuing to build this democratic socialist model that he began.
He left everything arranged for us. Now it is on us if we do it or not. We call on the people to do it”, he said. The world leaders present were called in groups to stand and flank the President’s casket and observe a moment of silence as honor guards. Many key figures of Venezuelan public life who emerged on the scene thanks to support from the Chavez government such as Olympic medalist Ruben Limardo and world-famous Venezuelan conductor Gustavo Dudamel, were also present
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“I, Nicolas Maduro, activist of the cause of Chavez, assume his sash as President to defend and protect the people”, the new head of state said. Jorge Arreaza, Technology Minister and Chavez’s son-inlaw, has been named as Venezuela’s new Vice President. Accepting the new position, Arreaza affirmed his commitment to “contribute and support efforts to save the human species, life on the planet, and Mother Earth”. “We’re going to make sure that the new world order is just and balanced”, Arreaza said. In his speech to congress and the nation, Maduro emphasized the need to carry out elections in the country within 30 days as stipulated by the country’s constitution. In doing so, he expressed his confidence in Venezuela’s National Electoral Commission to guarantee a transparent and efficient democratic process. “We trust in democracy and the voting system and that the people will decide who must win”, the acting President stated. The former bus driver and union leader also called for peace and calm in the build-up to the new elections, singling out extremist elements in the opposition that are taking advantage of Chavez’s passing for political ends. “Please respect those who are showing respect and let those who are calm be calm. Every-
one please maintain patience”, Maduro urged, calling on resident’s to not fall into provocations by destabilizing sectors of the right-wing. Venezuelan congress members belonging to the opposition Democratic Unity Roundtable (MUD) largely boycotted the swearing in ceremony on Friday, although some members of the conservative faction expressed their disagreement with the move. “With absolute respect for the decision of the majority, I believe the decision to not attend is wrong”, wrote Juan Caldera, congressman of the opposition Justice First party, via his Twitter account. Following the oath of office, Maduro swore to uphold the Venezuelan constitution in front of the body of former President Hugo Chavez, housed in the Military Academy of Tiuna Fort in Caracas where millions of supporters have formed mile-long lines to say good-bye to the socialist leader. “Here, in front of Comandante Hugo Chavez, we swear to consolidate peace in the homeland and unite our people. We swear to unite our National Bolivarian Armed Forces... We swear to abide by the path of the constitution and not allow this revolution of the 21st century to suffer a single defeat. Here, Comandante, in front of your sons and daughters, your mother and siblings, in front of the people, we swear to do our duty”, Maduro declared.
and called on to stand with the casket for a moment of silence. There were several musical performances of famous Venezuelan songs by various Venezuelan artists, while Maduro placed on Chavez’s casket a replica of Simon Bolivar’s sword, a gift that Chavez often offered to foreign dignitaries. Hollywood actor and personal friend of Chavez, Sean Penn, was also present, as was US Reverend Jesse Jackson, who offered a prayer. “Hugo fed the hungry. He lifted the poor. He raised their
hopes. He helped them realize their dreams”, he said. Masses of people still waited outside the building for their turn to view Chavez, and it became clear that there was no way that everyone would be able to have a chance to pay their respects before the funeral service. This led Maduro to announce that Chavez would be embalmed and put on permanent display in a military museum so that all Venezuelans would have a chance to visit him. “Yesterday there were millions in the streets and we know there will be millions more”, said Maduro. “The body of our commander-in-chief will be embalmed and placed in the Museum of the Revolution in a special way: in a glass case so that the people can have him there forever”. “We want everyone who wants to see him to be able to, with love and respect”, he said. Maduro explained that his body would remain in its current location for at least 7 more days for those who wish to view him.
World Leaders Pay Their Final Respects at Chavez’s Funeral T/ Chris Carlson P/ Presidential Press
| Politics
4 Politics | . s Friday, March rch 15, 2013
The artillery of iideas
T/ Ruben Rivas P/ Presidential Press
the national orchestra system, dance groups, theater, cinema, informal workers, programs aimed at industrialization, “canaimitas” (laptop computers for children), cars and tractors made in Venezuela, to name just a few.
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’m not sure if it’s part of an opposition campaign strategy, but I recently received a text message that read, “I’d like to see someone from the proChavez camp give me five good reasons to vote for (Nicolas) Maduro without naming (President Hugo) Chavez”. I responded to the text by affirming, “Excuse me, dear friend, but I couldn’t fulfill your request in the way you would have liked. The number five was rather limiting so, for now, here goes eight”.
TO BE CONTINUED
1, 2, 3… First, he is loyal, one of the most beautiful values a man can possess. His absolute respect for the President of the Humble, his teacher, has touched the hearts of all Venezuelans as well as masses of brothers and sisters around the world – at least all of those with open hearts. Maduro’s humility, his bonhomie, make him the man he is, the truly human man, as Friedrich Nietzsche would have described him. As he accepted the interim presidency, for example, Maduro insisted that “this (presidential) sash belongs to Hugo Chavez”. Second, for over six years he served as Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, working alongside presidents, prime ministers, kings, and some of the most exceptional political leaders from across the Americas, Africa, Asia, Europe, and Oceania. Third, he is a working man of humble origins with a heightened degree of class consciousness. Venezuelans will proudly be represented by a workingclass President. For years we were taught that work is something to be ashamed of. Those who said so, the bankers and businessmen, didn’t work, nor did the princes, kings, and European nobility who brought that little culture to their colonies. We workers, then, were simply their slaves. Fourth, years of political activism which began with Maduro proudly driving buses for the Caracas Metro System put him through adversity, persecution, and imprisonment, all of which allowed him to prove himself as a brilliant labor leader. His history assures us that he knows the entrails of daily need, of material deficiency, of the dreams shared by Venezuela’s working class, all of which suggest that his government will continue to at-
Nicolas Maduro: more than one reason
Also known as “the missions”, these are some of the social programs that Nicolas Maduro has defended, and will continue to defend with revolutionary authenticity, once elected president on April 14th, 2013: 1. The educational “missions” Robinson, Ribas, and Sucre, tasked with guaranteeing literacy, basic education, middle and high school level training, followed by university careers, all of which depend on one another. 2. The food and nutrition “missions” and those related to basic services, starting with ambulances placed in poor (and/or rural) areas and preventative medical care provided by the widely-popular Barrio Adentro Mission, to the beautification of public plazas, the construction of public housing, and an improved capacity to store and distribute food sold to the people in open-air markets and state-owned supermarkets at affordable prices. 3. Other missions that include the dignification of living conditions for Venezuela’s indigenous communities, the streamlining of documentation for the poor, the elderly, and immigrants, and the promotion of agricultural production so as to reduce the country’s extreme urbanization.
I TRIED tend to that class, to dignify it, to protect it. Fifth, his revolutionary spirit and international experience guarantee the continuity of Chavez’s struggle for Latin American and Caribbean integration. The strengthening of regional entities such as ALBA, Unasur, Celac, and Mercosur, are the concretion of dreams shared by our Liberator, Simon Bolivar, and (Antonio Jose de) Sucre, San Martin, O’Higgins y Marti. Sixth, Maduro is co-founder of the Movement for the Fifth Republic (MVR), predecessor of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV), the revolutionary force that drives the process of change now underway across Venezuela. Seventh, he took part in nothing less than the redaction of the Constitution of 1999, our Magna Carta ratified by popu-
lar vote. In addition, in January of 2006 he was elected and served as President of the country’s National Assembly. Eighth, while serving as lawmaker Maduro defended the entirety of the social programs that benefit millions of Venezuelans today. Just pensions for the elderly, free, quality education at all levels of the public
education system, the construction of new schools, universities, etc. He also worked, for example, to eliminate the exclusionary quota system used in public universities and broaden access to health services with the support of the Republic of Cuba. He supported and supports athletes, campesinos, fisherfolk, artisans and artists,
My friend, you who wrote me that simple text, I assure you I made my most concerted effort not to name President Chavez, as you requested. But, I must admit, it’s impossible to leave him out of the debate – Chavez overcame his own death, became each and every one of us, became his people. It’s now up to Nicolas Maduro, to Diosdado Cabello, to all of us who mourn the physical disappearance of our President Chavez to show him our love for having given us a homeland, a homeland he provided by sacrificing his all, his life. For all of the aforementioned reasons we sing as Chavez sang the day he announced his fatal need to undergo surgery once again, “Homeland, homeland, dear homeland, your sky is mine, your sun is mine. Homeland, your life is mine, your soul is mine, your love is mine!”
. s Friday, March 15, 2013
The artillery of ideas
Venezuelan government’s gun disarmament policies bearing fruit
The Disarmament Commission also claims public support for its policies. According to the Commission’s consultation of over 20,000 citizens during 2011-2012, 84.9% of respondents would support a permanent ban on firearms and 79% agree with restrictions on their sale. The new gun control measures form part of programs launched in recent years aimed at tackling Venezuela’s high crime rate, something which Interim President Nicolas Ma-
Ramirez also indicated that the strategic relationship with China and Russia will continue to be deepened in accordance with the model of multi-polarity that has been a central part of foreign policy during the Bolivarian Revolution. A meeting took place recently in Caracas between President Nicolas Maduro and an official delegation from China at
which representatives of the two countries discussed important bilateral issues and China expressed its ongoing solidarity with Venezuela. “We have with China a strategic relationship that is very important and that we will keep deepening, keep growing”, Ramirez said. Meanwhile, he added that the Venezuelan government reiterated to the leaders of Caribbean nations that were in Caracas to attend the funeral for President Chavez last Friday that they will continue to uphold policies of solidarity with the region. President Chavez created an energy cooperation agreement called PetroCaribe in June of 2005 that has 18 member countries. The agreement is based on complementarity, solidarity and social justice, and provides energy alternatives for developing countries.
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dential Disarmament Commission, which was set up by the late President Chavez in 2011 to design mechanisms for the control of firearms and the gradual disarmament of the civilian population. The Commission’s policies were designed through public consultations and input from experts in the academic and social justice fields. The Commission’s work has received United Nations recognition for making an “impres-
sive investment” into the issue of disarmament as part of its citizen security policies. “There are several disarmament commissions in different countries in the region, but none of them have the human and economic investment of Venezuela’s,” said William Godnick, coordinator of the UN Regional Centre for Peace, Disarmament and Development in Latin America and the Caribbean, in February last year.
Venezuela vows to maintain energy policies of president Chavez T/ AVN P/ Presidential Press
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enezuela’s minister of oil and mining, Rafael Ramirez, said last weekend that the government is committed to continuing the energy policies put in place since 1999 by President Hugo Chavez and enshrined in the Socialist Plan of the Nation for 2013-2019. Ramirez said on the television channel Telesur that this is “one of the fundamental commitments of our comrade Nicolas Maduro and government officials, and we swear it before our commander and President [Chavez]. Not one iota of the fundamental issues of the
policies of President Chavez will be changed”. The energy policy has been a central pillar of the Bolivarian Revolution initiated by President Chavez. Venezuela has the largest proven oil reserves in the world and is one the top five exporters, and the country has sought to preserve its sovereignty over its oil industry and distribute the profits so that they benefit all citizens. Ramirez, who is also president of the state oil company Petroleos de Venezuela (Pdvsa), said that the company is committed to complying with the guidelines of the 2013-2019 Plan. Its workers, he added, “are totally committed to that document”.
He said that during 14 years of leadership by President Chavez, Pdvsa has worked arduously to consolidate its commitment to the people, and that the leader’s legacy lives on in the “100,000 men and women throughout the nation”. The oil policy, he said, is oriented toward favoring “those that were always excluded” and “using oil profits to build socialism”.
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duro referred to as a “national problem” last month. Official statistics indicate that in 2010, for example, firearms contributed to 94% of homicides in Venezuela. As such, Fernandez emphasized that disarmament had been seen by Chavez as key to promoting greater citizen security. “Chavez was the principal promoter of peace and living together, due to which he felt that disarmament was one of the fundamental elements [of security policy]. He would say: disarmament is the path to social peace”. Fernandez also argued that it was necessary to go further with disarmament policies, and approve the proposed Disarmament Law, which he called “a debt to Chavez and the people”. The legislation contemplates a series of measures relating to gun control, such as penal sanctions for those trafficking arms into prisons, and penalties for any public official involved in arms trafficking or sale. The proposed law also contemplates strengthening the tracking and control of imported and domestically manufactured firearms, to prevent them from falling into criminal circles. Seized firearms would also have to be disabled immediately before going on to be destroyed. The Full Life Venezuela official reminded viewers that debate on the law had been delayed due to the difficult circumstances experienced in Venezuelan politics over recent months, but that “now is the time” for the National Assembly to push ahead with the initiative.
T/ Ewan Robertson he Venezuelan government’s firearm disarmament policies are making progress in the seizure of arms and in combatting the illicit arms market, a security policy official has reported. Pablo Fernandez, the Technical Secretary of the anti-crime program Full Life Venezuela, reported on Tuesday that over 300,000 seized arms had been destroyed by the government over the past 9 years, which he called “a record” in the region. The official also announced the launch of a new “voluntary and anonymous” wave of firearm hand-ins, to encourage the civilian population to continue disarming themselves. This compliments the extension by one year of the ban on commercial gun sales in Venezuela, introduced in February 2011. According to Fernandez, who gave the information in an interview with public channel VTV, Venezuela’s disarmament policies are “in the vanguard”. “We’ve managed to control the (illegal) arms market in the country, as in no other country in the world: we are at the vanguard of seizing firearms”, he reported. These gun control policies are spearheaded by the Presi-
| Politics
6 Social Justice | . s Friday, March 15, 2013
The artillery of ideas
Venezuela improving the lives of artisan fishers
T/ Ryan Mallettouttrim
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overnment incentives to promote artisan fishing have raised productivity, and benefited both primary producers and Venezuelan consumers, Minister for Agriculture and Land, Juan Carlos Loyo stated earlier this month. At a fish fair at Plaza Caracas on March 2nd Loyo announced that last year Venezuela’s fishing industry grew by 4%, delivering an extra 235,287 tons of fish to consumers. This year, 1,100 tons of fish will be distributed by the National Government at up to 75% below market price, Loyo also stated.
According to the minister, growth in the sector is due to government support of artisan fishing. Loyo stated that, “we have a sustained policy of supporting fishermen, which have been allocated 429 million bolivars to finance boats and motors”.
INCREASING CONSUMPTION Not only is Venezuela producing more fish, but the country is also consuming more. Loyo cited government figures that suggest in the 1990’s, each year Venezuelans consumed 8 kilograms of fish per person. However, the last decade saw this figure almost double,
Environmental Minister: “Today we have 70% clean energy” T/ Paul Dobson P/ Agencies
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teps were made towards a sustainable future for the planet and for the promotion of clean energy sources last week, with environmental agreements signed between Venezuela and Angola, as well as the celebration of the International Day for Energy Conservation. The international accords, signed in Caracas in the mark of the recent South-South Congress to develop South American-African ties, focus on the interchange
of information in the areas of environment, sustainable development, and human resources. They agreements address climate change, community ecological projects, the treatment of solid waste and water, environmental education, programs against desertification, droughts, and the deterioration of lands, as well as forming concrete actions to develop joint projects and interchange technical delegations on the issues. Venezuelan Minister for the Environment, Cristobal Francisco, explained that “today we
and it now sits at around 15 kilograms. Increases in productivity have resulted in domestic primary producers now providing 14% of Venezuela’s fish. Loyo also attributed increased supply to government investment in a more effective, environmentally conscious domestic processing and distribution chain. Currently there are 17 fish processing plants nationwide, but the government intends to build 13 more this year.
ARTISAN FISHING FLOURISHING Artisan fishing has increased since the government banned
sign a document which will allow us to learn and share experiences with our Angolan brother and sisters and will enable a higher quality of life for the inhabitants of both countries”. His counterpart in Angola, Maria de Fatima Jarim, stated that “this cooperation is important because we share similar environmental problems, and so we should work together for the consolidation and global sustainability of the planet”. Similarly, Venezuelan-Angolan agreements were signed between their respective Youth Orchestras, which will see 6 Venezuelan teachers travelling to Angola to teach their Symphonic Youth Orchestra, following such success for the
trawlers in 2009. When the ban was first announced in 2008, President Hugo Chavez stated that commercial trawlers were damaging the ecosystem by “ruining the ocean floor”. The same year, the national regulatory body, the Socialist Institute for Fisheries and Aquaculture (Insopesca), found that trawlers were damaging “over 68,000 square kilometers of seabed a year”. Chavez also cited concerns at the time that trawlers were not selling to domestic markets, or paying taxes. Although trawlers had been operating in Venezuelan waters since the 1950’s, by 2008 they only produced 6% of the sector’s output, according to government figures. Other forms of industrial fishing contributed to 24% of output, whilst small-scale artisan fishers accounted for the other 70%. At the time, the Industrial Trawl Fishing Association (Avipa) criticized the move by arguing that the ban would dramatically increase the price of fish. However, in February 2009 the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) representative in Venezuela, Francisco Arias Milla, expressed support for the government’s ongoing development of primary producers in Venezuela and the expanded domestic supply chain. According to Milla, the development of domestic food production not only benefits primary producers and the environment, but also makes Venezuela less susceptible to global fluctuations in food prices. He told media that “[t]he FAO recognizes the efforts of the national government to introduce policies, strategies, and programs to confront the global
economic crisis and the volatility of food prices, and at the same time to protect the food and nutritional security of the Venezuelan people”. As well as adopting FAO recommendations on local food production in general, the government has also introduced price controls on fish, and mandated fishers with handing over 5% of their catch to nutritional programs run by either the state or community groups. The latter institutionalizes an angler tradition of donating a portion of their catch to the poor.
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT As well as improving supply and distribution, on January 10th the Venezuelan Embassy in the US announced that in 2013, Venezuela will “deepen efforts to recuperate marine and coastal areas to guarantee environmental sustainability and the protection of natural resources”. The statement also indicated that according to a “press release by the Environment Ministry, various new actions will be undertaken by working groups with the participation of local communities in the coastal regions of the country in order to advance economic development and food security in a context of environmental protection”. Despite improved fish supply, in the lead up to Easter there have been price increases in some areas, according to community groups. On February 25th, the Simon Bolivar Front for Agricultural and Fish Farmers national spokesman Jesus Marcano told media that despite sufficient supply, some “middlemen” were imposing markups of up to 70%. “[This] is not due to the fish farmers...but to those who transport the goods”, said Marcano. “We must fight this”.
Venezuelan El Sistema program of using music as a tool for social transformation. Despite its infamous oil resources, Venezuela is leading the way in developing renewable energy sources, and making the ecological future of the planet a key aspect of its progress towards socialism. In Venezuela, “today we have 70% clean energy”, exclaimed Minister Francisco triumphantly. Vice Minister for New Energy Sources, Hector Constant, told the country at one of the major events in Caracas, that over 160 million incandescent light bulbs have been changed to energy saving ones since the start of the social mission Revolution in Energy in 2006.
. s Friday, March 15, 2013
The artillery of ideas
Chavez’s family respond to claims his death was “planned” T/ Tamara Pearson www.venezuelanalysis.com
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fter the opposition candidate for president, Henrique Capriles suggested that Chavez’s death was “planned” on Sunday night, members of Chavez’s family and the governing United Socialist Party of Venezuela have criticized his comments and called for a retraction. “Nicolas, you had the nerve to go out in front of the cameras and play with the hope of millions of Venezuelans. Who knows when President Chavez died?” Capriles said on Sunday as he accepted the opposition’s nomination for presidential candidate in the upcoming elections on April 14. Capriles alleged that Chavez’s death and funeral was all “planned... everything ... was coldly calculated”. The opposition candidate said the timetable for the presidential elections “came out within minutes... they have been planning for weeks when they would tell Venezuelans that the situation of the President was irreversible... and now they use the President’s body for political campaigning”. The National Electoral Council announced the schedule for new presidential elections on March 9th, four days after Chavez passed away. When journalists asked Capriles what his evidence was for such claims, he only responded that his “doubts are based on questions that many Venezuelans are asking themselves”. One of Chavez’s daughters, Maria Gabriela Chavez Colmenares, replied yesterday in a public letter: “I’ve never gotten directly involved in political issues, but at this delicate time... I feel the need to raise my voice against those who want to play with my family’s pain, my people’s pain, and above all the memory of my ...father”. “It’s inconceivable to think that a whole family; children, siblings, grand-
children, parents, has put itself up to such a huge lie”, she said. “On Friday March 1st I was with him [Hugo Chavez], praying, and later I went down to inaugurate the chapel in the military hospital, then I went back to see him, together with Minister Jorge Arreaza... and although he was tired he was giving government instructions and asking for information about the situation in the country. It’s not fair, it’s not human, it’s not acceptable that now they [the opposition] try to say that we have been lying about the date he [Chavez] passed away”, Maria Gabriela wrote. “With all the sincerity of the destroyed soul of a daughter who loved her father endlessly, I tell you that ... he died fighting and he died in his country on March 5, 2013...exactly one week before my birthday”, she wrote. Hugo Chavez’s brother, Argenis, also responded to Capriles’ claims, saying the Venezuelan government “never lied to the country” with the information it provided on the progression of Chavez’s illness. He urged Capriles to retract his statements, saying, “when you say the phrase, ‘who knows when Chavez died’, you hint at the idea that my mother and father took part in something that no one ever thinks could happen, the death of a son”. The head of presidential candidate and Acting President Nicolas Maduro’s election campaign, Jorge Rodriguez, also urged Capriles to retract his statement, saying, “If you have any honor left, take it back, that inhuman barbarity that you said about the death of the President”. Capriles responded to Maria Gabriela’s letter in a series of Tweets stating, “In all these years I’ve never offended the President or his family, if anything I said was understood like that by his family, I ask to be excused... I don’t play the game of offending families, like has been done with mine”.
| Politics
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National Assembly postpones debate on pantheon amendment
T/ COI P/ Presidential Press
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enezuela’s congress postponed discussion last Tuesday on amending the country’s constitution to permit the housing of the body of former President Hugo Chavez in the National Pantheon alongside historical figures such as Simon Bolivar and Ezequiel Zamora. The amendment, which would do away with the 25-year wait required for the remains of a prominent individual to be housed in the pantheon, has been delayed pending an examination of the legal parameters in which such a change would occur. “The political leadership of the revolution has decided to study the constitution in order to make a final decision on the resting place of President Hugo Chavez”, said Dario Vivas, First Vice President of the National Assembly (AN). It is widely assumed that if the AN passes the measure, the referendum would take place on the same ballot as the country’s new presidential elections, slated for April 14th “If there’s anyone who, in the past 200 years, deserves to be in the National Pantheon, it is Hugo Chavez”, acting President Nicolas Maduro said of the initiative last weekend. The move has been spurred by the outpouring of millions
of Venezuelans who have travelled from all over the country over the past 9 days to bid farewell to the charismatic leader who made an indelible mark on the social and political life of the country. “He was a President who did very good things and really helped the people. He did a lot, such as building schools”, said one supporter outside the military academy where long lines to see Chavez still stretch for miles.
CHAVEZ’S LEGACY It is hard to overestimate the impact that Hugo Chavez had on the lives of ordinary people in Venezuela. While the international press took great pleasure in portraying the socialist President as either an autocrat or buffoon, the millions of people who have turned out to pay their respects to the former lieutenant colonel speaks to the progress that the South American country has seen over the past 14 years. Chief among these advances has been the wresting of the state oil company Pdvsa from the wealthy technocrats who used the nation’s principal export to enrich themselves and exacerbate the stark social inequality that characterized Venezuela in the 1980s and 1990s. Chavez transformed the state’s largest company into a
funnel for social investment and in doing so was able to wipe out illiteracy, reduce poverty, boost educational spending, subsidize staple food products and turn Venezuela into the most equal country in Latin America. The Barinas native also redefined international relations in the Western Hemisphere by promoting multi-lateral institutions that have built stronger South-South ties and have challenged US hegemony in Latin America. It is for this reason that 55 heads of states were present at Chavez’s funeral last Friday. But perhaps most importantly, what Hugo Chavez did for his country was vindicate what it means to be Venezuelan and to instill a sense of pride in the history and identity of his people. After successive presidential administrations that made bowing before foreign oil interests and the US State Department a common policy, this unwillingness to assume the self-deprecating stance of a colonized people put Chavez on the same standing as his greatest inspiration, independence hero Simon Bolivar. It will now be up to the Venezuelan congress and the people to decide whether such defiance and pride merit an immediate residence in the resting place of the nation’s greatest patriots.
Friday, March 15, 2013 | Nº 150 | Caracas | www.correodelorinoco.gob.ve
INTERNATIONAL
! PUBLICATION OF THE &UNDACION #ORREO DEL /RINOCO s Editor-in-Chief %VA 'OLINGER s Graphic Design Pablo Valduciel L. - Aimara Aguilera
Opinion T/ Clara Nieto
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he world has been shaken by the death of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, one of the most influential Latin American leaders in recent decades, as well as one of the most controversial and maligned figures on the planet. He was hounded particularly by Colombia under the administration of former president Alvaro Uribe. When Juan Manuel Santos took over the presidency and embraced Chavez as his “new best friend”, it marked the beginning of one of the best eras in Colombian-Venezuelan relations. Chavez, who died of cancer on Tuesday, March 5, was adamant about the need to achieve peace in Colombia, in order to remove the pretext for the United States to meddle in its affairs. Santos has recognized that Venezuela’s devotion and interest have been decisive in helping the peace talks between the Santos administration and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) rebel group progress. Great uncertainty hangs over the future of Chavez’s Bolivarian revolution. Intelligent analysis, slanted suppositions and plain speculation fill the global media about what might happen now that his leadership is gone: whether in the forthcoming elections Acting President Nicolas Maduro will win, or whether opposition candidate Henrique Capriles will wrest the presidency from him. Perhaps the voters who gave Chavez overwhelming electoral victories – a large majority of the population – and who reelected him even while knowing he was fighting for his life are not interested in a change. His regime brought immense benefits to the country. He talked of “21st century socialism” as his government’s goal, and countered criticism from the Catholic Church hierarchy saying they should look for socialism in the Bible and the gospels. He also curtailed neoliberal policies, recovered state control of the country’s natural resources, including oil and the state oil consortium Pdvsa, and used its vast resources to carry out “missions” – social programs – in favor of the poor. Poverty fell from 49.4 percent in 1999, when he first took office, to 27.8 percent in 2010, and
Chavez’s Legacy extreme poverty declined from 21.7 percent to 10.7 percent. With the help of Cuba, he made major progress in health and education, especially in eradicating illiteracy. Chavez was responsible for the biggest geopolitical change in the history of Latin America: regional integration. He proposed the creation of a regional body that would exclude the United States. Then president of Brazil Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva supported him, and South American integration was born: they created the Union of South American Nations (Unasur), the South American Defense Council and the Bank of the South (BancoSur), Chavez’s initiative to isolate the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, both of which have deplorable records in the region. The jewel in the crown was the inaugural meeting of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (Celac)
in February 2010, convened by Lula, without the United States or Canada, in which all the regional nations took part, including Cuba. “(It) has been one of the most important geopolitical changes over the last decade”, said Mark Weisbrot, co-director of the Washington-based Centre for Economic and Policy Research. In the international arena, Chavez was an influential voice. He was the first to criticize the handover of seven Colombian military bases for use by the United States as a surrender of national sovereignty and a threat to the region, especially for Venezuela which is already surrounded by US bases. The concession caused a scandal across the region. Chavez forged ties with China and agreed to sell it large volumes of oil to counteract Caracas’s dependence on the US market, where Venezuela is the chief supplier, although the trade with the US is mutually beneficial.
When the Colombian army made incursions into Ecuador to hunt down and kill the FARC’s number two commander and in the process killed 25 people, most of them guerrillas, Quito broke off relations with Bogota – and Chavez, too, froze ties with Colombia. When Bolivian President Evo Morales expelled the US ambassador in La Paz for allegedly plotting against his government, Chavez did the same with the US ambassador in Caracas, in a show of solidarity. Both presidents expelled the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) from their countries. Chavez also took action in other conflicts: he rejected the overthrow of Honduran President Manuel Zelaya, and broke off relations with the subsequent regime in Honduras; when Israel launched Operation Cast Lead against the Palestinian territory of Gaza, resulting in immense destruction, thousands of deaths and global censure, Chavez
called Israel “murderous” and expelled its ambassador. Venezuela, Brazil, Argentina and Ecuador expanded their diplomatic and trading relations to far-off countries like China, Russia and Iran. When it came to Iran, with which Washington has been in conflict since the occupation of the US embassy and the hostage crisis in Tehran, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton warned Venezuela and Bolivia (she didn’t dare take a stab at Brazil) to “take a look at what the consequences might well be for them” and to “think twice”. US President Barack Obama, who had awakened so much hope in Latin America, maintained the hostile rhetoric of George W. Bush against Chavez, calling him a destabilizing force. Chavez and Obama met for the first time in Trinidad and Tobago at the Fifth Summit of the Americas, where they exchanged pleasantries and shook hands. Chavez commented that the meeting was cordial, but added: “Don’t be fooled, the empire is still alive and kicking!” Chavez was more than a minor irritation to Uncle Sam. He was enormously popular in the region, and took over Cuba’s leadership role due to the immense economic resources at his disposal to make his voice heard, in contrast to Havana’s dearth. His agreements to supply oil to different nations, to be paid for in kind, provided crude to friendly countries at preferential prices. Bush supported a failed coup against Chavez in 2002, and the Venezuelan leader intensified his diatribes against the then US president. He regarded him as “an idiot”. Obama inherited the conflict and kept it going. Chavez’s legacy to his country and to the world is solid and invaluable: a shift from capitalism to socialism, a change of life for broad sectors in Venezuela; and consolidation of political and economic independence in the region, free from domination by Washington. It will be difficult to reverse these achievements. May he rest in peace. Clara Nieto is a writer and diplomat, former ambassador of Colombia to the United Nations and author of the book “Obama and the New Latin American Left”.