Analysis
Opinion
Protests rage in Colombia against economic policies page 7
The Imperial Presidency, US Congress and Syria page 8
Friday, September 6, 2013 | Nº 174 | Caracas | www.correodelorinoco.gob.ve
Housing & democracy top presidential visits Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro visited the homes of residents last Sunday in the state of Nueva Esparta as the head of state continued his national door-todoor campaign designed to build popular power and strengthen the administration’s “Street Government”. He also handed over the keys to 375 new homes as part of the national government’s subsidized public housing program, Mission Housing Venezuela. page 4
ENGLISH EDITION/The artillery of ideas
South American nations clamor for peace in face of attack on Syria
Integration
Venezuela & Guyana forge ties President Maduro made his first state visit to neighboring Guyana to strengthen relations. page 3 Science & Technology
Satellite under full Venezuelan control
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro traveled to the Surinamese capital of Paramaribo last Friday to meet with his South American counterparts and advance a continental agenda of integration and unity in areas of administration, commerce, finance, politics, energy and security. Member states signed a unified declaration to reject any military intervention in Syria “which is incompatible with the charter of the United Nations”. The statement’s text makes “a firm call for peace, in hopes that the Syrian people, in exercise of their sovereignty, can find a peaceful and negotiated solution to the conflict”. Page 2
Defending Resource Sovereignty T/ AVN
The control of Miranda satellite, the nation’s second, was transferred this week from China. page 5 Special Report
Letter to President Obama on Syria Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro urges Obama to seek peace, not war. page 6
Petroleum minister Rafael Ramirez emphasized Wednesday that the national government is going to continue defending the country's sovereignty of its energy resources. Minister Ramirez made the statement in light of the intention of transnationals such as US-based Conoco Phillips, which has been trying to sanction Venezuela at the World Bank's International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID). At a press conference in Caracas, the minister said that "It is not about international laws, not ConocoPhillips' law, this is about our laws, based on our constitution". Though Venezuela pulled out of the ICSID in 2012, it will still be subject to cases submitted beforehand. ConocoPhillips has been claiming compensation for three big oil assets the country expropriated in 2007, during the Hugo Chavez administration. They include Hamaca and Petrozuata heavy crude upgraders and a separate offshore project called Corocoro.
INTERNATIONAL Venezuela investigates electrical sabotage Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro called a meeting on Wednesday with the Electricity Council and the Civil-Military High Command in order to evaluate actions to fight an attempt to sabotage the national electricity grid detected Tuesday after power outages in the central and western regions of the country. On Tuesday at about 12:30 in the afternoon, electricity service was interrupted in many states in Venezuela because of a failure in the transmission line leading to the central and western part of the country. The states affected were: Zulia, Lara, Falcon, Tachira, Merida, Trujillo, Yaracuy, Portuguesa, Cojedes, Aragua, Carabobo, and part of Metropolitan Caracas. The head of state said that anti-Chavez sectors are continuing to wage a low intensity war that could have a large impact on the political and social life of the nation and is attempting to make “a final assault on these bases of the revolution”. He insisted that the Venezuelan people should confront any acts of destabilization in order to maintain national peace and stability. By Tuesday evening, most electricity had been restored across the country and by Wednesday, 100% was working normally. Venezuela’s minister for electricity, Jesse Chacon, announced that investigations have been initiated in order to find out whether the failure in electricity services was caused by negligence or intentional sabotage. He said that he is working jointly with security agencies to obtain further details about the origin of the outage and asked people to remain calm.
2 Impact | . s Friday, September 6, 2013
The artillery of ideas
Venezuela's Maduro calls for less bureaucracy in Unasur, promotes new relations with Paraguay T/ COI P/ Presidential Press
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enezuelan President Nicolas Maduro traveled to the Surinamese capital of Paramaribo last Friday to meet with his South American counterparts and advance a continental agenda of integration and unity in areas of administration, commerce, finance, politics, energy and security. Maduro described the 7th Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Union of South American States (Unasur) as “substantially productive” and a firm step towards the consolidation of the regional bloc for years to come. Friday’s discussions, which saw the participation of seven heads of state, focused on improving the alliance’s administrative efficiency and defining a work plan into the future. Venezuela put forth a plan that would avoid what President Maduro called “the bureaucratization” of the continent-wide alliance by restructuring the organization’s different work commissions and finding ways to streamline innovative ideas that might boost South American unity. “We are proposing that within the next two months, we are convened by [Unasur’s] pro tempore president for a discussion with a strategic agenda that will allow us to reap benefits and not lose positive ideas in the desks of functionaries”, he said. According to the head of state, Unasur must avoid following the example of the United Nations which, while “greatly appreciated” has been paralyzed by inaction due to the innumerable interests represented by the institution. “When [the UN] tries to resolve a problem, there is nowhere to begin”, Maduro stated. In contrast, the former union leader argued that the 12-member Unasur must focus on accelerating a common agenda and “take the necessary steps that are already underway in the areas of a defense council, education, culture, planning, science and technology”. This includes consolidating the Bank of the South, which would serve as a common financial institution to fund cooperative development projects.
“We believe in South America as a world power in the areas of peace, politics, economics, culture and the military. [It is] a diversified power because we have different religions and ideologies but it is a power that shows to the world how to live in peace”, President Maduro said. As part of Friday’s proceedings, Suriname took over Unasur’s pro tempore presidency and will hold the post for the next 12 months.
TURNING THE PAGE WITH PARAGUAY During the summit, Maduro met with Paraguayan President Horacio Cartes for conversations that signified an important step in normalizing relations between Caracas and Asuncion. The encounter between the two heads of state lasted ap-
proximately 30 minutes and was arranged by Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff. “[It was] a good meeting with President Dilma and President Cartes in which I ratified my respect and love for Paraguay”, Maduro said following the dialogue. Tensions between the two South American countries began with the blocking by the Paraguayan congress of Venezuela’s admission as a full member to the Common Market of the South (Mercosur) trade bloc. The diplomatic row escalated in June 2012 when Paraguay’s senate ousted former President Fernando Lugo, a progressive ally of the Venezuelan government, in what many observers have referred to as “an institutional coup d’état”. The impeachment of Lugo led to the temporary expulsion
of Paraguay from both Unasur and Mercosur and opened the door for Venezuela to enter the latter as a full member. With the recent election of the new Paraguayan head of state in August, the land-locked country has been re-admitted to Unasur, but re-incorporation into Mercosur has not yet been verified by the Cartes government, which still considers Venezuela’s entrance to the bloc as “illegal”. Notwithstanding, President Maduro affirmed that both governments have decided “to turn the page” and, in doing so, work towards mending ties. “[I told President Cartes] that Venezuela is prepared to initiate diplomatic relations and establish relations of all types: economic, energy, commercial, cultural, diplomatic and political with the Paraguayan people... We have been friends with great Paraguayans and we know that the country’s people are noble and sincere”, he said. For his part, Cartes highlighted the need to fight poverty through unified action and stressed the need to respect the political differences that may exist between Unasur members. “We need to show, with firm political will, our commitment to make Unasur a common destination. [That means] accept-
ing our political pluralism, reaffirming the judicial equality of our states and the principles of international law as well as the permanent necessity to maintain dialogue between each and every one of us”, the Paraguayan president said during his summit address.
AGAINST MILITARY INTERVENTION IN SYRIA At the end of Friday’s summit, member states signed a unified declaration which has rejected any military intervention in Syria “which is incompatible with the charter of the United Nations”. The statement’s text makes “a firm call for peace, in hopes that the Syrian people, in exercise of their sovereignty, can find a peaceful and negotiated solution to the conflict”. Referring to a proposed military strike by the Obama administration as “starting an incalculable violent conflict”, President Maduro appealed to people everywhere to stand against a new aggression by the United States. “We can’t sit stand there with our arms crossed and say that there’s nothing that we can do. War is avoidable and needs to be stopped. We must all use Twitter and Facebook, the television, radio and street marches of a thousand kinds to stop the war”, he urged.
. s Friday, September 6, 2013
The artillery of ideas
President Maduro visits Guyana to promote trade, dialogue over territorial dispute
Guyana and a zone claimed by Venezuela, was annexed from the latter by England in 1899 under dubious circumstances and constitutes some seventy percent of what is now Guyana’s territory. In the 1960s, while Guyana was undergoing a transition to independence, Venezuela stepped up pressure to take back the zone, which is rich in mineral and oil resources.
On Saturday, President Maduro recounted the fact that the Venezuelan government of the time carried out a “campaign of hate” that used racism and defamation to psychological prepare the nation for an invasion of Guyana. The 50 year-old commanderin-chief remarked that while the Esequibo may remain in dispute, there will never be a military solution to the territorial claim.
months of the year, peaking at 6.1% in May. Inflation has since almost halved, falling to 3.2% in July. Further, the government’s National Institute of Statistics (INE) estimates the current cost of the basic monthly food basket for a family of five to be 2,779 bolivars. Under the administration of late President Hugo Chavez Venezuela’s minimum wage was increased annually, a policy which Nicolas Maduro has committed to continuing. In 2012 the minimum wage was raised by 32%, while annual inflation closed at 20.1%. “During the [Bolivarian] revolution there have been permanent salary increases, unlike previous governments”, said INE president Elias Eljuri in an interview recently. Meanwhile the conservative opposition’s Justice First (PJ) party has criticized the latest salary increase as “insufficient”.
“The new minimum wage… isn’t enough to eat properly”, said PJ leader Jorge Millan to Venezuelan media on Friday. The opposition politician went on to criticize the government as “a corrupt and inept gang who will never manage to defeat the inflation and shortages that are wearing down all Venezuelans”. Nevertheless, analysts such as Caracas-based financial consultant Henkel Garcia consider that the spending power of ordinary Venezuelans has increased over
the previous fourteen years, in part due to the rate at which the minimum wage has increased. “The [minimum] salary since the arrival of Hugo Chavez in 1998 has multiplied by approximately 24.5, but inflation has also risen significantly, which has left a minimum wage increase of 17% in real terms”, Garcia said in a recent interview with media outlet Noticias 24.
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plan to strengthen bilateral cooperation in commerce, energy, transportation, culture, and politics. In a press conference following the meeting, Maduro and Ramotar reiterated their desire to work together and overcome historical differences based on a century-old border dispute. The region known as the Esequibo, named after the river that marks the border between
Venezuela implements second minimum wage increase of 2013 T/ Ewan Robertson P/ Agencies
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enezuela’s second minimum wage increase of the year came into effect this week, provoking renewed focus on inflation and the state of the economy. The salary increase is part of a three-tiered rise in the minimum wage being implemented this year by the government of Nicolas Maduro, which will result in a total minimum wage increase of 38 – 45%. On May 1st, the minimum wage rose by 20%, from 2,047 bolivars (US $325) to 2,457 bolivars ($390). A further wage increase of 10% from September 1st increases the salary to 2,703 bolivars ($429).
Finally, in November, the government will decide whether to raise the wage by 5 or 10%, to either 2,838 ($451) or 2,973 bolivars ($473). Around 3.24 million workers on minimum wage will benefit from the increase, as well as pensioners and those on social benefits. This cash income forms part of a social wage received by all salaried workers in Venezuela, which includes monthly food tickets worth around 1,200 bolivars ($190) and access to universal health and education services. However, the cumulative salary increase of 32% so far this year is only just ahead of inflation, which rose 29% in the first seven months of 2013. This is due to an inflationary spike in the first six
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“No one is going to manipulate us and no one is going to raise the flags of hatred again nor beat the drums of war... We have to be brother nations. We can’t let the media incite hatred against the Venezuelan people nor against the Guyanese people”, the President said. The question, Maduro asserted, must be solved through constructive dialogue and goodwill between allied nations. “We are going to resolve the damage that has been done from the era of British and Spanish colonialism through diplomacy and international law”, he ensured. On Monday, Venezuelan opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez called Maduro “a sellout” for not being more aggressive on the question of the Esequibo. President Ramotar, on the other hand, expressed his enthusiasm for the dialogue and his commitment to continue building positive relations with his Western neighbor based on mutual respect and shared goals. “Our relations are important because we are neighbors and friends and our ties have been strengthened over the years. This visit will raise those ties even higher because the political will is here to have closer ties between both of us”, the Guyanese head of state commented. “We want to have a closer and stronger relationship”, he added.
T/ COI P/ Presidential Press enezuela and its eastern neighbor Guyana took a further step towards strengthening bilateral relations last Saturday when President Maduro visited his counterpart Donald Ramotar in the capital of Georgetown. According to Maduro, the encounter took place in the spirit of building a unified South America as exemplified by his predecessor Hugo Chavez and Venezuelan independence hero Simon Bolivar. “I have come as constitutional President of Venezuela to ratify the policy of Bolivarian and chavista brotherhood that we have constructed over the years and that we are going to continue building”, he said. Asdrubal Chavez, Vice President of Refining for Venezuela’s state oil company Pdvsa participated in Saturday’s delegation as did Raul Licausi, the nation’s Ambassador to the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), and Reina Arratia, Venezuelan Ambassador to Guyana. Saturday’s work groups yielded an agreement in which both governments affirmed their
| Integration
4 Politics | . s Friday, September 6, 2013
The artillery of ideas
Housing and democracy lead conversations in presidential door-to-door visits
this weekend to determine the number of communes that are registered and functioning around the country. “Saturday and Sunday, all of Venezuela will be in the street alongside the community councils and communes... We need a record of our numbers, where we’re at, and what we’re doing. This is important so that we can later evaluate qualitative things such as how we are organizing, the issues we are dealing with, and whether or not the com-
munities are consolidated with trained members and projects in development... We’ve decreed August and September the month of the socialist communes”, Maduro informed. Also during his visit, the Venezuelan President drew attention to the coming municipal elections this December and called upon supporters of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) to mobilize in order to ensure a convincing victory over the country’s right-wing opposition. More than three hundred mayors and two thousand municipal councilmembers will be elected on December 8 in contests that will represent the fourth time that Venezuelans go to the polls in just 15 months. For Maduro, the need to be in the streets conversing with residents and responding to the challenges of Venezuelan residents is a fundamental strategy of the PSUV to engage with the public and promote democratic participation. “We’re building and guaranteeing the victory of the people for December 8. What we are doing is working every day in the street, house by house with the people”, Maduro said. “We’re building solid bases made of iron that are going to guarantee a stable future, a future of peace for our homeland”, he added.
ganization of 1,273 families. They are all very well organized...they have identified and prioritized their needs”, Molina stated. The previous month, Vice President Jorge Arreaza announced that the initiative would also be expanded in Cojedes state. In the Capital District investment in the project is likewise ongoing. Last week, Maduro approved 100 million bolivars in funding for improving houses in Libertador municipality’s San Jose parish. Speaking in Caracas last week, the city's mayor Jorge Rodriguez praised the initiative.
“[Chavez] thought of building a mission for the barrios- not to make them disappear, but to give them beautiful public spaces, schools, courtyards and health facilities”, Rodriguez stated. “That is what is happening now”, he said. The announcement comes following the approval of over 700 million bolivars in new funding for Barrio Nuevo, Barrio Tricolor in 15 districts of the capital in July. After announcing the relaunch of Barrio Nuevo, Barrio Tricolor early in his administration, Maduro has previously stated the initiative would be fast-tracked in late 2013. “We have calculated there will be an accelerated phase [of Barrio Nuevo, Barrio Tricolor] in the second half of this year”, Maduro stated. However, he also pointed out that the initiative would have more benefits than just improving housing. “That will mean more resources for the economy, for economic growth, job creation in the barrios and it will be a tremendous instrument for peace”, Maduro stated.
T/ COI P/ Presidential Press
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enezuelan President Nicolas Maduro visited the homes of residents last Sunday in the state of Nueva Esparta as the head of state continued his national door-to-door campaign designed to build popular power and strengthen the administration’s “Street Government”. During his time in the island state, the former bus driver and union leader handed over the keys to 375 new homes as part of the national government’s subsidized public housing program, Mission Housing Venezuela. Since the beginning of the initiative in 2011, more than five thousand homes have been delivered to residents of Nueva Esparta and more than 300,000 more around the nation. The living units are made available at affordable prices for residents far below the market rate and with generous mortgage arrangements based on the size and income of the recipient families. Maduro commented that the socialists’ commitment to
meet the basic needs of the citizenry should be linked to the overall goal of constructing a more just society through grassroots democracy. This organization, the President said, should find its expression in the building of the socialist communes - a national plan that seeks to network small community councils into larger umbrella organizations with a direct line of funding from the Executive branch.
“To build the social fabric of the socialist communes and the society of the future, Mission Housing Venezuela is key... It’s about building community and the communes. Those who receive houses, before anything, should receive training, courses, and workshops so that they can organize themselves into communes”, the Venezuelan head of state affirmed. According to the Caracas native, the government will be carrying out a national survey
Venezuelan Government Continues to Invest in Housing T/ Ryan Mallett-Outtrim P/ Agencies
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ore than 100,000 houses nationwide will receive improvements by the end of the year under the Barrio Nuevo, Barrio Tricolor plan, the minister for mining and petroleum Rafael Ramirez has announced. Speaking in the state of Nueva Esparta on Monday, Ramirez said the revolution “must move forward”, stating that the government has the resources to continue to invest in dignified housing for all Venezuelans. While visiting families on the island state, Ramirez also announced the start of Operation Remate; an initiative aimed at fast-tracking the construction of public housing under Mission Vivienda. The minister stated that the government remains on track to complete its annual quota of 380,000 new houses by the end of this year, pointing to the
fact that 384,000 are currently under construction. The 2013 construction target is almost double that of 2012. While Mission Vivienda is primarily tasked with constructing public housing, Barrio Nuevo, Barrio Tricolor improves and beautifies existing houses in Venezuela's poorer neighborhoods. The initiative was relaunched in April by President Nicolas Maduro following his victory in the presidential elections of that month. The project had first been launched in 2009 by the president, Hugo Chavez. “We will not stop until there are no more shanties in Venezuela”, Chavez stated following the launch of the project in August 2009. The project started in the Capital District, but has since been expanded to other states. The latest state to start undertaking the project is Anzoategui. On Monday, Anzoategui's governor Aristobulo Isturiz announced that Barrio Nuevo
Barrio Tricolor would be extended to suburbs in Barcelona and Puerto La Cruz. However, Anzoategui isn't the only state to be recently incorporated into the project. In July, the Monagas state governor Yelitze Santaella announced that the plan would be introduced to the community of Los Cocos, in Maturin, benefiting over 1200 families in the area. However, Santaella also pointed to the need for communities to organize effectively; a statement echoed by the the housing minister Ricardo Molina. “In Los Cocos we are seeing that there is indeed popular or-
. s Friday, September 6, 2013
The artillery of ideas
| Science & Technology
T/ Paul Dobson P/ Agencies
and the strategic planning of infrastructure such as roadways or the rapidly developing train network. It has proved particularly useful mapping and planning projects in isolated areas such as the Amazon Rainforest or the Andean Mountains. It has also had important applications in the housing project Mission Vivienda, which has so far built over 420,000 houses and aims to build 3 million houses before 2019. Minister for Housing, Ricardo Molina, who was present at
the inauguration of the ground control base in El Sombrero, highlighted that the satellite is being used to identify empty land which is suitable to continue the impressive push in housing construction. Minister for Planning, Jorge Giordani, also emphasized the uses of the satellite in the realization of the potential of Venezuela as a peaceful world power. At a time when satellite technology is increasingly being used for aggressive ends by Washington and its allies, through the control of drones and target missiles, as well the technological spying and interventionary tactics of the CIA, Giordani explained that in the hands of a socialist government, high level technology such as this can be used for pacifist purposes, such as building houses, developing agriculture, or planning preventative projects against natural disasters. Minister Fernandez also unveiled that the government is progressing with another dream of the late Chavez, the construction of a factory to build small scale, low orbit satellites, which should be operational from March 2014 in Carabobo State. The factory will build two 1-ton satellites a year, and is also being developed with assistance from Venezuela’s ally, China. Furthermore, he explained that the Bolivarian Agency for Aerospace Activities is “evaluating the possibility of having a launch pad in the ambit of the ALBA countries”, which include Cuba, Nicaragua, Bolivia, Ecuador, and various Caribbean nations.
sources, to give them dollars and remove the barriers which have been created”. The economy must “attack the structural part”, he explained. “For example production, we have to produce more, a lot more. What should be produced? That which the great majority of Venezuela consume, use, or which generates wellbeing for the population, this is where we are heading”. Merentes explained that his office has held meetings with over 5,000 representatives from the productive sector. “What we did with producers was find agreements after a diagnosis of the problems that the economy presents, such as foreign exchange controls, certificates of production, logistical problem at the ports, or labor problems”.
Regarding these main problems he he has identified, Merentes proposed various measures, which the government’s economic team is currently working on “to seek the wellbeing of the economy, so that it can consolidate itself”. With respect to the issue of the restriction of foreign currencies, Merentes mentioned his ministry is committed to granting access to foreign currencies in the productive sector as part of his efforts to remove barriers that have arisen and hold national production back. Economic growth, he explained, is about “getting rid of those knots the economy has and providing bolivars and or dollars in such a way that the economy can prosper”.
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ocal technicians took over complete control of the Venezuelan satellite ‘Miranda’ from their Chinese counterparts this week, as the Aerospace Base ‘Manuel Rios’ in El Sombrero, Guarico State, was inaugurated by the government. The Minister for Science, Technology, and Innovation, Manuel Fernandez, told press that the observational satellite, which was built and launched in September 2012 as part of the Venezuelan-Chinese agreements, was initially controlled by Chinese technicians. However, in January, control was transferred to Venezuelan technicians receiving their training in China: “Since January this year it was controlled by Venezuelans from a Chinese city, and now it will be controlled by Venezuelans trained by China”. “This project, so desired by Commander Chavez, started in 2003 and has been developed without interruption hand in hand with our brother nation, and our brother people, China”, elaborated Fernandez. “We are receiving full control of the Miranda Satellite in Venezuelan territory today... as of this Monday, all will be done from Venezuela, this is an important landmark in the project”, he further explained. The ground control center in El Sombrero receives the images emitted by Miranda through its 9m antenna, and transfers them to the ‘General Francisco de Miranda’ Base in Caracas by fiber-optic cables, where they are processed and distributed to the respective authorities for application. The control center in El Sombrero will be manned by 34 Venezuelans, who recently returned from a laborious training in China, where they have been since February 2012. Additionally, there are 19 Venezuelan experts working in Caracas, taking the number of fully trained Venezuelans to 54. “Those students who Chavez sent out in February 2012 today fill us with pride and are controlling the satellite”, expressed Minister Fernandez. Venezuelan technician Rigel Valladares, who is working in the base in El Sombrero, told us that “from this Monday, our Chinese companions are taking their hand away and we are walking alone”. His colleague, Alex Jimenez, explained why this is an important moment for the country: “The day marks a milestone, now it is our responsibility… we
Miranda satellite transferred to full Venezuelan control have been putting in our part for the country and now we are rewarding the state for the confidence it showed in us”. The Miranda satellite is the second Venezuelan satellite, and carries photographic equipment. It flies at over 640km of altitude and passes over Venezuela 2 or 3 times a day at a velocity of 27,900km/hour. It can capture up to 350 images a day, and has to date captured 19,493 images with its panchromatic camera and 3,249 with its multispectral one. It has so far gone
round the earth 4,350 times, and passed over the national territory 900 times authorities revealed. It’s uses center around the topographic geographic understanding of the national territory, which has application in the military/defense fields, in urban development, in the identification of natural resources, the development of industrial parks, in ecological planning and awareness, in prevention from national disasters, as well as in agricultural development
Finance Minister Offers Analysis of Economic Problems T/ Paul Dobson
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n a clear and grounded show of constructive criticism, Finance Minister Nelson Merentes, gave his thoughts on the reasons behind, and solutions for, some of the unavoidably real economic problems that Venezuela has experienced in recent month. Merentes explained that the Bolivarian Revolution has achieved significant gains and made impressive progress in many sectors, especially in social issues, but that these levels of progress are not equaled in the economic field.
“This is a government that has been approved in 18 elections, which has been successful in the social field, but which still is missing success in the economic arena”, stated Merentes. It was his job, he explained, to lead the country to “a period of stable growth… to pass a good few years where all of the economic factors are improving”. Many of the economic problems in the nation can be solved with stimulation in the productive sector, claimed Merentes, which involves “sitting down with producers and increasing production, if it’s about re-
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6 Special Report | . s Friday, September 6, 2013
The artillery of ideas
Letter from Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro to President Barack Obama on Syria Caracas, September 1, 2013 Your Excellency Barack Obama President of the United States of America:
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n behalf of the People of Simon Bolivar and Commander Hugo Chavez, I am writing to you in defense of the cause of peace and as a staunch enemy of war. This letter seeks to call you to reflection regarding the unjust, nefarious and frightening possibility of an US military intervention against the people of Syria. These lines have no other intention, President Obama, but to accompany the people’s cry for a world where peace is the everyday way of understanding each other, our brothers and sisters. I make my own, entirely mine, these beautiful words of Simon Bolivar: Peace will be my port, my glory, my reward, my hope, my happiness and everything that is beautiful in the world. In the same way, this is about following the path that Jesus of Nazareth shows us on that beautiful beatitude: Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. After that important meeting between Secretary of State John Kerry and our Chancellor Elias Jaua on the occasion of the 43rd General Assembly of the Organization of American States, held in the city of Antigua, Guatemala, I stated the following: There may be a relationship of respect with the government of the United States, relations on equal terms. We can process our differences. It is this same spirit that now leads me to address you, with the hope that beyond the differences, we could join hands so that never again do records as disastrous such as those in Iraq, Afghanistan or Libya be repeated. In particular, I want to be a spokesman of the feelings of millions and millions of people in our Americas and around the world through social networks, and many other means, who ask for a ceasefire, as well as to prevent the military in-
tervention by foreign powers in the Syrian Arab Republic. Such military intervention would be disastrous for the entire Eastern Mediterranean region, a meeting place of historic roads of our civilization. Referring to Bush and the Pentagon hawks, Susan Sontag, that great American and universal consciousness, said with sharp irony: Because they are always right. For them, to demonstrate American power is good in itself. They might as well not capture Saddam Hussein, they would not care if none of the weapons attributed to the former Iraqi regime ever appeared, the war was justified by itself, period. On the eve of the invasion they were playing around with four or five excuses and in the end opted for the weapons of mass destruction. If the President did not end Saddam Hussein, he would be in breach of his
constitutional mandate to protect the American people. They couldn’t give another day to the Hans Blix inspectors, the situation required an emergency intervention because Iraq’s nuclear missiles were already pointing to our cities…As you well know , it was a well mounted farce, but which resulted in the destruction of Iraq and which killed more than one million Iraqis. Everything Sontag says is perfectly applicable to Syria here and now: the farce is being repeated point by point. Again, immoral and criminal war is justified by itself, period. By the way, yesterday the Union of South American Nations (Unasur ) held its Seventh Summit in Paramaribo, Suriname. The South American bloc issued a joint statement setting a position on Syria. I draw your attention to this document condemning external interven-
tions that are inconsistent with the Charter of the United Nations rejecting the development of interventionist strategies of all kinds. Remember who you are, President Obama, remember where you came from, remember your African-American roots. Remember the shining dignity examples of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King in which you were educated, and that led you to fight for a better future. Remember your origins. Remember yourself as that young leader and social activist from Chicago. Remember how you frontally opposed the Iraq war and rejected the whole fabric of lies with which they tried to justify it. Do not disown the beating of awareness of these words of Malcolm X with full force: “And if these people of these different regions are beginning to see that the problem is the same problem, and if we the 22 million black Americans see that our problem is the same problem of the people who are being oppressed in South Vietnam and the Congo and Latin America -for the oppressed of the earth constitute a majority and not a minority-, then let’s face our problems as a majority that can demand, and not as a minority who has to beg. Taking inspiration from the spirit and the letter of Brother Malcolm. I want to convey a firm conviction: Today we are millions of men and women around the planet who assume the right to require you to discard definitely the possibility of a military adventure against the noble people of Syria. As immense John Lennon sang: “All we are saying is give peace a chance”. “Does Obama knows he is fighting on the side of al-Qaeda?” Thus is titled an enlightening article by Robert Fisk recently published in The Independent. According to Fisk, “There will be some irony, of course. While Americans kill by drone and blow up the members of al-Qaeda in Yemen and Pakistan, -along , of course, with the usual group of civilians- , Americans themselves will facilitate, with the help of Mr. Cameron, Hollande and other small generals and poli-
ticians, material assistance in Syria to hit the enemies of al-Qaeda. In fact, you can bet your bottom dollar that the only target that Americans are not going to bomb in Syria is al-Qaeda or the Nusra front. There is the dangerous sea of contradictions on which US foreign policy has fallen”. I would anxiously ask you, President Obama, in the light of Fisk’s reflection, are you going to declare and start a war to promote the accession to power of al- Qaeda in Syria ? May the Syrian people decide by themselves the conflicts under the sacred right to self-determination that invests all sovereign nations, and may all mercenary forces that have caused so much destruction and so much death leave Syria. As Commander Chavez said, this is a new Armageddon. In a world under the real threat of a permanent war, no one is safe. Is that the world you want? A world where cemetery of peace reigns? In this time of crucial decisions, we wonder with Howard Zinn: “Should not we ask everyone to forget for a moment their inflamed speeches and imagine what it will mean a war for human beings whose faces we will not come to know, whose names will not appear but in some future monument of war? It will never be enough what we do in pursuit of lasting peace and stability of any nation on the planet, because the welfare of a people exalts us while their pain diminishes us to vilest inhumanity. We, from the love of peace that cultivates the Venezuelan people, reject war and say no to bombs, desolation and death. That is our hope, the same that encouraged the soul of Martin Luther King when he said, “If I knew that the world would end tomorrow, I, today would still plant a tree”. This tree is the same we want to flourish in these so tense and ominous hours. I aspire and hope for the call that I have made you in this letter, Mr. President, not to fall into a void. I aspire and hope you rectify and proceed to stop the war machine that has already been set up. I aspire and I hope you do stop the funeral beating of the drums of war on Syria. I pray for it to be so. Peace in Syria and across the world! No War! Nicolas Maduro
. s Friday, September 6, 2013
The artillery of ideas
Nationwide protests rage against Colombia’s economic policies T/ Constanza Vieira and Helda Martinez –IPS P/ Agencies
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strike declared nearly two weeks ago in Colombia by farmers and joined later by truck drivers, health workers, miners and students spread to include protests in the cities before mushrooming into a general strike last Thursday, demanding changes in the government’s economic policies. The protests ballooned after clashes with the ESMAD anti-riot police left at least two rural protesters dead and over 250 under arrest. Also fuelling the unrest, say analysts, was the attempt by President Juan Manuel Santos to minimize the strikers’ actions. He said on Sunday, August 25 that “the so-called national agrarian strike does not exist”. The authorities, meanwhile, allege that the nationwide roadblocks and protests have been connected to the country’s left-wing guerrillas. The head of the Fensuagro agricultural trade union, Huber Ballesteros, was arrested Sunday, accused of financing the rebels. He is one of the 10 spokespersons selected by the Mesa de Interlocucion Agropecuaria Nacional (MIA) to negotiate with the government. MIA, a national umbrella movement, emerged from
over two months of protests by campesinos or small farmers in Catatumbo, an impoverished area in northeast Colombia, where they are calling for government measures that would make it possible for them to stop producing coca – their main livelihood in the isolated, roadless area — and switch to alternative crops. Since the campesinos began to protest in Catatumbo in June, the problems facing small farmers around the country have become more visible. The difficulties they face are especially exacerbated in the central provinces of Boyaca and Cundinamarca and in Nariño in the southwest, where smallholder production of potatoes, onions, maize, fresh produce, fruit and dairy products is the main economic activity of much of the population. Since Monday, August 19, small farmers around the country have been on strike to protest that they cannot compete with low-price food products imported under free trade agreements with the United States (in effect since May 2012) and the European Union (in effect since August 1). They are also complaining about rising fuel, transport and production costs. Another target of the farmers’ protests is “Resolution 970”, passage of which was required by the US-Colombia
FTA, which protects genetically modified seeds under intellectual property rights, making the replanting of them a crime. In addition, they are protesting large-scale mining projects that have been given the green light in agricultural regions, without consulting local communities as required by law. It all boils down to the lack of real policies for the countryside, says MIA, which presented a lists of demands before the farmers’ strike began. The list calls for solutions to the crisis affecting farmers; access to land titles proving ownership; recognition of protected campesino territories; participation in decisions involving mining industry activity; guarantees for exercising political rights; and social spending and investment in infrastructure like roads in rural areas. On Sunday, August 25, the protests spread to the cities, after farmers posted photos and videos on social networking sites of the ESMAD riot police’s brutal crackdown on campesino families, including children and the elderly. A mission of human rights defenders reported that the riot police had fired live ammunition into crowds of protesters, and that injured demonstrators had wounds indicating that they had been beaten and even stabbed or
shot by ESMAD. The mission also documented reports of sexual abuse and rape threats against the wives and daughters of campesinos taking part in the protests. One woman who reported that the police threw a tear gas canister directly at her inside her home told the human rights defenders: “I was cooking for my kids when I saw an ESMAD agent in the window who, without saying anything, broke the glass and just threw [the canister] inside. I ran out to protect my kids”. In response to the images and reports of police brutality, people in the cities began to protest, with “cacerolazos” – where demonstrators bang on kitchen pots and pans – which are common in some Latin American countries but are unusual in Colombia. President Santos apologized and launched a dialogue, in an attempt to negotiate by region or by sector. But his strategy failed and the unrest continued to spread. Santos said on Wednesday, August 28 that his instructions to the security forces to clear the roadblocks, “as they have been doing”, were still standing. On Thursday, he unexpectedly cancelled his participation in Friday’s Union of South American Nations (Unasur) summit in Suriname. Thousands of indigenous people in the southwestern province of Cauca reported Wednesday that they had begun rituals to join the protests. “The national agricultural strike is the result of problems and demands that have built up over many years”, economist Hector Leon Moncayo, a university professor who is a co-founder of the Colombian Alliance against Free Trade (RECALCA), told IPS. “The only solution now is to bring about a major transformation”. “A true agrarian reform process has never been carried out in Colombia. Every attempt has failed”, he said. The civil war, which has dragged on for nearly 50 years, “was a pretext for building up military power, and in parallel, paramilitary power”, he argued. “The far-right paramilitaries stepped up the violence against the campesino population, fuelling massive displacement”, he said. According to the figures of the Consultancy for Human Rights and Displacement (CODHES), a leading Colombian human rights group, 5.5
| Analysis
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million people were displaced from their homes between 1985 and 2012. From behind the scenes, “the drug lords increased the concentration of land ownership, and today there are very few regions with a small-scale campesino economy. Clear examples are the latifundios (large landed estates) where sugarcane and African oil palm are grown”, Moncayo said. According to January statistics from the National Agrofuels Federation, 150,000 hectares of land are dedicated to sugarcane and oil palm, of the country’s total of five million hectares of farmland. The government of Cesar Gaviria (1990–1994) introduced free-market reforms to open up the economy. And more recently, free trade agreements have further undermined the competitiveness of small farmers. Moncayo said campesinos have lost the ability to make a living by selling their products, thanks also to dumping – the export of products by Colombia’s partners at prices below production costs. “It would be very hard to get the free trade agreements revoked, but it is possible – and urgently necessary – to design sustainable policies for rural development for campesinos”, he said. According to the United Nations Development Program, 32 percent of Colombia’s population of 47 million lives in rural areas, and between nine and 11 million people depend on farming for a living. “We need to make the transition from traditional agriculture to agroecology, to revive the Colombian countryside”, Adriana Chaparro, a professor at Uniminuto, a private college that offers degrees in agroecology, explained. “Agroecology is a big challenge that would make it possible to obtain the best results from farming, without deterioration of the land”, she said. “It would also prevent what many are calling for: subsidies for agriculture, which would require increasingly large investments, which are difficult to finance. “These protests, which include fair demands, are also an opportunity to take a close, critical look at our agricultural practices, without falling into the government’s way of thinking”, Chaparro said. Agroecology student Tatiana Vargas said these practices “should become a way of life, which would help us go back to our essence”.
Friday, September 6, 2013 | Nº 174 | 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 - Audra Ramones
T/ Lawrence Davidson
Opinion
President Obama has sidestepped the political hole he had dug for himself (what we might call the “red line” hole) over his proposed attack on Syria. Having insisted there must be “consequences” for a breach of international law, specifically the alleged use of banned chemical weapons by the Syrian government, he was faced with both popular US reluctance to support military action and Congressional pique over not being included in the decision process. As a consequence President Obama announced on August 31, 2013 that he now supports a Congressional debate and vote on the issue of attacking Syria. Then he told us how he sees the situation, “This [Syrian chemical] attack is an assault on human dignity…. It risks making a mockery of the global prohibition on the use of chemical weapons…. Ultimately this is not about who occupies this [White House] office at any given time, its about who we are as a country”.
The US and Chemical Weapons
The Imperial Presidency, Congress and Syria
THE US AND CHEMICAL WEAPONS For all I know, the president really believes his own words, but I am pretty sure his implied question of “who we are as a country” is meant to be rhetorical. If one was to give an evidence-based answer to that inquiry, as it relates to chemical weapons, it would be embarrassing in the extreme. Lest we forget, the US defoliated parts of Vietnam with a chemical weapon called Agent Orange and by its use killed a lot more than large swaths of jungle. Agent Orange killed and maimed an estimated 400,000 Vietnamese and an estimated half a million children have subsequently been born deformed. It also did a fatal job on many of the US troops that handled the stuff. Later, the US sold chemical and biological weapons-grade material to Saddam Hussein and followed up by helping his army aim the stuff accurately at Iranian troops. Saddam also used it on the Iraqi Kurds. Then there is the fact that our “very special friend”, Israel, used phosphorous bombs (a banned chemical weapon) on the civilians of Gaza. At the time Israel did this, President Obama occupied the oval office. I don’t remember him displaying any moral angst or positioning US ships in the eastern Mediterranean with
cruise missiles aimed at Israeli airbases. The truth is that during all of these episodes no one in the government worried (at least publicly) about what our actions or lack thereof, said about what sort of country this is. However, this question does deserve a direct answer. What sort of country is the US in relation to the use of chemical weapons? The kindest answer one can give is it is a bloody hypocritical nation.
BACK TO CONGRESS Nonetheless, sending the issue of a possible attack on Syria to Congress is a timely political move for the president. It puts off having to face the dilemma of taking military action that cannot both constitute meaningful punishment for the violation of international law and, at the same time, keep the US from becoming ever more deeply embroiled in the Syrian civil war.
It also could be a good political move for the US as a whole because it creates a good precedent. Having Congress debate and vote on the issue of military action against Syria could help resuscitate the moribund War Powers Act. Although Obama claims he has the authority to launch an attack no matter what Congress decides, he would be politically hard pressed to do so if the legislators said don’t do it. Thus the maneuver might narrow the oth-
erwise rapidly expanding powers of the imperial presidency. Of course, none of this means that Congress can’t be scared or otherwise bamboozled into giving the president the power to do something militarily stupid. Vietnam and Iraq stand as powerful precedents in that regard. There is another very interesting potential consequence of the president’s going to Congress. It might create a situation where there is a publicly noticeable difference between the express desires of a majority of the voting population and the special interests now encouraging military action against Syria. In my last analysis I laid out the idea that in the interim between elections, the influence of powerful special interests have much more to say about policy than do the voters, most of whom pay little attention to foreign policy. Now, however, we have a rare moment when the populace is paying attention and polls indicate that a healthy majority do not want further intervention in the Middle East. Who will the Congress respond to in the upcoming debate and vote, their special interest constituents or the voting kind? Of course, the notion that the President of the United States, with or without Congressional approval, has the authority to act as the world’s “policeman” and punish violators of international laws, that it itself flaunts, is offensive and dangerous. There are international institutions in place such as the International Criminal Court (ICC) that, imperfect as they are, can be used to prosecute violations such as the use of banned weapons. (It is to be noted that the cause of “human dignity” would be greatly advanced if the US would stop refusing to ratify the treaty empowering the ICC). How do you characterize a situation where one or a small number of community members takes it upon themselves to go outside the law to punish alleged wrongdoers? Here in the US this is known as “vigilante justice”. Most often this sort of behavior results is a “lynching” based on little or no reliable evidence. President Obama’s going to Congress will not change the vigilante nature of US intentions. Let’s just hope that Congress listens to the people this time around and tells the President to keep his cruise missiles to himself. And then, lets hope he does just that. Lawrence Davidson is professor of history at West Chester University in West Chester, PA.