English Edition Nº 66 by Correo del Orinoco

Pg. g 7 | Analysis y

Pg. g 8 | Opinion

Native American Chief Terrance Nelson on the double- Cindy Sheehan reports back edged sword of US sanctions against Venezuela from her recent trip to Venezuelaa

FRIDAY | June 3rd, 2011 | No. 66 | Bs 1 | C ARACAS

ENGLISH EDITION The artillery of ideas

Venezuelans Unify in Light of Threats

Chavez to visit Brazil, Ecuador and Cuba

Protests continue in Caracas against the US sanctions as President Chavez warns Obama Venezuela will continue to evaluate oil supply northward

Zelaya returns to Honduras

As a result of successful mediation efforts by President Hugo Chavez and President Juan Manuel Santos of Colombia, ousted president Manuel Zelaya was finally able to return to Honduras after spending nearly 2 years in exile after the coup d’etat that forced him from power in June 2009. His return was accompanied by a high-level delegation from Latin America, and he was received by millions of Hondurans who form part of the resistance movement. Now, Honduras must embark on the difficult path to justice and peace. | page 6

Thousands of Venezuelans continue to mobilize against the latest threats to their democracy and sovereignty. The unilaterally imposed sanctions by Washington against Pdvsa have been condemned throughout the region by Latin American nations and even sectors within the US. On Sunday, a delegation of US citizens and Native Americans representing different communities from North America accompanied Venezuelans in Caracas in a mass rally rejecting the US sanctions and calling for their immediate suspension. | pages 2-3

Politics

Venezuela bans smoking in public spaces Smoking is no longer allowed in public areas throughout the entire country. | page 4

Economy

Chavez invests more in social programs The Venezuelan government announced major increases in funds for social programs. | page 5

Economy

Venezuela to launch second satellite Technological independence and sovereignty is key towards the country’s development. | page 5

Latin American Union of News Agencies launched

ews agencies from Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Cuba, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico, Paraguay and Venezuela have joined efforts to create the Latin American Union of News Agencies (ULAN, Spanish abbreviation), aimed at counteracting negative campaigns undertaken by communication monopolies from the US and Europe. This June 2-3, news agency representatives met with Venezuela’s Communication and Information Minister Andres Izarra to endorse a principal accord on ULAN’s structure and information exchange system.

“The main element for us is the possibility of building an information reference for the whole continent, capable of portraying the reality of Latin American and Caribbean nations through our own eyes, not through the eyes of the North or Europe”, explained Venezuelan News Agency (AVN) director Freddy Fernandez. He added that Latin America is the only region in the world which still lacks of an agency of this kind. “We have a variety of opinions here about several communication issues. That will significantly enrich ULAN’s effort. Besides, we

face different political realities. It is a union of diverse news agencies”. “Governments of our region launch the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States in about a month and we have to accompany them on that effort of integration”, he recalled. Telam (Argentina), ABI (Bolivia), Agencia Brasil, Prensa Latina (Cuba) Andes (Ecuador), AGN (Guatemala), Notimex (Mexico), IP (Paraguay) and AVN (Venezuela) are the news agencies forming this new endeavor. T/ AVN

ene uelan President Hugo enezuelan Chavez appeared in public Tuesday after several weeks nursing a bad knee, and immediately announced trips to Brazil, Ecuador and Cuba for next week. “I’m fine, my knee is well on its way to recovery,” Chavez told official VTV television news, surrounded by his cabinet ministers. Chavez said he has been resting since May 9, when his injury forced him to postpone trips to the three Latin American countries. For the past three weeks Chavez’s presence has been limited to sending commentary on Venezuelan an international affairs via his Twitter microblogging account @ chavezcandanga. The sole exception was his appearance last week on the 12 year anniversary show of his television talk program “Alo, Presidente”. He appeared for a mere hour, when he normally spends 6 hours on average on the show. Chavez said he will be in Brasilia to meet President Dilma Rousseff on June 6, visit the Ecuadoran president the following day, then travel to Cuba.

2 | Impact

NoÊÈÈÊUÊFriday, June 3rd, 2011

The artillery of ideas

A delegation from the US also accompanied Venezuelans rejecting US sanctions

Venezuelans unify against US hostilities I

n a show of national unity in the face of foreign aggression, thousands of Venezuelans took to the streets of the nation’s capital last weekend to express their opposition to sanctions levied by the US government against the country’s state-owned oil company Petroleos de Venezuela, S.A. (Pdvsa). Signs like “Respect Venezuela!” and “Pdvsa belongs to the people!” littered the enthusiastic march last Sunday that began at Sucre Plaza and ended at O’Leary Square in downtown Caracas where public officials and activists addressed the crowd with patriotic messages of resistance and solidarity. “The workers have taken the streets to tell the world that the men and women of the new Pdvsa know how to defend their social gains and to tell US imperialism that we’re not afraid”, Pdvsa President and Energy Minister Rafael Ramirez told the crowd at the rally. Last weekend’s demonstration has been Venezuela’s loudest response to the punitive measures announced by the United States government on May 24th, accusing Pdvsa of prohibited commercial activity with Iran, a country Washington alleges is seeking technology for the construction of nuclear weaponry. In a move that has escalated already tense relations between the two nations, the sanctions bar Venezuela’s largest and most important oil company from entering into contracts with the United States government as well as acquiring financing and licenses for import/export related activities. Although not expected to directly affect the country economically, the Obama administration’s attempt to punish Venezuela marks for many yet another attempt by the United States to violate the South American nation’s sovereignty and assert its influence in the region.

REJECTING SANCTIONS Flatly rejecting the sanctions and condemning US hypocrisy in the international arena, Venezuelans railed on Sunday against Washington’s strong arm tactics to enforce its will. “The United States has no moral right to tell Venezuela with whom we can have relations... They are forgetting that we got

defied the oil industry sabotage in order to ensure an essential functioning of the company. In the end, Chavez and the Venezuelan people emerged the victors as a restructuring of the oil industry proceeded, resulting to date in more than $330 billion of investment from Pdvsa in social programs designed to improve the well-being of the nation’s residents. During the rally on Sunday, Ramirez praised the Chavez administration’s defiance of US intervention and the government’s continued use of Pdvsa for the nation’s social development. “The Bolivarian Revolution has rescued our oil and has put it at the service of the people. Now it´s an instrument of freedom, for health, education, housing and bringing justice to our people”, he said.

rid of the Spanish Empire not only in Venezuela but in all of South America”, said Hector Rodriguez, Sports Minister, during the demonstration. In recent years, Venezuela and Iran have signed more than 270 bilateral agreements in areas of housing, transportation, energy, and agriculture among others. MESSAGES OF SUPPORT Unable to attend the rally for health reasons, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez chimed in on the activities, sending messages of encouragement to the protestors via his Twitter account. “Tremendous march! This is popular power!” Chavez wrote on Twitter via @chavezcandanga. “There you have the Venezuelan people, the workers, demonstrating that they’re up to the task when they see the homeland threatened!” he declared. International solidarity has also been pouring in from Cuba, Chile, Ecuador, Bolivia, Nicaragua and even from sectors in the US, supporting Venezuela’s right to selfdetermination and accusing the United States government of violating international law with the

implementation of the sanctions. “An emphatic condemnation [of the sanctions] needs to be expressed. The United States violates international law, applies laws unilaterally and does it in an extra-territorial way. We need to denounce this and ask ourselves if a new escalation is beginning against the Bolivarian Revolution”, said Cuba’s Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez in a local newspaper, adding that “when Venezuela is attacked, Cuba is attacked”. At Sunday’s march, a diverse delegation from the US also participated, rejecting the illegal sanctions and expressing solidarity with the Venezuelan people. US anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan read from a collective declaration signed by thousands of US citizens condemning Washington’s aggression against Venezuela and calling for an immediate suspension of the sanctions. “We find it outrageous that the United States government would attempt to demonize the one company, and country, that has been there for our communities, putting people before profits...And we demand Washington suspend these sanctions against Venezuela imme-

diately”. Sheehan was accompanied by 8 other US activists, social workers, unionists and representatives from North American indigenous populations. A HISTORY OF INTERFERENCE According to Pdvsa head Rafael Ramirez, the US imposed sanctions are consistent with Washington’s attempts to derail the gains made by the Chavez administration over the past 12 years in exerting more public control over the nation’s greatest resource. In 2002, the Bush administration colluded with the Venezuelan right-wing in a failed coup d’etat aimed at removing Chavez from power after the passage of a Hydrocarbons law which sought the democratization of Pdvsa. A similar attempt at overthrowing the popularly elected leader was launched at the end of the same year when members of the oil company’s right-wing management used a lockout to bring the Venezuelan economy to its knees and force Chavez from power. The lockout also failed as the Venezuelan people weathered the storm and many PDVSA workers

DIVERSIFYING MARKETS Venezuela is the fourth largest exporter of crude to the US, accounting for 1.2 million barrels daily, more than 40 percent of the Caribbean country’s total output. Although the Venezuelan government has stated its intention to review the amount of oil it supplies to the US, no reduction in sales has been announced as of yet. At the same time, the South American country has been working to diversify its stake in refineries outside the US while continuing to strengthen bilateral ties with other energy-hungry countries such as China. Currently, Venezuela provides China with some 500 thousand barrels a day while officials of the world’s most populated country are pushing for this number to increase to 1 million by 2013. Likewise, the government has been working with other nations to secure oil industry technology from allied countries, which according to Minister Ramirez, will lessen the blow of the USimposed sanctions. “[The US] has told us that they are not going to supply us with technology. That’s fine, and we’ll evaluate the impact of this measure. For a long time now, however, we’ve been developing technological support from other countries”, he said. T/ COI P/ Agencies

NoÊÈÈÊUÊFriday, June 3rd, 2011

The artillery of ideas

he Latin American nations that make up the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of the Americas (ALBA) joined regional voices in their “indignation and rejection” of the US government’s decision to impose unilateral sanctions against Venezuela’s state-owned oil company, Petroleos de Venezuela (Pdvsa). In addition to the ALBA statement, Ecuador’s Foreign Ministry called the US sanctions a “violation of international law” and a group of Chilean lawmakers called the US decision “an aggression not only against Venezuela, but against all Latin American countries”. In their official statement, ALBA’s member nations (Antigua and Barbuda, Bolivia, Cuba, Dominica, Ecuador, Nicaragua, Sainte Vicente and the Grenadines, and Venezuela) expressed their “most firm” collective rejection of the US sanctions imposed on Pdvsa. They went on to insist that the US “bring a definitive end to its acts of aggression against the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and show an unrestricted respect for the decisions taken by our countries in the exercise of our national sovereignty”. Ecuador issued its own statement of rejection in which the country’s Foreign Ministry expressed its “concern for the possible negative effects” that US sanctions could have on the “social and economic development of those nations affected, especially the sister nation of Venezuela”. Ecuador went to affirm that, “because Pdvsa is a Venezuelan state enterprise, not an enterprise of transnational interests, the (US) sanctions are also in violation of the fundamental principles of international law”.

T/ Juan Reardon

Venezuelans mobilize against Obama’s sanctions

ALBA rejects sanctions against Venezuela

Politics

eeing is believing. Any hope that Venezuelans had in the Obama administration has been shattered against the recent USimposed sanctions on Venezuela’s state-owned oil company, Pdvsa. Two massive rallies were held in one week in Caracas against this US foreign intervention.Many of the speakers and many in the audience with their homemade signs expressed the motive behind the sanctions: they are nothing less than an attack on the Venezuela revolution itself and the inherent potential the revolution has to not only push away US power in South America, but transform the economic system on which this power is based. Sunday’s rally was enormous. People represented their role in the revolution by their clothes or signs: there were countless Pdvsa oil workers with hardhats and overalls; middle-aged women wearing t-shirts of their neighborhood-run, state-funded food cooperatives; students proudly waving signs about their state-funded school; mothers with children carried signs about their local health-care clinic -- all born from the revolution. All of these groups understand clearly the connection between Pdvsa and their social programs: the oil money generated by Pdvsa funds nearly all of these social programs; it is literally the lifeblood of the revolution. Venezuela’s oil minister, Rafael Ramirez, gave a thundering speech against the sanctions, at one point saying, “Pdvsa is universal health care, Pdvsa is free education, Pdvsa is food cooperatives”. Ramirez also pointed out one of the motives against US aggression against Venezuela: “The United States government will not stop until it has all the oil in the world”. There is a lot of truth in this statement. As Ramirez also noted, it is not by accident that Libya is the only Arab country in Africa the US has sent troops into -- it is the biggest oil producer in Africa. This same motive can be equally applied to Iran: oil plays a much larger role in the US-Iran dispute than any Iranian nuclear energy program. And no one doubts that the motive behind the invasion of Iraq was oil.

Aside from oil, Obama’s economic policy is another reason why Venezuela is being targeted. Obama has talked relentlessly about increasing US exports as a route to overcome economic difficulties. But as Cindy Sheehan recently pointed out, US exports to Latin America have precipitously dropped in recent years, since Latin American countries have relied more on each other for economic development, as well as on Russia, Iran, and China -- an intolerable situation for US corporate interests. Yet another motive behind the sanctions are the 2012 elections in Venezuela, the campaigning for which has already begun. Obama likely believed that the US sanctions would discredit Chavez, yet Obama is the one who -- like Bush before him -- has been discredited. In 2004, Bush Jr. also tried sanctions against Venezuela that blew up in his face. The average Venezuelan is extremely knowledgeable about the purpose and methods of US foreign policy in Latin

America, which transcends the skin color of US Presidents. Bush Jr. attempted a military coup in Venezuela in 2002. When brute force failed, Bush conspired with local upper-class Venezuelans to sabotage the economy by shutting down businesses and shutting off Venezuela’s oil. When this failed Bush tried his sanctions in 2004 combined with a longer term approach: sending tens of millions of dollars to fund antiChavez groups in Venezuela, who were able to flood the media and election campaigns about Chavez demonized as a “dictator”. Venezuelan-American journalist and lawyer Eva Golinger writes: “According to public documents, just between the years 2008 to 2011, the US State Department channeled more than $40 million to the Venezuelan opposition, primarily directing those funds to electoral campaigns against President Chavez and propaganda slated to influence Venezuelan public opinion”. (February 17, 2011). Golinger also emphasizes Obama’s 2012 budget, which specifically allo-

cates an additional $5 million in “aid” to Venezuelan “civil society,” although all funds from the US government go to right-wing, antiChavez groups in Venezuela. US intervention in Venezuela takes several forms, from campaign funding, to sanctions, to military coups. The threat of military invasion looms in the background too, since in 2008 the US military began using several Colombian military bases on the Venezuela-Colombia border. Ultimately, the corporations that dominate the US government will never accept a Latin America independent of US corporate interests. Many of the economic and social programs begun in Venezuela directly contradict US corporate ideology, since they focus on empowering working people to take economic and political control over their communities, cooperating with other communities across the country for the betterment of all working people. T/ Shamus Cooke

4 | Politics

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Venezuela bans smoking in public spaces In celebration of World “No Tobacco” Day, Venezuela has added its name to the growing list of countries around the globe that have banned smoking in closed public spaces

“I

n honor of this day, we are ratifying the revolutionary government’s willingness to keep the Venezuelan people healthy, maintain the rights of the nonsmoker, and preserve the health of our children and adults”, said Health Minister Eugenia Sader during a press conference announcing the measure last Tuesday The new law, first passed by the country’s National Assembly in March, came into effect this week in compliance with the World Health Organization’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control treaty. As a party to the international treaty, Venezuela is obligated to fulfill certain anti-tobacco requisites including protecting people from exposure to smoke as well as increasing taxes and placing large warnings on tobacco products. The smoking ban, the strongest anti-tobacco measure taken by the

Chavez administration to date, will cover all close-air establishments and require the exhibition of a clearly displayed sign reading “Environment 100% free of tobacco smoke”. This includes airports, banks, nightclubs, bars, commercial establishment, public transportation and any other closed public spaces. Hefty fines of up to 190 thousand bolivars (approximately $44,000), depending on the establishment, will accompany the violation of the new law with in-

creases occurring in the case of repeat offenses. “The importance of this measure is to guarantee healthy spaces, guarantee spaces where tobacco smoke is reduced. This initiative lowers the frequency of tobacco consumption...it’s not against the smoker, it’s against the tobacco smoke”, said Health Vice Minister Miriam Morales during an appearance on state television last Tuesday, With respect to enforcement, an inspection corps has been trained

and deployed while Venezuelans are being encouraged to report any infractions directly to the Health Ministry through a specific email address created to receive complaints. In addition to the ban, Sader also announced last week the creation of 77 new help centers to assist smokers in their efforts to quit the habit. According to WHO Statistics, close to 6 million people die annually from tobacco use, including 600 thousand non smokers.

The organization’s research also reveals that 80 percent of smokers are found in low to middle income countries. Venezuela’s Health Ministry reports that smoking related diseases are responsible for 34.3 percent of deaths in the country. Minister Sader also informed last week that while 17 percent of the nation’s population smokes, teen smoking has been reduced from 50 percent in 1984 to 10.4 percent currently. Other reductions in tobacco use have also been evident in Venezuela since Hugo Chavez was elected president in 1998. “In 10 years, we’ve been able to reduce the number of smokers... we have 24 percent less smokers than we had in 1999 and those that once tried smoking have been reduced by 40 percent. Those that use another type of tobacco product have gone down 42 percent”, Sader reported. For his part, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez expressed his enthusiastic support for the new ban on Tuesday via his Twitter account. “Venezuela, smoke free! Let’s all join this campaign against tobacco! No to the cigarette! Let’s live healthy!” he wrote. T/ COI P/ Agencies

Despite US sanctions, Citgo launches program to reward local heroes D

espite the recent unilateral US sanctions against Venezuelan state oil company Pdvsa, the company’s Houston-based subsidiary Citgo launched its 2011 ‘Fueling Good’ program this week for the third year running. Citgo, which is 100% owned by PDV America is a refiner, transporter and marketer of transportation fuels, lubricants and petrochemicals and is committed to promoting social development within the region. Since the 1990s Citgo has supported local community projects and charities in the area and in 2005 it also set up an initiative which supplied low-cost heating oil to poor neighbourhoods. As well as donating millions of dollars per year to educational programmes, women’s associations, neighborhood youth centres and

‘United Way’ program amongst others, Citgo also has its own team of volunteers and was particularly active during the rescue and reconstruction efforts in the wake of hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Considering the invaluable contribution that Citgo makes to poorer neighborhoods in the US, it could be perceived that the Obama administration is shooting itself in the foot by imposing these sanctions; except it won’t be the politicians who have to take the hit. Not only are the sanctions inadmissible under international law, but on a human level they could also penalize poorer communities within the US itself. The following release from the company details the structure of its ‘Fueling Good’ program and provides an example of the type

of community work that Citgo is engaged in at present. The entry period is now open for the Citgo Petroleum Corporation 2011 Fueling Good program, which recognizes and rewards 501(c)3 organizations that make a positive difference in their communities. These nonprofit organizations can win a share of $120,000 in quality Citgo fuel by telling their stories at www.FuelingGood.com. Up to 24 non-profit organizations will receive $5,000 in Citgo gift cards this year to support their causes and show just how far a gallon of gas can go. “We are honored to launch the 3rd year of Fueling Good. We’ve seen what an impact our past winners have on their local communities and we are excited to

increase our awards to support even more groups”, said Daniel Cortez, vice president, government and public affairs with Citgo. “The principles of Fueling Good, to support those making a difference in the lives of others and improving their communities, are central to everything we do at Citgo. From our nearly 3,500 corporate employees, more than 500 local Marketers, and operators and employees at the more than 6,000 locally owned Citgo stations, we are all working towards doing good and helping others”. The principles of Fueling Good can be seen in all aspects of the Citgo brand. From the quality fuel and exceptional service provided at locally owned Citgo stations to the continuous fundraising and

community efforts of local Citgo employees; doing good is part of the Citgo DNA and is aligned with the social development principles of the Citgo shareholder, Pdvsa, the national oil company of Venezuela. To enter for a chance to win up to $5,000 in Citgo gift cards and learn how Citgo and local organizations are making a difference, visit www.FuelingGood.com. Citgo, based in Houston, is a refiner, transporter and marketer of transportation fuels, lubricants, petrochemicals and other industrial products. The company is owned by PDV America, Inc., an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of Petroleos de Venezuela, S.A., the national oil company of Venezuela. T/ Citgo

NoÊÈÈÊUÊFriday, June 3rd, 2011

The artillery of ideas

Economy

Venezuela to Launch Satellite for Land and Environmental Planning T

he Venezuelan uelan government signed an agreement greement with China last Thursday to build and launch a second satellite, this time for land observation. The satellite, according to Venezuela’s Minister for Science, Technology and Intermediate Industries, Ricardo Menendez, will aid in environmental management, urban planning, agricultural activity, climate and climate change monitoring, containment of the advance of desertification, and attending to and mitigating extreme conditions. “We’re going to have a satellite that will enable us to monitor the national territory twenty-four hours a day, something which has enormous potential in terms of providing assistance in extreme situations, such as those provoked by the heavy rains”, Menendez said. Heavy rains over the last six months in Venezuela have caused flooding, destroyed homes, caused land falls and the collapse of bridges and roads. The government is projecting that the second satellite, VRSS-1 (Venezuelan Remote Sensing Satellite) will cost $140 million. The money will come from the National Development Fund, which is a fund for investing petroleum resources in socio-economic causes. VRSS-1 will be launched in October 2012 from China, and will

be built in China as well. It is atypical in that while most satellites have two observation cameras, this one will have more. Its life span is five to six years, according to Menendez. IMPACT OF SATELLITE SIMON BOLIVAR Venezuela launched its first satellite, known as Venesat-1 or

“Simon Bolivar”, in October 2008, from Xichang, China. This satellite is primarily being used to link more isolated communities and provide them with medicine, communication, and education services. It has also helped with telephone and Internet access, and through agreements with other countries, is strengthening Latin American unity. Its range extends

from the Caribbean Sea down to the bottom of South America. Speaking on national television this week, Manuel Fernandez, President of publicly-owned telecommunications company Cantv, said that the Simon Bolivar satellite had enabled 1.9 million new users to connect to Internet and phone services. The 2,900 remote an-

tennas installed insttalled so far (of a total of 16 16,000 000 planned by the government) are assisting hundreds of schools, 100 government markets (Mercals), and 150 army border protection bases, he explained. The first satellite project cost $406 million, including the launching rocket, two land stations and a television port. It was the result of an agreement signed between Venezuela and China in 2005. It is managed by Cantv, and shares Uruguay’s orbit, following an agreement between Venezuela and Uruguay. Chinese and Venezuelan experts, together with the Bolivarian Agency for Space Activity, have also been drawing up construction plans for a satellite factory in Venezuela, scheduled for completion in 2013. Menendez said the factory is for small and medium sized satellites and is under construction in Borburata, Carabobo state. The factory and the two satellites are part of the government’s aim of “technological sovereignty” and ending the country’s dependence on advanced technology produced outside Latin America. T/ Tamara Pearson www.venezuelanalysis.com

Venezuela allocates funds for social programs The Venezuelan Government allocated new resources for various social programs and public transit systems in order to expand its range of services and improve the income of its workers

uring a cabinet meeting on Tuesday, President Hugo Chavez indicated that he was allocating over $600 million for social programs and over $30 million for a new commuter Metro line connecting Caracas with the suburban cities of Guarenas and Guatire. He also noted that an additional $35.3 million would be

invested in the construction of a fifth Metro line and the construction of a road to Los Teques, the capital of the state of Miranda. The latter project is set to receive an additional $55.7 million. MADRES DEL BARRIO For his part, Venezuelan Vice President Elias Jaua announced that $35.6 million was approved to increase the financial allocation to the beneficiaries of the Madres del Barrio, a social program that benefits mothers with low economic resources. They will receive 80 percent of the value of the minimum wage, which was recently increased. The Vice President also reported the executive cabinet analyzed the situation of more than 100,000 Venezuelans currently living in state-

funded shelters set up in December after the families were left homeless from heavy rains affecting the nation. “We reviewed in depth the

shelter situation and gave the instruction to increase awareness not only material to the displaced, but also to the organization”, said Jaua.

OTHER PROJECTS The workers of the 1,500 food kitchens across the country, who previously earned $ 86.50, will now receive a payment $155.90, announced President Chavez on Tuesday. These food kitchens are part of national government policies aimed at guaranteeing the daily nutritional needs of about 900,000 people with limited resources, thereby reducing levels of extreme poverty. They are run by local families in low-income communities out of their homes. The government provides all food and cooking supplies, as well as a stipend for the workers. T/ AVN P/ Presidential Press

6 | International

NoÊÈÈÊUÊFriday, June 3rd, 2011

The artillery of ideas

Honduras begins road to justice with Zelaya’s return N

early 2 years after a military coup d’etat wrested him from power, ex-Honduran President Manuel Zelaya was greeted by a swarm of elated supporters upon his long-awaited return to the capital city of Tegucigalpa last Saturday. Zelaya’s arrival in his native Honduras marks the first step in a national reconciliation process intended to restore democracy in the country and re-incorporate the Central American nation into the international community following its extended isolation as a result of the coup. The return was facilitated by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos via an agreement signed between Zelaya and current Honduran President Porfirio Lobo in the Colombian city of Cartagena on May 22. “It’s under the banner of peace, reconciliation, freedom and democracy that we’ve signed this agreement”, Zelaya said during a speech given shortly after his arrival at Toncontin international airport in Honduras. While addressing the crowd of supporters gathered to receive him, the former landowner turned leftist affirmed his commitment to democracy, exclaiming “Coup d’etats, no more!” “The greatest challenges facing Latin America cannot be solved through violence, but rather through greater democracy, greater participation of the citizenry and greater transparency. Not coup d’etats nor military bases nor war nor bombs”, he declared.

THE COUP Zelaya was overthrown by a military coup on June 28th, 2009, after embarking upon a national referendum which sought to poll Hondurans about a possible reform to the nation’s constitution. As a reaction to the initiative, members of the country’s rightwing opposition broke into the president’s home in the early morning, kidnapping him and his family, and installing a de facto government led by conservative politician Roberto Micheletti. The coup was widely condemned around Latin America and the world, leading to Hondu-

ras’ expulsion from the Organization of American Sates as well as other regional alliances. After repeated attempts to reenter the country, Zelaya was forced to live in exile in the Dominican Republic while reports of widespread repression against his supporters began to pour in from independent sources around the country. Despite the repression, 5 months after the installation of the Micheletti dictatorship, elections were held in Honduras resulting in the victory of current president Porfirio Lobo - a victory not recognized by many

countries including Brazil, Ecuador, and Venezuela due to the illegitimacy of the government carrying out the elections. Since the signing of the Cartagena Agreement, however, only Ecuador has continued in its refusal to recognize the legitimacy of the Lobo government. Other Honduran activists have also maintained their resistance to the current Honduran administration, decrying the impunity that the perpetrators of the coup will enjoy with the signing of the reconciliation compromise. “We totally agree with [Ecuadoran President Rafael] Correa

when he says that the Honduran regime is a cross-breed of the coup government”, said Juan Barahona member of the National Front of Popular Resistence (FNRP) that has led the movement to bring Zelaya back to Honduras. “They were capable of carrying out a coup d’etat, removing President Zelaya from the country, and killing many Hondurans, so they are very capable of not carrying out the requirements of an agreement written on paper”, Barahona said during an interview with Telesur. For Zelaya, Coordinator of the FNRP, the Cartagena Agreement, although not perfect, facilitates the possibility to move forward and to begin organizing for a new political movement in Honduras. “There are some who say that this agreement has not solved the problem of the coup. It’s true, it can’t solve this problem, only the people in their solidarity through free elections can solve it”, he said. Part of this solidarity, the former president explained during a press conference over the weekend, has to do with amplifying the composition of FNRP, converting it into a broad-based political party and pushing through a range or reforms on the electoral level. “We’re fighting politically so that within 2 years the popular organization with a new ideology of progress will take power”, Zelaya affirmed. T/ COI P/ Agencies

Honduras returns to OAS two years after coup W

ith a vote of 32 in favor and one against (Ecuador) the members of the Organization of American States (OAS) approved on Wednesday the return of Honduras to the regional bloc. In June 2009, Honduras was suspended from the OAS after a coup was perpetrated against President Jose Manuel Zelaya. Colombia’s Foreign Affairs minister Maria Angela Holguin opened the session on Wednesday highlighting the efforts of her government and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to aid

Honduras in reaching an agreement of reconciliation. “President Juan Manuel Santos and President Chavez worked hard together to achieve this goal”. The representative of Ecuador to the OAS, Maria Isabel Salvador ratified that her government, led by President Rafael Correa, would not support the return of Honduras to the OAS at this time, because “the full restoration of democracy, necessary for its return, has not been fulfilled yet”. Salvador added that those responsible for the coup in 2009

against Zelaya and the subsequent human rights violations against the resistance have yet to be held accountable. VENEZUELA RESERVES Venezuelan Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro emphasized that Venezuela supports the reinstatement of Honduras to the OAS, but with reservations, because issues regarding the impunity of those involved in the coup and respect for human rights were not included in the resolution. “It was not possible to include lan-

guage guaranteeing respect for human rights, but we place it on the table and call upon member states to act to ensure that justice is done in Honduras”, said Maduro, who sided with Ecuador in a request to establish accountability for the perpetrators of the 2009 coup against Honduran President Manuel Zelaya. “We want justice in Honduras”, said Maduro. After the coup, numerous human rights violations were reported in Honduras, including the killing of 14 journalists critical

of the regime and more than 40 leaders of the Frente Nacional de Resistencia Popular (FNRP). At the meeting, Maduro also gave an overview of the four points set out in the Cartagena Agreement, which allowed the return of Zelaya in Honduras last Saturday. He said that the factor that ensured the success of the negotiation was “the best of intentions of the acting president of Honduras, Porfirio Lobo, and former President Zelaya”. T/ AVN

NoÊÈÈUÊFriday, June 3rd, 2011

The artillery of ideas

Analysis | 7 |

Economic sanctions, a double edged sword! P

eople in the US paying $4 a gallon for gasoline and US trade deficits with other nations in the hundreds of billions dollars every year for the last few decades is cause for real debate for every person that is affected by the economy. When it comes to oil, the action taken by the Obama administration declaring economic sanctions against Venezuela is a dangerous game. A full 25% of the world’s oil is used by the 5% of the world population in the United States. United States has a $14 trillion federal debt and an unrelenting addiction to foreign oil. Twenty years ago when the US federal debt was $3 trillion, economic sanctions against other nations wasn’t dangerous for the US. Today, the US is in uncharted grounds - it is no longer an invincible economic fortress. The world’s largest economy is in danger of an economic Waterloo. For their own good, average people in the US must demand the right to be involved in the debate not be left on the sidelines of government policies that will affect everyone. For decades, Washington and its allies have imposed economic sanctions on other nations who do not comply with the wishes of the United Nations or World Trade policies. Canada has joined the US in declaring economic sanctions against other nations numerous times. As indigenous peoples in North America, our experience with the colonial governments has been continuous undeclared economic sanctions enacted against our people. Deliberate policies and laws by immigrant governments have destroyed our ability to have economic self-sufficiency. What has changed for First Nations in Canada is our leverage over the 2.5 million barrels of oil flowing daily to the US. Roseau River Anishinabe First Nation has the Enbridge depot in Gretna Manitoba sitting on our ancestral lands, a depot that sends one million barrels of oil a day stateside. The Enbridge depot in Gretna Manitoba sends as much oil to the US as all of Venezuela. What is important to understand is that Canada did not comply with the Treaty One conditions that gave Enbridge rights in our ancestral lands. In Canada indigenous people are at the seventy-second level of the United Nations Living Index while Canada overall is at the second highest level, just below

Australia’s number one world ranking. We live under undeclared economic sanctions and have done so for decades. Canada is the largest supplier of foreign oil to the US but the real owners, the indigenous peoples in Canada get no payment for any of the sixty different metals and minerals mined in Canada. While there are no property rights for indigenous peoples under Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the US does enjoy security of energy exports/imports under the North American Free Trade Agreement with Canada. Since 9/11, the right of people to question Government has become un-American. The only aspect of the US budget that never gets slashed is military spending. Saddam is dead, but the need for a bogeyman to scare people in the US into never questioning the need for military spending continues. Despite the unpopular wars in Iraq and Afghanistan which will cost the US $1.3 trillion to the end of 2011, the need for the US military to try to control world events and opinion continues. The world saw President Obama sitting and watching as Navy Seals killed Osama Bin Laden and the US people cheered, celebrating in great enthusiasm. The reality for the US, however, is that Osama Bin Laden’s death does not change the economic situation faced by the US 10 years after 9/11. In April 1998 I accepted an invi-

tation from the Saddam Hussein government to go to Iraq and see first-hand the effects of economic sanctions upon the people of Iraq. Seven indigenous people from Canada with broadcast quality cameras went into Iraq for eleven days and videotaped 25 hours of life under UN economic sanctions. The effects of sanctions were already well known. In December of 1995, the United Nations released a study that found that 567,000 Iraqi children had died in the first 5 years of economic sanctions. Prior to the 1990 war, the Iraqi dinar was worth three and a half US dollars, by the time we got there in 1998, it took fourteen hundred Iraqi dinars to buy one US dollar. Prior to economic sanctions, Iraq’s largest trading partners were Russia, China and France. Under UN economic sanctions, Iraq’s trade situation was governed by the Food for Oil program. Saddam was good bogeyman, a sadistic paranoid who got Iraq into a bloody eight year war with Iran. Remember what we were told, weapons of mass destruction. No one could defend Saddam after he quit being a US ally and he tried to seize the Kuwaiti oil fields. With Saddam Hussein and Osama Bin Laden dead, who is the next bogeyman? Do you not find it strange that 15 of the 19 terrorists who hit US in September of 2001 came from Saudi Arabia but never once have we ever heard anyone

in the US government talking of the need for regime change in Saudi Arabia. We do however hear the need for regime change in Iran. Iran is building a nuclear weapon we are told and economic sanctions are necessary. Anyone dealing with Iran is a threat, so we must put economic sanctions on Venezuela, we are told because Venezuela is continuing to defy the United States by trading with Iran. So, is President Hugo Chavez one of the next bogeymen for the US military? Are we to be afraid of Chavez and why is that? Don’t get me wrong, with the Middle East in crisis and Chavez in trouble, we don’t mind the extra leverage we now have over the US by sitting on the pipelines from Canada that fuel the American economy, it is just that we can’t sell the US anything if the US dollar goes the way of the Iraqi dinar. Eighty-seven percent of all Canadian exports are purchased by the US. Putting sanctions on Venezuela does not make sense. As dangerous as nuclear proliferation is, pissing off the owners of millions of barrels of foreign oil purchased by the US every day is also dangerous. Changing to the Euro from the US dollar in payment for oil would devastate the US dollar. Six years ago, in May 2005, I wrote, “The United States can financially implode and cause a worldwide recession perhaps even a depression. Americans in a deep

recession unable to live in their accustomed lifestyle could become a military superpower with an unstable government”. Only 9 countries in the world are nuclear capable with over 20,000 nuclear warheads existing in the world, enough to kill all life in the world many times over. No one disputes the need to stop nuclear proliferation, the question however still remains, is it a good strategy to use economic sanctions on other nations when it can become a double edged sword, one that could now be used against the US. The US isn’t putting a stop to the import of Venezuelan oil but wants Chavez to quit dealing with Iran. The American Indian Movement (AIM) sent two people to Venezuela this week to meet with government officials. For us the reality is that Venezuela has helped indigenous people in the US directly. The poorest reservations in the US have received foreign aid from the Venezuelans. In the dead of winter, home heating oil from Citgo, Venezuela’s gas company in the US, has given a lot to the poorest people in the US, the indigenous people. It is not millions of dollars but more like billions of dollars that Hugo Chavez has given to other nations. Perhaps it doesn’t mean a lot to the average person but Venezuela has a choice. Oil gives Chavez the ability to chose who he sells to. If the Gulf of Mexico spill is any indication, allowing multi-national corporations like BP and US oil companies free rein over oil is not a good idea. If people in the US are getting tired of paying 4 dollars for a gallon of gas, if they are worried about where their dollars are going and asking if their money at the gas pump is financing the next nuclear weapons, maybe it is time to ask questions. Being in Iraq in 1998 was not a popular thing to do and the two AIM members in Venezuela today may be seen as un-American by some in the US government, but it is a right non the less. More than a right it is responsibility to ask questions of your government. To hold accountable the Government of the United States is not un-American, it is a patriotic duty, it is American in every sense of the word. T/ Chief Terrance Nelson Chief Terrance Nelson is a member of the American Indian Movement.

FRIDAY | June 3rd, 2011 | No. 66 Bs 1 | C ARACAS

ENGLISH EDITION The artillery of ideas

A publication of the Fundacion Correo del Orinoco • Editor-in-Chief | Eva Golinger • Graphic Design | Alexander Uzcátegui, Jameson Jiménez • Press | Fundación Imprenta de la Cultura “Nobody messes with Venezuela. Venezuela must be respected”. Rafael Ramirez, Venezuelan Energy Minister

am in Caracas, Vz today (May 29th)—a country I love and a people that I support with all my heart in their struggle against US imperialism and corporate interests so they can make their own lives better. Nine of us came from the US to support the people of Venezuela in rejecting the US economic sanctions that were imposed by the State Departments because, apparently, Venezuela sent two shipments of oil product to Iran. During the Clinton regime, the US enacted The Iran Sanctions Act (ISA)--ironically first called the Iran-Libya Sanctions Act (ILSA)--but then Libya became our friend during Bush before it recently became our enemy again. The ISA was enacted to prevent foreign countries from selling oil to Iran to stop its nuclear program. The point Venezuela is trying to make now is that it is being “sanctioned” for allegedly breaking an internal US law that has no jurisdiction beyond US borders. Again, why should Venezuela make US corporate interests primary to its own? The hilarious thing about the new economic sanctions imposed on Venezuela’s state oil company: PDVSA (Petroleos de Venezuela, SA) is that Venezuela does not borrow money from the US, has repaid all of its debt and the economic sanctions do not stop Venezuela from selling petroleum to the US. More importantly, Pdvsa and its US subsidiary, Citgo have helped over 250,000 US citizens by giving, or greatly reducing prices, on heating oil to our own desperately poor. No other oil company, including US oil companies, has done the same. The newest sanctions are clearly symbolic to undermine Venezuela’s credibility and further demonize President Hugo Chavez because Venezuela ranks 4th behind Canada, Mexico and Saudi Arabia in providing the black gold to the gluttonous US. Why now? Well, for one thing, there is a hysterical Congressman

OPINION

“Yankees, go home!”

from a very conservative district in Florida named, Connie Mack (R), who has been seeking the overthrow or assassination of President Hugo Chavez. Clearly, Chavez’s support of the poor runs counter to everything the oligarchy of the planet believes in. The Constitution of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela enshrines basic human rights as law in a country that has reduced the gap between the rich and the poor by 50% since Chavez first won office. Chavez and his revolution are a thorn in the side of Capitalism and the “threat of a good example” must be neutralized. This weekend also saw another big event in Latin America, Manual Zelaya of Honduras returned to his country after he had been in exile for nearly two years in a USbacked military coup. The intense diplomatic efforts of President Chavez and Venezuela helped facilitate this return with Zelaya

flying back to Tegucigalpa from Managua, Nicaragua in a Venezuelan plane. The US taketh away and Venezuela giveth back. Another reason for the sanctions right now is that President Chavez is leading the hemisphere in advocating for strategic alliances to bring peace and continued prosperity to Latin American and Carribbean countries. When I was here last year, Chavez had just returned from a meeting of Latin American leaders in Cancun where it was decided that the Organization of American States was an anachronistic institution that exists to be a tool for US continued exploitation of the region— so the leaders of Latin American countries planned to form a new alliance to exclude the US and Canada. The new alliance will be launched on July 5th in Venezuela on the 200th anniversary of its independence from Spain. Will the alliance be a threat to the OAS?

Probably not right now, but just the fact that Hugo Chavez is one of the leaders of this alliance must be grating to an Empire that has done everything possible to undermine and overthrow him. The unification of South America was long a dream of freedom fighter, Simon Bolivar, and indeed he led Venezuela, Ecuador, Colombia, Peru and Panama to independence from the Spanish monarchy in the early 1800s. Bolivar died a brokenhearted man after his dreams of unification were not realized. Hugo Chavez has the same dream and the new alliance is one more step closer to being able to resist US imperialist neoliberalism. Today, the thousands of Venezolanos who came to the rally to oppose the new US sanctions are rightfully proud of their accomplishments in a short 12 years and still support the leader who is making it all possible.

Another reason the sanctions appear now is because as the US wanes in the region, China ascends—according to an editorial in the Miami Herald: “The share of US exports to the region has dropped from 55 percent of Latin America’s total imports in 2000 to 32 percent of the region’s imports in 2009, says a new report from the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (Eclac). Meanwhile, China’s trade with the region has soared, the study shows”. In my opinion, the announcement of the new sanctions against Venezuela, while no doubt a very hostile act, is nothing but the US flexing its increasingly weak and flabby muscles. The over-extension of the US military combined with its plunging credibility over such continuing programs as torture and illegal regime change, has turned us into a big international laughing stock—still feared, because the US is nothing but a big imperial bully—but a joke, nonetheless. This is the 3rd time I have been to Venezuela, but as evidence of this new US paradigm in the region, for the first time I saw signs that read: Yankees, Go Home. Yes, I agree: “Yankees,” go home! Hands off of Venezuela and get your bloody imperial storm-troopers out of Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Libya, and even Palestine where US tax dollars fund an immoral Israeli occupation. For sure, it will be a great day when the “mighty” US military empire falls and something new is born in its place. To we nine who traveled here to a real and vibrant democracy that is lead by Chavez but fueled by the revolutionary struggle of the people, the Phoenix that arises from the ashes of imperial collapse will hopefully look a lot like the structure of Venezuelan society: healthcare for all, free education for all, investment in an aging infrastructure and care for our elderly, community control and activism, respect for our indigenous cultures and protection of the environment. - Cindy Sheehan Cindy Sheehan is a renowned US peace activist and the author of several books.