Opinion
Friday, April 25, 2014 | Nº 199 | Caracas | www.correodelorinoco.gob.ve
The dirty hand of the NED in Venezuela Page 4
ENGLISH EDITION/The artillery of ideas
Caracas hosts theater for the people
INTERNATIONAL
Major increase in tourism in Venezuela T/ COI
U Peace dialogue continues in Venezuela Venezuela’s Vice President, Jorge Arreaza, reported last week that the on-going dialogue between the country’s socialist government and the leading members of the conservative Democratic Unity Roundtable (MUD) coalition is moving ahead at a satisfactory pace. Venezuela’s political dialogue, aimed at ending recent unrest in the country, has been moderated by the foreign ministers of Brazil, Ecuador, and Colombia as well as a representative of the Vatican. Page 2
With more than 649 shows, 152 groupings, and 26 public theatres, the III Caracas Festival of Theater took over the capital this week in a genuine expression of popular culture that surpassed all expectations. The Festival, which ran from April 11-27, has grown every year both in scope, talent, popularity, and horizons. Apart from the strictly theatrical presentations, there were also expressions of dance, music, circus performances, puppetry, painting, acrobats, costume parades, workshops, art expositions, living statues, and storytelling. Performances were held in public theaters and outdoor spaces. Page 3
7 new universities created in 12 months T/ Paul Dobson
Integration
Fortifying ties with China The Chinese Foreign Minister visited Caracas this week to strengthen relations in finance, technology, agriculture and energy. Page 3
As the people of Venezuela celebrated and reflected upon the first year of Maduro’s Presidency, the Minister for University Education offered a balance of the advances made in the field since Maduro was elected by popular vote last April. Minister Melendez explained that in the previous 12 months, the Maduro administration has created or rehabilitated no less than seven university institutions, more than were built in the entire 10 years previous to the 1998 revolution led by Hugo Chavez. The new public higher education institutions offer university level education free of cost to thousands of
citizens in remote parts of the country, and join an increasingly powerful public university system which includes the 36 new institutions built during the Chavez administration. In the last year, university enrollment has increased by 130,000,
advancing from 2,503,000 in 2012 to 2,629,312 at the end of 2013. In 1998, before the revolution, only 700,000 students were enrolled in tertiary education. Venezuela now has one of the highest university enrollment figures in the world.
ndeterred by violent protestors who have attempted to destabilize the political and economic situation of the country, more than 6.3 million Venezuelans celebrated Holy Week by travelling to some of the nation’s most favored tourist destinations. “Once again our people have defeated violence and were able to enjoy in peace a well deserved rest”, Interior Minister Miguel Rodriguez wrote via his Twitter account on Monday. According to official numbers, tourism for last week’s holiday grew by nearly 25 percent in relation to those who travelled at the same time last year. Venezuela’s Caribbean beaches saw the bulk of visitors with the mountains of Merida and other scenic locations attracting millions of guests. Air travel increased by 113 percent in relation to 2013 with just under 300,000 people flying to the reach their destination. “In political terms, Holy Week represented the final blow to those groups who are attempting to defeat our people and fill our society with violence”, Tourism Minister Andres Izarra said during a press conference on Monday. The Minister pointed out that the high number of travellers and the success of Holy Week was “without a doubt the result of the coordination of the national government”. Over a 100,000 police officers were deployed to ensure a safe and orderly vacation period for residents. The police presence, Minister Rodriguez related on Monday, was the principal reason for a 40 percent drop in homicides during the holidays in relation to last year.
2 Impact | . s Friday, April 25, 2014
The artillery of ideas
Government-opposition dialogue moves forward despite on-going protests T/ COI P/ Agencies
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enezuela’s Vice President, Jorge Arreaza, reported last week that the on-going dialogue between the country’s socialist government and the leading members of the conservative Democratic Unity Roundtable (MUD) coalition is moving ahead at a satisfactory pace. Arreaza’s comments came after the second round of talks between the two political factions, which took place last Tuesday in the capital Caracas. The Vice President informed that while the meeting was “at times tense” it was carried out “with respect and tolerance”. “We listened to each other. We debated each other while respecting the right to speak of everyone”, the Vice President said. Venezuela’s political dialogue, aimed at ending recent unrest in the country, has been moderated by the foreign ministers of Brazil, Ecuador, and Colombia as well as a representative of the Vatican. The talks began on April 10 during a meeting that was presided over by President Nicolas Maduro and transmitted live on all broadcast channels in the South American nation. According to the Brazilian Foreign Minister Luiz Figueiredo, the initiative has seen “important advances” in quelling the political tension in the country, thanks in part to the participation of the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) regional alliance in the peace efforts. “South America has demonstrated its capacity to find its own solutions in an environment of peace, harmony, and coordination”, Figueiredo said following last Tuesday’s dialogue. “The key of this dialogue has been the spirit of mutual respect and consideration for each other’s opinion”, he added.
OPPOSITION DEMANDS Venezuela’s recent anti-government protests have been ostensibly linked to the economic and security problems facing the nation. Yet, early talks between members of the United Socialist
Party of Venezuela (PSUV) and the opposition leadership has revealed that the conservative faction is pushing an agenda that differs substantially with the alleged problems underlying the crisis. Key demands that have marked the first two rounds of dialogue between the socialists and the right-wing MUD have included amnesty for political actors found guilty of conspiracy and corruption as well as reforms to the nation’s division of powers. Opposition leaders have prioritized the release of prisoners found guilty of orchestrating a failed coup d’etat against former Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez in April 2002. The coup attempt resulted in the death of 18 citizens - the victims of opposition snipers who were utilized to kill demonstrators close to the presidential palace of Miraflores in Caracas. Amnesty is also being demanded for other conservative leaders who have been indicted on corruption charges. Although the government has not agreed to sweeping legislation that would lift all sentences, there has been a commitment to review specific cases.
Foreign Minister Figueiredo reported on Tuesday that both sides “are in agreement that people who have used arms, have caused damage to people’s lives, and who have committed violent acts will remain in prison”. “One cannot think in terms of broad amnesty. Not even the opposition asks for that”, the Brazilian diplomat commented.
AND END TO VIOLENCE A major impetus for the current dialogue has been to end the violence that has marked
the anti-government protests over the past two months. Recently, opposition leaders have been explicit in their condemnation of the violent mobilizations which have resulted in the death of more than 40 Venezuelans and have caused millions of dollars in property damage. Scores of businesses have also been bankrupted by opposition barricades which have increased food shortages and insecurity in many localities over the past two months. “We ratify the fact that at different times and in differ-
ent ways the MUD has said that we reject violence”, said the Secretary of the conservative coalition, Ramon Aveledo said last Tuesday. “Secondly, [there needs to be] respect for the constitution. The government and the opposition both agree that our differences must be resolved under the guidance of the constitution. Democracy, in the end, is the rule of law”, he asserted. Despite these declarations, the violence from extremist opposition sectors has continued in the capital Caracas and in the Western states of Merida and Tachira. Last Thursday, renewed acts of vandalism from far-right elements calling for the destitution of President Maduro confronted police officers in a wealthy East Caracas neighborhood. Molotov cocktails were hurled at security forces as the protesters attempted to shut down a main artery of the affluent area. Barricades in the Andean city of Merida have also remained intact, further affecting small businesses, workers and residents unable to move freely through the state capital. The vast majority of the violence continues to be prominent in municipalities that are governed by opposition mayors. Aveledo has admitted as much and has expressed the MUD’s willingness to work with the national government to “guarantee peace and security for Venezuelans”. “In accordance with the constitution, there exist responsibilities. We (the opposition) are responsible for three states, 76 municipalities and the Metropolitan District (of Caracas)”, the conservative secretary said. As such, Aveledo said that the MUD will participate in a national plan being devised by the government to increase security and reign in acts that violate the charter of the nation’s constitution. “We have been in agreement about having to study the plan that the government already has and about making our own contributions so that we can improve it and collaborate in an area that is very practical”, he stated.
. s Friday, April 25, 2014
The artillery of ideas
| Integration
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China and Venezuela continue building bilateral relations
Caracas Theater Festival Great success, surpasses expectations T/ Paul Dobston P/ Agencies
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ith more than 649 shows, 152 groupings, and 26 public theatres, the III Caracas Festival of Theater took over the Capital this week in a genuine expression of popular culture that surpassed all expectations. The Festival, which runs from April 11-27 under the administration of the Mayor of Caracas, Jorge Rodriguez, has grown every year both in scope, talent, popularity, and horizons. This year the Festival was organized around five types of activities: 239 theatrical performances in public theaters; 40 performances in public squares and avenues; 60 special events such as musical presentations, exhibits and tributes; 100 academic events; and 171 children’s events and 84 youth workshops. The theater groups came from 22 of the 23 States of Venezuela, . For the first time, 60 performances were given from community based artistic groups. Apart from the strictly theatrical presentations, there were also expressions of dance, music, circus performances, puppetry, painting, acrobats, costume parades, workshops, art expositions, living statues, and storytelling. The Festival was also accompanied by 9 public sessions aimed at recuperating Venezuelan traditional children’s games, such as kite flying and the spinning top. In the first 5 days of the Festival, a massive 50,000 people had entered the performances, and at the time of writing the total number attendances exceeded 70,000 with only a few days left of performances. This year sees the incorporation of three new recuperated public theaters (Alameda, Bolivar, and La Vega), which add their names to the increasingly long list of public spaces res-
cued and rejuvenated by the government of Caracas. Emilio Quintero, who decided to visit the Festival for the second year running, explained that “I think it is highly important that these activities are held in the city of Caracas, and it helps people to assist and see the recuperated spaces like the Bolivar Theater”.
THEATRE FOR THE PEOPLE, VIOLENCE FOR THE OPPOSITION As the middle class districts in the east of Caracas continue to build barricades and arm Molotov cocktails, the theater performances in the Festival were focused on promoting values of peace, coexistence, tolerance, and countering the violent, individualistic values which “are sold on traditional TV” explained one of the prime organizers of the Festival, Director of the Government in Caracas, Jaqueline Faria. She went on to emphasize that the festival was being enjoyed in “sanity, peace, harmony, and joy”, and that “the theaters have been totally filled”. The Festival, which closes with the world premiere of the latest work of Roman Chalbaud entitled ‘Bingo’, has famed itself for being highly accessible to citizens of all economic backgrounds, with entrance prices of $2.50, and the geographic use of the entire city to present the performances, which were previously restricted to the richer eastern districts of the Capital. Numerous theaters in the poorer western Caracas districts have recently been recuperated and are in public use. The Festival comes off the back of the International Book Festival of Caracas, and forms part of a year-round cultural program aimed at offering accessible, quality culture to the previously abandoned population of Caracas.
T/ COI P/ Presidential Press
C
hinese Foreign Minister Wang Li met with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on Monday to discuss the allied countries’ bilateral agreements in areas of finance, technology, agriculture and energy. “In the name of President Nicolas Maduro and the Venezuelan people, we welcome Minister Wang Yi in order to continue strengthening our relations with the Asian giant”, Venezuelan Foreign Minister Elias Jaua said upon receiving his counterpart at the Simon Bolivar airport in the early hours of Monday morning. Wang Yi’s visit formed part of his tour of Latin America that has included meetings in Cuba, Argentina and Brazil. While in Venezuela, the Chinese Minister conversed with President Maduro about heightened cooperation in the automotive and housing sectors as well as increased collaboration in infrastructure. “We’re advancing towards the construction of a strategic alliance that is civilized and profoundly human. It will end the era of the hegemonic powers to which our country was submitted”, President Maduro
said following the meeting on Monday evening. Venezuela and China have seen a tightening of bilateral relations over the past seven years as a result of the foreign policy spearheaded by former Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez to lessen the dependence of the Caribbean nation on the United States. Since 2007, the two countries have worked together on joint development projects with China lending Venezuela more than $36 billion. A joint China-Venezuela Fund has been established which has seen the later repay its debt with increased oil exports to the Asian power. “The energy relationship with China has permitted the creation of a financing fund which has allowed our country to carry out infrastructure and development works with business alliances... The energy relationship has been amplified in all areas”, the Venezuelan head of state affirmed. In March, a third installment of the fund, $5 billion, was disbursed to the government of Nicolas Maduro. According to Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez, Venezuela has repaid more than $18 billion of its debt to China.
President Maduro informed that in order to continue paying the debt, Venezuela is obliged to raise the number of its exports to China to one million barrels of oil per day. Monday’s meeting additionally touched on the theme of the Asian country’s growing role in the hemisphere and the creation of forum that will see greater cooperation between China and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) regional alliance. “China, Latin America, and the Caribbean already have diverse relations which are productive in areas of economy, technology, commerce, and finance. This has led us to create a work forum between China and the CELAC. With this it is evident that there exists a new world”, President Maduro said. For his part, Minister Wang Yi, expressed his country’s commitment to continue working with Venezuela and the region to promote mutual development. “Venezuela is an important country in Latin America and China is tied to its integrationist initiatives... We have faith that this country is going to play a relevant role in the region and at the world level”, the minister stated.
Friday, April 25, 2014 | Nº 199| 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
Opinion
The Dirty Hand of the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) in Venezuela
By Eva Golinger
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nti-government protests in Venezuela that seek regime change have been led by several individuals and organizations with close ties to the US government. Leopoldo Lopez and Maria Corina Machado- two of the public leaders behind the violent protests that started in February – have long histories as collaborators, grantees and agents of Washington. The National Endowment for Democracy “NED” and the US Agency for International Development (USAID) have channeled multimillion dollar funding to Lopez’s political parties Primero Justicia and Voluntad Popular, and Machado’s NGO Sumate and her electoral campaigns. These Washington agencies have also filtered more than $14 million to opposition groups in Venezuela between 2013 and 2014, including funding for their political campaigns in 2013 and for the current anti-government protests in 2014. This continues the pattern of financing from the US government to anti-Chavez groups in Venezuela since 2001, when millions of dollars were given to organizations from socalled “civil society” to execute a coup d’etat against President Chavez in April 2002. After
their failure days later, USAID opened an Office of Transition Initiatives (OTI) in Caracas to, together with the NED, inject more than $100 million in efforts to undermine the Chavez government and reinforce the opposition during the following 8 years. At the beginning of 2011, after being publically exposed for its grave violations of Venezuelan law and sovereignty, the OTI closed its doors in Venezuela and USAID operations were transferred to its offices in the US. The flow of money to anti-government groups didn’t stop, despite the enactment by Venezuela’s National Assembly of the Law of Political Sovereignty and National Self-Determination at the end of 2010, which outright prohibits foreign funding of political groups in the country. US agencies and the Venezuelan groups that receive their money continue to violate the law with impunity. In the Obama Administration’s Foreign Operations Budgets, between $5-6 million have been included to fund opposition groups in Venezuela through USAID since 2012. The NED, a “foundation” created by Congress in 1983 to essentially do the CIA’s work overtly, has been one of the principal financiers of destabi-
lization in Venezuela throughout the Chavez administration and now against President Maduro. According to NED’s 2013 annual report, the agency channeled more than $2.3 million to Venezuelan opposition groups and projects. Within that figure, $1,787,300 went directly to anti-government groups within Venezuela, while another $590,000 was distributed to regional organizations that work with and fund the Venezuelan opposition. More than $300,000 was directed towards efforts to develop a new generation of youth leaders to oppose Maduro’s government politically. One of the groups funded by NED to specifically work with youth is FORMA (http://www. forma.org.ve), an organization led by Cesar Briceño and tied to Venezuelan banker Oscar Garcia Mendoza. Garcia Mendoza runs the Banco Venezolano de Credito, a Venezuelan bank that has served as the filter for the flow of dollars from NED and USAID to opposition groups in Venezuela, including Sumate, CEDICE, Sin Mordaza, Observatorio Venezolano de Prisiones and FORMA, amongst others. Another significant part of NED funds in Venezuela from 2013-2014 was given to groups
and initiatives that work in media and run the campaign to discredit the government of President Maduro. Some of the more active media organizations outwardly opposed to Maduro and receiving NED funds include Espacio Publico, Instituto Prensa y Sociedad (IPYS), Sin Mordaza and GALI. Throughout the past year, an unprecedented media war has been waged against the Venezuelan government and President Maduro directly, which has intensified during the past few months of protests. In direct violation of Venezuelan law, NED also funded the opposition coalition, the Democratic Unity Table (MUD), via the US International Republican Institute (IRI), with $100,000 to “share lessons learned with [anti-government groups] in Nicaragua, Argentina and Bolivia...and allow for the adaption of the Venezuelan experience in these countries”. Regarding this initiative, the NED 2013 annual report specifically states its aim: “To develop the ability of political and civil society actors from Nicaragua, Argentina and Bolivia to work on national, issue-based agendas for their respective countries using lessons learned and best practices from successful Venezuelan counterparts. The
Institute will facilitate an exchange of experiences between the Venezuelan Democratic Unity Roundtable and counterparts in Bolivia, Nicaragua and Argentina. IRI will bring these actors together through a series of tailored activities that will allow for the adaptation of the Venezuelan experience in these countries.” IRI has helped to build rightwing opposition parties Primero Justicia and Voluntad Popular, and has worked with the anti-government coaltion in Venezuela since before the 2002 coup d’etat against Chavez. In fact, IRI’s president at that time, George Folsom, outwardly applauded the coup and celebrated IRI’s role in a press release claiming, “The Institute has served as a bridge between the nation’s political parties and all civil society groups to help Venezuelans forge a new democratic future…” Detailed in a report published by the Spanish institute FRIDE in 2010, international agencies that fund the Venezuelan opposition violate currency control laws in order to get their dollars to the recipients. Also confirmed in the FRIDE report was the fact that the majority of international agencies, with the exception of the European Commission, are bringing in foreign money and changing it on the black market, in clear violation of Venezuelan law. In some cases, as the FRIDE analysis reports, the agencies open bank accounts abroad for the Venezuelan groups or they bring them the money in hard cash. The US Embassy in Caracas could also use the diplomatic pouch to bring large quantities of unaccounted dollars and euros into the country that are later handed over illegally to anti-government groups in Venezuela. What is clear is that the US government continues to feed efforts to destabilize Venezuela in clear violation of law. Stronger legal measures and enforcement may be necessary to ensure the sovereignty and defense of Venezuela’s democracy.