page 7 | Analysis
page 8 | Opinion
Popular Capitalism: An exposé of venezuelan opposition candidate Maria Corina Machado
War on Venezuela: Washington’s false accusations against the Chavez administration
Friday | December 23, 2011 | Nº 95 | Caracas
Venezuela’s budget increases social spending As the US and European nations are busy cutting spending for social programs, while giving breaks to corporations, financial institutions and the wealthy class, the Venezuelan government is increasing its annual budget and investing in people’s well being. Venezuela’s 2012 budget raises spending for public housing, social security, healthcare, education and cultural programs and ensures current initiatives are fully funded. The budget also allocates funds for strong debt management and plans for steady economic growth throughout the coming year. | page 3
ENGLISH EDITION The artillery of ideas
Advancing south american integration
Happy, healthy holidays!
Ecuador and Venezuela are set to become full members of the Common Market of the South in order to expand regional cooperation and commerce
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Both the Venezuelan and Ecuadorian presidents, Hugo Chavez and Rafael Correa, participated in this week’s Presidential Summit of the Common Market of the South (MERCOSUR) in Montevideo, Uruguay. The event marked President Chavez’s first international trip since his diagnosis with cancer in June 2011 and subsequent treatment. Venezuela has been awaiting full membership into Mercosur since 2006, but entry has been stalled by a right-wing faction of the Paraguayan congress. At this week’s summit, the presidents of Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay – the member states of Mercosur – all supported both Venezuela’s and Ecuador’s entry to the regional body and pledged to find a new mechanism to ensure their membership. | page 2
Politics
Taking care of children A new social program dedicated to children & pregnant mothers is providing necessary aid. | page 4
orreo del Orinoco International wishes you all a very happy, loving and peaceful holiday season. We are proud to be the only English-language newspaper out of Venezuela and hope that you find our publication informative and useful. 2011 was a year of important developments in Latin America, along with great challenges, battles and victories. Venezuela advanced dramatically in public programs to aid its people in the area of housing, jobs, healthcare, education and a living wage. Venezuela also hosted the historical summit of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (Celac), creating the region’s first organization encompassing all 33 countries of Latin America and the Caribbean. The US and Canada are not members of this sovereign body. This year, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez faced one of his biggest battles: cancer. After the unexpected announcement of his illness on June 30, President Chavez began intensive treatment to fight the cancer affecting his pelvic region. As of the end of 2011, we are happy to report that Chavez is on the path to full recovery and has advanced extraordinarily well. Health is the greatest gift of all.
Politics
Bolivar lives! Venezuela commemorated the independence hero’s passing by further advancing independence and social justice. | page 5 Social Justice
Subcontracting over in Venezuela Workers will be treated as full-time employees with benefits and no longer outsourced. | page 6
Chavez: “Obama is a total fraud” V
enezuelan President Hugo Chavez, replied to statements this week made by his counterpart from the United States, Barack Obama, who criticized the Venezuelan government and made meddling statements about Venezuela’s foreign relations. In an interview with an anti-Chavez newspaper, Obama expressed “concern” about the Chavez government’s “actions,
which have restricted the universal rights of the Venezuelan people”. Chavez recommended Obama take care of people in his own country, instead of lashing out at others, particularly those enduring cuts in social assistance to pay for in-home heating. “Obama is a total fraud. He cut social assistance for home heating oil for the poor”, Cha-
vez said during a cabinet meeting this week in Caracas. President Chavez said he told Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez to increase the support of Venezuela’s Citgo company in the US to low income households during the winter in the United States. Citgo provides reduced cost heating oil to homes in over 25 states throughout the US. According to Chavez, Obama made his statements against Venezuela because he is “just
looking for votes by criticizing others”. Chavez called on him to work for “the good people” of the United States. “Obama may lose the elections and with these criticisms [of Venezuela] he’s trying to win some votes. You are a fraud, a total fraud. If I could be a candidate in the United States, I would sweep you away. I would win 80-20, I would beat you with [the votes] of all the good people you have there”, Chavez said.
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2 | Impact
NoÊ xÊUÊFriday, December 23, 2011
The artillery of ideas
Combating the global crisis: Venezuela participates in common market of the south The oil-wealthy nation has been awaiting full membership into the Common Market of the South (Mercosur) in order to further consolidate relations and commerce with South American countries T/ COI P/ Presidential Press
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enezuela’s entrance as a full member into the Common Market of the South (Mercosur) trade alliance topped the organization’s agenda last Tuesday during a meeting of heads of state held in the Uruguayan capital of Montevideo. “I’m here on the ground, working for the integration and the unity of our America which is the only way to save ourselves from the global crisis”, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said upon arriving in Montevideo on Tuesday morning. The trip marks the socialist leader’s first official voyage outside of Venezuela and Cuba since being diagnosed with cancer last June. Since 2006, Venezuela has been in a process of admission to the 20-year old trade alliance but has had its entrance stalled by the Paraguayan senate which has used political motivations to refuse the Caribbean nation’s full membership. Chavez commented upon arrival that the intents by the
Paraguayan senate to obstruct his nation’s membership only serve to hurt the economies of the alliance’s smaller nations which would gain from the OPEC member’s admittance. “The day that we have full membership in Mercosur, Uruguay and Paraguay are going to be able to sell much more to Venezuela and we’ve been preparing for this from a structural point of view”, the head of state said. Indeed, Venezuelan trade with Uruguay and Paraguay has been growing at a steady rate since Hugo Chavez became President in 1999. Over the past 12 years, commercial relations with Uruguay have climbed from $30 million a year to nearly $900 million while trade with Paraguay has increased from $20 million to $600 million. That trade has the potential to double, Chavez said, with the unification of the countries in the regional alliance.
But in order for a new country to join the Mercosur bloc, the organization’s charter requires the approval of the candidate state by the national legislature of each existing member. In the case of Venezuela, the right-wing dominated Paraguayan senate represents the last hurdle to be cleared before entering as a full member. Using dubious allegations of a clamp down on freedoms by the Chavez administration as a way to block Venezuela’s entrance, Paraguay’s conservative opposition has handcuffed Fernando Lugo, the nation’s President and an adamant supporter of Venezuela’s admission to Mercosur. “This administration’s position is very clear, we believe Venezuela must be incorporated to Mercosur but we are also very clear in so far that this must be done in the framework of the Constitution”, Lugo said before the summit.
VENEZUELA TO BE ADMITTED Uruguayan President Jose Mujica, host of Tuesday’s summit, has also been among the more vocal proponents of Venezuela’s inclusion, calling for the consideration of a “legal formula” for the country’s admittance, outside the approval of the Paraguayan Senate. Before the summit, Mujica held a bilateral meeting with Lugo to discuss “Venezuela’s rapid inclusion in the regional bloc” Telesur reported. The Uruguayan initiative to create a new mechanism to allow for Venezuela’s entrance was also discussed at length during the summit, yielding the formation of a special commission to study the issue and recommend a course of action. Although specific details were not forthcoming at the close of the meeting, Mujica informed that the commission will take up both Venezuela’s and Ecuador’s incorporation
Venezuela in Mercosur will benefit smaller nations T/ Agencies
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n his arrival to Montevideo, the capital of Uruguay, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said that Venezuela’s entry as a full member to Common Market of the South (Mercosur), will benefit smaller countries that are part of this subregional union. “Venezuela is a strong engine for economic and political
unity. We ratify our status as an associate member of Mercosur and our goal to further advance towards becoming a full member”, said the Venezuelan President. President Chavez remarked that Mercosur is missing many things, one of them is the physical proximity to the Caribbean. “We (Venezuela) open the door of the Caribbean
to Mercosur, joining Rio de La Plata with the Orinoco”. Chavez added that Brazil and Venezuela are countries with “intense” industries, for that reason, he considers that Venezuela can help expand the economies of member countries of Mercosur. “I am the first to raise our hands when asked if Venezuela wants to buy more products and trade with Uruguay. The
day that Venezuela has full membership in Mercosur, Uruguay and Paraguay will be able to sell much more to Venezuela and we have been preparing for this from a structural point of view”, he explained. Also, President Chavez said Venezuela plans to expand its oil refineries, “to provide energy independence and create a much larger market for the
into the bloc and will be comprised of functionaries designated by the heads of state themselves. “I have the obligation to announce the accord between the presidents to form a high level commission that will be named by each of the presidents of Mercosur in order to attend to the possibilities of admittance... It will do all it can to recommend steps to Mercosur in spite of the problems that are facing various requests for joining”, the Uruguayan President said. Chavez, who referred to his country’s petition as “a long process”, commented that the delay in admittance is a sign of the opportunism that still plagues a good part of Latin America politics. “There is still a lack of will and a lot of bureaucracy that is standing in our way. There’s plenty of infiltrations from old interests that are trying to impede our unity, to divide and conquer”, he said. Nevertheless, the socialist head of state affirmed that Venezuela, for all intents and purposes, feels as if it were already a member of the integrationist organization. “We are here as associate members and we hope that Ecuador can become part of this bloc without the delays that Venezuela has had to face”, he stated. PALESTINE RELATIONS Other business covered during the summit in Montevideo included the signing of a free trade agreement between member states and Palestine as well as the creation of the “Montevideo Protocol” which upholds the right to democracy in South America in the face of destabilizing forces and coup attempts.
Uruguayans, Paraguayans, Argentines and Brazilians”. Mercosur is a subregional union for the commerce of goods, services and production between countries, as well as for the establishment of a common external tariff and the adoption of a common trade policy, coordinating macroeconomic policies between States and harmonizing laws in order to strengthen the integration process. Mercosur is currently made up of Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay.
NoÊ xÊUÊFriday, December 23, 2011
The artillery of ideas
Economy
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Venezuela’s 2012 budget: More social spending, strong debt management, steady economic growth T/ COI P/ Agencies
sidential terms. Previous administrations enacted neoliberal policies including currency devaluations and privatizations, while the Chavez presidency has enacted nationalizations and tight currency controls.
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enezuela’s national budget in 2012 will grow by 43% to Bs. 297.5 billion ($69 billion), as the nation continues to benefit from constructionled growth and improved employment and social development indicators. Approximately 40% of the budget, or Bs. 116 billion, is allocated to social spending in 2012. This reflects increases in spending on housing (88%), social security (45.8%), health care (43%), science and technology (27%), culture (24%), and education (21.1%). The budget lists as one of the objectives of the high public expenditure “to guarantee the advance of economic growth”, particularly through a series of new social programs that aim to build 3 million new homes, create 2.8 million jobs, boost agricultural production, and make direct monthly transfers to poor single mothers. Jesus Farias, vice president of the Finance Commission in the National Assembly, said the budget has “a very high content of social integrity, and it is viable, which will allow us to advance in economic recovery, and consolidate the process of sovereignty of Venezuelan society, while the opposition wants to return to the past with a budget based on social restrictions”. The budget is calculated for an average price of $50 per barrel of oil – the country’s principal export and a major source of state income – and an average of 3.1 million barrels of daily oil production. The current price of Venezuelan oil hovers around $104 per barrel. Minister for Planning and Finance Jorge Giordani said the low estimated oil price is meant as a cushion against volatile global commodity prices. He referred specifically to the drop in the price of oil from $140 per barrel to less than $40 per barrel amidst the world financial crisis in 2008. The minister also emphasized that income from the non-petroleum sector accounts for 55.4%
of the 2012 budget, marking a step away from oil dependence. “The budget must be separated from oil income…it should be based on income from the value of production of goods and services and the payment of taxes”, said Giordani, showing optimism that the trend will continue. NATIONAL DEBT UNDER CONTROL In the budget for 2012, ordinary income (including taxes from the oil and non-oil sectors and state-owned enterprises) account for Bs. 233 billion ($54.2 billion). The remaining Bs. 64.5 billion ($15 billion) in the budget will be covered by debt outlays allocated to discretionary spending, public institutions, and service on the public debt. An additional Bs. 22.4 billion ($5.2 billion) in debt was approved for discretionary spending, for a total of Bs. 86.9 billion ($20.2 billion) in new public debt for 2012. Discretionary spending includes investments in social services as well as energy and economic infrastructure. The total cost of service on the public debt for 2012 is es-
timated to be Bs. 54.7 billion ($12.7 billion), composed of Bs. 32 billion ($7.4 billion) in service on the domestic debt and Bs. 22.7 billion ($5.3 billion) in service on the foreign debt. Slightly more than half of the service on the public debt will be paid for with ordinary income, and the rest will be paid out of new debt outlays. It is common for the Venezuelan government to approve new debt and spending outlays beyond initial projections, depending on the stability of oil prices throughout the year. In 2011, the National Assembly approved 193 additional credits and the budget grew from an initial Bs. 204.2 billion ($47.5 billion) to Bs. 330 billion ($76.7 billion). The credits were allocated to education, health care, housing, sports, culture, electricity infrastructure, flood relief, payments of worker salaries, and food security. One of the larger credits was the National Assembly’s approval of Bs. 45 billion ($10.5 billion) in July 2011 to finance public housing construction and relief for 130,000 victims of torrential rains.
In the 2012 Debt Law, the National Assembly outlined the principles by which the national debt should be managed. These included: “To give priority to obtaining resources in the internal market… which will lower exposure to exchange rate risk and democratize the low-risk investment options of the small and mediumsized depositor”. During President Hugo Chávez’s 12 years in office, the average annual public debt as a percentage of the GDP has been 29%, according to the National Office for Public Credit. This is far lower than the average annual public debt during the 1989-1993 presidential term (71.5%) and during the 19941998 presidential term (55.8%). It is also drastically lower than that of Greece and the United States, which reached 142% and 92%, respectively, in 2010. The average annual inflation rate during the Chavez presidency, which lies in the low-20s percent range, is also much lower than the rates of 44.2% and 57.6%, respectively, during the 1989-1993 and 1994-1998 pre-
GDP GROWTH & STRONG HUMAN DEVELOPMENT Venezuela’s Ministry for Planning and Finance estimates that the gross domestic product will grow by 5% and cumulative inflation will drop to 20-22% in 2012. This reflects optimism that public spending will put the economy back on track and increase the supply of nationallyproduced goods. The economy suffered a recession that lasted a year and a half between 2008 and 2010. Prior to the recession, the economy grew consistently for five consecutive years. Venezuela’s GDP has grown by an annual average of 3.7% since its recovery from recession began in the second quarter of 2010. This growth has been led by the non-oil sector, particularly in residential construction, communications, manufacturing, mining, and government services such as education, health care, and food security. Private consumption has grown by an annual average of 3.1% since the second quarter of 2010, and government consumption has grown by 4.7 percent annually. Venezuela has also maintained its unemployment rate between 6% and 11% even amidst the recession – far below the unemployment rates that exceeded 15% the year before Chavez took office. The country has received consistent praise from the United Nations for achieving several Millennium Development Goals, including the reduction of poverty by half, the achievement of universal primary education, reducing the gender gap in secondary and higher education, reducing the infant mortality rate by twothirds, fomenting multi-national alliances for economic development, and increasing access to science and technology.
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4 | Politics
NoÊ xÊUÊFriday, December 23, 2011
The artillery of ideas
Venezuela: Improving children’s lives a priority T/ COI P/ Agencies
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oving forward with its fight against extreme poverty, the Venezuelan government registered nearly 70 thousand families last week for its new social program designed to provide a helping hand to mothers in economically critical situations. Mission Children of Venezuela was decreed as law on December 12 by President Hugo Chavez and stipulates the disbursement of $100 (430 bolivars) per child to mothers caring for sons and daughters under the age of 18. The stipend is intended for families earning under the nation’s 1,548 bolivar ($360) monthly minimum wage and will be allocated to women with up to 3 children. A similar disbursement for $140 (600 bolivars) will be made to mothers caring for disabled children and will be valid regardless of age. Vice President for Social Affairs, Yadira Cordova, reported that in its first week of operation, the new program has been registering applicants “at a good rhythm”, successfully signing up 69,000 families slated to receive the monthly benefit. Thirteen of Venezuela’s 23 states are participating in this first round or registrations with the rest of the country planned to join the effort in January, Cordova told the press earlier this week.
Volunteers from local community councils and other grassroots and government agencies are taking part in the enrollment process which is being set up in public health clinics and rehabilitation centers. Small teams of volunteers, known as “quartets” are also canvassing neighborhoods in some areas, looking to educate residents on the program and enroll residents in need of assistance. AIDING FAMILIES For Shirly Choez, a mother of two from the capital Caracas, the new program comes as a much needed relief for her and her family. “My husband works as a security guard by the money isn’t enough. I have two kids and
this program will be a big help for the food, the rent and hopefully to buy some presents for Christmas”, she said while registering for the mission in the sector of Propatria. Marianela Sornoja, a 43-year old resident of Miranda, expressed her gratitude to Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez for his service to the country’s children, neglected mothers and the elderly. “We see what he is doing for us”, the widow and mother of six said on Monday. Sornoja, who sells beauty products informally, told the Venezuelan News Agency that since the death of her husband, her income has not been sufficient to care for her children, one of whom suffers from a heart condition.
“I want to use this assistance as emergency funds to help my situation while I find a job. It’s like a life jacket being given to us until we can learn to swim”, she said. The Venezuelan government has been quick to point out that the assistance being provided is a temporary measure intended to help mothers get on their feet economically. A full ten percent of the money being dispatched for the program, Chavez said at the inauguration of the mission, is being devoted to a savings fund administered by public banks to finance socially productive projects. PROGRAMS FOR WOMEN Mission Children of Venezuela follows on previous government initiative including the
Venezuela: Marked reduction in unemployment rate T/ Prensa Latina P/ Agencies
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enezuela has had the largest reduction in unemployment in the continent, which currently sits at 6.2 percent, revealed Elias Eljuri, president of the Venezuelan National Institute of Statistics (INE). During an interview on the television program Toda Venezuela (All Venezuela) on Monday, the official added that the favorable situation contrasts with the one reported in the United States, where the economic crisis has generated at
least 15 million unemployed and its present rate exceeds 8 percent. Similar situations have occurred in Canada and Colombia. The INE president recalled that the 6.2 percent unemployment rate represents the index reported in November and accounts for a reduction of 1.5 percent compared to the same period in 2010, and 2 percent compared to October of this year. “In 1999, the unemployment rate was 12 percent. It has been reduced by almost a half”, said Eljuri, “and it responds fundamentally to the increase in the
possibilities of formal employment due to the implementation of socio-economic programs and the adoption of inclusive policies by the government.
“The quality of labor options has also improved, because formal employment has gone from 48.4 to 56 percent, which means that almost one million more
Women’s Bank, Banmujer, and Mothers of the Neighborhood (Madres del Barrio) which provide low interest loans and services to economically disadvantaged women. “The big missions not only attack the specific problem of poverty but are also directed towards examining each case and resolving it holistically”, Cordova said of the Chavez’s government social development priorities. The Vice President for Social Affairs and Minister of University Education also highlighted the fact that the programs are meant to act as long-term solutions to systemic problems. “Complex missions have been created and it’s difficult to see the immediate results but indisputable steps are being taking in this transformation”, she said during an interview on state television last Sunday. Although 7 percent of Venezuelans still live in what is considered a critical economic situation, poverty in the South American nation has been cut in half over the past 11 years as a result of the Chavez government’s social spending which has totaled more than $330 billion. “All of the Revolution’s efforts have been geared towards making human beings the center around which the rest of the society is being organized”, Cordova said.
people have a job”, emphasized the INE president. “The Venezuelan economy has been able to absorb more than three million people, although it reports about 841,000 unemployed, for whom there will be good labor prospects next year, both regarding quality and amount”, the official said. For example, Eljuri mentioned the inauguration of the Saber y Trabajo Mission (Knowledge and Work Program) in Venezuela, which focuses on job creation, mainly in important productive sectors for sustainable development and the implementation of a policy to fight extreme poverty in Venezuela.
NoÊ xÊUÊFriday, December 23, 2011
The artillery of ideas
Politics
Bolivar lives: A dream of independence becomes reality T/ COI P/ Presidential Press
47 spearheads to mark the years of independence struggle. Three gold bars donated by the Central Bank of Venezuela were used in the creation of the new tomb, designed by ex-guerrilla fighter and artist Paul del Rio. QUESTIONS SURROUNDING DEATH In July of last year, Chavez ordered the exhumation of Bolivar's remains to verify the identity of the Liberator through DNA testing. Although the results of the examination confirmed that that the re-
mains are those of the Caracas native, Chavez has been skeptical of the hero's cause of death. While Bolivar is officially reported to have succumbed to tuberculosis in the city of Santa Marta on December 12, 1830, the current Venezuelan President has alleged that the father of the nation was poisoned by his political adversaries. "On September 17, 1830, three months before his death, Bolivar wrote a letter [mentioning his return to Venezuela] to Rafael Urdaneta. This makes me think that he was assassinated.
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THE LEGACY OF THE LIBERATOR Simon Bolivar was born in Caracas on July 24, 1783. The son of wealthy landowners of Basque origin, the young Bolivar studied under the tutelage of noted intellectual Simon Rodriguez. After being exposed to the anti-imperial teachings of Rodriguez, Bolivar swore to dedicate his life to the cause of colonial liberation, vowing to put an end to Spanish rule in Latin America. As a general of the independence movement, Bolivar successfully freed present day Bolivia, Ecuador, Panama, Peru and Venezuela from the Spanish crown while expressing his desire to see all of Hispano-America unified by a single government. The independence hero's aspiration of a "Great Colombia" would not be realized, however, as regional factionalism and opportunism would tear apart
his integrationist plan, leading to his own political isolation. Before dying in 1830, Bolivar lamented the dissolution of his life's project, describing his revolutionary movement as having "plowed in the sea". Hugo Chavez has modeled much of his social and political movement on the example of Bolivar, adapting the general's anti-imperialist and integrationist stances to the current global economy. On Saturday, Chavez, also the leader of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela, highlighted the significance of this year's founding of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (Celac) - a 33 member, hemisphere-wide alliance that excludes the United States and Canada. "The birth of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States in Caracas in December during the year of [Venezuela's] bicentennial independence was absolutely marvelous", he exclaimed. Chavez also called on his supporters to carry on in the spirit of the independence hero as the South American nation confronts presidential elections in the coming year. "2012 is on the horizon. It will be another year of great battles. Surely, it will also be a year of great advances in the construction of socialism... We're building the nation that had been dissolved when Bolivar died", Chavez proclaimed.
lly advocated the controversial Convivir program, which was aimed at protecting civilians against guerrillas. Many of the “citizen defense groups” set up under Convivir, which were armed and supported by the military, rapidly evolved into paramilitary organizations. That is
what Correa is accusing Uribe of supporting. After the military raid in 2008, Correa warned Colombia against any further attackson Ecuadorian soil, and called for the arrest of Santos alongsideColombia’s National Police Director General Oscar Naranjo and otherofficialsfor the cross-border raid.
I don't know if the scientists can research this, but it's hard for me to believe that a man who wrote this three months beforehand would have a disease like tuberculosis", the socialist president said.
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enezuelan President Hugo Chavez paid homage last Friday to the father of his nation's independence, Simon Bolivar, during a ceremony commemorating the 181st anniversary since the death of one of Latin America's most important historical figures. At the National Pantheon in the capital of Caracas, the head of state eulogized the military and political leader of the 1800s - the namesake of the South American nation's current political and economic Revolution - while unveiling a new mahogany tomb for the independence hero. "Bolivar lives and will always live in us, in our people", Chavez said. "We know that without a doubt and for forever that you are here...you are with us", he affirmed. Adorned with Caribbean pearls and national symbols forged in gold, the new resting place for the man referred to as "The Liberator" is marked with 8 stars representing the regions that fought against the Spanish crown and
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Colombia, Ecuador relations improve, bilateral trade restored T/ Colombia Reports P/ Agencies
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cuadorian President Rafael Correa announced Monday that relations between Ecuador and Colombia were improving now there was a “serious and respectful government” headed by his counterpart, President Juan Manuel Santos. After his first meeting with Santos in the Ecuadorian capital, Quito, Correa said that relations between the two countries were better under the current governments, and criticized former Colombian President Alvaro Uribe for not
improving diplomacy during his administration. Santos and Correa also formally announced the restoration of trade relations and more open border crossings, which both governments have neglected for years. To further improve bilateral trade, theyagreed to cut airline prices between Quito and Bogota as well as restore bridges along the border for better transportation routes. In attempt to clear up past disputes, the Ecuadorian head of state insisted that he had never been alerted to a guerrilla presence on his side of the border in 2008, when Colombian
troops entered the country and carried out a military offensive that killed FARC leader “Raul Reyes”. The attack was led by Santos when he was the Defense Minister under Uribe. Correa indicated he was willing to submit to a polygraph test on the issue if Uribe did the same to deny his ties with paramilitaries, saying, “I submit to a polygraph to ask me if I have anything to do with the FARC or not... provided that Uribe is brought before the same polygraph to say he has something to do with the paramilitaries”. When Uribe was governor of Antioquia, he enthusiastica-
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6 | Social Justice
NoÊ xÊUÊFriday, December 23, 2011
The artillery of ideas
Dignifying workers: Venezuela turns subcontractors into employees T/ Ewan Robertson www.venezuelanalysis.com
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further 1,723 subcontracted workers are to be incorporated into the payroll in Venezuela´s nationalized steel plant Sidor, Venezuelan Vice-President Elias Jaua announced last Friday. He further confirmed that two other companies, Grafitos del Orinoco and Sidetur, will be nationalized by the end of the year. The announcement, made in the presence of a gathering of Sidor workers in Caracas, was greeted by applause and jubilation by the subcontracted workers. Jaua stressed that the gains made by subcontracted workers in being included within the more generous collective contract with the state should not be attributed to one individual, but are “the achievement of a collective, of a people who know how to make a revolution and do it with a leader like [Venezuelan President] Hugo Chavez”. Further, a central commission is to be established that will examine the incorporation of the remaining 2,200 subcontracted Sidor workers.
Jaua explained that workers not directly linked to the production process may not be incorporated, but would be offered “dignified work” by Venezuela´s new Knowledge and Work mission to be launched next year. Friday’s announcement means that a total of 6,370 subcontracted Sidor workers have now been incorporated onto the state payroll since 2008, with the majority of the remaining cases to be analysed by the new central commission in the first quarter of 2012.
ENDING SUBCONTRACTED LABOR Subcontracted workers are those contracted by private companies to work alongside full-time employees in enterprises such as Sidor, but enjoy no benefits and are paid up to four times less for performing the same work. At the meeting on Friday, Jaua claimed that the creation of a doubletier workforce is rooted in the neoliberal policy of privatizing state companies in the 1990s, in which “the first victims were the poor and the workers”.
After a 14-month struggle between workers and management over collective contracts, Chavez responded to workers’ demands and announced the renationalization of Sidor in April 2008. A key clause of the nationalization agreement obliged Sidor to gradually incorporate the subcontracted workers as full public employees, ending outsourced labor. Following Friday’s announcement, subcontracted labor in Sidor should be almost ended during the coming year.
Sidor, situated in the Guayana region of heavy industries in the east of Venezuela, was privatized in 1997 by Venezuelan President Rafael Caldera, the year before Hugo Chavez was elected to power. According to information supplied to Venezuelnalysis.com by Sidor union activist Jesus Pino, during the decade of privatization 1997 2008 the number of workers enjoying the direct collective contract with Sidor was reduced from 11,000 to 5,000, while up to 9,000 subcontracted positions were created.
NATIONALIZATIONS On Friday Jaua also announced an order from President Chavez for the nationalization of Grafitos del Orinoco and Sidetur, two companies key to the steel production process. The move aims to ensure the production of construction materials needed for the major housing program underway in the country. For the workers, the nationalization signifies “a great commitment by the State to the Venezuelan people”, Jaua declared. “We workers celebrate the President´s decision to build on this victory of the workers and the working class”, related Karlos Rondon of the Grafitos factory in response to the decision. Meanwhile the Sidetur company, with over 1,800 workers and factories situated in various cities in the country, produces 40% of the cables used in Venezuelan construction.
me and accidents associated with the use of firearms. With regard to ammunition, Fernandez said that a special marking measure was established to achieve greater control over the distribution and sale of ammunition and to perform categorization with laser engra-
ving or color. The Presidential Commission for the Control of Firearms, Ammunition and Disarmament was created last May to promote public policies to control and disarm the population, with the members of to the National Assembly (AN) and NGOs.
Fighting crime: More than 251,000 weapons have been destroyed I
n Venezuela, from 2003 to date, 251,000 weapons have been destroyed in programs aimed at reducing crime through disarmament. The data was released this week by the secretary of the Presidential Commission for the Control of Firearms, Ammunition and Disarmament, Pablo Fernandez. In a TV interview, Fernandez said that 21,470 weapons, both industrial and home produced, were destroyed on Tuesday, while 138,000 weapons were destroyed in total throughout the year. Fernandez added that the weapons destruction had been achieved through seizures made by law enforcement agen-
cies (state police and armed forces). He also lauded new measures to combat crime. “The measures announced today by the Minister for the Interior and Justice, Tarek El Aissami, are aimed at achieving effective control of arms and ammunitions”, said Fernandez. The first initiative, which provides an adjustment period for the possession of weapons, aimed at those with permits to have guns but not to transport or carry them will begin in January 2012, with a duration of three months, without extension, will be overseen by the Firearms and Explosives Division of the Bolivarian National Police.
The second measure, which estimates a one-year ban on the sale of arms and ammunition and the issuance of new gun permits in the country, “will serve to advance the implementation of regulation and control mechanisms already in place”, Fernandez said . A review of the marketing cycle, registration and permit requirements of firearms, as well as an analysis of the illegal market (types, brands, where they arrive), and a ban on carrying weapons in public places, sporting events and at locations that sell liquor are other measures that the Commission implemented to decrease the rates of violent cri-
NoÊ xÊUÊFriday, December 23, 2011
The artillery of ideas
Analysis
Opposition candidate Maria Corina Machado pledges “popular capitalism” As the Venezuelan opposition prepares for primary elections in February 2012 to choose a candidate to run against Hugo Chavez in the October 2012 presidential elections, we provide weekly exposés on who’s-who in the antiChavez camp T/ COI P/ Agencies
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aria Corina Machado, possibly the most right-wing conservative voice within the Venezuelan opposition, is the anti-Chavez minority’s only female candidate. Lacking a political party, per se, Machado maintains close ties to the United States and has depended for years on her Washington-based financiers and advisors. Campaigning on a platform of what she calls, ‘Popular Capitalism’, – the same term used by Chilean Dictator Augusto Pinochet and former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher – Machado is widely expected to lose the opposition’s pre-presidential primaries since even those who oppose Chavez’s socialism understand the lack of popular support for speeches promising “more capitalism”. Machado is one of six prepresidential hopefuls participating in primaries of the opposition’s Mesa de Unidad Democratica (MUD), or Democratic Unity Roundtable in English. Scheduled for 12 February 2012, their primaries are part of a US-backed effort to unite the opposition and attempt to unseat Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez in next year’s presidential elections. Chavez, who is expected to sweep the presidential election, has committed to “deepen, push forward, and consolidate” the Bolivarian Revolution’s platform of ‘21st Century Socialism’ during his next presidential term (2013-2019).
MARIA CORINA: A US FAVORITE Closely tied to the world of “non governmental organizations” (NGOs), specifically those funded by the US State Department, the wealthy US-educated Maria Corina Machado first made a name for herself as Vice President and later Director of the Atenea Foundation (1994-2000), as Founder and Director of the Opportunities Foundation (1998-2002), and later as CoFounder, Financial Secretary, Vice President and Director of Sumate (2003 - 2010), an NGO financed by the US National Endowment for Democracy (NED), the US Agency for International Development (USAID), and Development Alternatives, Inc. (DAI), all three of which are known across Latin America for their attempts to destabilize progressive governments under the guise of “democracy promotion”. Machado’s defense of “democracy” was tested in 2002 when anti-Chavez forces attempted to forcefully remove democratically-elected Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez from office. On April 11th, unidentified snipers stationed on top of Caracas highrises, fired upon pro- and anti-government demonstrators in a pre-orchestrated operation designed to justify a military coup d’état against Venezuela’s Chavez.
COUP INVOLVEMENT As popular forces from poor and working neighborhoods across the country took to the streets, demanding the return of their President, Machado made her way to Miraflores Presidential Palace where she joined her opposition allies in signing the Carmona Decree, an act that suspended all democratic rights, revoked the Constitution (1999) approved by a majority of voters just three years earlier, and installed business leader Pedro Carmona as the interim “president”. Machado denies any wrongdoing, and says she was only at the presidential palace responding to an invitation by her mother, Corina de Machado, who also signed the dictatorial decree. In 2004, the NGO Machado operated was the driving force behind the failed recall referendum against the Venezuelan President and in May 2005, Machado had her own private meeting with then US President George W. Bush in the White House Oval Office. Though the anti-Chavez initiative failed, Machado improved her position and name recognition within the Venezuelan opposition. In mid 2009, Machado visited Bolivia to speak with members of the NED-financed New Democracy Foundation. Speaking
alongside her Bolivian counterparts, who oppose the popular government of Evo Morales, Machado declared, “21st Century Socialism seeks to destroy democracy”, though she failed to explain how participatory democracy and community-based development is “anti-democratic”. The pre-presidential candidate spent the second half of 2009 in the United States, participating in the Yale University World Fellows Program. A year later, with the financial support of the International Republican Institute, NED, Usaid and the political backing of the opposition’s MUD coalition, Machado was elected to the Venezuelan National Assembly. She joined the legislature in January 2011 alongside a pro-Chavez majority, and has since used her position to oppose any and all policy initiatives of the ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV). In one of her more controversial remarks made at the National Assembly, Machado once accused a group of PSUV legislators and Ministers of being “a bunch of communists, scared to admit it”. “POPULAR CAPITALISM FOR ALL” During a recent series of campaign events, including a televised debate between the opposition’s pre-presidential candidates, Machado proudly
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7| pushed forward her slogan of ‘Popular Capitalism’. “What’s yours is yours and no one can take it from you”, Machado affirmed, over and over again at each of her numerous private campaign events. “Popular Capitalism is the bringing together of market efficiency and the market’s capacity to produce goods and services”, she explained to the anti-Chavez newspaper El Universal. “It’s a proposal based on a new alliance between businessmen and workers, in absolute brotherhood looking after each others interests”, she said. The Bolivarian Revolution and the dramatic reductions in social inequality associated with the Chavez government “need people living in poverty so as to generate dependence”, Machado claims. Instead, she says, Venezuela should be converted into “an ownership society, a society of entrepreneurs” and the national stateowned oil company, Petroleos de Venezuela (Pdvsa), should be opened up to the “stock market and all its marvels”. In a recent article, the US-based Cato Institute’s Juan Carlos Hidalgo wrote that Machado’s “commitment to free market ideas is a welcome departure from the other opposition candidates who seem interested in perpetuating Venezuela’s entitlement culture”. The neo-liberal writer expressed great satisfaction with Machado’s rejection of public spending and her argument that government should focus on providing “the legal framework that stimulates entrepreneurship and eliminates regulatory obstacles”. Hidalgo also praised Machado’s “strong defense of private property” and quoted her as saying, “if you can’t own the fruit of your labor, then you don’t own your labor and thus you aren’t free”. Machado, wrote the Cato Institute’s Hidalgo, “is a breath of fresh air from the usual Venezuelan political discourse that stresses the government’s central role in redistributing the country’s oil riches”. Maria Corina Machado comes from one of Venezuela’s wealthiest families, the Machado Zuloagas, who form part of the nation’s elite class that coveted most of the country’s oil wealth throughout the twentieth century.
Friday | December 23, 2011 | Nº 95 | Caracas | www.correodelorinoco.gob.ve
ENGLISH EDITION The artillery of ideas
A publication of the Fundacion Correo del OrinocoÊUÊ ` Ì À ivÊEva GolingerÊUÊ À>« VÊ ià } ÊJameson JiménezÊUÊ*ÀiÃÃÊFundación Imprenta de la Cultura
War on Venezuela: Washington’s false accusations against the Chavez government /ÉÊ Û>Ê }iÀ
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ver since the US-supported coup attempt against President Hugo Chavez in Venezuela failed in April 2002, Washington has been pursuing a variety of strategies to remove the overwhelmingly popular South American head of state from power. Multimillion-dollar funding to anti-Chavez groups in Venezuela through US government agencies, such as the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) and the US Agency for International Development (USAID), has increased exponentially over the past ten years, as has direct political support through advisors, strategists and consultants- all aiming to help an unpopular and outdated opposition rise to power. US government agencies, including the State Department, Central Intelligence Agency, National Directorate of Intelligence and the Pentagon, have pumped up their hostile language towards the Venezuelan government in recent years. The major oil-producing nation has been placed on the countless, and baseless “lists” produced annually by Washington, including “failure to cooperate with counter-narcotics efforts”, “failure to aid in the war on terror”, “trafficking in persons”, and others, that are based on political decisions instead of concrete, substantial evidence to support their accusations. These classifications have enabled Washington to justify not only the millions of US taxpayer dollars channeled to anti-Chavez groups fronting as NGOs, but also to increase military presence in the region and convince public opinion that Hugo Chavez is an enemy. Despite “promises” of respectful relations and non-intervention, the Obama government’s hostile language and actions towards Venezuela have led to a freezing of diplomatic relations between both nations coupled with expanding plans
within Washington to include the South American nation in the “terrorist axis of evil”. The build-up against Venezuela that began during the George W. Bush administration has been rapidly excelerated by Obama. With the House Foreign Relations Committee in the hands of Florida Republicans Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Connie Mack – both rabid Chavez-haters – Congress has been pushing hard for direct actions against Venezuela to provoke Chavez’s ouster and place a “US-friendly” government in power. Not only does Venezuela have the largest oil reserves on the planet, with possibly over 500 billion barrels, about 300 certifiable, but the country’s geopolitical position as the port of South America, with borders on the Caribbean, Andean and Amazon, make it one of the most strategically important nations in the world. In addition to oil, Venezuela has vast mineral reserves, heavy metals, uranium and water. President Chavez’s growing leadership and influence in the region has angered Washington for some time. Efforts to demo-
nize, ridicule and even ignore the Venezuelan head of state have been employed by the US government and mass media over the past several years, creating a distorted perception amongst public opinion of Venezuela’s reality. Despite numerous elections, all overseen by international observers and in which Chavez has won with around 60% of the vote, international media portray the Venezuelan President as a “dictator” and the nation as a “failing state”. But Venezuela’s growing, vibrant democracy, in which a majority previously excluded and silenced by prior US-supported governments today participate freely and widely, has achieved extraordinary changes in the nation, including a 50% reduction in poverty, a guarantee of free, universal healthcare and education, a 6% unemployment rate (down from 15%) and major infrastructure development. While President Obama has largely refrained from personally commenting on Venezuela, as did his predecessor Bush, a recent interview provided to an anti-Chavez national daily newspaper, El Universal, evi-
dences a shift in policy. The interview, given on the heels of an alarming broadcast of an uncorroborated “report” attempting to link Venezuela, Cuba and Iran to a terrorist plot against the US, which aired on the largest Spanish-language station in the United States, Univision, reads like a page right out of the thick book of false accusations made against Venezuela since Chavez came to power in 1999. In written responses to the Venezuelan newspaper, Obama (or his team of advisors) insinuated Venezuela was a dictatorship and expressed his “concern about the government’s actions, which have restricted the universal rights of the Venezuelan people, threatened basic democratic values, and failed to contribute to security in the region”. Obama, of course, fails to cite any real examples to substantiate his “concerns”. These are merely the types of statements that have been regurgitated by Washington spokespeople over the past decade, never with a shred of viable evidence to back their damning claims. No rights have been restricted in Venezuela by the go-
vernment. In fact, rights have been amplified under the new constitution that was written and ratified by the people of Venezuela in national referendum in 1999. Venezuelans have the basic rights to healthcare, education, food, housing, dignified work, a living wage, participation, expression, recreation and culture that the 300 million citizens of the United States don’t have. And it’s cynical to say that Venezuela, a country with minimal military power that has never attacked another nation, threatened or invaded a neighbor, is a “regional security threat”. The US government’s 200-year history of invasions, massacres, coups, interventions and other aggressions against almost every Latin American and Caribbean nation cannot be left “in the past” as Obama would prefer. Obama didn’t fail to mention his “concern” about Venezuela’s relationship with Iran, regarding which he stated, “We take Iranian activities, including in Venezuela, very seriously and we will continue to monitor them closely”. It’s no coincidence that these statements follow the airing of the Hollywoodesque Univision documentary, “The Iranian Threat”, which makes dangerous defamatory claims against the Chavez administration in an attempt to include Venezuela in a bogus terrorist plot. Despite the ridiculousness of the Univision claims, members of Congress are bantering Obama to take preemptive action against both Iran and Venezuela. Other “commentators” and “analysts” are busy writing blogs and columns warning of the growing terrorist threat south of the US border. These dangerous, unfounded accusations could easily be used to justify an attack against Venezuela, as “weapons of mass destruction” was used against Iraq and “protecting the population” was used against Libya. Obama’s reckless bandwagoning of aggression against Venezuela could lead to an unnecessary atrocity. As President Chavez said, Obama would be better off focusing on the troubles at home, rather than trying to create new ones abroad.