Pg. P g. 7 | S Social occial Justice Justice Venezuelan university students marched this week to call for a new higher education law and express support for President Chavez
FRIDAY|November 26, 2010 |No. 39 |Bs. 1|CARACAS
Pg. P g. 8 | O Opinion pinioon
Reform and Revolution in Latin America: an analysis of leftist movements during the twenty-first century
ENGLISH EDITION The artillery of ideas
Venezuelan Government stands strong against aggression Private media corporation violating laws The owners of Globovision, a privately-owned media corporation in Venezuela operating on public airwaves, are both self-exiled in the United States after fleeing justice in Venezuela. Nelson Mezerhane and Guillermo Zuloaga have been charged with banking fraud, corruption, usury and other “white collar crimes” by the Venezuelan courts, yet both have refused to face justice. Last week, Zuloaga called on the US Congress to take action against his government, which he referred to as a “threat to the United States”.
President Chavez presided over a state event in defense of sovereignty this week in the National Assembly In response to increasing threats of aggression from right-wing congressmembers in the United States, the Venezuelan government held a “state event in defense of sovereignty and against US hegemony and imperialism” on Tuesday in the prestigious and historic Elliptical Room in Venezuela’s parliament. Keynote speaker Eva Golinger outlined ongoing strategies to undermine Venezuela’s democracy and warned of an escalation in hostilities with a US Congress influenced by the extreme right-wing. The President and heads of the other four branches of government signed an “Anti-Imperialist Manifesto”.
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Politics
PSUV reformulating party strategy The ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) is revamping its political strategy to attract new members and correct errors.
Economy
Venezuela coming out of recession New studies show Venezuela’s income distribution as one of the most equal in the region.
Venezuelan wins Cy Young Award Seattle Mariners pitcher, Felix Hernandez, originally from Valencia, Venezuela, won the prestigious sports award this week.
UNASUR meeting today in Guyana
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Venezuela condemns US role in Korean conflict
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he Venezuelan Government issued a statement on Wednesday warning of US plans to encourage a conflict in Asia between the countries of North and South Korea. In the text, Venezuela urged the two nations to preserve peace in the Asian region. “The Government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela has continuously warned about the existence of a political plan that seeks to prompt incidents in the Korean Peninsula, specifically in the Yellow Sea, with the aim to
initiate a scenario of armed conflict. This constitutes a strategy to perpetuate imperialist military hegemony in the region”, read the declaration. “It is essential for peaceful nations to denounce this premeditated action originating from right-wing groups in the United States. These groups use important and powerful institutions in Washington, such as the Pentagon, the Department of State and the CIA, to generate various outbreaks of instability around the planet, as part of the
necessity to maintain the perpetual and lucrative US military industrial complex”. “The Bolivarian Government therefore exhorts the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, the Republic of Korea and the countries in the region to strengthen their capacity to understand each other, in order to preserve peace and to avoid subcoming to provocations plotted from other areas of the world, which are part of an ongoing imperial necessity to seize power and global control. Caracas, November 24, 2010”.
he Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) is meeting today in Guyana, continuing with the consolidation of Latin American integration and the creation of a regional trade bloc. During Friday’s summit, for which at least eight heads of state have confirmed their presence, a new Secretary General will be elected to preside over the important regional body. Former Secretary General Nestor Kirchner, ex President and Senator from Argentina, passed away last month from a heart illness. Candidates for the position include outgoing Brazilian President Luis Ignacio “Lula” Da Silva and former Uruguayan President Tabare Vasquez. Among the most significant issues to be addressed at the Summit are the Costa RicaNicaragua situation and UNASUR’s arbitration role in regional conflicts. During the encounter, Ecuador will transfer UNASUR’s pro tempore presidency to Guyana. On Thursday, a meeting of the UNASUR Council of Delegates and the Council of Foreign Ministers took place, prior to the presidential summit today.
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| No 39 • Friday, November 26, 2010
IMPACT
The artillery of ideas
Venezuela: Firm rejection of US aggression On Tuesday, President Hugo Chavez presided over a state event in the presence of all branches of government and regional representatives, to express the nation’s rejection of threats and attempts to undermine Venezuela’s democracy
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he people of Venezuela, the people of ALBA nations, the people of our America and the world will defeat the pretensions of US imperialism that seek to escape its own crisis by provoking more war and violations against the people of the world”, stated an “Anti-Imperialist Manifesto” signed by all heads of the five branches of government during a special event held in the historic and prestigious Elliptical Room of Venezuela’s National Assembly on Tuesday. The state event “in defense of the sovereignty of the nation and against hegemony and imperialism” was convened by President Chavez in reaction to an event held last week in the US Congress titled “Danger in the Andes: Threats to Democracy, Human Rights and Inter-American Security”, during which several US congressmembers called for harsh, direct action to be taken against Chavez and other presidents from member nations of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our Americas (ALBA). Also present at last week’s anti-ALBA event in the US Capitol were several fugitives from Venezuelan justice, such as Globovision president Guillermo Zuloaga, and coup leaders from Bolivia and Ecuador, including Ecuadorean Lucio Gutierrez, charged with leading efforts to overthrow President Rafael Correa last September. The congressional event was interpreted by many throughout the region as a sign that a now republican-dominated Congress will increase hostility towards countries in Latin America such as Venezuela and Bolivia, which already have tense and difficult
Chavez”. Morales’ comments were made during the inauguration of this week’s meeting of defense ministers from the Americas, during which US Secretary of Defense, Robert Gates, was present. “This congressmember, Connie Mack, made statements that could be interpreted as a call to assassinate President Chavez”, said Morales. “Should anything happen to Chavez, Connie Mack will be one of the people responsible”.
relations with Washington. At the conference, US congressman Connie Mack (republican from Florida), declared, “now that republicans are a majority...we should confront Hugo Chavez directly”, insinuating that the House SubComittee on Foreign Relations for the Western Hemisphere, to be headed by Mack, will initiate actions against Venezuela in 2011. The new Chair of the House Foreign Relations Committee, congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen from Miami, also indicated efforts would be undertaken to increase aggression against President Chavez, stating, “We should work closer with regional allies to confront the danger against democracy in Venezuela”. Ros-Lehtinen, well known for her close relations with anti-Castro Cuban terrorists Luis Posada
Carriles and Orlando Bosch, both responsible for the bombing of a Cuban airliner in 1976 that killed all 73 passengers aboard, as well as a series of other terrorist acts in the region, later referred to Chavez as a “repressive leader” and reiterated her calls to work for his “removal from power”. In 2006, the Florida congresswoman declared during a television interview that she would encourage and “welcome anyone who assassinates Fidel Castro or any other repressive leader”. Such language was perceived by Venezuela and other Latin American nations as a clear and direct threat. On Monday, Bolivian President Evo Morales directly charged congressman Connie Mack with the responsibility “should anything happen to President Hugo
AGAINST HEGEMONY AND IMPERIALISM At Tuesday’s historic event in Venezuela, keynote speaker Eva Golinger, a Venezuelan-American attorney, investigator and writer, who has spent years researching and denouncing US intervention in Venezuela and other Latin American nations, outlined a pattern of tactics and strategies being employed against the Chavez administration. “At the beginning of 2010, the US Director of National Intelligence, who coordinates all 16 agencies of the US intelligence community, classified President Chavez as ‘Anti-US Leader in the region’. Saying ‘antiUS’ is the same as saying ‘enemy’... This is language of war”. Golinger also highlighted how during the “past five years, the US government and mass media have conducted a severe media campaign attempting to demonize President Chavez and his government”. This effort, said Golinger, “tries to justify the es-
calation in hostility and aggression against Venezuela, as well as provide reasons for an everincreasing amount of funding US agencies provide to Venezuelan opposition groups”. Eva Golinger also proposed the Venezuelan government enact a law to “regulate, control or prohibit foreign funding for political activities” in the South American nation. Many countries have similar laws. United States law prohibits all foreign funding from any entity, private or state, to political parties or campaigns in the US, while the Foreign Agent Registration Act (FARA) controls any person, organization or entity receiving foreign funding for lobbying, public relations or activities “directed by or in the interests of a foreign actor”. During his speech at the sovereignty event, President Chavez heard Golinger’s request for a foreign funding law loud and clear. “I implore the National Assembly to urgently pass a law to end US and foreign funding of NGOs and political parties in our country”, he exclaimed, adding, “This must end. We can no longer be a docile Revolution, we must radicalize our position”. Chavez also called on the other branches of government present to act against threats and violations of Venezuela’s laws and sovereignty. The presidents - all women - of Venezuela’s Supreme Court, National Assembly, Electoral Power and Citizens Power affirmed their commitment to defending the nation against any external or internal threat, and signed the “AntiImperialist Manifesto” at the conclusion of Tuesday’s event. “In this bicentennial period, we ratify our unwavering commitment to the culmination of our Independence through the consolidation of our sovereignty and the construction of unity amongst our peoples, and we proclaim that our response to the imperialist threat will be: more unity, more independence and more integration”, read the Manifesto ratified by Venezuela’s state powers this week. The Manifesto will be signed by supporters throughout the country during special events to be held during the following days in defense of Venezuela’s sovereignty. T/ CO P/ Presidential Press
POLITICS
The artillery of ideas
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No 39 • Friday, November 26, 2010 |
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Globovision owner involved in new assassination plot, says venezuela’s Chavez
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n Saturday, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez denounced plans by opposition forces to offer $100 million USD to assassinate him. He said fugitive media mogul Guillermo Zuloaga was partly responsible for the plot, and that Zuloaga’s television station, Globovision, could face government intervention as a result. “They are collecting money to pay someone to kill me”, said Chavez on Saturday. “As I understand it, from very trustworthy information, they say they have $100 million USD to give to the person who kills me”. According to Chavez, “He [Guillermo Zuloaga] is one of the fundraisers, and he’s the owner of a television station [Globovision] that is transmitting right now in Venezuela.”. Guillermo Zuloaga, president and majority shareholder of opposition television channel Globovision, fled to the United States last June after Venezuela’s Attorney General filed an arrest warrant against him. He is wanted in Venezuela on charges of money laundering and illegal speculation of consumer goods (hoarding new vehicles at his Caracas residence presumably to sell at inflated prices). On Wednesday, Zuloaga affirmed during an interview on CNN that he is seeking political asylum in the United States. According to US law, political asylum is given to those with a “reasonable fear of persecution” based on race, religion, gender or political ideology, and evidence must be provided to substantiate such claims. Nonetheless, by law, political asylum cannot be given to individuals merely seeking to evade justice in their home countries, nor to those who have committed internationally recognized crimes. ZULOAGA’S THREATS According to Chavez, Zuloaga could also face treason charges for comments made in Washington, DC, last week during a meeting held in the US Capitol titled “Danger in the Andes: Threats to Democracy, Human Rights and Inter-American Security”. Speaking to reporters outside of the US Congressional Visitors
Center on Wednesday, Zuloaga affirmed his belief that Chavez’s Venezuela is a “threat to the United States”. “[Venezuela] is a threat because of President Chavez’s attitude”, said Zuloaga. “He has declared himself anti-United States… and he is definitely strengthening ties with Iran, a country that has used Venezuela to set up banks from which it can access monetary resources”. According to Chavez, Zuloaga’s comments amount to “asking for the [US] empire to intervene in the country [Venezuela], which could constitute the crime known as treason”. The discussions held at last week’s meeting centered on the ways the governments of Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia, and Nicaragua constitute “a threat US interests and inter-American security”, and how the US should respond to these governments’ support for “hostile actors such as Iran, foreign and domestic terrorist groups, and narcotics traffickers”. US Congressman Connie Mack, who attended the meeting, affirmed that the now Republican-
dominated US House of Representatives would take a harder line against the Venezuelan government. “I don’t see how the United States can continue saying we fight for freedom and democracy in the world if we don’t face Chavez head-on”, said Mack. GLOBOVISION President Chavez also said that his administration may decide to intervene in Globovision if the channel is found to be involved in subversive activity. “I don’t care what they say about me”, said Chavez. “But how is it there’s a television channel here whose owner is a fugitive of justice, and not only is he a fugitive, but he has the nerve to go to the heart of Washington and threaten his country, making statements before US lawmakers against this government, against this president?” Speaking to tens of thousands of students at a Caracas rally on Sunday, Chavez reiterated his demand that Venezuela’s Attorney General, Supreme Court and Vice-President take action and speed up a pending criminal case against Globovision’s president.
“This gentleman [Zuloaga] should come here and show his face”, said Chavez. “Instead he is in Washington asking the US to intervene in Venezuela… this situation cannot continue like this”. Responding to calls by marchers for the revocation of Globovision’s concession to operate on public airwaves, Chavez called on his supporters to stay alert. If the decision is made to nationalize Zuloaga’s assets, Chavez said, “the bourgeoisie will try to light up the streets – and in the streets of Caracas, the streets of Venezuela, they’ll find us!” Chavez affirmed that the opposition “will keep playing with the idea of destabilizing the country”, stating that Venezuela’s youth will “decide if this soldier [Chavez] stays at the forefront of the revolution or if the bourgeoisie will take the people’s dreams into ruin”. VIOLATING THE LAW Globovision is a privatelyowned station that broadcasts on a public concession and regularly emits distorted news and political commentary against the Chavez government, including calls to
overthrow the government and insinuated threats to assassinate the President. The station also aided the botched attempt to overthrow democratically-elected President Chavez in April 2002 by manipulating images in order to justify the military coup. Nelson Mezerhane, the former owner of the nation’s third largest bank, Banco Federal, and a close political ally of Globovision, is a suspect in the 2004 car bomb murder of Danilo Anderson, a national prosecutor who was investigating opposition leaders suspected of involvement in the April 2002 coup. Last June, the government took custody of Banco Federal after discovering the bank was guilty of multiple banking law infractions and irregularites, and Mezerhane fled to the US to avoid prosecution. Earlier this month, the InterAmerican Press Association (IAPA) – considered the “umbrella organization” for media owners and editors in the Americas – condemned the Venezuelan government’s legal proceedings against Globovision’s Zuloaga and Mezerhane. So far, no direct action has been taken against Globovision by the Venezuelan government. Nonetheless, both of its owners are now fugitives from Venezuelan justice and at least one of them, Zuloaga, has submitted claims for asylum in the United States, which will prohibit his return to his home country. The question remains whether a media corporation can or should continue to operate on the public airwaves while its owners are fugitives who refuse to return to the country to face justice. Meanwhile, on Tuesday, Guillermo Zuloaga broadcast a pre-recorded statement on Globovision claiming he was not involved in a plot to “kill” President Chavez, but rather would take him before an international court to try him for alleged crimes, for which the television owner did not provide any evidence. Zuloaga’s threat was seen as yet another provocation to tempt the Venezuelan government to revoke Globovision’s broadcast license. T/ Juan Reardon and Eva Golinger
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ECONOMY
The artillery of ideas
Chavez party reveals new political strategy I
n preparation for the nation’s upcoming presidential election of 2012, Venezuelan head of state Hugo Chavez revealed last Monday a draft copy of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela’s (PSUV) political strategy for the next two years. During a televised broadcast, Chavez, together with his council of ministers, spoke of the need of the governing PSUV party to consolidate its base and formulate a new strategic map to strengthen its popular support en route to victory in 2012’s presidential contest. According to the Venezuelan President, the draft political strategy, called the Great Admirable Campaign 2011 – 2012, will be discussed further on December 11 and 12 in a national forum of party activists to be held in Caracas. “This document is the base for a great social and national debate as a means of strengthening the party, forming patriotic alliances and achieving the great strategic victory of December 2012 to ensure the continuation of the democratic, pacific, and revolutionary process”, Chavez declared. Although the governing PSUV won the vast majority of legislative seats in contention during the National Assembly elections that took place last September 26, many government supporters recognize that the margins of victory did not meet party expectations. That realization has led to a
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dent march held last Sunday in support of the government’s educational policies.
revamping of the government’s political strategy based in what Chavez has called “constructive self-criticism” and the “3 Rs” – Revision, Rectification, and Relaunching of the PSUV’s program. “The PSUV, more than just a political machine, should help generate the best revolutionary leaders. The party should be the vanguard of the people, it should be a political school, creating ideological principles in the transformation of the Venezuelan reality”, the Venezuelan President explained.
According to Chavez, the national debate to be held in December will serve to “apply a strategic balance to the moments that we have lived over the past few years as well as the present. We’ll be talking about the 3Rs with the leadership.” Expanding the PSUV’s base of support has also been a priority for the party’s leadership. MIDDLE CLASS As such, the Chavez administration has made a concerted
effort to reach out to members of the country’s middle class, placing emphasis on protecting homebuyers from predatory real estate firms who through sham contracts have defrauded thousands of Venezuelans. “The middle class doesn’t have to be the enemy of this process and this process is not the enemy of the middle class”, Chavez stated. The Venezuelan President also mentioned the importance of the student movement in national politics, following a national stu-
REGIONAL ELECTIONS In addition to preparing for the presidential race of 2012, Chavez emphasized on Monday the importance of 13 regional elections that will take place in the country this December 5. The elections, which the Venezuelan head of state referred to as a “warm-up” for the presidential race, include 2 gubernatorial contests in the states of Guarico and Amazonia as well as 11 mayoral elections in various municipalities across the country. According to Vice President, Elías Jaua, the upcoming regional elections represent “important spaces to win and to preserve en route to the big [presidential] victory in 2012”. During the televised broadcast, Chavez, presented the 13 candidates and spoke of the need to sustain “resistance and counterattacks” against the foreign intervention emanating from the United States. “The aggressions against Venezuela and the funding of millions of dollars to the ultra-rightwing and its destabilizing forces have already begun”, he said. T/ Edward Ellis P/ Presidential Press
Venezuela and Belarus advance relations
enezuela took further steps in consolidating its political and economic ties with the eastern European nation of Belarus last week when 17 new accords in areas ranging from housing to agricultural were signed between the two governments in the Venezuelan capital of Caracas. The new accords are the product of a week of collaboration between a team of high-level Belarus officials and their Venezuelan counterparts. Since November 14, the Belarusian delegation has toured different regions of Venezuela to solidify previous commitments and evaluate new areas of cooperation. During a press conference held after the signing of the agreements, Venezuela’s Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro congratulat-
ed the commission on its work. “We want to thank the efforts of this high level delegation of ministers”, Maduro said. “The work has been very productive and we’re still discussing some topics. The central objective [of the agreements] is the economic independence of our country and the happiness of our people”. For his part, the Belarusian Food and Agricultural Minister, Mijail Rusiy, expressed his country’s will to collaborate with the Venezuelan government in order to further the development priorities of both nations. “We’re willing to transfer technology, build new factories and houses and help promote [Venezuela’s] production”, Rusiy said. “There’s a lot to do, ideas and projects. In a short time, we’ll have
more agreements so that our countries can prosper and live better”. AGRICULTURE AND FOOD SOVEREIGNTY The 17 accords signed last week include the shipment of tractors and other heavy machinery to Venezuela for use in agriculture development and bauxite mining. A contract has also been signed for the construction of 5 thousand new homes in the state of Aragua and a mixed company has been formed between the Belarusian firm JSV Belzarubezhstroy and the public Venezuelan company Sidor to produce high tension soldered steel netting. In terms of food security, an accord has been created to “study the possibility of developing
mechanisms of cooperation to permit the strengthening of food exchanges with a special focus on Venezuela’s public sector”. In this vein, Venezuela has agreed to purchase 16 thousand metric tons of powdered milk from the European nation to be commercialized through the state-run food distribution network that includes the social programs Mercal and PDVAL. Foreign Minister Maduro referred to Venezuela growing relations with Belarus and the new pacts signed on Friday as the “consolidation of a socialist foreign policy based on solidarity”. “We’re going to continue in the development of this strategic alliance for the benefit of both countries and for the future of our people”, Maduro explained.
Alexander Radevich, Belarus’ Minister of Industry, echoed Maduro’s sentiments with respect to the nations’ ties. “Together, we can do a lot to improve our countries. We’ve established strategic, friendly relations directed towards achieving the mutual development of our nations and the prosperity our people”. Last month, Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez visited Belarus where he met with his counterpart Alexander Lukashenko, laying the foundation for the agreements signed on Friday. The 17 new accords now bring the total number of existent social, political and economic agreements between the two nations to 64. T/ Edward Ellis
ECONOMY
The artillery of ideas
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No 39 • Friday, November 26, 2010 |
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Venezuela emerging from recession with most equal income distribution in region V
enezuela’s one and a half year economic recession slowed for the third consecutive quarter, and the economy is poised for GDP growth and a lower inflation rate in 2011, according to a recent report by the Venezuelan Central Bank (BCV). The OPEC nation’s GDP was 0.4% smaller in the third quarter of this year than it was in the third quarter of last year. This is a slower rate of decline than in the first and second quarters of this year, during which the GDP declined by 5.2% and 1.9%, respectively. The total decrease in GDP over the first nine months of this year was 2.4% compared to the first nine months of last year. Overall demand grew by 4.1%, while overall supply grew by 1.5%, according to the BCV report. Among the sectors that grew during the third quarter were communications (9.4%) and government services including education, health care, administration, and defense (3.2%). In contrast to previous quarters, private manufacturing grew by 1.9% and overall manufacturing grew by 0.1%. The food sector, which experienced shortages in some items in recent years, grew by 15.6%, with particularly high growth in the production of bread, oil, and dairy products. The sectors that declined were mining (-10.6%), electricity, water (-7.8%), construction (-7.9%), financial intermediaries (-5.0%), commerce (-4.4%), and oil (-2.1%). The BCV attributed the decline in the oil sector to an OPECmandated cut in exports in 2009 and an increase in the amount of gasoline produced for domestic consumption, particularly to fuel new thermoelectric power plants. Opposition critics pointed to a drop in investments by the state oil company, PDVSA, from $7.63 billion USD in the first half of 2009 to $5.23 billion in the first half of 2010 as the cause of the decline. The Central Bank report attributed the third quarter improvement partially to the government’s System of Foreign Currency Transactions (SITME), which was established this year
year with accumulated inflation of approximately 26%, similar to last year’s figure. Prior to the election of the left-leaning government led by President Hugo Chavez in 1998, the country’s former ruling elite implemented neo-liberal reforms that brought annual accumulated inflation rates of as much as 60% to 100%.
to control inflation in the foreign currency bond market. The report also cited the resolution of problems in the supply of governmentissued foreign currency to importers, which fueled an increase in the supply of imported goods by 6.3% in the third quarter; the establishment of special exchange rate of 2.6 bolivars to the dollar for essential imports for producers (compared to 4.3 bolivars to the dollar for non-essential items); and the maintenance of public spending on social programs and public investments throughout the recession. Also, increased government investments in the state-owned electricity sector brought an increase in electricity production following a drought-induced shortage in late 2009, further contributing to the third quarter economic improvement, the BCV said. CONTRASTING ANALYSIS This assessment contrasts with that of the International Monetary Fund, which in its World Economic Outlook report in October said bad fiscal policy by the
government would cause Venezuela’s recession to continue in the second half of 2010, and constrain annual economic growth to less than 1.4% over the next five years. The third quarter economic results are consistent with Venezuelan government predictions that the economy would emerge from the recession with diminishing rates of decline throughout 2010. According to a report by the Center for Economic and Policy Research in Washington, DC, when the quarterly data is seasonally adjusted, it shows the Venezuelan economy may already be in recovery, posting 5.2% economic growth in the second quarter of 2010. Venezuela’s economy experienced a consecutive high growth rate between 2004 and 2008, but contracted by 3.3% in 2009 amidst the global financial crisis, which caused global oil prices to plummet from $150 per barrel to around $30 per barrel. The price of oil, Venezuela’s principal export, has since recovered to around $70 per barrel.
Current government forecasts predict 2% economic growth next year and 2.4% economic growth in 2012. During a recent testimony to the Venezuelan National Assembly, Central Bank President Nelson Merentes said, “It is probable that we will begin to grow again in the fourth quarter [of 2010]”. Merentes also said controlling inflation will present a “complex and important challenge” to the government. He estimated that Venezuela can reduce its annual accumulated inflation to a single digit figure within three years. “This country has not registered single-digit inflation since the year 1985, so we’re talking about an unresolved and old problem that we must resolve”, said Merentes. The government will “concentrate on the items that have contributed most to inflation, which we have detected”, he said, specifying food prices, which he asked ordinary citizens to help control by denouncing price speculators. Current statistical trends indicate that Venezuela will finish this
DECREASE IN POVERTY According to the National Statistics Institute (INE), Venezuela has not seen increased poverty during its now seven-quarter recession; the poverty rate has remained steady at 26%, and the extreme poverty rate has remained steady at 7%. In comparison, the poverty rate hit 70.8% and the extreme poverty rate hit 39.5% in 1996. Venezuela’s poverty rates improve when measured by access to basic services rather than income. The INE reports that 11.6% of the population lives without basic services, while 6.5% live in substandard dwellings. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate has remained within the eight percentile so far this year, down from 16.1% in 1998. EQUAL DISTRIBUTION In addition, Venezuela has the most equal distribution of wealth in Latin America, according to the Gini coefficient measurement used by the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America (CEPAL). Venezuela’s Gini coefficient is .412, an improvement from 1998, when it was .498. The 2011 budget proposal calls for 204.2 billion bolivars ($47.5 billion) of spending, a 28 percent increase from 2010. Consumer prices may rise 23 percent to 25 percent next year. Venezuela’s total public debt is 18.4% of the GDP, and the Central Bank holds $28.3 billion in foreign currency reserves. The government also reported a current account surplus of $2.6 billion in the third quarter and a capital account surplus of $1.88 billion, according to Bloomberg News. T/ James Suggett www.venezuelanalysis.com
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| No 39• Friday, November 26, 2010
SPORTS AND CULTURE
The artillery of ideas
Holiday Fairs begin nationwide, offering affordable goods for all Celebrating the official kick-off of the holiday season, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez inaugurated the country’s second annual Christmas Food Fair last Saturday in the capital city of Caracas
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he fair, which offers traditional holiday food items and staples at discounted rates to Venezuelan residents, will take place every Saturday until December 30th in various regions across the country. Savings on many products reach up to 50% in comparison with private markets, ensuring that all residents will have a full table for the holiday season. “We’re getting prepared to have a happy year’s end with our families”, Chavez exclaimed on Saturday while touring the Christmas fair in Plaza Caracas. Although the Venezuelan diet is based largely on the staples of rice, chicken and corn flour throughout the year, the holiday season is marked by a diversity of specialty foods that adorn the tables of every home. VENEZUELAN HOLIDAY TRADITION Hallacas, a steamed tamale filled with a diversity of ingredients depending on the region, is perhaps the best known and most important holiday food item. According to officials working in the social program Mercal in charge of carrying out the national food fair, hallacas will be made available to residents at a price of 4.03 bolivars ($0.93) each. In the private marketplace, President Chavez highlighted last Saturday, the price of hallacas is as high as 8.23 ($1.91), translating to a savings of 51% for those who buy in the government-run Christmas fair. Another typical holiday dish is pernil, a baked pork leg stuffed with raisons and olives. Chavez reported that the pork would be available in the government food fair at a price of 12 bolivars ($2.79), contrasting with the price of 22.50 bolivars ($5.23) in private markets.
Venezuelan pitcher Feliz Hernandez wins “Cy Young” Award
“We aren’t looking for profits with this”, Chavez said of the seven thousand tons of pork that will be available to the public through various government-run food distribution outlets during the holiday season. Nancy Urdaneta, a shopper at a Christmas fair in the city of Maracaibo referred to the price of pork at 12 bolivars as “outstanding”. “I’m taking 10 kilos”, she said. “In the other markets they have it at the price of 40 bolivars or more. The savings is huge”. Carmen Vargas from the state of Sucre coincided with the opinion of Urdaneta at another fair carried out in the northeastern coastal city of Cumana. “The price of pork is really good. In other markets this product is super expensive. I hope that Mercal continues to organize more fairs like this”, she remarked. According the Food Ministry, 480 tons of food will be distributed to each one of the 372 Christmas fairs across the country. In addition to the food items, the Christmas fair will also provide the opportunity for residents to purchase clothing and toys made in Venezuelan cooperatives and social production units at discounted prices. T/ Edward Ellis P/ Presidential Press
he dominance that Venezuelan pitchers have displayed in Major League Baseball in recent years was affirmed last week when Felix Hernandez, the Valencian-born ace of the Seattle Mariners, was awarded baseball’s most prestigious defensive award. Hernandez was the top vote getter in the American League Cy Young competition, easily beating out Tampa Bay’s David Price and New York’s C.C. Sabathia. “It was a great, great, great, amazing feeling”, the 24 yearold said of receiving the call informing him that he had won. The right-handed Hernandez dominated his opponents throughout the 2010 season, leading the major leagues with an earned run average of 2.27 and tallying an impressive 232 strikeouts. Although he also lead the league in innings pitched and maintained the lowest opponent’s batting average of .212, his record of 13-12 did not represent his dominance on the mound as Seattle’s lackluster offense did little to provide the former Cardenales star with necessary run support. “This confirms the Cy Young is an award not only for the pitcher with the most wins, but the most dominant”, Hernandez said. Hernandez’s achievement means that for the third time in the past six years a Venezuelan has won the Cy Young. Johan Santana, the Meridaborn southpaw, picked up the title pitching for he Minnesota Twins in 2004 and 2006. T/ Edward Ellis P/ Agencies
SOCIAL JUSTICE
The artillery of ideas
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No 39 • Friday, November 26, 2010 | |
Tens of thousands of Venezuelan students march for new University Law is welcome as we form this patriotic, socialist, Bolivarian and antiimperialist pole”, said Chavez.
Tens of thousands of Venezuelan students marched through Caracas on Sunday to celebrate the Day of the University Student and to pressure the National Assembly to pass a new law for university-level education
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tudents marched from the main campus of the Bolivarian University of Venezuela (UBV) to Miraflores Palace and were joined by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, Minister of Higher Education Edgardo Ramirez, as well as other cabinet members. In his speech to the crowd, Chavez called on students to look beyond any differences and form a “united, national student movement” to defend the Bolivarian Revolution. Marchers came from a number of public universities established before and during the Chavez government. Banners identified marchers from the UBV, the National Experimental University of the Armed Forces (UNEFA), the National Experimental University Simón Rodríguez (UNESR), the Ribas and Sucre educational missions and the Central University of Venezuela (UCV), among others. “Venezuelan students today should feel proud of what they represent in the world”, said UCV student organizer Kevin Avila. “Today Venezuelan students understand that we need universities that transform the university, universities that take on the task of developing the country”.
HIGH UNIVERSITY ENROLLMENT According to official statistics, two million Venezuelans are currently engaged in university-level studies, placing Venezuela second to Cuba among Latin American nations in percentage of adults attending universities. Combined, the UBV and UNEFA alone have half a million registered students. During previous governments, “students were persecuted, tortured and disappeared”, affirmed Ávila. “That is no longer the case – now we have a President who marches
with us, who has been with us for 12 years, and who understands the needs of revolutionary students, of Venezuelan students”. The new Law of University Education proposed by the student marchers would democratize decision-making at universities nationwide, establishing mechanisms for the entire university (students, staff, workers and members of the community) to participate in decisions on the nature of academic programs, investigations, and the distribution of resources. In addition, universities would be required to disclose all income and
expenditures, making a public audit system the norm at all highereducation institutions. “A new Law of University Education is to be the grand voice of all students”, affirmed Edgardo Ramirez, Venezuela’s Minister of Higher Education, during the march. “It’s a new law to establish a popular and scientific university focused on social inclusion”. President Chavez, who cancelled his weekly television address to the nation to attend the march, called for unity among “revolutionary students” to defend the Bolivarian Revolution.
“You are sons and daughters of the revolution, and you are the fathers and mothers of the future homeland we are working to build”, affirmed Chavez. Asked if he would attend a national student conference scheduled for 2011, Chavez committed himself “on one condition… unity, unity, unity”, he affirmed. “I want student unity to help us form the great Patriotic Pole that goes beyond the political parties, that goes much further than the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) or the Communist Party (PCV)… everyone
VENEZUELA’S FUTURE Wielding an algebra textbook he picked up before the march, Chavez called on students to prepare for many years of struggle. “The day we celebrate 12 years [in power], we’ll have our plan ready for the next 12 years, totaling 24, and 12 more to make 36, and 12 more to make 48… Never again will the bourgeoisie return to power in Venezuela, whatever happens, whatever it costs”, the President affirmed. “A large part of the task of socialism rests on the shoulders, chests, and minds of the Venezuelan youth of today”, said Chavez to the crowd. “You have a large responsibility and you are taking it on. I congratulate you. Keep taking it on and count on this soldier until the last day of my life”. Meanwhile, anti-government students from the UCV have called on Venezuelans to march this coming Sunday “in defense of Venezuela” and in opposition to recent government nationalizations and interventions in the housing sector to combat real estate fraud. UCV student Jose Luis Betancourt on Tuesday told opposition television station Globovision that the march on Sunday will be “another opportunity to protest for a just university budget, back payments for professors and workers, failures in infrastructure, deficiencies at the dining halls and in transport”. On November 21, 1957, a group of university students in Caracas interrupted a cardiology conference being held at the Central University of Venezuela (UCV) and denounced the crimes of the Marcos Perez Jimenez dictatorship in place at the time. Considered the beginning of the end of the Jimenez period, this student action was ratified one year later by governmental decree, giving birth to Venezuela’s Day of the University Student. T/ Juan Reardon www.venezuelanalysis.com
FRIDAY|November 26, 2010 |No. 39|Bs. 1|CARACAS
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
OPINION
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Reform and revolution in Latin America
ince the election of Hugo Chavez in Venezuela in 1998, leftist parties or coalitions have won the presidencies in many Latin American countries. Evo Morales, representing the Movement Toward Socialism in Bolivia, claimed victory in 2005. Jose Manuel Zelaya in Honduras was president from Jan. 27, 2006, until June 28, 2009. Daniel Ortega, was elected president in Nicaragua in 2006. Finally, Rafael Correa in Ecuador won the presidential election in 2007. All of the above-mentioned governments came to power with the support of massive social movements. What these movements have in common is a strong rejection of imperialism and a firm support for the social, political and economic changes each of these countries is undertaking. The resurgence of the left is a product of one of the region’s worst economic crises. In the last 25 years, Latin American national states and international financial institutions have imposed policies of neoliberalism and globalization, which meant privatization of social security, pensions, education, telecommunications, electricity, water, transportation, petroleum, natural gas, mining and more. Under these conditions, new socio-political forms began to emerge in the early 1990s. They were accompanied by massive popular uprisings, which led to the deposition of neoliberal presidents—three in Ecuador, two in Bolivia and one in Venezuela. The changes taking place in Venezuela, Bolivia and Ecuador make the dialectic of reform and revolution evident. Since Chavez, Morales and Correa won the elections, their governments have undertaken reforms that, taken as a whole, are aimed at opposing and transforming the foundations of the capitalist system. In Venezuela, the process has taken a distinctive revolutionary path. In 1992, Chavez attempted to bring down the government
of President Carlos Andres Perez. Perez sent troops to brutally repress workers who had taken to the streets against neoliberal reforms in February 1989. Thousands were killed. Chavez hoped his revolutionary initiative would draw in the Venezuelan masses—but it failed. Nevertheless, oppressed Venezuelans recognized his leadership and were stirred by his challenge to the sitting government. It was that 1992 revolutionary initiative that galvanized the social movement that brought Chavez to the presidency—an electoral victory that would not have been possible under normal conditions, in a system rigged to favor the ruling class. Within the context of radical reforms, Venezuela and
Bolivia have been taking more radical measures—for instance, nationalizing natural resources and carrying out land reforms. A critical task is underway in Venezuela to shore up and strengthen the revolution: building a party—the Unified Socialist Party of Venezuela, or PSUV—capable of defending and advancing the country’s revolutionary process. Marxists understand that a working-class party, led by the most dedicated revolutionary fighters, is essential for success. Within the international context, Venezuela, Bolivia and Ecuador have taken a clear stand against imperialism and are raising the hopes of the oppressed and the exploited of the entire continent.
For instance, in 2009 Correa refused to renew the lease of the US military base in Manta. In addition, he brought Ecuador into the ALBA regional alliance with Venezuela, Bolivia, Nicaragua, and Cuba among other countries. Even though the left has grown stronger, all these democratically elected presidents and their political, economic and social agendas have come under attack by their national ruling classes with direct support of US imperialism. In April 2002, Chavez was briefly forced into exile in a coup that was stopped when 1 million supporters surrounded the presidential palace and demanded his return. In September 2008, in Bolivia, right-wing forces used fascist gangs to try to break the hold of Morales. They were stopped through the combination of mass mobilizations and the intervention of loyal sections of the armed forces. In 2009, also in Bolivia, Morales denounced the mercenary plans to attack humanitarian brigades of Cuban and Venezuelan engineers and doctors providing community services in the poorest municipalities of eastern Bolivia. In June 2009, Zelaya was overthrown by the Honduran military. And in September 2010, Correa was trapped in an Ecuadoran police hospital in a coup attempt that was stopped by massive mobilizations and a part of the armed forces. One instrument for US intervention in the region has been the funding of right-wing political organizations and other groups. The National Endowment for Democracy has been particularly useful to that end. Under the guise of promoting democratic institutions, it funnels millions of dollars annually for the purpose of destabilizing progressive governments and strengthening pro-US elements. The recent election of pro-U.S. Ricardo Martinelli in Panama is a result of this offensive. Colombia
has been another key vehicle for US intervention. Plan Colombia’s main objective, and the installation of the seven US bases in that country, is to allow the United States to control the region. Colombia’s newly elected President Santos, like his predecessor Uribe, will continue the plans of aggression and destabilization carried out by different US administrations. The Costa Rican government is also playing a role supporting the interests of the US ruling class. In August 2010, 10,000 marines were sent to Costa Rica supposedly to fight the “war against drug trafficking.“ But as Chavez observed, its real aim is to have access, especially to Venezuela, in case the empire decides on direct invasion. In addition, Costa Rica plays a major role supporting US interests in Central America, as revealed during the Honduran coup, when Costa Rican President Arias assumed the role of “mediator,” and in the border conflict taking place now between Nicaragua and Costa Rica. Colombia, however, is not free of class struggle. There, a civil war has been waged for over 60 years. Within the first 75 days of the Santos government, 22 human right activists have been killed. More trade union members are killed in Colombia than any other country in the world. But the FARC and popular organizations continue unfazed the struggle for socialism. Each time they murder a leader of the movement, another steps in to carry the flag forward. From Venezuela to Bolivia, from Ecuador to Nicaragua, the struggle to finally expropriate the ruling class and complete the Latin American socialist revolution is at its highest pitch. What will determine whether the reforms pave the way to outright revolution is the class struggle itself. Jacqueline Villagomez