English Edition Nº 26

Pg. g 7 | Social JJustice

Pg. 8 | Opinion

A vision of how Venezuela is moving towards food sovereignty and land reform

Revolutions and new political models in Latin America are changing the balance of world power and challenging US global dominance

FRIDAY | August 27, 2010| No. 26 | Bs. 1 | CARACAS

ENGLISH EDITION The artillery of ideas

Operation “Demolition” Charges Forward

Chavez and Fidel meet in Cuba

The official campaign for September’s legislative elections began this week and the nation is focused on who will occupy the new National Assembly

Venezuela & Colombia are back on track

The pro-Chavez camp has labeled the third phase of their “Admirable Campaign” for the 165 seats in the National Assembly, “Operation Demolition”, referring to their plan to crush the opposition at the polls. Nationwide pollsters on both sides show the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) with a heavy lead, assuring at least a simple majority in the parliament for the revolutionary forces. The opposition’s Democratic Unity Table (MUD) has faced difficulties selecting candidates and neutralizing internal divisions

After last month’s break in relations between the two nations, Presidents Hugo Chavez and Juan Manuel Santos are ensuring dialogue, commerce, diplomacy and issues of mutual concern advance smoothly.

Colombia’s Foreign Minister visited Venezuela, meeting with Venezuelan Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro and President Chavez, in order to further consolidate ties.

Integration

Accords with China increase A high-level Venezuelan delegation was in China this week to deepen economic relations.

Economy

Emerging from the recession The Central Bank of Venezuela (BCV) showed signs of the nation’s economic recovery.

Social Justice

Internet usage widespread in Venezuela More than 1/3 of Venezuelans regularly navigate the world wide web.

Venezuela in good shape after world crisis hits

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he President of Venezuela’s National Statistics Institute (INE), Elias Eljuri, underscored that when comparing the Venezuelan economy with other major economies in the world, Venezuela is advancing positively. The South American nation’s policies to mitigate the effects of the world crisis have been among the most effective.

The unemployment rate in Venezuela, according to a monthly report published by the INE, reached 8.7% during the past month, which is low compared to the United States unemployment rate, which rose to 9.5% in July.

Eljuri commented that despite the fact the US economy has grown during the last three trimesters, its market still has not been able to absorb the more than 5 million people currently unemployed as a consequence of the world financial crisis.

Likewise, Colombia’s unemployment rate rose to 12% in July 2010, from 11.7% one year ago, and Spain’s jobless population went from 17.9% in July 2009 to 19.6% this year.

Eljuri also informed that social investment during the government of President Hugo Chavez

has increased five-fold in comparison to the period 1988-1998.

Furthermore, the effectiveness of Venezuelan policies in the fight against speculation, the reduction of inflation, the increase of the minimum wage, and the fulfillment of the UN’s Millennium Development Goals are part of the remarkable gains in the social area, added the President of the INE. As part of the government’s policies to mitigate the financial crisis, during the second trimester of 2010, minimum wage increased by 7.5 percent.

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resident Hugo Chavez made a surprise visit to Havana this week, meeting with Fidel Castro and President Raul Castro to further consolidate relations between both nations. The Venezuelan President met with Fidel Castro for over five hours on Wednesday, discussing diverse issues relating to international politics and the grave threat of nuclear war hovering over humanity.

Castro has recently written a series of articles expressing his concern for the potential risk of a US war against Iran or North Korea, three nations with nuclear capacity. Castro also shared his newest book with Chavez, “The Strategic Counteroffensive”, which narrates details of Castro’s journey to achieve the Cuban Revolution from 1958 to 1959.

Chavez later met with President Raul Castro to review details of the extensive agreements between both nations.

Venezuela and Cuba have important social, economic and energy agreements that have enabled the Chavez government to implement educational, healthcare and cultural programs critical in reducing poverty and increasing inclusion and quality of life for Venezuelans.

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IMPACT

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"«iÀ>Ì Êº i Ì »Ê/> iÃÊ `Ê vÊÌ iÊ >Ì The much anticipated formal commencement of the campaign for September’s legislative elections began on Wednesday.

Candidates and supporters from the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) held rallies and caravans nationwide. Several opposition candidates provoked violence and disturbances in downtown Caracas

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he electoral campaign for the coming September 26th legislative elections officially began on Wednesday, August 25th. Candidates and militants from the proChavez PSUV party kicked off the start of the campaign with a midnight fireworks show in Caracas. Socialist Party members also posted campaign propaganda throughout the city until dawn.

From August 25th until midnight on September 23rd, diverse political parties will be able to campaign and promote their agendas and candidates for the 165 seats up for election in Venezuela’s National Assembly. The newly elected legislative body’s first period of sessions will begin in January 2011.

On September 26th, the Venezuelan people will choose 110 single candidates, 52 party-line candidates and three representatives from indigenous communities nationwide, totaling 165 seats that will be disputed in the electoral process.

Campaign regulations are strictly overseen by the National Electoral Council (CNE), which ensures no party or candidate violate the rules during the campaign period. Electoral regulations state that under no circumstances may campaigns broadcast information that discredits or degrades opponents; nor can candidates use symbols and colors of a political party without its consent. CNE rules also prohibit anonymous campaign publicity.

Campaign propaganda that threatens the honor, privacy, dignity or reputation of a candidate; promotes war, discrimination, disobedience of laws; that argues against the exercise of voting; or that includes obscene and degrad-

ing language against government institutions is not allowed.

On August 24th, electoral authorities from the CNE met with representatives of Venezuela’s National Telecommunications Commission (CONATEL) to join efforts and ensure that Venezuelan media outlets abide by campaign regulations.

CONATEL National Director Pedro Maldonado emphasized that the institution will serve as an auxiliary entity for the electoral council, since the monitoring and sanctioning, in case norms are broken, correspond to the electoral body.

The National Electoral Council has 72 attorneys and 18 supervisors distributed nationwide to monitor the obedience of electoral norms by public and private institutions, media outlets and political organizations.

PSUV CELEBRATES CAMPAIGN START Thousands of PSUV supporters in Caracas joined a citywide caravan on Wednesday afternoon organized by the Socialist Party, to formally launch their campaign for September’s legislative elections.

Last Saturday, President Chavez labeled this phase of their campaign as “Operation Demolition”, referring to PSUV’s goal of achieving a two-thirds majority in the National Assembly. “We will demolish the opposition at the polls on September 26th”, exclaimed the Venezuelan President, adding that “the future of the Revolution is at stake” in those elections.

The National Assembly has the power to approve or disapprove any international agreements or

treaties entered into by the Executive, and also controls the nation’s budget. President Chavez and his supporters have frequently warned that should they lose a majority in the legislature, social programs and agreements with nations such as Cuba, China, Iran, Nicaragua and Russia could be at risk.

From parks and balconies, plazas and sidewalks, Caracas residents cheered on the PSUV caravan on Wednesday, proudly sporting red shirts, the color of the Socialist Party, and waving Venezuelan flags.

“The people are going to the National Assembly”, exclaimed PSUV supporters, referring to a majority of Socialist Party candidates that were elected in primary elections held in May within their communities. For the first time, more than 37% of candidates to the National Assembly and the Latin American Parliament are under thirty years old, adding a special connotation to these elec-

tions as a sign of the Bolivarian Revolution’s inclusion of youth.

Traditionally, politics in Venezuela were tightly held in the hands of an aging political and economic elite. Few if any politicians or community leaders under the age of 30 ever held public office before the Chavez government came to power.

Andreina Tarazon, 23, is the youngest of the candidates in the upcoming legislative elections.

She is running for a seat representing District 13 in Caracas, a mix of middle and lower class communities. “We represent the future of our country, a youth that is reclaiming our rights and power to participate in our nation’s politics”, declared Tarazon during Wednesday’s rally.

OPPOSITION VIOLENCE But all wasn’t joy and celebrations this week. A small group of opposition candidates marched on the National Assembly on Wednesday morning, seeking to

“deliver a statement” to the legislature. Apparently, they hadn’t obtained the required permits to demonstrate in front of the Venezuelan parliament and were ordered to disperse by the institution’s security.

When they failed to obey, the National Guard, which protects the legislative palace, was forced to counter their disobedience, and violence erupted. The opposition candidates refused to leave the area, creating a public disturbance and endangering a group of 600 children that were preparing to board a bus from the National Assembly to day camp.

National Assembly workers called on the CNE to investigate the incident for any potential electoral violations.

During the last legislative elections in 2005, opposition groups boycotted the process, after attempting to disrupt the campaign with violence and cries of fraud. This time around, opposition candidates have said they will participate in the elections, though some have questioned the legitimacy of the electoral process, despite Venezuela being recognized worldwide as having one of the most transparent, efficient and advanced electoral systems.

One opposition candidate, Maria Corina Machado, has spent the last seven years as president of the organization, Sumate, which has dedicated itself to denouncing the Venezuelan electoral system as fraudulent. Sumate was created in early 2003 with funding from the United States government via the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) and the US Agency for International Development (USAID).

Machado, who met with former President George W. Bush in the White House in 2005, has received several hundreds of thousands of dollars in foreign funding during the past few years. Her links to foreign governments and interests have led many to question whether she could truly represent the Venezuelan people in the National Assembly, or whether she would be responding to external agendas.

Earlier this week, members of the PSUV called on the Attorney General’s office to investigate foreign government funding of opposition candidates and political parties.

T/ Eva Golinger and AVN P/ Agencies

ECONOMY AND POLITICS

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6i iâÕi >\Ê V ÞÊ Ê*>Ì Ê"ÕÌÊ vÊ,iViÃÃ Venezuela’s economy contracted at a slower rate in the second quarter than in the first quarter of this year, suggesting the oil-exporting South American nation may be emerging from a one and a half year recession

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enezuela’s gross domestic product was 1.9% smaller in the second quarter of 2010 than in the second quarter of 2009, the Central Bank of Venezuela (BCV) announced this week. This was a lower rate of decline than in the first quarter of 2010, when the economy shrank by 5.8% relative to the same period in 2009.

“The economy experienced the smallest decrease in the last four quarters”, the BCV said. “The observed results ratify the tendency toward recuperation and the path to sustained growth”.

The total decrease in the GDP over the first half of this year was 3.5%, milder than many economists’ stark predictions. BCV President Nelson Merentes told the press that economic growth should be close to zero by the end of this year, and positive in 2011.

The Venezuelan economy, which relies on oil for more than 90% of its revenue, experienced constant growth at an average rate of 10.2% between 2004 and 2008 as the global price of oil soared to $150 per barrel. The economy shrank by 3.3% in 2009, after the global finan-

cial crisis drove oil prices down to around $30 per barrel. So far this year, a drought-induced national electricity shortage, a bottleneck in government-issued dollars for importers, and high inflation caused the economy to continue to contract even as oil prices stabilized around $70 per barrel.

PUBLIC SPENDING UNAFFECTED Throughout the recession, the government tapped into its foreign currency reserves, which were buffered by increased oil taxes, and nearly tripled its domestic debt to maintain its spending on social services such as public education, healthcare, poverty reduction, and food access. As a result, Venezuela has continued its progress toward the United Nations

Millenium Development Goals.

The BCV’s second quarter report showed that public spending grew by 3.1%, public health services grew by 3.7%, and education services grew by 4.6%, while overall private consumption fell by 2.4% and investments fell by .8%.

Venezuela’s oil sector declined by 2%. The BCV attributed this to a 16% decrease in oil exports, which was partially the result of an OPEC-mandated supply cut of 360,000 barrels per day in 2009, and lower output by the stateowned oil company PDVSA. Also, a greater quantity of oil was sold on the domestic market, mainly to fuel new thermal electric plants built by the state-owned electricity company as part of its effort to offset the electricity shortage.

The non-oil sector shrank by an overall 1.7% in the second quarter, including a decrease in mining (-19.6%), electricity and water services (-8.8%), financial intermediary services (-7.7%), construction (-6.4%), and manufacturing (-3.7%), the BCV reported.

The sectors that experienced growth in the second quarter were textiles (46%), clothing (20.5%), machinery (15.2%), chemicals (14%), non-metal minerals (13.7%), communications (6.5%), private food production (5.6%), government services (2.9%), and community and social services (.6%).

A major factor in lowering the rate of GDP decline in the second quarter was the government’s new Foreign Currency Transactions System (SITME), created in

June to regulate foreign currency bond trading, the BCV said.

Trading foreign currency-denominated bonds is one of the key ways Venezuelan businesses acquire dollars for imports. The SITME system is designed to allow bond trading while controlling price speculation on the bonds, which causes inflation.

The government issued $3 billion in dollar-denominated bonds two weeks ago, and recently announced it will issue another $2 billion in bonds soon.

The inflation rate spiked at 5.2% in April, and then dropped to 2.6% in May, 1.8% in June, and 1.4% in July. Cumulative 12-month inflation as of July was 30.5%. The unemployment rate has remained relatively stable at around 8.5%, since reaching a low of 7.2% in July 2008.

As the country heads into National Assembly elections scheduled for September 26th, the government argues that the six-quarter recession has been the result of the country’s historic dependence on oil, and that its current policies will help the country gradually shed its neo-liberal skin and become a “21st Century Socialist Economy” in the years to come.

The neo-liberal opposition, which spearheaded a wave of privatizations and deregulations that brought yearly inflation rates of 60%-100% during the 1990s, says the government’s policies have caused the economic problems and must be reversed.

T/ James Suggett www.venezuelanalysis.com

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assive participation in an election simulation that took place last Sunday is evidence that Venezuela is prepared to carry out its congressional elections this September 26th, said President of the National Electoral Council (CNE), Tibisay Lucena.

“We can say with great satisfaction that today’s simulation was a great success”, Lucena said at a press conference after the polls closed.

The simulation was carried out in 52 voting centers around

the country as a trial run in preparations for the coming National Assembly elections.

Its purpose was to test voting machines, evaluate possible problems, and give an overall estimation of how the electoral system will perform in September.

Lucena said that all the voting centers were up and running on time at 8am on Sunday and that only two, in the state of Apure opened at 8:20am due to logistical problems.

“That says a lot about our logistical capacity and about the quick response that the CNE has to resolve issues”, the CNE President said.

Socorro Hernanadez, Member of the Electoral Council, reported the technological platform and all the components of the polling system are functioning correctly.

In addition to the simulation, Hernandez mentioned the CNE will be carrying out a series of electoral fairs to continue edu-

cating the public on the voting process.

1,500 voting machines will be deployed in 11 cities throughout the country, starting on August 31st so that citizens will be able to ask questions and learn how to quickly navigate the process.

In recent years, Venezuela has been noted for its transparency and high level of participation in electoral contests.

International observers from the Carter Center and other orga-

nizations have praised the system for its orderliness and efficiency.

As in most democratic countries except the United States, voting in Venezuela occurs on a non-workday, so everyone has the opportunity to exercise their universal right to suffrage.

The sale of alcohol is banned from the day before and a general mood of respect falls over the country.

T/ Edward Ellis

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INTREGATION

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6i iâÕi >Ê> `Ê L >\ i> }Ê,i >Ì ÃÊÌ À Õ} Ê > }Õi After Colombia’s Foreign Minister visited Venezuela last week, Presidents Chavez of Venezuela and Juan Manuel Santos of Colombia announced they would meet again in the near future to continue consolidating relations

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further step was taken last Friday in the repair of diplomatic relations between Venezuela and Colombia after Colombia’s Foreign Minister Maria Angela Holguin visited Caracas to meet with her Venezuelan counterpart, Nicolas Maduro and President Hugo Chavez.

Speaking to the press after the meetings, Maduro reported that the progress being made between the neighboring countries continues to grow.

“We are in a process of full regularization of diplomatic and political relations with Colombia after a complicated, dangerous moment”, he said. “The objective of President Hugo Chavez is to guarantee the stability, peace and the security of our country, and this has been attained”, Maduro confirmed.

HEALING RELATIONS Holguin’s visit was the latest in a series of meetings taking place between the two nations since the new president of Colombia, Juan Miguel Santos, was sworn in on August 7th.

Last month, the outgoing administration of Colombian President Alvaro Uribe accused Venezuela of harboring guerillas and tolerating terrorist camps in its border areas, sparking a threeweek long diplomatic crisis.

Venezuela dismissed the allegations as false provocations and officially suspended ties with its western neighbor.

Since Santos’ swearing in, the two nations have steadily repaired their bilateral relations, culminating in a meeting between the two heads of state on August 10th in the Colombian city of Santa Marta.

Voicing his satisfaction with the talks that took place in Caracas on Friday, the new Colombian president commented on the necessity he faced to overcome the diplomatic crisis upon taking office.

“We were in a situation, the worst of the worst. Two countries without diplomatic relations, without commercial relations. Things couldn’t have gotten worse…

For this reason we took this step, which was the logical thing to do”, explained President Santos.

The Colombian president also referred to Holguin’s meeting in Caracas on Friday as “an important step in the normalization of our relations that should produce well-being for the Venezuelan people as much as for Colombians”.

The talks that took place last Friday concentrated on the implementation of working commissions to restart commercial relations and cooperate on infrastructure, energy and tourism projects.

A team of high-level officials from both governments was present at the meetings to discuss the details of the commissions.

As a result of the talks, Venezuela has agreed to pay a debt of $200 million USD owed to Colombian exporters, and both nations Foreign Ministers agreed to sign a Declaration of Full Restoration of Relations.

BORDER SECURITY Another major topic of discussion between the two countries focused on the social and economic development of the border region.

Both Maduro and Holguin reported that a Border Plan had been put in place to combat insecurity in the region and create lines of direct communication between the armed forces of both nations.

“We’ve listened to proposals from the local governments in the border region, and we’re going to hold a series of meetings next week to collect proposals that also come from community organizations in the area”, the Venezuelan Foreign Minister stated.

Maduro expressed the Venezuelan government’s desire to “transform the border to a zone

of peace, productivity, prosperity, and advancement. Our message is a message of homeland, unity, future, and optimism”, he said.

One of the challenges the Venezuelan government faces on its western border with Colombia is connected to the political landscape of the area.

The border states of Tachira and Zulia are under the political control of the country’s conservative, anti-Chavez opposition.

They are also zones known to be plagued by paramilitaries and narco-traffickers.

Maduro accused the opposition governor of Tachira, Cesar Perez Vivas, of being “aligned with corruption“. In reference to the upcoming congressional elections this September in Venezuela,

Maduro also called upon citizens in the western states to “get motivated” for victory.

“The people of Tachira know they have a responsibility to elect to the [National] Assembly people committed to the region”, he affirmed.

For her part, Colombia’s Foreign Minister expressed her satisfaction with the progress of Friday’s talks.

“We’re very pleased with today’s discussions because we’re taking steps in the right direction.

We’re going to be working on topics in a deep and detailed way with technical teams so that these steps last”, Holguin explained.

As a continuation of the groundwork being laid, the Colombian and Venezuelan vice ministers who are in charge of infrastructure development in the border region will meet in Bogota on September 3rd and 4th. Holguin also indicated her desire to sustain monthly meetings to “follow-up on the steps that we’re taking”.

Venezuela also accepted the new Colombian Ambassador, Jose Fernando Bautista, an act, according to Colombian President Santos, which means that “relations with Venezuela are formally normalized”.

In a brief statement made to the press after his meeting with Holguin, President Chavez expressed his optimism for the renewed relations with neighboring Colombia and commented on the geographic importance of the two countries.

“It gives me great pleasure to reestablish these themes with a geopolitical vision. Colombia and Venezuela are in the Caribbean and the Pacific. A route for the Pacific for Venezuela, through Colombia, is greatly needed for us”, Chavez said.

“It’s been a very interesting conversation”, he informed, referring to his private meeting with Foreign Minister Holguin.

“We’ve talked about various issues such as commerce, border development, food production, security, energy, transportation and communication, as well as short and long term projects between both nations”.

T/ Edward Ellis P/ Presidential Press

INTEGRATION

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6i iâÕi >\Ê ÛiÀÃ vÞ }Ê,i >Ì ÃÊv ÀÊ*À }ÀiÃÃ The Venzuelan government signed several agreements with China in Beijing on Monday strengthening economic relations between the two countries to press forward with Caracas’s strategy of diversifying global economic accords

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our agreements in all were signed after a high-level Venezuelan delegation visited Beijing, among them one accord between Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA and its Chinese counterpart, the National Corporation of Chinese Petroleum (CNPC).

A mining joint venture was also established between the Venezuelan Corporation of Guayana and the Chinese Development Bank.

Venezuelan Minister for Planning and Finance, Jorge Giordani, and Venezuelan Ambassador to China, Rocio Maneiro, met with the Chinese Minister for Planning Zhang Ping, Finance Minister Xie Xuren, and President of the Chinese Development Bank, Chen Yuan, to consolidate final details of the accords.

At the closure of the meetings, Giordani, who headed the delegation from Caracas, explained, “We have established the legal architecture of a large-scale and long-term financial arrangement that will advance the development of structural projects and will have a direct socioeconomic impact on the transformational process in Venezuela”.

“From a strategic alliance that started in 2001, founded on agreements in oil and agriculture, we have evolved towards a diversified cooperation that covers all possible fields of interest between our two sister nations”, added Giordani.

“I feel proud and satisfied with the concrete results we can offer our people today”, he said.

ECONOMIC ADVANCES The two governments also signed agreements between the Chinese Devlopment Bank and Venezuela’s Bank of Social and Economic Development (Bandes) in order to provide US dollars and China’s Renimibi to Venezuela.

Trade between Venezuela and China has grown to fifty times its size since Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez first came to power in 1998. At that time, trade totalled about $200 million USD. As of 2008, trade between both countries reached almost $10 billion USD. Venezuela’s largest export to China is crude oil, with 400,000 barrels exported to the Asian nation per day. Chavez has said that he hopes to increase that figure to one million barrels daily by 2013.

This major increase in supply to China would be a significant step towards diversifying Venezuela’s oil exports internationally and would reduce the Venezuelan economy’s reliance on trade with the US. In 2006, Venezuela was exporting only 200,000 barrels per day to China and with the Chinese economy continuing to grow despite the global recession, the figure should reach 600,000 in early 2011.

The Venezuelan delegation also included Deputy Minister for Agriculture Danixce Aponte, Deputy Minister for Petrochemicals Asdrubal Chavez, Deputy Minister for Mining Ivan Hernandez, Deputy Minister for Science, Technology and Intermediate Industries Yuri Pimentel, and Bandes President Edmee Betancourt.

TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCES Monday’s agreements are only the latest in a long line of accords made between the Chavez ad-

ministration and the government of Chinese President Hu Jintao.

In April, the two governments signed an agreement to exploit the Junin 4 sector of the Orinoco Belt in eastern Venezuela, a region believed to contain the largest untapped reserves of crude oil on the planet. The two countries

also created several joint projects for electrical development in Venezuela, which were designed to end the shortages Venezuela was suffering due to an extended drought.

In 2008, Venezuela launched its first telecommunications satellite, named Simon Bolivar, with the aid of China.

Together with Venezuelan engineers and scientists, the Chinese government built and launched the satellite, transfering necessary technology to the Venezuelans in order to maintain the communications device. At the time, Chavez declared, “the China-Venezuela relationship extends from the subsoil to outer space, that is, it goes from the search for petroleum to the Simon Bolivar Satellite”.

The US government claims to be unconcerned about China’s increasing economic involvement in Latin America.

US Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs, Arturo Valenzuela, has stated, “We would be very grateful for the

continued participation of China and its investment and trade with countries in the Western Hemisphere. I believe that helps strengthen economies to create jobs in those countries”.

“Certainly, it’s not a worry. Certainly, it’s not a threat”, he added.

“China has increased its investment significantly during the last few years, but its still a fraction, very small compared to the investment the US has made [in the region]”, commented Valenzuela.

GLOBAL ALLIANCES President Chavez has forged economic agreements with many countries, such as Iran, Russia and Eastern European nations such as Belarus, all of which seek to cre-

ate a multipolar global political and economic order to counteract US hegemonic power.

In April, Chavez visited Iran and held meetings with his counterpart, Mahmud Ahmadinejad, in Tehran, and the two governments signed several agreements on economic cooperation.

Chavez said the relationship between Venezuela and Iran “plays an effective role in defeating imperialist politics and furthers the salvation of our nations”.

Last year, Venezuela and Russia joined forces to create a binational bank with capital stock of $4 billion USD, available to invest in energy and transportation projects.

This adds to the agreements signed for military hardware, oil, gas and other infrastructure projects, increasing trade between the two countries to almost $1 billion USD in 2008.

Venezuelan Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro explained that a new global economic order was in the process of formation and, “Only a multipolar world will be able to guarantee balance in international relations”.

Similar agreements have been signed on a smaller scale with countries across the world, including Africa, but particularly in Latin America and the Caribbean, where Venezuela has put tremendous effort in driving forward economic and political integration.

The Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America (ALBA) is a major step towards achieving this goal.

ALBA was founded in 2004 by Venezuela and Cuba in attempt to create an alternative to the freetrade regimes pushed by the US in the region. The alliance’s membership has grown to include Antigua & Barbuda, Bolivia, Dominica, Ecuador, Nicaragua and San Vicente & the Grenadines.

ALBA is governed by a trade regime based on mutual respect, cooperation, integration and solidarity, rather than neoliberal prescriptions of free trade, exploitation and competition.

Venezuela has provided member states with oil at discounted prices.

T/ Steven Mather P/ Agencies

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SOCIAL JUSTICE

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i iLÀ>Ì }Ê-iÛi Ê9i>ÀÃÊ vÊ ÀiiÊ i> Ì V>Ài The Venezuelan public health program, Barrio Adentro, or Inside the Barrio, has carried out more than 381 million free medical check-ups and consultations in its 7 years of existence, the Health Ministry reported this week

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ccording to the Health Ministry, there are now 6,712 consultation offices, 507 Integrated Diagnostic Centers (CDI), 556 rehabilitation centers, and 28 High Technology Centers operating throughout the country.

All of the services provided by these facilities are completely free of charge.

Founded in 2003 through an agreement with Cuba, Barrio Adentro has been one of the most important social programs, or missions, of Venezuela’s Bolivarian Revolution under President Hugo Chavez.

There are currently more than 30,000 Cuban doctors, nurses, and healthcare specialists working in Venezuela as a result of the program and much of the country’s advancement in es-

sential health indicators such as infant mortality, is due to Barrio Adentro’s success in providing primary and advanced health care to previously underserved communities.

The Health Ministry reports that since 2003, over 1.5 million people with life-threatening conditions have been saved thanks to the work of the mission.

FOUR PHASES OF HEALTH CARE The program is broken down into four phases, Barrio Adentro I, II, III, and IV. Phase I of the program provides primary care through consultation offices and home visits in communities throughout the country.

According to the Health Ministry, Barrio Adentro I has carried out over 191 million home visits and has assisted in over seven thousand births.

This phase of the program has also provided free optical care to over 25 million people and has distributed nearly seven million pairs of glasses.

Another 58 million people have received free dental care, the majority treated for cavities and tooth extractions.

The second phase, comprised of Integrated Diagnostic Centers

(CDI) is designed to function as clinical or small hospital treatment centers able to perform outpatient surgery and carry out laboratory exams, x-rays and ultrasounds.

Since 2003, the CDIs have performed 47 million consultations, treating illnesses such as hypertension, trauma, asthma, respiratory infections, heart attacks and strokes.

Two hundred twenty-six thousand surgeries have been performed in the CDIs and over 342 patients have received intensive therapy.

Also linked to Barrio Adentro II are the mission’s rehabilitation centers where millions of people have received check-ups and treatment.

The High Technology Centers, where advanced technological

procedures such as MRIs and mammograms are available, have been able to provide services to 1.8 million people since 2003.

The third phase of the mission is still in development and is linked to the country’s overall modernization and improvement of its hospital infrastructure.

Twenty-one infrastructure projects have been completed for Barrio Adentro III and 97 others are still in construction.

According to the Health Ministry, an investment of nearly 10.5 billion bolivars (approx. $4.8 billion USD) has been made in medical equipment.

The fourth phase of the program, also in development, is designed to create centers for specialized care such as infant cardiology, toxicology, urology, and cancer treatment.

Fifteen facilities are under construction across the nation to respond to the concrete needs of the population.

Overall, the Health Ministry reports that the total government investment in the health care mission has reached 24.8 billion bolivars (approx. $11 billion USD).

T/ Edward Ellis

6i iâÕi >Ê `Û> ViÃÊ Ê ÌiÀ iÌÊ1Ã>}i In Venezuela, a nation with a population of about 27 million people, there are currently 9.7 million Internet users and 28.2 million cellular telephone lines. In the last year, Venezuelans have also outranked nations worldwide in the use of social networks online, such as Twitter

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ccording to Venezuela’s Telecommunications commission, CONATEL, a third of the population is actively using Internet and more than 95% have cellular telephone lines. Internet service in Venezuela rose by 43.16% this year, reaching over 9.7 users nationwide. Thirtyfour out of every 100 Venezuelan citizens are currently using

Internet vía DSL, Cable or wireless connections.

CONATEL also reported that during the last year, 326,000 new cellular phone lines have been added for a total of 28.2 million active cell phone connections nationwide.

Ninety-five of every 100 Venezuelans have cellular phones.

Venezuela additionally ranks third globally in terms of how many Internet users sign on to Twitter, coming in after only Indonesia and Brazil. In Venezuela’s case, the number of Twitter users has increased since President Hugo Chavez joined the network in April.

ComScore, a firm measuring Internet traffic, released a report on Twitter’s global penetration as of June 2010. Indonesia was the country with the highest penetration index, with 20.8% of Internet users connected to Twitter, followed by Brazil with 20.5%, and Venezuela at 19%.

The report published by ComScore noted the fact that the Venezuelan President had decided to join Twitter in April 2010 helped lead to a 4.8% increase in the use of the social network.

President Chavez’s Twitter account has over 750,000 followers. About 2,000 followers join @ chavezcandanga daily.

“Social networks are a tool that also have to be used by the Revo-

lution”, said President Chavez recently in his weekly TV and radio show Alo Presidente.

Besides Brazil and Venezuela, other Latin American countries that register a high Twitter penetration index amongst Internet users are Mexico (13.4%), Chile (13.2%), Argentina (10.5%), and Colombia (9.6%). All of those are also among the 20 countries where the use of Twitter has grown the fastest.

President Chavez launched his Twitter account in April, and by June managed to break records in Venezuela by gaining over 500,000 followers. “There are a lot of presidents who use Twitter, but the case of Venezuela is unusual”, said Dom Sagolla, cocreator of Twitter, during a summit last month in Costa Rica.

In Venezuela the use of Internet is a matter of national interest. Infocenters, community spaces equipped with computers connected to the Internet where users are allowed to access information technologies for free, are one of the achievements of the Venezuelan government. By March 2010, 668 Infocenters had been created throughout the country, with more planned throughout the remainder of 2010.

T/ Bolivarian News Agency

SOCIAL JUSTICE

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6i iâÕi >\Ê Û }Ê/ Ü>À` > `Ê,iv À ]Ê `Ê- ÛiÀi } ÌÞ a pancake). Other crops include cassava, beans, sweet potatoes, squash and rice. Fruits such as guavas, mangos, bananas, pawpaws, avocados and citrus are commonly grown.

The farming process is mechanized, with harvesting machinery provided by Argentina and tractors by Iran, Belarus and China.

A massive transformation of agriculture is occurring in Venezuela, a transformation that has lessons for every other country in the world

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he Law of Land and Agrarian Development, the Law of Food Sovereignty and Security, and the Law of Integrated Agricultural Health set out the agenda for Venezuela’s new agricultural policies.

The policies are based on the premise that farmers should have control of their land and product, the country should produce its own food, and chemical fertilizers and pesticides should not be used.

Land in Venezuela has been in the hands of about 500 families and corporations since the 1800s and worked by an impoverished peasantry. Much of the land was underutilized as cattle ranching, pulpwood plantations, export crops such as sugar cane, or left idle.

Most food for consumption was imported. This land is gradually being taken over by the Chavez government and handed to local communities who have been fighting for it during two centuries.

FOOD SECURITY Food sovereignty is a key government policy, guaranteed in the Constitution: “Food sovereignty is the inalienable right of a nation to define and develop priorities and foods appropriate to its specific conditions, in local and national production, conserving agricultural and cultural diversity and self sufficiency and guaranteeing food supply to all the population”.

Food imports are only allowed if there is a shortfall of production in the country, and exports occur only after domestic demand is met.

Control over production is in the hands of farmer cooperatives on the newly distributed lands. Assistance is provided by the government for cooperative management and to establish processing plants so farmers are no longer victim to the powers of the processors and distributors to set prices.

Agriculture is planned, at three levels: the National Agrarian Assembly, the Regional Agrarian Assemblies and the local Farmers and Producers Councils.

URBAN AGRICULTURE Venezuela is emulating the remarkable achievements of Cuba where more than half of the fruit and vegetable needs of the urban population are produced within the cities. As in Cuba, the city food gardens are all organic, providing non-toxic safe fresh food to communities. The benefits of urban agriculture are seen as contributing to food security and sovereignty, improving the urban environment, supplementing the income of families, communities and schools, and fostering learning and recreational activities. Gardens are set up on unused land, at schools and, using raised beds, on concrete and balconies.

CACAO PRODUCTION Cacao growers, mostly descendents of former slaves brought from Africa, were until recently among the most impoverished people in the country, in a highly profitable industry. The cocoa beans were bought up cheaply by international corporations like Nestle by various means

of price manipulation, and processed overseas.

Now cacao producers are organized into cooperatives that have, with government assistance, set up factories for primary processing into cocoa powder then into chocolate. Factories are managed by producers’ cooperatives and workers, who are from cacao growing families, and decisions are made collectively. The price they receive has increased from 1 bolivar per kilo (about 15 cents) to 14 bolivares in just three years.

FISHING Venezuela has the strongest fishing regulations in the world, supported by local fishers. Trawling has been phased out, fishing near reefs is prohibited, stunning devices like dynamite and poisons are not allowed, and nets cannot be left in the water – they are just thrown out and hauled in.

The size of the nets allows small fish to escape to breed or provide food for the larger fish. Sardine fishing is not allowed, as these are near the bottom of the food chain and needed for other fish.

All fishers are organized into Fisher People’s Councils, and the National Council makes policy.

Regulations are enforced by the government and the local fishers, in order to provide long term sus-

tainable harvests. Fishing families now have education, health care, decent housing and retirement pensions, benefits they had never had before.

National fish production has actually increased under these policies.

FIELD CROPS The central plains of Venezuela are the main food producing areas, a region formerly totally dominated by huge estates. The land is gradually being redistributed to communities that have worked on it for generations. Most of the people are indigenous and were growing corn and beans long before the Spanish colonists arrived.

The communities that have gained control of the land have different methods of land ownership and organization. Some communities choose to own individual plots and work together for machinery and knowledge sharing and marketing. Others form cooperatives of 7 to 100 members to hold title of the land in common and work together.

Other land remains as state farms with daily decision making determined by the farm workers.

The main crop is corn, a staple food eaten by most people every day, in the form of arepas (corn flour cakes) and cachapas (ground up fresh corn cooked as

ORGANIC FARMING Biological control and biofertilizer labs are being set up across the country to produce beneficial insects and fungi, and soil inoculants. Several species of predatory wasps and lacewings are used to control caterpillars and aphids respectively; they are bred in large numbers in the laboratory and released onto the crops at the right time. Metarrhizium and Beauvaria fungi are produced to control other insect pests – corn grubs and coffee beetles. Trichoderma fungi are used to keep root rotting diseases under control.

Biofertilizers are microbes that release nutrients out of the soil.

The well known Rhizobium is produced to assist nitrogen availability for legume crops, and Azotobacter, another nitrogen provider, and Bacillus megaterium, which releases phosphorus are also part of the lab’s work.

Currently the organisms are provided to farmers at no cost in order to encourage agroecology, as a temporary measure.

Seed banks and seed treatment plants have been established to provide a range of agricultural genetics suited to the various regions. The aim is to completely bypass international corporations that supply seed around the world, and preserve the genetic diversity that has been built up in Venezuela for thousands of years.

Genetically modified seeds are not allowed, though this is not ruled out in the future if some are found to be safe.

The significance of these changes inside Venezuela is immeasurable.

T/ Alan Broughton Alan participated in a food sovereignty study tour with the AustraliaVenezuela Solidarity Network in Venezuela in July 2010.

FRIDAY | August 27, 2010| No. 26| Bs. 1 | CARACAS

ENGLISH EDITION The artillery of ideas

A publication of the Fundacion Correo del Orinoco Editor-in-Chief | Eva Golinger • Graphic Design | Arturo Cazal, Pablo Valduciel L., Alexander Uzcátegui, Jameson Jiménez • Press | Fundación Imprenta de la Cultura

OPINION

The transformation of Latin America is a global advance N

early two centuries after it won nominal independence and Washington declared it a backyard, Latin America is standing up. The tide of progressive change that has swept the continent for the past decade has brought to power a string of social democratic and radical socialist governments that have attacked social and racial privilege, rejected neoliberal orthodoxy and challenged imperial domination of the region.

Its significance is often underestimated or trivialized in Europe and North America. But along with the rise of China, the economic crash of 2008 and the demonstration of the limits of US power in the “war on terror”, the emergence of an independent Latin America is one of a handful of developments reshaping the global order. From Ecuador to Brazil, Bolivia to Argentina, elected leaders have turned away from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), taken back resources from corporate control, boosted regional integration and carved out independent alliances across the world.

Both the scale of the transformation and the misrepresentation of what is taking place in the western media are driven home in Oliver Stone’s new film, South of the Border, which allows six of these new wave leaders to speak for themselves. Most striking is their mutual support and common commitment – from Cristina Kirchner of Argentina to the more leftist Evo Morales – to take back ownership of their continent.

Two crucial votes in the next few weeks will put the future of this process to the test. The first are parliamentary elections in Venezuela, whose Bolivarian revolution has been at the cutting edge of Latin America’s renewal since Hugo Chavez was first elected president in 1998. For all his popularity at home, Chavez has been the target for a campaign of vilification and ridicule throughout the US, European and elite-controlled Latin American media – which has little to do with his high-octane rhetoric and much more with his effectiveness in using Venezuela’s oil wealth to challenge US and corporate power across the region.

Forget his success in slashing the Venezuelan poverty rate in half, tripling social spending, rapidly expanding healthcare and

If Chavez’s United Socialist party were defeated next month it would certainly put his re-election in 2012 – and Venezuela’s radicalization – in doubt. But that is looking increasingly unlikely. The economy is picking up, a national police force is finally being established and, crucially, Chavez last week dramatically defused the threat of war with the proUS government in Colombia through a regionally brokered rapprochement.

Even more critical will be the presidential elections in Brazil in October. Brazil’s emergence as an economic powerhouse under Lula’s leadership has underpinned the wider changes across Latin America.

Less radical than Chavez or Morales, the Brazilian president has nevertheless education, and fostering grassroots democracy and worker participation. Since the beginning of the year Venezuela’s enemies have smelled blood as his government faltered in the face of drought-triggered power cuts, a failure to ride out recession with a stimulus package – as Morales’s Bolivia did – and growing discontent over high levels of violent crime.

So expect a flurry of new claims that Chavez is a dictator who has stifled media freedom and persecuted bankers and businessmen, and whose incompetent regime is running into the sand. In reality the Venezuelan president has won more free elections than any other world leader, the country’s media are dominated by the US-funded opposition, and his government’s problems with service delivery stem more from institutional weakness than authoritarianism.

also poured cash into anti-poverty campaigns and provided vital support for the common project of continental integration and independence.

Barred from standing for a third term, Lula has thrown his popularity behind his chief of staff Dilma Roussef, if anything more sympathetic to the Bolivarians.

Unable to attack Lula’s economic record, her main rightwing opponent, Jose Serra, is now effectively running a campaign against Chavez and Morales, denouncing Lula’s support for them, his refusal to recognize the post-coup government in Honduras and attempts to mediate between the Iran and the US. So far that looks unlikely to work, and Serra is trailing Roussef badly in the polls.

If both Brazilian and Venezuelan elections are won by the left, the US and its friends may be tempted to look for other ways to divert Latin America from the path of self-determination and social justice it took while George Bush was busy fighting his enemies in the Muslim world.

For all Barack Obama’s promise to “seek a new chapter of engagement” and warning that a “terrible precedent” would be set if last year’s bloody coup against the reforming Honduran president Manuel Zelaya were allowed to stand, there has been little change in US policy towards the region. The Honduran coup was indeed allowed to stand – or, as Hillary Clinton put it, the “crisis” was “managed to a successful conclusion”.

The clear message was that the radical tide can be turned and the fear is now that another of the more vulnerable governments, such as Paraguay’s or Guatemala’s, could also be “managed to a conclusion” in one form or another. Meanwhile the US is attempting to shore up its military presence on the continent, using the pretext of “counter-insurgency” to station US forces in seven bases in Colombia.

But direct military intervention looks implausible for the foreseeable future. If the political and social movements that have driven the continent’s transformation can maintain their momentum and support, they won’t only be laying the foundation of an independent Latin America, but also creating forms of socialist politics previously declared an impossibility in the modern era. Two decades after we were told there was no alternative, another world is being created.

T/ Seumas Milne This article was originally published in The Guardian.