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Bolivarian Government of Venezuela

Ministry of People’s Power for Foreign Affairs Office of The Deputy Minister for Africa

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Embassy of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela in Kenya Concurrent to Rwanda, Uganda, Tanzania and Somalia

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Permanent Mission of Venezuela to the United Nations Environment programme (UNEP)and the United Nations Human Settlements Programme ( UN Habitat).

VOL. 2: ISSUE. 3 1st February 2016

Venezuela will assume the presidency of the Security Council of United Nations

CELAC is getting stronger Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro said during CELAC Summit in Ecuador that this institution was born as an instrument to “face models that pretend to loot our region again.”

New York, January 29, 2016.- On February Venezuela preside over the Security Council of United Nations, which is the only UN body whose decisions, in accordance with the provisions of the Charter of the organization are required to meet the Member States.

Rafael Ramirez, Permanent Representative of Venezuela to the United Nations, will head for one month the activities taking place within the UN body that is responsible for ensuring the maintenance of international peace and security in accordance with the principles justice and international law.

“We feel in the core of integrating efforts in the reunion of America. We are one people, our Republics were born as one single army,” the Head of State said during his participation in the IV summit of CELAC celebrated in Ecuador’s Quito.

Maduro also believes CELAC is heading towards its consolidation as the institution beyond being just a forum is starting to become “a community of equals between Latin America and the Caribbean. A community were we’ve been working with the doctrine of the integration process.” www.hoyvenezuela.info

This is the fifth time that the country occupies this position in the Security Council and the first part of the Bolivarian Revolution.

Thanks to the vote of 181 Member States joined the United Nations body for a period of two years until 31 December 2016.

Venezuela, a member of the Security Council, has been working under the principles of solidarity, non-interference in internal affairs of nations, respect for the sovereignty and condemned the use of violence to oppress the people. www.mppre.gob.ve

Inside this Issue!

Pg 1.

Venezuela will assume the presidency of the Security Council of United Nations -CELAC is getting stronger

Pg 2.

Venezuela and Brazil agree on mechanisms to increase trade and joint investments

Pg 3.

CELAC Summit focuses on Zika, economic crisis and Colombian peace process

Pg 4.

Promoting the Unknown Africa: The Kenyan slum where musical prodigies are made

Venezuela and Brazil agree on mechanisms to increase trade and joint investments Caracas, January 29, 2016 (MPPRE) .From the Itamaraty Palace in Brasilia, The Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Delcy RodrĂ­guez provided a balance on an important bilateral meeting held with her counterpart Mauro Viera. "We have addressed important bilateral issues today, we made some balance on our relations, of the agreements, we have made an update of the same" stated Rodriguez.

The foreign minister stressed the importance of regional integration and the potential of the countries of the Latin American bloc to face the current global economic crisis, "we are grateful for the exchange we have had today in that sense, the increase in our trade relations, always looking toward the south, "she said.

In another point, she presented to the delegation of Brazil the economic directives that President Nicolas Maduro has declared, in conjunction with private and national productive sectors in Venezuela "to turn Venezuela into a power and strengthen Venezuela's productive platform."

She reported that she revised with Viera important aspects of Mercosur such as "updating the rules of Venezuela.�

Delcy Rodriguez confessed being "happy" at this moment that Venezuela will occupy in 2016 the presidency pro tempore of the Union of South American Nations (Unasur) and the Southern Common Market (Mercosur), on this matter she clarified that the country of Bolivar will continue on the path of economic, commercial, cultural independence and of sovereignty.

For the Chancellor, becoming president pro tempore of Unasur and Mercosur represents "a vision of the future for our people, in a vision for our nations, for all public, private sectors and entrepreneurs. That is a message that has to give and bring happiness to the South American people."

In addition, the Summit of South American Arab Countries (ASPA, initials in Spanish) to be held in Venezuela, in 2018, she expressed that Brazil will work with Venezuela to build the agenda between South America and the region of Arab countries.

The Chief of Peace Diplomacy was accompanied by Vice-president of the Economic Area and Minister for the Productive Economy, Luis Salas and Deputy Minister for Latin America and the Caribbean, Alexander Yanez.

Finally, the Minister congratulated on behalf of the Bolivarian Government the presence of Brazil in the BRICS economic bloc and said "It is a pride for South Americans to have Brazil in this major global geopolitical reconfiguration, we know that is an emerging pole and Brazil plays a strategic role, whenever Brazil is participating in the different stages of the Brics, we as South American are not only represented but very proud.� / Yeniree Daza www.mppre.gob.ve 2

CELAC Summit focuses on Zika, economic crisis and Colombian peace process and Canada, agreed on lauding the talks that have been held in Havana since 2012 between the Colombian guerrillas and the government to end the over-50-year-old armed conflict in that country.

The Summit of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), which closed recently in Ecuador, focused on the economic crisis, the epidemic caused by the Zika virus and the peace process in Colombia.

In the economic field, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro proposed his peers from the continent to create a tactic plan against crises for the region. It is time for a plan of solidarity, complementariness, shared development of Latin America and the Caribbean. It is time to prove ourselves, as we have done in politics, said the president at the plenary session of the event.

He noted that “in times of crisis, the community, the neighbors and the family seek one another for help,”adding that the integration bloc founded in 2010 must focus this year on the economic matter.

For her part, Chilean President Michelle Bachelet also call to focus on the difficult economic situation being faced by the CELAC member countries as a result of the drop in commodity prices like oil and the slowdown of the Chinese economy.

The inequality that prevails in Latin America, where, according to Bachelet, poverty affects 28 percent, was another recurrent issue in the speeches of

the presidents or their representatives who participated in the summit, held at the headquarters of the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) in northern Quito.

In that regard, the host of the 4th Summit, Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa stressed that the biggest challenge of CELAC is to sell poverty, which is the fruit of the bad distribution of incomes and wealth.

Correa, who handed over the pro tempore presidency of CELAC to his Dominican counterpart, Danilo Medina, noted that in the private meeting held by the heads of States, they agreed to take concrete measures to fight the epidemic caused by the Zika virus in the region.

In that regard, Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff said that the ministers of health of the region will meet next Tuesday in Uruguay to design actions against the disease, which is transmitted by the Aedes aegypti mosquito.

The only way to cooperate now is by promoting among ourselves the best practices to fight the virus or the best technologies, she stressed.

The leaders of CELAC, which groups all countries of the American continent, except for the United States

After congratulating President Juan Manuel Santos for his contribution to the peace process, his colleagues noted the bloc’s willingness to join the United Nations mission that will supervise the ceasefire and the surrender of weapons by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia-People’s Army (FARC-EP).

Another agreement was to send a mission of foreign ministers to Haiti to get first-hand information about the election crisis in that Caribbean nation, after the opposition refused to participate in the second round of elections last Sunday.

At the end of the summit, it was announced the approval of a score of special declarations, including a call on the United States to lift the economic, commercial and financial blockade on Cuba and to return the Guantanamo territory to the Caribbean island.

In another text, the summit ratified the group’s solidarity for Argentina’s legitimate demand for the Malvinas (Falkland) Islands, and CELAC’s rejection of the US decree accusing Venezuela of being a danger for the northern country’s national security.

The new pro tempore president of CELAC, Dominican President Danilo Medina, committed to boosting the 33-strong bloc’s agenda in a year of huge economic, social, environmental and ideological challenges.

www.hoyvenezuela.info 3

Promoting the Unknown Africa

The Kenyan slum where musical prodigies are made One may not normally picture classical music when thinking of impoverished neighborhoods. Yet one of Nairobi's biggest slums is currently churning out musical prodigies thanks to an initiative dubbed "Ghetto Classics."

It's the brainchild of The Art of Music Foundation, , whose main mission is to promote the appreciation and performance of music among underprivileged communities in Kenya. Started in 2009, the initiative teaches more than 300 children every week, providing tuition for free.

The foundation relies primarily on donated instruments, as well as proceeds from the Safaricom Jazz Festival, which has gone to buying new equipment.

Though director Elizabeth Njoroge says her organization wants to do more than give kids a second-hand flute or clarinet. She wants to give them a new life.

"We believe the experience of learning music will change them, change who they are," she says. "These are kids with very little structure and supervision in their lives, and learning to master complex skills such as classical music gives them import life skills they might not otherwise learn."

"We still have a very long way to go," says Njoroge, "but we are taking steps in the right direction. Things will be very different in 20 years' time."

All the way to State House So could any of the children from Ghetto Classics turn professional? Njoroge thinks it's a possibility.

"I have my eye on a few of them who really do have exceptional talent," she says.

Clarinettist Vienna Adhiambo is reaping the benefits of the program. "Apart from education, it has really helped me realize myself," she says. "[It's helped me realize] what kind of goals I want to achieve and the right path I should follow."

Eric Ochieng, a saxophonist, is also studying music, and he says "being part of Ghetto Classics has helped me with university."

Due to their backgrounds, many of the musicians need a lot of support. "By far the biggest challenge is the lives of the kids themselves," Njoroge explains. "They live tough lives, [and face] extreme poverty, abuse -- emotional, physical and sexual -and hopelessness."

The band's camaraderie is key. "Ghetto Classics is like a family," affirms Ochieng. "We help each other outside of music."

"We never set out to be a social program, but we can't help it," says Njoroge. "We keep trying to make sure the kids keep coming and these situations don't stand in the way of their potential."

The young musicians make up a brass band and string ensemble that practices every Sunday -- dedication that has led to national recognition and appearances on TV, radio and state occasions. The publicity is helping classical music become more accepted in Kenya.

"It's a little more mainstream than it was 10 years ago, and more black Kenyans are getting involved," says Njoroge, who notes that more classical musicians in the country are making a living out of performing, something "unheard of before."

It's potential that has taken the foundation's young musicians all the way to State House, where they invited by President Uhuru Kenyatta to perform on Kenyan Independence Day. It was, says Njoroge, "the greatest achievement since we've started."

"When we started, the community though we were crazy -- they laughed at us. Now the community is very proud.

"Whatever they grow up to do, these kids will do it well because they learned music. I truly believe that." www.cnn.com 4