Newsletter35

Bolivarian Government of Venezuela

Ministry of People’s Power for Foreign Affairs

Vol. 3: Issue 35, 28th August, 2017

Embassies of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela in the World

weekly newsletter VENEZUELAN PRESIDENT NICOLÁS MADURO ADDRESSES THE WORLD

Inside This Issue 1. Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro Addresses The World 2. Trump is a liability, not a leader 3. Houston flooded as rain causes havoc in Texas after Hurricane Harvey 4. The United States put new sanctions against Venezuela 5. In memoryof YasserArafat 6. 226 candidates ran for regional elections

On 22nd August 2017, President of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, spoke at a press conference with international media at the Miraflores Palace in Caracas. President Maduro commented on several issues including the poor relations with the United States and neighboring Colombia, the internal political crisis that has shaken the country and the economic situation facing the country.

“We are here in an effort to continue carrying out the truth of Venezuela and defend our country above anything.”

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7. Barrels of crude oil reserves were raised 8.US blocks Venezuelan Oil Company (PDVSA) financially in order to drown the Government 9.The Ex-Prosecutor will be investigated for links to drug cartels 10.Social movements reject Trump's military threat against Venezuela

Venezuela is the center of a great global operation, of the colonial powers.

I believe in the dialogue of civilizations We respect and appreciate the good people of the United States.

Venezuela faces today an imperialist aggression of world character of which we have faced as a result of the unique weapon that we have. We have no weapons of mass destruction, no missiles targeting any country, no military bases, and no plans to take away oil wealth.

Venezuela has never bombed any country.

We are in the best moment of relations with the United States if it is a town, but at the worst time of relations with your Government.

Venezuela is now the center of a major worldwide defamation campaign.

President Donald Trump has always said: "Let's have a relationship of respect, let's have a dialogue of civilizations. That has always been my message. "

Colombia is not talking about problems; corruption and increased production of cocaine, but it only talks about Venezuela.

Since the Iraq war, the BBC was not playing as bad a role as it currently is against Venezuela.

This press conference has one objective: To carry with great effort the whole truth of Venezuela to all 4 cardinal points of our planet.

International media companies have made Venezuela a top-notch topic around the world.

Nevertheless, a great wave of solidarity with Venezuela in the world has arisen.

They have made news in Venezuela, so much so that Trump threatened our country with a military option, which violates the Charter of the United Nations, as well as the Treaties we have with the United States.

It emphasizes pronouncement of the Latin American Council of Social Sciences (CLACSO) against US military threat against Venezuela.

Its objective is to occupy Venezuela militarily and subject us to their designs.

#VenezuelaSpeaksTotheWorld

Since the arrival of Trump's presidency, I have been consistently sending messages of respect. We believe in dialogue, in civilizations on the basis of respect for diversity so that the world can recover what it has lost.

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World leaders conclude:

Trump is a liability, not a leader Seven months into his presidency, his foes have him figured out while America's friends are ducking for cover.

Trump's off-script, off-color campaign-style rallies that roll back-to-back with the carefully scripted aspirations of his administration suggest to large parts of the world a man who cannot control himself -- much less the nation he leads.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told CNN last week in a conversation about stability in the face of Russian aggression, that what America's NATO allies need right now is predictability: "As long we are strong, as long as we are predictable, we can also engage in political dialogue with Russia to try to avoid escalation and to avoid a new Cold War." In the aftermath of the awful events in Charlottesville, Virginia, Trump has shown those outside America that he is anything but predictable. His wildly variant public interpretations of violent, anti-Semitic rallies by neo-Nazis and white supremacists and the removal of Confederate statues have caused European leaders to shake their heads in bewilderment.

By one day equating neo-Nazis with civil rights protesters, then days later saying the country has no place for racists before flip-flopping again, he has left international onlookers baffled. A week later, it seems that neither he nor his White House team has learned anything, as he repeated the same mistakes at a campaign-style rally in Arizona.

This time, he also expressed support for a former local sheriff whose stop and search policies of Latinos has seen him accused of racism -- a charge he denies, which seems good enough for Trump -- and convicted of criminal contempt.

To outsiders, Trump seems to be shunning the American dream in favor of something far more sinister.

Britain's former ambassador to the United States, Peter Westmacott, tweeted this in response to the Arizona rally: "Shades of 1933 Germany. And an invitation to autocrats w/o America's checks & balances to play the same game more dangerously.

Leadership??" Trump's America seems to be getting out of kilter. And while friends such as Westmacott voice their fears, America's enemies are gearing up to take advantage.

China sent a swift, stinging rebuke this week to Trump's biggest foreign policy foray since coming to power. His much-vaunted Afghanistan plan should have marked a moment when the world took Trump seriously.

Alas, the fact it came so soon after the Charlottesville turmoil -- and that he followed it 24 hours later with a 77-minute attack on his enemies -- somewhat spoiled the moment. No one should be surprised that the wait for Trump to make sense of himself and his America is over.

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In his Afghanistan speech, Trump reversed course, saying he'd send more troops to the embattled nation. He also threatened Pakistan, saying it has "much to gain" by supporting the United States and had "much to lose by continuing to harbor criminals and terrorists."

Before Pakistan had responded, China -- uncharacteristically -- came to its defense, saying the world needed to do more to recognize that country's fight against terrorism. Pakistan, which has long played the United States off against China, seized the moment by doubling down on the Chinese comments and refuting Trump's claims. "No country has done more than Pakistan to counter the menace of terrorism. No country in the world has suffered more than Pakistan from the scourge of terrorism."

China is already at loggerheads with Trump, angered by fears of a trade war and worried by the recent escalation in tensions between the United States and North Korea. Where months ago, world leaders may have been wary of Trump's unpredictability and cautious in their response, they are rapidly realizing one of his biggest weaknesses: He appears incapable of focusing on any issue for long enough and is therefore unable to deliver policy in his nation's best interest.

We could well be entering a free-for-all era of foreign policy. The assumption seems to be that if no one at home will tell the emperor he has no clothes, then why should those looking on from the outside? Trump's apparent refusal to base his thinking in reality only becomes more stark to his adversaries the more he speaks.

In Arizona, he told his cheering supporters that Kim Jong Un was listening to him: "I respect the fact that I believe he is starting to respect us. I respect that fact very much. Respect that fact. And maybe -- probably not -- but maybe something positive can come about."

He offered no evidence of how he calibrated Kim's sudden change. For his part, Kim was only too happy to show he was listening, responding the following day by telling his rocket engineers to increase production of his more stealthy and dangerous solid fuel rockets.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, as we know, looked into Trump's eyes at the G20 in Germany, listened to his bluster and decided to move on. Allies, too, have had plenty to consider in recent weeks. As Trump's desired plans for health care have failed and he lashes out at allies such as Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Sen.

John McCain, a Republican war hero, the writing is on the wall for overseas partners who fail to meet his expectations.

No surprise that British Prime Minister Theresa May -- who raced to Washington days after Trump's inauguration to be the first world leader to embrace him, or at least hold hands with him -- now keeps her distance.

In Germany, where elections are barely a month away, Chancellor Angela Merkel faces attacks from her main opponent, who claims she is too similar to Trump.

Such is Trump's global standing that in Europe's largest economy -- the economic engine room of his largest trading bloc and his grandfather's homeland -- he is a pariah, a political liability.

Embattled Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu unusually held his tongue over Trump's moral equivocation and failure to criticize anti-Semitic chants in Charlottesville. But not so Trump's own ambassador to Israel, David Friedman, who told an Israeli reporter that Trump's response "was not fine."

Friends, even close ones, are finding it harder to stand with Trump and his vision of America, which raises the question: Where will those friends be when Trump needs them? That question may need answering sooner than even Trump realizes at the United Nations, where he faces Russia's and China's increasing pushback over his North Korea policy.

The honeymoon where the world hoped and waited for something better -- something stable and predictable -is over. What greater measure of global evaporation of post-inaugural latitude could there be than a UN panel's "early warning" to Trump, demanding he "unequivocally and unconditionally" reject discrimination?

How will he respond?

Should he face the United Nations down -- as he likes to do with so many other perceived adversaries -- and demand it shut down its headquarters in New York?

Nothing would make his real enemies happier. They know Trump can cause chaos, but it seems increasingly to favor their ends if he does.

World leaders have taken their own silent poll on Trump and found him wanting in about every department. A global liability -- not a global leader.

Article By: Nic Robertson, CNN international diplomatic editor. http://edition.cnn.com The opinions in this article belong to the author.

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Houston flooded as rain causes havoc in Texas after Hurricane Harvey

On Friday the 25th August 2017, USA experienced an "unprecedented" devastating flooding after ferocious Hurricane Harvey set in over southeast Texas this weekend, dumping torrential rain on the city.

The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela expresses its solidarity with the People and Government of the United States of America following Hurricane Harvey, which has caused severe rains and floods leaving behind the unfortunate loss of human life as well as innumerable materials damaged, particularly in the state of Texas.

The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela reiterates the historic ties of friendship that unite the Venezuelan and American people, as well as the principle of solidarity within the framework of the Bolivarian Diplomacy of Peace, expressing its hope for the speedy recovery of the affected areas and the citizens who have suffered hardships from this natural catastrophe. We trust that the courage and perseverance of the American people will help them meet this challenge. www.mppre.gob.ve

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The United States put new sanctions against Venezuela

The White House announced that President Donald Trump signed an Executive Order on Friday 25th 2017 imposing tough, new financial sanctions on the Venezuelan government of President Nicolas Maduro and its state oil company (PDVSA), including the issuance of debt and dealing in public sector bonds owned by the Venezuelan public sector and dividend payments to the Caracas Administration.

The Treasury Department is issuing general licenses allowing transactions which would otherwise be prohibited by Trump's measure. These include the export and import of oil, and transactions involving only CITGO, a subsidiary of Venezuela’s state oil company (PDVSA). www.chavezvive.info.ve

Venezuela continues supporting dialogue with the US

Venezuelan president rejects Trump's decisions against the Venezuelan economy has the full approval and complicity of the Venezuelan right, he warned.

The Venezuelan president NicolĂĄs Maduro described as insane all that Washington is doing against Venezuela. Maduro explained that the recent sanctions that the United States imposed on Venezuela, in an authoritarian way, are intended to undermine the national economy of Venezuela.

The executive order prohibits negotiations with the Bolivarian Government and the state-owned oil company of Venezuela, he said. The attack

Maduro asked the Supreme Court of Justice and the National Constituent Assembly to determine legal responsibilities of the promoters of the attacks against Venezuela, which contemplate treason to the country.

"A trial for treason must be opened here," he said. Maduro directly accused opposition leader Julio Borges of being the main culprit and promoter of the United States' economic and financial attacks against Venezuela.

He explained that Borges has met several times with high spokesmen of the United States Government, to request a rush against Venezuela. www.chavezvive.info.ve

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Venezuela will continue to bet on dialogue with Washington despite the aggressive stance of the current Administration headed by Republican President Donald Trump, announced Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza.

Speaking to Prensa Latina after meeting with Secretary General of the United Nations Antonio Guterres, the Venezuelan Foreign Minister said that Caracas rejected the new measures of the White House which prohibit citizens and US entities from buying debt and Bonds of the Venezuelan state and the Venezuelan state oil company (PDVSA). Donald Trump seeks to financial destabilize Venezuela. www.chavezvive.info.ve

IN MEMORYOF YasserArafat

The year 1988 marked a change for Arafat and the PLO, when Arafat gave a speech at the United Nations declaring that all involved parties could live together in peace. The resulting peace process led to the Oslo Accords of 1993, which allowed for Palestinian self-rule and elections in the Palestinian territory (in which Arafat was elected president).

The Government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela celebrates together with the entire Palestinian people, the eighty-eighth anniversary of the birth of Mohammed Abd Al Rahman Abd Al Raouf Arafat, better known as Yasser Arafat. An undisputed world leader who for his courage and wisdom became the tance of the Palestinian brotherhood on their quest for independence, sovereignty and peace.

The People of Venezuela recognize in Yasser Arafat, one of the most outstanding leaders of anticolonialism in history. Founder of the Front for the Liberation of Palestine and undisputed leader of the Arab world, his name is synonymous with persistence, struggle and love for his people and for humanity. Values that resembled those ones of our Eternal Commander Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías, making the Palestinian Cause and the Bolivarian Revolution sister realities that walk together through history.

His actions against Zionist domination and his contribution to the historic creation of the Palestinian State is today an example in the quest for peace and justice for the oppressed people of the world. Today we highlight his political wisdom in recalling his famous intervention of 1974 before the General Assembly of the United Nations, when he addressed the world saying: "I have in one hand the olive branch and in the other the weapon of those who fight for liberty, do not let me drop the olive tree.”

The Government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, in tribute to the birth of this great political leader, expresses its firm commitment of support and solidarity to the Palestinian people in their just cause, and their determination to achieve freedom, peace, Justice and its full sovereignty.

Caracas, August 24, 2017 7

226 candidates ran for regional elections The president of the National Electoral Council (CNE), Tibisay Lucena, indicated that all the applications for the gubernatorial elections that will be held in the 23 states of the country next October have already been received.

226 candidates and candidates were nominated by 76 political organizations, with a general average of 10candidates for each position to be elected, mostly of them from opposition parties.

In gender statistics, she emphasized that of the 226 candidates, 86% are men and 14% are women, which is an indicator of the need to work more on the issue of gender parity in political organizations, being this difference bigger than last past elections.

The CNE president concluded by stating that "we are very satisfied because whenever an electoral process is mentioned that gives life to the political organizations participating, we have a varied and numerous electoral offer that we will soon announce." www.chavezvive.info.ve

Barrels of crude oil reserves were raised

US Securities and Exchange Commission said that Venezuelan Oil Company (PDVSA) is the Company of the greatest value in the World

Reserve levels place Venezuelan Oil Company as the company with the highest global value, according to international standards endorsed by the United States, Travieso said. Venezuelan certified reserves rose, from 300 thousand 850 million to 302 Billion, according to the US Securities and Exchange Commission. The current reserves were certified with a recovery factor of 20%, but with current technologies, that figure can double the reserve and exceed 600 billion barrels of crude oil.

Venezuela added 1.4 billion barrels of crude oil to its certified oil reserves which, before the increase, were already the highest in the planet. The figure was revealed by the report of modernization of reports of oil and gas reserves, issued by the US Securities and Exchange Commission, oil expert Fernando Travieso reported.

www.chavezvive.info.ve

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US blocks Venezuelan Oil Company (PDVSA) financially in order to drown the Government

The President of the Venezuela Oil Company Eulogio Del Pino, denounced the news that that the state firm is suffering a financial blockade by the United States, which limits the transactions of the company. Del Pino denounced that Washington blocks payments that the company has to make to its suppliers. The Venezuela Oil Company (PDVSA), in order to comply with its international commitments has to make banking triangulations with China, Russia, India and other allied countries, revealed Del Pino.

Caracas denounced that Washington is blocking Venezuela financially and economically thus adding the support of other allied countries. Despite the blockade, Venezuela has canceled 65 billion dollars during the last 24 months to comply with its international commitments, as was informed by the Venezuelan President Nicolรกs Maduro. Venezuela remains solvent in its international commitments the same with Oil Company (PDVSA), the country's main company and the fifth most powerful in the world. www.chavezvive.info.ve

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The Ex-Prosecutor will be investigated for links to drug cartels

Brazil would be willing to grant asylum to the former Venezuelan Attorney General, Luisa Ortega Díaz, who fled the country accused of leading a cartel of extortioners along with her husband, former deputy Germán Ferrer. Brazil would be the second country that admits the possibility of granting asylum to the fugitive Venezuelan justice, after Colombia assumed the same position.

Caracas began negotiations with Interpol to capture Ortega Díaz and the main cartel operators who were dismantled in the Public Prosecutor's Office, the same one she directed until weeks ago.

The Public Ministry is investigating cases of corruption committed during the administration of Ortega Díaz at the head of that organization, confirmed Caracas.

Ortega Díaz is linked to drug trafficking after it was releaved that under her administration, there were more than 5,400 dismissals in cases related to drug trafficking, a figure higher than the number of accusations made.

www.chavezvive.info.ve

Great finds of Thorium, strategic mineral, in Venezuela

The President of the Venezuelan Nuclear Society (SNV), Leancy Clemente, assured that Venezuela is among the first places in the world with largest reserves of an extremely important mineral called Thorium, which is useful for the electronics industry, one of the spearheads of the development of the world economic system and also as a very powerful source of energy.

Clemente explained that one kilogram of this element is equivalent to about 3 thousand tons of oil, and for the said specialist, reserves of that mineral in the country could be used in nuclear reactors for at least 300 years.

This mineral is 90% more powerful than all the energy that Uranium produces in a nuclear explosion and could be a raw material for the global arms industry. "Venezuela could be ranked in fifth place in the world with higher reserves of thorium," said Clemente. The question is whether the presence of this mineral in the national territory is part of the interests of the United States over our country, where not only the most important oil reserves have been proven, but also elements such as coltan and now thorium. www.chavezvive.info.ve

US blocks docking of cargo ships in Venezuela

Caracas maintains supply of crude oil to Washington A group of boats docked with medicine, drugs and food can not be unloaded at Venezuelan ports because of the financial blockade that Washington put against Caracas. This was denounced by President of the National Constituent Assembly, Delcy Rodríguez.

The international bank is following the order by Washington and thus it is not processing payments issued by Caracas. Rodríguez explained that the State can pay the landings, but there is no bank correspondent that receives those payments. Caracas has had to resort to banks in China, India and Russia in order to meet its international commitments. www.chavezvive.info.ve

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The Venezuelan government maintains supply of crude oil to the United States in a timely, permanent and safe manner, a source linked to the negotiations said. The supply is maintained despite the blockade against Venezuelan Oil Company, put by Washington which hampers the world trading routes so that Venezuela can not be able to meet its international commitments.

The oil blockade of Washington against Caracas adds uncertainty to the restless oil market, as revealed by the spokesman. The United States is the main buyer of Venezuelan oil in the World, importing more than 750 thousand barrels per day according to 2016 figures of the International Energy Agency. Venezuela is the quarry of crude that has Washington behind Canada, Saudi Arabia and Mexico. www.chavezvive.info.ve

Africa: Social movements reject President Trump's military threat against Venezuela

Different African countries have expressed their strong rejection to the threat of the President of the United States, Donald Trump, to consider a military option in Venezuela.

The Arab National Congress, the General Conference on Islam and the General Conference of the Arab Parties of the Tunisian Republic issued a joint communiqué denouncing "the interference in the internal affairs of Venezuela by the United States government and Trump's latest hostile statements threatening military action."

Likewise, in Tunisia, the Popular Front issued a communiqué condemning "strongly any interference by other countries in the affairs of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela." At the same time as expressing its profound rejection of the military threat made by the US President. In a statement issued by the Youth of the Socialist League of the Social Democratic Party of the Republic of Kenya, President Trump's declarations are disapproved and the willingness to join "the struggle against foreign domination and US imperialism was expressed. The struggle for peace of the Venezuelan people who have only known how to work for the welfare of the world's peoples of the South."

Also in Kenya, the Center for Reflection on South-South Solidarity announced its stance in a statement indicating that "We must fight against slander and defamation campaigns propagated by the International Right and its media agents who try to lay the foundations for foreign PAGE intervention in Venezuela against the will of the people, so that a puppet, violent and oppressive government would come to power." The National Union of Students (UNE) of the Republic of Mozambique advised the US Government to use the peaceful way to achieve peace in Venezuela and not military intervention.

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"Because the threats to lives and the loss of heritage caused by war is repudiated." For his part, Hakim Nasser, son of the former President of the Arab Republic of Egypt, promoter of Pan Arabism and Arab socialism, Gamal Abdel Nasser, sent from his nation a message of solidarity to the people of Bolívar and Chávez under the leadership of President Maduro and considered that "the victory of Venezuela against imperialism is the victory of the Arab peoples."

Friends of Venezuela Sudanese Movement joined the repudiation expressed by the African countries in the face of the pretensions of the US President, expressing its concern and rejection to the option of military intervention "in the brotherly country of Venezuela, in violation of the international principles of solidarity , peaceful coexistence and self-determination of peoples." The Congolese Friendship Association among peoples and the Congolese Communist Party, the Union of Arab Youths, the Friendship and Student Associations in Benin, Gambia and Mozambique also expressed their solidarity with the Bolivarian Revolution and rejected the recent threats of US President Donald Trump.

www.mppre.gob.ve