Bolivarian Government of Venezuela
Ministry of People’s Power for Foreign Affairs
Vol. 3: Issue 43, 8th November, 2017
Embassies of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela in the World
Weekly Newsletter Inside This Issue 1. Venezuela pays 1,121 million US dollar bonus and avoids default
Venezuela pays 1,121 million US dollar bonus and avoids default The president of Venezuela NicolĂĄs Maduro, announced that his government will begin refinancing and restructuring of the external debt estimated at around 150 billion dollars, after confirming the payment of 1.121 million dollars of a bond in order to avoid a default.
restructuring of all external payments of Venezuela and the fight against the blockade and financial persecution." According to Maduro, since 2014, it has been his government's turn to "pay capital and interest for 71.7 billion dollars". "Venezuela has always fulfilled its international obligations," he said.
"As of this payment, I decree a refinancing and a restructuring of the external debt and of all payments from Venezuela," Maduro said in a radio and television channel, adding that the payment will be made early Friday and corresponds to the last amortization of the 2017 bonus of the PDVSA oil company, support of an economy in crisis in which crude accounts for 95% of the exports.
UN approves restructuring of external debt The United Nations Organization approved a principle of sustainability for those nations that decide to restructure their external debt, a decision that Venezuela took last week. The principle adopted in 2015, advocates that the restructuring processes be completed on time and effectively.
"They're not going to suffocate us and we're never going to surrender, we're not going to surrender either to the US Empire or to any empire in the world," Maduro said, referring to the sanctions imposed by the Donald Trump government that prohibit negotiating new Venezuelan debt.
The restructuring must be done in time, in order not to jeopardize the stability of the debtor countries, the United Nations decided this through the vote of 136 countries that voted in favor, and only six member states rejected. The approved resolution seeks to contribute to inclusive economic growth and the stability of the international financial system.
The president said he had appointed a presidential commission, led by Vice President Tareck El Aissami "to begin the refinancing and
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2. World Votes to Lift Blockade on Cuba as US, Israel Vote 'No' 3. The process to nominate candidates for mayors of Venezuela´s 335 municipalities starts 4. OPEC's head says Saudi, Russia statements 'clear fog' before November 30th meeting 5. Uganda, South Africa Call for Economic Liberation of Africa
UN supports Venezuela’s decision The Venezuelan government decided to restructure and refinance its external debt, based on principles approved by the United Nations Organization, a spokesman for the Foreign Ministry reported. Those principles establish that countries can renegotiate their sovereign debt, the spokesperson said. In September 2015, the United Nations adopted a resolution that establishes nine basic principles to be taken into account in the sovereign debt restructuring processes. The resolution makes clear that creditors and debtors must act in good faith, and cooperate in order to reach a consensus agreement. The text, supported by the Group of 77 plus China, received 136 votes in favor, 6 against and 41 States abstained.
The United Nations Organization stablished that the States that restructure their foreign debt are immune from foreign courts. The resolution refers to the immunity of a State against foreign courts in these processes. Venezuela announced last week that it will restructure and refinance its debt, to overcome an economic situation that hits its population. During the last 4 years, the Venezuelan Government has canceled more than 71 billion dollars of its external debt.
Venezuela continues to receive financial support The Venezuelan President, NicolĂĄs Maduro, denounced an international financial persecution that blocks the credit routes to the South American Nation. Maduro rejected that factual powers block access to sources of financing, despite Venezuela's punctual compliance with international commitments. Maduro however acknowledged that this blockade has been broken by China, Russia, India and Turkey, which maintain a close relationship with Venezuela with regards to financial field. China and Venezuela develop almost 800 projects in different strategic sectors, with financing of more than 62 billion dollars. Together with Moscow, the government of Venezuela executes projects in more than sixty prioritized areas.
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World Votes to Lift Blockade on Cuba as US, Israel Vote 'No'
The U.N. General Assembly has voted 191 to 2 for the lifting of the U.S. blockade on Cuba as the United States and Israel were the only countries to vote against the resolution. Delegate after delegate called for the end of the blockade, highlighting the progressive and positive role Cuba plays in the international community.
The Venezuelan representative speaking on behalf of the Non-Aligned Movement expressed full opposition to the promulgation of the economic, commercial and financial blockade against Cuba, which has lasted for over 55 years. He noted that the blockade is not only a contravention of international law, it is also a "criminal act" perpetrated by the most powerful government in the world to prevent a small Caribbean island from creating its own society.
Speaking at the General Assembly, titled, "Necessity of ending the economic, commercial and financial embargo imposed by the United States of America against Cuba," the representative of African states called the hardline stance taken by the current U.S. administration against Cuba as being "a step backward" that hampers Cuba's sustainable development.
The diplomat added that the blockade violates Cuba's right to interact with the international community, due to its extra-territorial reach in the forms of fines and restrictions on people and businesses that travel to and engage with Cuba. After criticizing member states and their representatives for condemning the U.S. economic blockade and calling the annual vote "political theater," Haley directed her speech to the Cuban people. In doing so, she declared that her government, though standing alone in its promulgation of the 55-year-old blockade, will express solidarity with all Cubans by voting in favor of maintaining it.
He recalled Cuba's proud history on the African continent, actively participating in liberation struggles and its ongoing contribution to improving healthcare. “The people of Africa will continue to remember this contribution,” he said, adding that Cuba has long been a responsible member of the international community. Cuba's Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez approached the podium to an abundance of applause. He responded to U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley's comments by stating that the United States has no moral ground to stand on in its condemnation of the Caribbean island due to its “flagrant violation of human rights,” citing the arrest and deportation of minors and undocumented immigrants; the killing of African-Americans by U.S. police; the lack of guarantees for education and healthcare and restrictions on union organization; and the refusal of U.S. companies to sell life-saving medical supplies to Cuban healthcare services.
The representative of the Plurinational State of Bolivia responded to Haley's speech by reminding U.N. members of Cuba's contribution to humanity. He quoted Nelson Mandela who stated that Cuba's role in the Angolan liberation struggle, which included the “decisive defeat of the aggressive apartheid forces destroyed the myth of the invincibility of the white oppressor.” Hence, Cuba has been, and continues to be, at the “service of others,” he said.
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Sacha Sergio Llorenty Soliz emphasized that while the United States wants to teach everybody lessons on democracy and human rights, it turns its back on international law, believing that multilateralism is a farse and continues to promote torture and turns Guantanamo base into an illegal prison.
Since 1992, successive administrations have voted "no" on the annual resolution before the general assembly. Former U.S. President Barack Obama broke with this predictability by abstaining from the vote in 2016 as part of a new strategy of thawing relations with the socialist country.
“They want us to believe that they are exceptional” despite harboring governments that run counter to the aspiration of all peoples who want to see an end to the 55-year-old economic blockade against Cuba.
Trump has rebuked his predecessor’s decision to open relations with Cuba. The administration has planned to re-impose strict travel restrictions for U.S. citizens to the island nation and close holes in the blockade that made it possible for investment in certain areas of the Cuban economy, including agriculture, technology, and tourism.
Rodriguez noted that every single Cuban family and social service has been adversely affected by the blockade. "Haley speaks on behalf of an empire,” Rodriguez emphasized, one that promotes global insecurity, tramples upon international law and the U.N. Charter, “which she cynically invoked.”
The annual resolution has been all but universally supported by the 193-member body of the general assembly. Only two countries have consistently voted against the resolution in recent years — the U.S. and Israel.
He noted that Haley at least recognized “the total isolation of the United States” in its continued support of the economic blockade, disregarding the “weight of truth” expressed by the international community.
During the presentation of the annual project on the economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed by the US on the Republic of Cuba, Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez expressed his strong condemnation of the statements made by the US ambassador, Nikki Haley, which were "disrespectful , offensive and interventionist ".
Rodriguez reminded U.N. member states and representatives that the current U.S. administration “lost the popular vote” and its attempt at undermining the Cuban Revolution “is doomed to failure.”
In this context, Rodriguez said that the Government of Cuba is willing to continue promoting good relations with the US and continue the respectful dialogue in the search for a common good between both nations. However, he ratified that any strategy that attempts to destroy the Cuban Revolution will fail.
He quoted Cuban President Raul Castro when asserting that the U.S. and Cuba can coexist recognizing their difference, but it should not be expected that in order to do this, Cuba would yield to U.S. demands or accept any preconditions. He reiterated that the Cuban people will never “renounce its purpose” of building a socialist, sovereign, sustainable country.
While requesting the vote in favor of the end of the the criminal blockade,he stressed that the Cuban people will continue along the path of sovereignty, independence socialism, democracy and prosperity .
In closing, Rodriguez thanked the majority of the people of the United States for supporting the lifting of the blockade.
He also thanked the various governments, political forces, social movements, civil societies and the American people for the support and contribution that they gave to the Cuban cause year after year, rejecting the clear violation of the human rights of the Caribbean country.
The United States vote follows an Oct. 3 decision to expel 15 Cuban diplomats following allegations of "sonic attacks" on U.S. diplomatic staff stationed in the U.S. embassy in Havana, which the Cuban government has investigated and denied.
www.telesurtv.net www.reuters.com The views and opinions expressed in these articles are of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official position of the Embassy
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The process begins
The process to nominate candidates for mayors of Venezuela´s 335 municipalities starts The process to nominate candidates for December´s elections, to hold one of the 335 positions of mayors in Venezuela, starts Monday 6th November. This nomination process begins without the Venezuelan opposition showing any clear intentions of wanting to participate in municipal elections. The deadline is Wednesday, November 1, according to the schedule of events presented by the National Electoral Council.
All of this is more impressive considering that the election took place in the midst of the country’s worst economic crisis decades – precipitated by a 50% drop in global oil prices since 2013 – which has been exacerbated by US economic sanctions and an opposition-led destabilization campaign. Indeed, it is safe to say that few democratic governments have had to contend with the array of challenges the Maduro administration has faced and have still come out on top in the electorate.
Venezuela´s electoral authorities have not confirmed the date for December´s elections, but it is planned for the National Electoral Council to announce it soon. The head of the Venezuelan Parliament, Julio Borges, announced that the opposition must abstain from going to elections, if the current electoral system continues operating. Borges said he trusts that the international pressure will reinforce the necessary changes and create an independent National Electoral Council.
What explains Chavismo’s comeback? Last October 15th’s socialist win came as a shock in Washington and other capitals where elites and their mainstream media gatekeepers were confident in a MUD (Democratic Unity Roundtable) victory, as predicted by countless opposition-linked polls.
The municipal elections were convened by the National Constituent Assembly for December. The opposition comes from participating in regional elections, losing 18 of the 23 governorships, results that they have never acknowledged.
As usual, they went along with their position, and when reality proved otherwise, out came the foreign ministry statements screaming “fraud” and demanding increased intervention in the South American country.
Political Situation in Venezuela:
Of course, for those willing to do away with their ideological blinders, the outcome of 15-O is perfectly explainable. The key contextual factor in accounting for the PSUV victory is the Maduro government’s success in bringing an end to four months of violent opposition protests by way of a National Constituent Assembly.
Why Chavismo won gubernatorial elections on October 15th 2017 Last October 15th´s gubernatorial elections in Venezuela represented a critical victory for President Nicolas Maduro’s United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV). Taking 18 of the country’s 23 states, Chavismo demonstrated in no uncertain terms that it remains a major political force, despite nearly two years of obituaries proclaiming the end of the Bolivarian Revolution.
From April through the end of July, Venezuela’s right-wing opposition coalition, the MUD, spearheaded a campaign of violent anti-government street mobilizations demanding the ouster of President Nicolas Maduro via early presidential elections.
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Come Election Day, Chavista activists were in overdrive, working from 3am to ferry residents in need of assistance to voting centres and otherwise get out the vote via community media, Twitter, and plain word of mouth. In these efforts, the PSUV’s unified and disciplined electoral war machine played a crucial role, mobilizing local electoral committees, in marked contrast to the MUD’s top-down and internally divided campaign.
Over 125 people were killed in the unrest, which saw opposition militants set up deadly street barricades, firebombed health clinics and food distribution centres, and assassination of those perceived to be Chavistas, including by burning them alive. Refusing to surrender or enact brutal repression, President Maduro mobilized the Chavista grassroots in a constituent process of redrafting the country’s constitution, facing down the escalating right-wing insurrection and stepped-up US intervention.
Furthermore, the bottom-up effervescence of the National Constituency Assembly (ANC) election campaign on 30-J, breathed new life into Chavismo in the lead up to 15-O, washing away the apathy born of 2015’s crushing defeat in order to open new horizons of political possibility. It was precisely this increased Chavista turnout that explains the PSUV’s victory, while it was opposition abstention, as we shall see, that sealed the MUD’s defeat.
Once elected on July 30, the National Constituent Assembly had the almost immediate effect of demobilizing and dividing the opposition, coaxing its main parties to participate in regional elections and even return to the dialogue table in September 2017. The impact of this political victory on the October 15th vote should not be underestimated. Another factor behind Chavismo’s triumph was the blowback from escalating US aggression.
Consequences The extent to which Chavismo’s victory came as a surprise to the Venezuelan opposition and its imperial masters in Washington cannot be understated. For them, the result is explicable only in terms of fraud, because to assert otherwise would violate all their dearly held neoliberal conventional wisdoms about human behaviour: namely that a people faced with economic asphyxiation would persist in its collective project of resistance and revolution in lieu of dissolving into atomized, market-driven cannibalism.
As the date for Venezuela’s ANC elections neared, the Trump administration ratcheted up its interventionist manoeuvres, sanctioning top officials involved with organizing the constituent process and threatening “strong and swift economic actions”. The message was clear: Venezuela will pay dearly for defying the hegemony. In response to the July 30th election, the Trump administration immediately slapped sanctions on President Maduro and subsequently issued threats of military intervention against the South American nation. In late August, Washington targeted Venezuela with financial sanctions, barring US banks from new dealings in Venezuelan debt.
15-O broke all these supposed laws of political physics, vindicating the political consciousness of the Venezuelan people, which had the revolutionary maturity to comprehend the stakes of this election. Notwithstanding their anger at the government for its reformist inaction in the face of a five-year counter-revolutionary offensive, the Venezuelan masses understood that the fate of their revolution lay in the balance and voted to continue the fight, despite the high costs. While October 15th represents a decisive defeat for the electoral Trojan horse strategy of the right-wing opposition, the moment remains fraught with peril.
Both US economic sanctions and threats of military intervention have proven highly unpopular among the Venezuelan population, with 61.4 and 86 percent of Venezuelans rejecting the measures respectively, according to centre-right pollster Datanalisis and independent think tank Hinterlaces.
The opposition’s loss of its electoral majority provides a strong incentive for once again abandoning the institutional democratic game in favour of a short-termist insurrectionary strategy. They will undoubtedly redouble their appeals to the US, EU, and Canada for more devastating sanctions as well as military intervention. The refusal by Washington, Ottawa, and Paris to recognize the election result should be taken as further indication of this trend.
Taken together, these two elements of intensified US aggression and the ending of protests may partly explain both Maduro’s nearly six point bump in popularity in the weeks preceding the election, and, in turn, increased Chavista turnout last October 15th. Unlike in 2015, Chavistas now perceive US sanctions and right-wing terror as much more immediate threats, which may have motivated them to vote in spite of their disappointment at the national government’s continuing inaction on the economic front.
Now however, Chavismo’s victory opens up a short strategic window for going on the offensive to resolve the current economic crisis on revolutionary terms. This can only mean radicalizing the class struggle by mobilizing the masses of people behind a series of radical measures, including fixing the foreign exchange system (either through unification and a controlled float or transparent control of preferential dollars), a strategic moratorium on foreign debt payments, intensifying the anti-corruption drive, taxing large fortunes, among other steps.
In contrast to the opposition’s social media-centred strategy, Chavismo waged a grassroots campaign, mobilizing its base from the bottom up. In the lead up to the election, local PSUV activists and communal council members tirelessly dedicated themselves to the grinding political work of engaging their neighbours in discussion and debate, “house by house”.
www.chavezvive.info.ve www.venezuelanalysis.com The views and opinions expressed in these articles are of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official position of the Embassy
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OPEC's head says Saudi, Russia statements 'clear fog' before November 30 meeting The fog has been cleared ahead of OPEC’s next policy meeting by Saudi Arabia and Russia declaring their support for extending a global deal to cut oil supplies for another nine months.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, plus Russia and nine other producers, have cut output by about 1.8 million barrels per day (bpd) to get rid of a supply glut. The pact runs to March 2018 and they are considering extending it. Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman said this week he was in favor of extending the term of the agreement for nine months, following on from similar remarks by Russian made by President Vladimir Putin on Oct 4. “OPEC welcomes the clear guidance from the crown prince of Saudi Arabia on the need to achieve stable oil markets and sustain it beyond the first quarter of 2018,” OPEC’s Mohammad Barkindo told Reuters on the sidelines of a conference. “Together with the statement expressed by President Putin this clears the fog on the way to Vienna on Nov. 30.” “It’s always good to have this high-level feedback and guidance,” Barkindo added, when asked if the crown prince’s comments suggested a nine-month extension of the pact looked more likely.
A report on Oct. 18, citing OPEC sources, that producers were leaning towards extending the deal for nine months, though the decision could be postponed until early next year depending on the market. Discussions are continuing in the run-up to the Nov. 30 meeting, which oil ministers from OPEC and the participating non-OPEC countries will attend. The deal has supported the oil price, which on reached $59.91 a barrel, the highest level since July 2015, but a backlog of stored oil has yet to be run down and prices are still at half the level of mid-2014. The supply pact is aimed at reducing oil stocks in OECD industrialized countries to their five-year average, and the latest figures suggest producers are just over half way there. Stock levels in September stood at about 160 million barrels above that average, according to OPEC data, down from January’s 340 million barrels above the five-year average. www.reuters.com www.businessinsider.com The views and opinions expressed in these articles are of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official position of the Embassy
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Uganda, South Africa Call for Economic Liberation of Africa “We have allowed the ideologically bankrupt to lead our communities,” said Uganda's Minister of Justice Kahinda Otaffire.
Uganda for its staunch support for the struggle against apartheid. The ceremony comes only weeks after U.S. President Donald Trump boasted that there was “tremendous business potential” on the African continent, adding that he had friends “trying to get rich” there. His statement came only days prior to U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley arrival in Ethiopia in an initial step towards U.S. re-engagement with the African continent.
South Africa and Uganda have called for the economic liberation of their countries and others on the continent following official tributes honoring the sacrifices of fallen African freedom fighters and pioneers of the struggle to liberate their lands from European colonization. “Someone is stealing from the African countries because the dominant forces, economic forces, in South Africa that kept Black people enslaved are still there,” said Kahinda Otaffire, Uganda's Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs.
“The president is sending me because we want to build (our African policy) back up to what it was under (President George W. Bush); it has fallen and our African friends feel that,” Haley told a George W. Bush Institute event in New York.
He added that amid rampant economic challenges facing many African governments, which have kept millions of people in abject poverty, the continent's natural and human resources continue to be exploited and plundered by foreign forces, a reality that continues to this day despite the assertion that Africa is liberated.
Meanwhile, back in Uganda, delegates urged a restructuring of the educational system in order to teach African children the true history of the continent and fulfill its economic needs. They also concluded the time has come for African nations to tighten their belts in order to economically liberate their countries.
“We have allowed the ideologically bankrupt to lead our communities,” Otaffire told the crowd, which included Ugandan and South African soldiers. The South African delegation praised
www.telesurtv.net The views and opinions expressed in these articles are of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official position of the Embassy
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