Bolivarian Government of Venezuela
Ministry of People’s Power for Foreign Affairs
Vol. 3: Issue 44, 13th November, 2017
Embassies of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela in the World
Weekly Newsletter Venezuela begins the process of renegotiation and refinancing of external debt
Inside This Issue 1. Venezuela begins the process of renegotiation and refinancing of external debt 2. Venezuela reaches deal with Russiaon debt restructuring 3. US pressures, threatens against Venezuela debt restructuring 4. Trump Asia tour
"Venezuela begins a serious strategy, clear and open with the intention to seek new negotiated paths," said the president of Venezuela. With the presence of a total of 414 creditors, the meeting for the renegotiation and restructuring of Venezuela's foreign debt will be held on Monday 13th of November 2017 added president Nicolás Maduro . The meeting took place at the White Palace in Caracas , the 414 creditors (91 percent of the bondholders) will be part of the meeting with the presidential commission, which will be headed by the executive vice president of Venezuela, Tareck El Aissami. The meeting will contribute to the joint construction with bondholders of Petróleos de Venezuela (Pdvsa) of effective mechanisms to guarantee compliance with the commitments in the framework of the process of renegotiation of the external debt. "Venezuela begins a serious, clear, open strategy to look for new negotiated paths, new formulas because Venezuela has international economic rights and will enforce them," said the head of state during the broadcast of the program Sundays with President Maduro. He ratified that the goal, as proclaimed by several United Nations resolutions, is "to prioritize the development and human rights of the people," without stopping paying. In the last four years the Bolivarian Republic has canceled more than 72,000 million dollars in external debt. "They intend to drown Venezuela, suffocate Venezuela and they will not achieve it," said President Maduro, who added that they hope to obtain "favorable and fair conditions" for the refinement. www.telesurtv.net www.prensa-latina.cu
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5. The Bolshevik Revolution: Causes and imprint of a movement that 6.Developing Nations Blast Wealthy Countries' Self-Serving Climate Stance 7.Israelis plan further attacks on Syria, Hezbollah, as Lebanon war talk grows 8.Remembering Yasser Arafat 9.42nd i ndependence of the Republic of Angola
Venezuela reaches deal with Russia on debt restructuring Venezuelan President Nicolรกs Maduro announced on Sunday 12th November that the government had reached an agreement to refinance and restructure the Venezuelan debt with Russia.
The Russian President came to Venezuela's rescue this week by agreeing to restructure ยฃ2.27bn of the crisis-hit country's debt to Moscow. Russia's assistance is expected to ease the financial burden and shore up President Maduro's position Anton Siluanov, Moscow's Finance Minister, said earlier this week: "We have an agreement on debt restructuring with Venezuela, the first part includes pretty favourable terms with a small sum due for repayment so that it's anageable for our Venezuelan colleagues."
"We have reached an agreement with Russia, this week will be signing an agreement where refinancing is established, we have complied with all our international commitments," the president said. It is worth noting that 91% of all holders of the Venezuelan debt will participate on Monday the 13th November in the first stage of debt renegotiation and refinance.
Venezuelan issues will be discussed in Brussels and New york
Dialogue will still take place on Wednesday 15th Nov. despite the US blockade
Foreign Ministers of the member countries of the European Union will approve on Monday 13th November 2017, in Brussels a set of sanctions against the Venezuelan Government.
The Venezuelan government denounced the actions of the United States of activating a set of actions to abort the resumption of the dialogue, which it already held with the opposition on November 15 in the Dominican Republic.
The first step to approve the sanctions was given on Wednesday 8th by the European Union, when the Committee of Permanent Representatives voted in favor of the document unanimously. On the same day in New York, and in parallel to the Brussels meeting, the UN Security Council will hold an information session on the internal crisis in Venezuela, at the request of Washington.
Both the government and sectors of the Venezuelan opposition confirmed that they will restart talks in the Dominican Republic, with the accompaniment of Chile, Mexico, Paraguay, Nicaragua and Bolivia. The opposition coalition, which brings together a score of political parties, announced that it will seek the necessary conditions to force a presidential election in 2018.
Venezuela ruled against this type of action, alleging that it was intended to violate the sovereignty of the country.
The current mandate of Nicolรกs Maduro ends in February 2019, and the Constitution of the South American Nation foresees the presidential elections for December of next year 2018.
www.express.co.uk www.telesurtv.net www.chavezvive.info.ve 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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US pressures, threatens against Venezuela debt restructuring
The U.S. Treasury Department has threatened holders of Venezuelan bonds that it would be problematic for them to deal with Venezuela’s executive Vice President Tareck El Aissami and the country’s Economy Minister Simon Zerpa, also head of finance for Venezuela’s State oil company PDVSA. El Aissami and Zerpa are Venezuela’s main financial negotiators and the U.S. government applied sanctions against the two fo them this year.
account of lack of comfortable facilities for the investors and fears about violence in Venezuela’s capital.
The development followed President Nicolas Maduro invitation to Venezuela’s creditors last week to meet in Caracas on Nov. 13 for talks on restructuring payment of US$60 billion of Venezuela’s bonds.
The Venezuelan authorities announced on Nov. 3 the start of the procedure to pay US$1.1 billion in capital and interest on the 2017 bond that expired on Nov. 2.
Along with news of this latest U.S. threat against Venezuela, international financial media also reported that on Nov. 8 a creditor of PDVSA’s 2017 bonds asked the International Swaps and Derivatives Association to determine whether the oil company had fallen into non-payment which would activate insurance payouts for credit non-compliance.
The ISDA stated that “the 2017 bonds issued by the reference entity (PDVSA) expired on Nov. 2, 2017, with a payment of the expired principal. Following the end of the grace period for claiming non-payment insurance, the principal has not been received.” Now ISDA members need to vote on whether or not to accept the creditor’s question about non-compliance and then discuss how to respond to it.
A financial terror campaign on steroids Venezuela’s debt payments this year anticipate projections for payment of around US$8 billion in 2018 which will now be restructured. Even though creditors are not forbidden under General License 3 of President Donald Trump’s Aug. 3 decree from participating in talks on Venezuela’s bonds, the U.S. Treasury has now said that any deal with El Aissami and Zerpa, both on the U.S. Treasury’s list of Specially Designated Persons, could be problematic, without referring directly to negotiations as such or to whether a possible agreement might break U.S. law. The U.S. Treasury went on to note that possible penalties for U.S. citizens could mean up to 30 years in prison or fines of up to US$5 million. In the case of financial institutions, the fines could go up to US$10 million.
All of which amounts to rumors, misgivings, disinformation and yet more threats.The Trump administration’s objective – thwarting Venezuela’s debt restructuring These maneuvers against Venezuela are based on a multifaceted attack. Although the attack’s internal allies have been arrested by the Attorney General’s office, imports and dividend payments in dollars have halved compared to 2016, because the U.S. Treasury has organized an assault via U.S. banks withholding notes of credit U.S. oil refineries need to be able to pay for Venezuela’s crude oil. That is on top of the fierce financial terror campaign by news agencies like Reuters and a long list of anti-Chavista information media.
In coordination with the U.S. Treasury pronouncements, Venezuela’s opposition media have supplemented the U.S. threats with “anonymous statements” supposedly implying that creditors are not planning to participate in the Nov. 13 meeting in Caracas allegedly on
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Almost all Venezuela’s current sovereign debt has Collective Action Clauses with an average qualified majority of 80%. This mechanism could work in favor of a possible restructuring of PDVSA’s debt with a large number of bondholders, thus reducing the U.S. Treasury’s ability to declare any agreement illegal based on Trump’s Executive Order of last Aug. 25.
In 2015, the United Nations approved an initiative of Argentina supported by the Group of 77+ China proposing nine principles for a nation to restructure its debt. Among the most important was the principle that if a debt renegotiation is approved by a “qualified majority” the renegotiation must be accepted by the remaining bondholders. This is why efforts are being made to sabotage the Nov. 13 meeting in Caracas. The first of those nine U.N. principles states that a restructuring of sovereign debt “should not be frustrated or obstructed by abusive means.”
Now Russia and Venezuela have agreed to restructure Venezuela’s debt, it is more urgent for the United States government to force the possibility of a default so as to affect Venezuela’s financial credibility and prevent Venezuela’s debt payments. The financial terror campaign seeks to bring about non-payment so as to deepen its projection of Venezuela as an unstable country with doubtful ability to make payments on time. Self-evidently, the support of China and Russia for Venezuela’s debt restructuring represents a geopolitical counterweight with major influence in financial markets which the U.S. needs to roll back.
The financial terror campaign aims to sabotage any debt restructuring based on the Collective Action Clause of Venezuelan bonds that would allow a majority of creditors to agree a legally binding restructuring for all bondholders making it obligatory for minority bondholders to accept. It is worth noting that this would render inapplicable President Trump’s August Executive Order forbidding a possible restructuring agreement. An analysis by two U.S. lawyers specializing in public debt, Lee C. Buchheit and Mitu Gulati, explains that PDVSA could propose a swap of independent promissory notes, include them in any restructuring and turn those bondholders into preferred creditors.
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
According to the lawyers, PDVSA should get widespread acceptance from so-called holdout bondholders and so-called vulture funds for a successful negotiation because this swap mechanism would put “creditors in a dilemma: either they accept the swap and take a future restructuring ... or they hold on to current PDVSA bonds.”
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Summit of ASEAN leaders at the Philippines “INDO-PACIFIC”
Leaders of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), China, Russia, Japan, Canada, South Korea, India, Australia and New Zealand arrived in Philippines for the ASEAN summit.
Trump’s tour comes against a background of tensions on the Korean peninsula following exchanges of war-like threats and insults between North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un and Trump over Pyongyang’s nuclear and missile development program.
“We have to be friends, the other hotheads would like us to confront China and the rest of the world on so many issues,” Duterte said at a business conference, as planes carrying heads of state and government attending the summit landed in quick succession in Manila. “The South China Sea is better left untouched, nobody can afford to go to war. It can ill-afford a violent confrontation.”
China has been urged by both South Korea and the United States to take a more active role in curbing North Korea’s nuclear and missile ambitions. During his tour, Trump and his team have repeatedly used the term “Indo-Pacific” instead of “Asia-Pacific” for the region, which some see as an effort to depict it as more than China-dominated.
Hours earlier, during a bilateral visit to Vietnam, Trump offered to mediate in the dispute over the South China Sea, where four Southeast Asian countries and Taiwan contest China’s sweeping claims to the busy waterway. All the claimants will be at the summit, except for Taiwan.
Tour leaves observers perplexed First Donald Trump insulted North Korea's Kim Jong-un, then, hours later, said he hoped the two could be friends in the future.
Trump joined leaders of Southeast and East Asian nations in Manila, the last leg of tour that saw him visit Japan, South Korea and China as well as Vietnam. The sheer length of the trip - the longest to Asia by a U.S. president in more than a quarter century - may reassure some that, despite Trump’s “America First” policy, Washington remains committed to a region China sees as its strategic domain.
It is exactly the kind of contradiction that has typified his five-nation tour of Asia and left many observers scratching their heads. But what can we decipher about the US president's approach? Donald Trump is likely to return home and say he has had a great trip to Asia. There are some in the region who may agree that it has been of massive benefit, but not necessarily to America.
Police used water canon to prevent hundreds of protesters reaching the U.S. embassy in Manila ahead of Trump’s arrival. Carrying placards declaring “Dump Trump” and “Down with U.S. Imperialism”, the left-wing protesters were blocked by police in riot gear with shields and batons, and then showered with jets of water from a fire engine. But Trump, who has been criticized at home for neglecting rights issues in dealings abroad, praised Duterte in May for doing an “unbelievable job on the drug problem”.
The US president has certainly been treated like a king everywhere he has gone, and it is obvious that he loves being feted and flattered - perhaps especially now, given all the criticism back home.
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He talked of the future, of innovation, technology, climate change and of a vision of the region moving forward together; in the past, the very talking points that might have been expected of a US president. That, perhaps, is the flaw of "America first". It may be a pragmatic, transactional approach to foreign policy. There is no time wasted on trying to impart American values, or improve societies. It is all about the deal. But that allows others to assume the leadership role, and for many in this region the concern is that that can only mean a more dominant, self-confident, even arrogant China.
In a foreign land, it is clear that if you treat him like royalty, he will behave like a polite guest. He has steered clear of nasty, uncomfortable things like human rights and democracy. Of course, we know that it does not take much for the statesmanlike conduct to fall away if the bear is poked. It may just be that the other leaders of this region are immaculate hosts, but there has been a strong sense during his trip that they have worked out not only how to avoid provoking him, but precisely how to disarm him: through flattery. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Donald Trump was his "favourite guy" to play golf with. South Korea's President Moon told the US president he was "already making America great", and at the National Assembly in Seoul he was introduced as "leader of the world".
The kind observer might suggest Mr Trump understands that a publicly confrontational approach goes down badly with Beijing, but that behind the smiles tough talking is going on. Others may just find his approach perplexing - especially when it comes to his offer to mediate in the South China Sea dispute. Even though the US has taken no position in the row, it has insisted on the right to freedom of navigation in the face of Chinese displeasure. Strategically, there does not appear to be any circumstance under which the US would want China to militarily dominate this particular theatre.
There was little in the way of personal praise that came back though. In Beijing, there was no chance of Donald Trump being called the "Leader of the World". At the Apec summit, without naming China specifically, he criticised those in the region who had engaged in unfair trading practices and said that America would no longer be taken advantage of. His speech was a stream of bombastic soundbites that will allow him to go back to the States and say he is following through on his vision of "America first". Stepping up But what was fascinating was what followed. A little later, President Xi took to the same stage at the summit.
But is President Trump suggesting that compromise is possible? Or is it another example of Trump's America abandoning the country's traditional influence and priorities in this region? www.reuters.com www.politico.com www.bbc.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 Bolshevik Revolution: Causes and imprint of a movement that transformed the history of the world A century has passed and the Bolshevik Revolution or October Revolution of Russia continues to be an inescapable reference in the current searches for a better world to which millions of human beings aspire. The virtues of this important event are lost sight of if we take into consideration the economic and social conditions of Russia in the mid-nineteenth century and early twentieth century. Particularly in the 19th century when the people of the Russian Empire suffered backwardness and misery; millions of men, women and children lived by working in the fields. Everything happened during the succession of the last Tsar of the Romanov dynasty, established in Moscow from the seventeenth century. ideology, which would later be led by the main protagonist of the Revolution, Vladimir Ulyanov. " Lenin. "
By 1861, Alexander II decreed the abolition of slavery, which meant personal freedom to all Russian slaves; however, little or nothing changed because of the high level of misery that motivated the decision of the freedmen to stay with the exploiters. There were several failed attempts against the Tsar, while the Russian Intelligence was consolidated. Twenty years later, Alexander II was killed in Petrograd, capital of the Russian Empire. When Alexander III took over, the death of his predecessor came with the repression of revolutionary movements.
At the same time, the Social Revolutionary Party was functioning with the support of peasants and some industrial workers, it also disagreed with the Social Democratic Labor Party on the decision of the subaltern classes. In the rank was Aleksandr KĂŠrenski, who came to temporarily govern the country after the failure of Nicholas II during the First World War that began in 1914.
The exploitation of workers increases
The Mensheviks and Bolsheviks
Simultaneously, industrialization increased, the urban working class and, consequently, the exploitation of workers. The last Tsar of the Romanov dynasty, Nicholas II, came to power in 1894 after the death of Alexander III from a disease . The new monarch lacked experience and ability to govern the Russian empire.
In the year of 1902, Lenin published the famous pamphlet what to do, which guides on how to arrive at a Revolution. Lenin considered that "there is no revolutionary movement without revolutionary theory and there is no revolutionary theory without the movement of the masses". A year later the Social Democratic Labor Party was divided between the Mensheviks and the Bolsheviks: The Mensheviks argued that prior to socialism a transition was necessary, while the Bolsheviks opted for the seizure of power fighting against Tsarism and the bourgeoisie.
A momentous provision on the road to the October Revolution was the founding in Minsk (present-day Belarus) - in 1989 - of the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party, of Marxist
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In January 1905, hundreds of thousands of people mobilized in Petrograd for the purpose of requesting the Tsar for work improvements; the response they received was repression by the emperor's troops. This fact triggered massive strikes in the city and in the fields.
The provisional government and the triumph of the Bolsheviks In February 1917 an interim government was formed which, under pressure from the Mensheviks of Petrograd, was later placed in the hands of Kerensky. Nicholas II at the head of the army in the war had lost support and he opted to abdicate.
During that year an unprecedented political change took place in Russia: Nicholas II created the Duma State, a consultative assembly that turned out to be an organism elected by the bourgeoisie whose faculties severed the Tsar himself. Simultaneously, the first Soviet, an organizing council of the working class and the revolutionaries emerged.
In his short government, Kerensky tried to establish a transient bourgeois democracy with the support of the Mensheviks. The peasants, for their part, demanded land, peace and the constitution of a truly popular and socialist government.
After several strikes, the Soviets spread to cities and fields; in Moscow and Siberia the first Soviets of soldiers were summoned. In Petrograd, the Soviet managed to represent in no time less than 250 thousand workers of various unions, and presented to the Duma State a series of claims. In November the president of the Petrograd Soviet was arrested, replaced by Lev Davidovich Bronstein, better known as Leon Trotsky, who, despite having some differences with Lenin, collaborated with him.
Several revolutionary leaders returned to Russia, who had to go into exile, among them Lenin and Trotsky; nevertheless, the Kerensky government continued the persecution against Bolshevik leaders. Lenin went into exile again in Finland with a slogan: all power for the Soviets; and created the Red Guard, a revolutionary military committee commanded by Trotsky, to take power in the name of the Soviets. In October 1917, the revolutionaries took control of the telephone exchange, railway stations and official buildings. After other events, KĂŠrenski escaped and a Council of People's Commissars was constituted, formed by Bolsheviks and presided over by Lenin. The Soviets finally proclaimed the constitution of their Republic: the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.
At the outbreak of World War I in 1914, NicolĂĄs II mobilized millions of people and weakened the productive structure of the country, which compromised his empire. In addition to the deaths, the conflict sharpened the social crisis. There were later demonstrations calling for peace, including revolts in several barracks whose soldiers refused to fire on the demonstrators.
A century later, the Bolshevik Revolution continues to be a source of inspiration for people struggling for a better world; against capitalism, neocolonialism and the exploitation of human beings. www.history.com www.mppre.gob.ve 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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Developing Nations Blast Wealthy Countries' Self-Serving Climate Stance Wealthy industrialized nations stand accused of failing to deliver on short-term commitments on global climate goals, endangering the landmark Paris Accord, a bloc of 134 developing countries have warned U.N. negotiators in Bonn.
Iran likewise issued a scathing indictment of wealthy countries' track records during the U.N. Negotiations, claiming they are attempting to silence the nations of the Global South. "So soon after the Paris agreement entered into force we are already seeing that trust and good faith being eroded by constant attempts to move away from prior agreements, solemn pledges and treaty obligations," said Iran's representative at the talks, Majid Shafie-Pour, noting that the wealthy countries have “immediately rejected outright” the developing nations' concerns.
The dispute shows the difficulty of reaching a consensus uniting 196 nations, ranging from the core capitalist nations to the undeveloped and dependent nations with the most to lose from climate change. "If we do not respect decisions that we have made, then how can we build trust among the parties?" Chinese senior negotiator Chen Zhihua said in reference to pledges by wealthy nations to enhance their financial support for curbing greenhouse gas emissions before 2020.
In a separate interview, Iran's representative – who also is the spokesperson for the Like-Minded Developing Countries group – questioned whether the developed countries have any concern about reaching the accord's claimed goals. “The developed country parties neither have the will, nor the intentions of taking any actions on the ground,” Shafie-Pour said.
"And how can we lay a good foundation for the implementation of the Paris Agreement?" he told reporters in a press conference by diplomats from India, Iran, Nicaragua and Ecuador. “The science is clear: if we don’t get our act together before 2020, you can forget about the 2C and 1.5C targets,” said Nicaraguan chief negotiator Paul Olquist, according to India's PTI news agency. “There has been a failure to comply with existing commitments.”
“It has always been just talks, decisions, pledges that aren’t really worthwhile the discussions right now because the entire world awaits actions. We have been badly hit, our economies have been hit, our people have been hit by various weather events, by the droughts, by floods, by hurricanes, serious health emergencies... but the developed countries are only concerned about the economic growth and welfare of their citizens.”
Ecuador, which heads the G77+China group representing 134 developing countries, noted its own concerns about the lack of progress on all financial matters. Ecuador's foreign minister, Maria Fernanda Espinosa, said that a "great debt" exists in climate change that the industrialized countries "have to assume" and fulfill vis-a-vis the nations of the South. Blasting U.S. President Donald Trump's withdrawal from the Paris Accord, she noticed the U.S. abdication provided "clear evidence of the lack of commitment and shared responsibility" by the wealthy nations of the world. Given the "enormous" costs of reducing greenhouse gas emissions, she questioned the lack of resource commitments by the industrialized nations to the $100 billion Green Climate Fund (GCF), resources earmarked for the developing countries. The GCF is a financial mechanism which helps fund climate finance investment in low-emission, climate-resilient development.
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
Based on experts' calculations, she argued that the effects of reducing greenhouse gas emissions on countries like Ecuador "will cost about $US300 billion. The offering of the developed countries is $US100 billion and the money that has been provided is $US6 billion."
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Israelis plan further attacks on Syria, Hezbollah, as Lebanon war talk grows Despite impressive gains by Syria and its allies in the fight against terrorism and the Islamic State group, Israel signaled Sunday that it plans to continue launching aggressive strikes on alleged Iranian-allied forces, even as the United States and Russia try to build up a ceasefire in the area.
Saudi military forces and their allies remain mired in the quagmire of a two-year war on Yemen that has resulted in precious little in terms of military achievements while creating one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world, according to U.N. officials.
U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday affirmed joint efforts to stabilize Syria as its civil war wanes, including with the expansion of a July 7 truce in the southwestern triangle bordering Israel and Jordan.
Amos Harel, the military commentator for Israeli newspaper Haaretz, has warned that the Saudis appear to be pushing the Israelis and Lebanese toward an escalation of hostilities potentially stemming from “a local incident gone out of control.” “If Saudi Arabia is deliberately stoking the flames between the sides (Israel and Hezbollah), this becomes a tangible danger.”
According to a U.S. State Department official, Russia had pledged to work with the so-called “Syrian regime” to remove groups like Lebanon's Hezbollah away from the Golan Heights frontier with Israel. Israeli occupation forces seized 70 percent of the Golan Heights totaling about 1,300 square kilometers from Syria during its expansionist military campaign in 1967 and later annexed the strategic region in an illegal move backed by the United States. According to an Israeli official briefed on the arrangement, the deal would prevent Hezbollah and allied forces from approaching the heights from a distance of five to seven kilometers or as far as 30 kilometers, depending on the positions of anti-government radicals. Pro-government fighters and rebel extremists would be kept apart from one another, as well. Moscow did not immediately provide details on the deal. Israeli authorities have used their significant lobbying powers to prevent Iran, Lebanon’s Hezbollah and other Shia militias from establishing permanent bases in allied Syria, and to keep them away from the occupied Golan as they gain ground while helping Damascus beat back Islamist rebels, including Saudi-backed Wahhabi militants. The latest announcement comes as the Israeli alliance with Saudi Arabia continues to warm, with the Saudis allegedly pushing to use the Israelis as a proxy force against Lebanon.
Hezbollah was formed in 1985 as a resistance group born out of repression against the Shia Muslim minority in Lebanon. It defines itself through its struggle against Israeli settler-colonialism in Palestine and Lebanon, particularly the 1982 Israeli occupation of South Lebanon which ended in the defeat of Israel and its humiliating withdrawal from the country in 2000. Hezbollah inflicted a historic second defeat on the Israelis when Tel Aviv launched another campaign against southern Lebanon in 2006, which lasted for 33 days and claimed the lives of more than 1,000 Lebanese civilians and displaced about a million people. Following weeks of conflict and the Israelis' subsequent retreat, the group declared the war's outcome to be a "Divine Victory" for those resisting aggression. The view that Hezbollah won the conflict was widely supported by observers, including Israeli and Western military experts. Since then, the former guerilla's force has earned the reputation for being the most capable and battle-hardened non-state military actor in the entire world, with 20,000 full-time and highly trained fighters, 25,000 reservists and well over 100,000 missiles. www.aljazeera.com www.al-monitor.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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Remembering Yasser Arafat Tens of thousands of Palestinians gathered in Gaza on Saturdaythe 11th Nov to commemmorate the 13th anniversary of the death of leader Yasser Arafat. This was the first memorial of its kind held in the coastal strip since 2007. The event was billed as a show of national unity after the reconciliation agreement with Fatah, which was founded by Arafat. People poured into Saraya Square in Gaza City from early morning, hours before the keynote speeches were due to be delivered. The rally drew in people from all over the coastal enclave, waving flags, raising posters of Abbas, Arafat and donning his landmark kaffiyeh. "Today is a day for loyalty, unity and reconciliation. We say to the president and the government: Your sons in Fatah are waiting for your support of Gaza," said 20-year-old Shukri Antar. The President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro Moros, on behalf of the Bolivarian people and government, commemorates -yet with grief- the 13th anniversary of the passing of the Palestinian great leader Mohamed Abd Al Rahman Abd Al Raouf Arafat, best known as Yasser Arafat, a world leader always remembered for his indisputable vocation for peace and advocating for freedom and well-being of the Palestinian people. These principles generated a world admiration not only for him but also for the Palestinian Cause, which he devoted his life and became its main standard-bearer. Venezuela, homeland of Liberator Simon Bolivar and Supreme Commander Hugo Rafael Chavez Frias, praises the dignity and humanist vocation of the noble Palestinian people, as well as the memory and legacy of Yasser Arafat, who was approached by our Commander Supreme due to his impeccable human values, fully consistent with the Bolivarian and revolutionary doctrine of the Venezuelan people. The Bolivarian people, historically and sincerely committed with the Palestinian Cause, takes this opportunity to rise its voice -once more- in favour of the realization of the full sovereignty and independence of the State of Palestine and reaffirms its willingness to accompany the Palestinian people day after day in its struggle for justice and truth, further expressing its strongest determination to support and promote actions in favour of peace and the legitimate and historical claims and rights of Palestine. www.aawsat.com www.mppre.gob.ve
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Luanda: Capital City of Angola
42nd independence of the Republic of Angola The Portuguese arrived in Angola in the late 15th century. For four centuries (except during a period of Dutch occupation from 1641 to 1848), Angola was under the rule of Portugal. The Portuguese Colonial War or the War of Liberation (in the former Portuguese colonies) began in 1961, with the following playing key roles: the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA), the National Front for the Liberation of Angola (FNLA), and the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA). In 1974, a military coup known as the Carnation Revolution took place in Portugal. The new government recognized the independence of its colonies. On November 11, 1975, the MPLA took control of the capital city of Luanda and declared the independence of Angola. Angola celebrated its Independence Day on the 42nd anniversary of this day on 11th of November 2017. Following this, the President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Nicolรกs Maduro Moros, on behalf of the Revolutionary Government and the Venezuelan People, celebrated with Angola their 42nd anniversary of their independence proclaiming freedom against Portuguese colonialism. It is important to remember and honor on this day the worthy and honorable actions of struggle undertaken by the Father of that Homeland Antรณnio Agostinho Neto,of the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) party and also the gallant Angolan people in order to obtain emancipation. The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela reaffirms the deep and strong ties of fraternity and cooperation that unite the two countries. In this regard, it reiterates its commitment to continue working to strengthen South-South cooperation with the African sister country. www.news.mb.com.ph www.mppre.gob.ve
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