Bolivarian Government of Venezuela
Ministry of People’s Power for Foreign Affairs
Vol. 3: Issue 46, 29th November, 2017
Embassies of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela in the World
Weekly Newsletter Kenya’s President Uhuru's Kenyatta’s Inauguration
Inside This Issue 1. Kenya’s President Uhuru's Kenyatta’s Inauguration
Hundreds of thousands of people poured into Kasarani Sports Stadium on 28th Nov. 2017 to watch President Uhuru Kenyatta being sworn in for his second and final five-year term. President Kenyatta, accompanied by his deputy William Ruto, arrived at the 60,000-seater stadium after 10am and to take the oath of allegiance, and the oath of due execution of office, before signing them. The oaths were administered by Chief Registrar of the Judiciary Anne Amadi before Chief Justice David Maraga.
POWER The President then signed the oaths before the CJ and appended his signature and thereafter hand them to the Head of State, with the deputy going through the same process. The ceremony did not have a handover of the instruments of power and the Constitution, this only happens when a new president is taking over. The President was then be honoured with a 21-gun salute by the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) to welcome its commander-in-chief. A number of delegations were represented at yesterday's ceremony with some heads of state in attendance. Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni was the first to arrive in the country a day before with the other expected leaders including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arriving yesterday morning.
transformation plan and a concerted effort to heal a nation deeply divided by a protracted political dispute. The Head of State indicated that he is a leader for all Kenyans regardless of their voting and asked all to respect the Constitution and rule of law. “Today, we can tell the world that we live under a constitutional order and that our Constitution is not a piece of paper. There is room for improvement but we should not destroy our institutions if they don’t deliver what we want,” he stated.
2. Venezuelan municipal elections: December 2017 3. President Fidel Castro: China is most promising hope for third world
He also pledged to reach out to all leaders stating that his second term will focus on strengthening ties that bind Kenyans and universal health care. He further commended the Supreme Court for adjudicating election petitions with independence.
- Palestine: Israel continues to build on private Palestinian land
President Kenyatta thanked the Deputy President William Ruto for running a spirited and energetic national campaigns for his re-election and made note of the support he and Ruto received from First Lady Margaret Kenyatta and Rachael Ruto.
4. Venezuela hosts African Cultural Solidarity Festival
On his part, Deputy President William Ruto said he will fully support President Kenyatta in uniting the country in their second and final term in office. “We will stand behind you, we will support you as you build on the foundation of the last four and a half years, building bridges across communities, building bridges of friendship, of unity of brotherhood and all of us must stand firm as Kenyans and say no to hate and resist ethnicity,” he said.
5. 3rd UN Environment Assembly
After taking the oath of office, President Kenyatta gave his inaugural second term speech, which by all indications geared towards an economic
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Presidents who sent congratulatory messages to President Kenyatta from across the globe
Donald Trump U.S. President
Theresa May British Prime Minister
Mariano Rajoy Prime Minister of Spain
Angela Merkel Chancellor of Germany
Charles Michel Belgium Prime Minister
Abdel Fattah el-Sisi President of Egypt
Abdelaziz Bouteflika President of Algeria
Those who called President Kenyatta congratulating him
Xi Jinping President of China
Federica Mogherini High Representative of the European Union
John Magufuli President of Tanzania
Nana Akufo-Addo President of Ghana
Pierre Nkurunziza President of Burundi
Salva Kiir Muhammadu Buhari President of South Sudan President of Nigeria
Dr. Hage Geingob President of Namibia
Benjamin Netanyahu Prime Minister of Israel
Jacob Zuma President of South Africa
Paul Kagame President of Rwanda
Mohamed Abdullahi President of Somalia
Hailemariam Desalegn PM of Ethiopia
Yoweri Museveni President of Uganda
Edgar Lungu President of Zambia
www.capitalfm.co.ke www.standardmedia.co.ke The presidency monthly special edition Nov 2017 The views and opinions expressed in these articles are of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official position of the Embassy
Khama Ian Khama President of Botswana
Filipe Nyusi President of Mozambique
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Venezuelan Municipal Elections: December 2017
established period (from November 23 to December 7.) These materials must comply with specifications in terms of time and editorial space, according to the means. The aforementioned legal instrument indicates in its article 75 that propaganda that threatens the honor, privacy, own image, confidentiality and reputation of the people, promotes war, discrimination or intolerance and promotes disobedience to the laws will not be allowed.
Finally, -the law adds- propaganda that discourage the exercise of the vote; that contains obscene and denigrating expressions against the organs and entities of the Public Power, institutions and public officials; that use the image, sound or the presence of girls, boys or teenagers; that threatens mental health of citizens; and that promotes stereotypes of gender discrimination or of any other type, among others will be prohibited.
Municipal elections are to be held in Venezuela on 10th December 2017 in order to elect mayors throughout Venezuela. This is the first municipal election held since 2013, when elections were delayed from 2012 following the death of Hugo Chávez.
www.dev.avn.info.ve
Citizens who wished to submit their applications on their own initiative had to secure 5 percent of signatures representing the total electoral registry of their corresponding municipality. They then had to present those signatures to their electoral board. Those elected mayors will hold office from 2017 to 2021.
Electoral material was distributed The National Electoral Council con- firmed on Monday that the electoral material for the municipal elections that will be held on December 10 started to be distributed in Venezuela. More than 19 million Venezuelans are convened to elect the country´s 335 municipal authorities. These will be the twenty-third elections held in the country since 1998.
Venezuelans believe that the Municipal Elections promote peace and stability
A research project conducted by Hinterlaces from Nov. 1 to 15 among 1,580 Venezuelans revealed that the 71 percent, the great majority, support the municipal elections, while 77 percent of participants felt it was wrong for opposition parties to refuse to participate in elections. In anticipation of the municipal elections, the National Electoral Board began delivering voting machines to polling stations to allow citizens to familiarize themselves with the new equipment.
www.chavezvive.info.ve
Dialogue in consensus The Venezuelan government and the opposition have a consensus on 6 central points to be negotiated in Dominican Republic. Six foreign ministers will accompany the negotiations in Dominican Republic between the Venezuelan government and sectors who oppose to the regime of Nicolas Maduro.
The machines will be open to the public until Dec. 7, three days before the elections, and monitored by the CNE, which also distributed sample ballots on Nov. 19 so citizens could address questions prior to approaching the polling stations.
The Campaign for Municipal Elections
The candidates for the 335 mayors of Venezuela will begin their campaigns this Thursday 30 November 2017, with the objective of gaining the voter's support called to the elections scheduled by the National Electoral Council (CNE) for next December 10 2017.
Both parties confirmed that the negotiations will take place on December 2 in Santo Domingo. A spokesman of the Venezuelan opposition said on Monday that they will seek to confirm a date for a presidential election, to open a humanitarian channel and to request the liberation of several ultraconservative activists who were arrested.
Also, the aspirants to the Government of Zulia state -election that will also be held on December 10- start their campaign on that Thursday. According to the calendar released by the CNE for both elections, the campaign phase will continue for a period of 15 days, until December 7. In that period, the electoral meetings with the people will continue to be held, in which voters can clear up their doubts about the vote and the electoral process.
The foreign ministers of Mexico, Chile, Paraguay, Nicaragua, Bolivia and a sixth country will accompany the conversations. The Dominican Foreign Ministry informed that the six most important points of the agenda to be addressed are in a consensus. Dominican Minister of Foreign Affairs, Miguel Vargas, affirmed on Monday that these six main points of the agenda are “in consensus” and expressed his wish for each subject to flow in a positive way.
The Organic Law of Electoral Processes states in the sixth title that the electoral campaign can be developed by candidates, as well as by the political parties and groups of electors. Printed or audiovisual propaganda can be spread and exposed by all means at the candidates' disposal and only in the
The opposition is aware of going to a negotiation with the Venezuelan government, said Jorge Roig, one the representatives of the opposition who will attend the dialogue. www.chavezvive.info.ve
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China is most promising hope for third world Wangjing SOHO night panorama, Beijing, China
"I think China is a socialist country, and Vietnam is a socialist nation as well. And they insist that they have introduced all the necessary reforms in order to motivate national development and to continue seeking the objectives of socialism.”
President Fidel Castro always firmly maintained his support for China and believed that the Communist Party was genuinely and capably pursuing revolutionary socialism.
"There are no fully pure regimes or systems. In Cuba, for instance, we have many forms of private property. We have hundreds of thousands of farm owners. In some cases they own up to 110 acres. In Europe they would be considered large landholders. Practically all Cubans own their own home and, what is more, we welcome foreign investment.” "But that does not mean that Cuba has stopped being socialist."
Saturday the 25th marked the first year anniversary of the death of Cuban revolutionary leader Fidel Castro. Around the world, progressives and revolutionaries commemorate his life and continue to be inspired by his example.
In 2004, Fidel awarded Cuba's state honor — the Order of José Martí — to Hu Jintao, then President of China and General Secretary of the Communist Party. At the ceremony, Fidel expressed his admiration for the achievements of Chinese socialism: “The significant thing, the extraordinary thing for me and for the world, is that the legendary China, one of the first and richest civilizations and the most populated country on Earth, less than a century ago was a territory occupied and cruelly exploited by the powers imperial of that time. Millions of people died of hunger every year; rivers of Chinese blood ran through their fields and cities. Imperialist expansionism and brutality were raging against that noble and generous people. Injustices and inequalities rooted for thousands of years seemed destined to last forever.
Often prescient, Fidel continues to be a source of insight for understanding today's political landscape, including the defining feature of the 21st century: the rise of the People's Republic of China.
Fidel on China Since 1978, China has implemented economic reforms in order to overcome its severe underdevelopment — historically imposed upon it by Western and Japanese imperialism — and the monopoly over technology held by the imperialist powers. Following their introduction China has achieved unprecedented economic growth, building a modern, moderately prosperous country and becoming the second most powerful economy in the world. Although the Communist Party of China has always insisted that it remains committed to Marxism and socialism, the reforms have been considered by many — particularly in the West — to be an abandonment of socialism for capitalism.
Socialism will definitively remain the only real hope of peace and survival of our species. This is precisely what the Communist Party and the people of the People's Republic of China have irrefutably demonstrated. They demonstrated at the same time, as Cuba and other brotherly countries have shown, that each people must adapt their strategy and revolutionary objectives to the concrete conditions of their own country and that there are not two absolutely equal socialist revolutionary processes. From each of them, you can take the best experiences and learn from each of their most serious mistakes.
Fidel, however, always firmly maintained his support for China and believed that the Communist Party was genuinely and capably pursuing revolutionary socialism. In a 1994 interview, Fidel stated: "If you want to talk about socialism, let us not forget what socialism achieved in China. At one time it was the land of hunger, poverty, disasters. Today there is none of that. Today China can feed, dress, educate, and care for the health of 1.2 billion people.”
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The Chinese process counted, in addition, with the contributions of great and brilliant political thinkers, who continued to develop and enrich the doctrines of socialism. China has objectively become the most promising hope and the best example for all Third World countries. I do not hesitate to say that it is already the main engine of the world economy. In what time? In only 83 years after the foundation of its glorious Communist Party and 55 years after the founding of the People's Republic of China. The relations between China and Cuba are today an example of transparency and peaceful collaboration between two nations that hold the ideals of socialism. Today there is not only a solid basis for the development of relations between the two countries, but also a greater political will to deepen them, continue to expand them, and defend the noble cause of socialism, unity among peoples and respect for the principles of international right.
Palestine: Israel continues to build on private Palestinian land Israeli Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit on Nov. 15the announced that confiscating private Palestinian land to be used for settlement projects is legal, Israeli media reported. The Israeli TV Channel 7 said that the private lands are to be confiscated for building infrastructure projects, including paving roads for the illegal settlements. Mandelblit’s opinion came after demands from the Israeli Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked during a discussion on an access road project, which is currently being paved, for the illegal settlement of Harsha.
The role that China has been playing in the United Nations Organization, including the Security Council, is an important element of balance, progress and safeguard of world peace and stability. "I beg you to receive [this award] as further proof of the respect and sincere affection of all Cubans for you and your heroic people, and for our enormous admiration for legendary and revolutionary China, one China, unique, intangible and immortal." In 2014, Fidel stated that current Chinese President and General Secretary of the Communist Party “Xi Jinping is one of the strongest and most capable revolutionary leaders I have met in my life.”
History vindicates Fidel as well as China Fidel rejected as idealist and utopian, the notion put forward by many that China has failed to conform to preconceived notions of a “true” socialism. Having led a socialist country in the Global South at the front-line of imperialist aggression, Fidel understood and respected that socialist countries had to respond to the concrete conditions and challenges which they faced and not merely apply dogmas.
In a statement reported by the Israeli Ynet News, Shaked said: “The justice minister welcomes this decision that constitutes another stage in the implementation of the rights of hundreds of thousands of residents of Judea and Samaria [occupied West Bank].” She also said, according to the statement, that she “will continue to promote a re-examination of previous legal positions on the regulation of construction in Judea and Samaria.” Last October, the Israeli Supreme Court accepted a petition filed by the Palestinian residents of the town of Silwad in the outskirts of Ramallah against building a settlement on their land. In February, the Israeli Knesset approved a bill which aimed to regulate the status of hundreds of illegal settlements built on private lands in the occupied West Bank. The bill stipulates transferring the right to use the land to the commissioner of the Israeli government until a peace deal is reached between the Palestinians and Israel. Mandelblit did not accept this bill then and said it would not represent the state in the Supreme Court, saying it was illegal even after it was modified. He also called for the Supreme Court to freeze all the confiscation orders of private Palestinian land. The reversal of his opinion, Quds Press said, is considered a greenlight for the Israeli authorities to continue to confiscate private Palestinian land. Israeli bulldozers continued on Wednesday, razing Palestinian private lands in the northern occupied West Bank village of Jalud south of Nablus, in preparation for new settlement construction. Ghassan Daghlas, a Palestinian official who monitors settlement activity in the northern West Bank, said in press statements that the land leveling , was part of Israel's plans for the construction of Shvut Rachel East settlement, as compensation for residents of the illegal settlement of Amona, which was demolished in February. www.middleeastmonitor.com 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
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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Venezuela hosts African Cultural Solidarity Festival
The cultural-educational festival opened with performances by musical groups from Guyana, Nigeria, Mozambique, Cuba, and Venezuela. The V Cultural Festival with the People of Africa opened on Sunday November 26 in Venezuela with a week of music, food, and festivities. Titled, “The Force of Solidarity," the event begins with performances by musical groups from Guyana, Nigeria, Mozambique, Cuba, and Venezuela in the Teatro Principal of Caracas. Upcoming activities will feature traditional dances, artistic demonstrations from talents such as Elsayed Morsi and the Black Theater of Barlovento. The international expo aims to share the cultural traditions of Africa with the world, also incorporating aspects of the African diaspora in the Caribbean and Latin America. Celebrating its 12th anniversary, this year’s event has drawn attendees from 30 African countries and a dozen Caribbean and South American nations, in a continuous show of solidarity by Bolivarian Venezuela with the continent. “The Cultural Festival with the Peoples of Africa, an expression that implies the universality of Africanism throughout the world (the great diaspora and its descendants) is an international event unique in its kind, both in Latin America and in Africa itself,” a statement on the event’s site read. According to the program’s site, the cultural festival follows the “Plan of the Nation,” which it describes as Venezuela’s obligation to honor the identity and the “active and visible construction of a pluripolar world.” “It is the way in which the Peoples of the South close with their own joy and spirituality a year of Unity, Struggle, Battle and Victory of the Bolivarian Revolution of Venezuela,” the official site said. Also on the agenda of festivities from Nov. 26 to Dec. 3, are a variety of workshops, recitals, concerts, exhibitions, conversations, and tours to schools and historical sites. The week’s events will close with a special reading of the Declaration of Solidarity with Venezuela and a musical performance of eight of the international groups as the grand finale. www.telesurtv.net
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3rd UN Environment Assembly
The UN Environment Assembly, the world's highest-level decision-making body on the environment, gathers in Nairobi, Kenya from 4-6 December, under the overarching theme of pollution. The UN Environment Assembly has the universal membership of all 193 UN Member States and the full involvement of UN organizations, specialized agencies, inter-governmental organizations, civil society and the private sector. In bringing together these varied communities, the Assembly provides a groundbreaking platform for leadership on global environmental policy. This year’s Assembly is sustainable and climateneutral, and it will feature side events that confront pollution in its various forms. The Assembly aims to deliver a number of tangible commitments to end the pollution of our air, land, waterways, and oceans, and to safely manage our chemicals and waste. These will include the following: a) A political declaration on pollution, linked to the Sustainable Development Goals, to signal that humanity can work together to eliminate the threat of pollution and the destruction of our planet b) Resolutions and decisions adopted by Member States to address specific dimensions of pollution c) Voluntary commitments by Governments, private sector entities and civil society organizations to clean up the planet d) The #BeatPollution Pledge, a collection of individual commitments to clean up the planet The Assembly is led by its President and a Bureau. They are elected by all Member States and represent Ministers of Environment from around the world. The Assembly is prepared throughout the year by a Committee of Permanent Representatives which is based in Nairobi. Five events will take place in Nairobi in the week ahead of the Assembly: 27-28 November: Civil society will host the Global Major Groups and Stakeholders Forum, which facilitates the participation of civil society in the Environment Assembly and
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29 November - 1 December: The Committee of Permanent Representatives will hold its third open-ended meeting. 2 - 3 December: The UN Global SciencePolicy-Business Forum on the Environment will take place in the lead-up to and during the third session of the UN Environment Assembly, under the banner “Science for Green Solutions”. Recommendations from the Forum will inform the Assembly, which opens on 4 December. The UN Global Science-Policy-Business Forum on the Environment aims to identify and promote opportunities for green investment that are driven by advances in science and technology, empowering policies and innovative financing. 3-6 December: The Sustainable Innovation Expo will take place on the margins of the Assembly and will complement the high-profile Leadership Dialogues. The Expo will showcase that science teaches problem solving; it will also encourage critical thinking in how important, though small, our world is. The Expo will also engage participants in the oldest science of all—astronomy. 3 December: The Environment Management Group Nexus Dialogue on pollution, Cities and health co-hosted by the United Nations Environment Management Group, UN Environment, the World Health Organization and the United Nations Human Settlements Programme, will allow participants to dialogue on the importance of tackling health risks from air, water and solid waste pollution through multi-sectoral approaches, and at different geographic levels. The Assembly will also launch the interactive Leadership Dialogues, which will provide participants with an opportunity for high-level engagement and discussion on how to achieve a pollution-free planet.
http://web.unep.org www.unep-aewa.org