Weekly Newsletter 31

Bolivarian Government of Venezuela

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

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

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

WEEKLY NEWSLETTER VOL. 1:

ISSUE. 31, 19th October 2015

Maduro: Now is the Moment for Our America

The Hugo Chavez Gas Plant will benefit more than six thousand of the most vulnerable families in Granada, a product of an agreement of the Petrocaribe Energy Cooperation.

In 2005, former Venezuelan president, Hugo Chavez, created Petrocaribe to supply fuel to member countries, with favorable pay conditions, like low interest levels.

Members include Grenada, Suriname, Antigua and Barbuda and Saint Lucia, all of which Maduro visited on his tour that concluded Saturday.

Nicolas Maduro inaugurates the Hugo Chavez Gas Plant.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said on Saturday that now is an amazing moment for a united America, and that the challenge for the next 10 years is to consolidate the energy, tax and social stability in the region.

The visit was intended to fortify bilateral cooperation across the region, with an emphasis on cross-region projects, like Mission Miracle, a project to provide free sight-restoring surgery.

Maduro also agreed to the installation of a regional base for studying climate change. www.telesurtv.net

Speaking in Grenada, the final leg of a fourcountry tour of the Caribbean to establish bases for economic development within the framework of Petrocaribe, Maduro said, “The worst of the difficulties is not to dare to construct something new, is not the time to surrender, it is not the time to stop the march, with or without difficulties, it is the time to accelerate development.”

During the unveiling of the Hugo Chavez Gas Plant, Maduro said that these kind of works show how with just a little, a lot can be achieved.

“With love and solidarity, Petrocaribe is a beautiful and powerful reality in our people. If it were not for Fidel and Chavez, who knows how the Caribbean would be like today?” the Venezuelan president asked.

Pg1.

Maduro: Now is the Moment for Our America

Pg2. Venezuela promotes the NAM in Kenya. "Rethinking the South" seminar on the 13th October, 2015

Inside This Issue:

Pg3.

Encouraging the plans of cooperation between Kenya and Venezuela

Pg4.

Promoting the South-South cooperation and the People’s Diplomacy at the University of Nairobi.

Venezuela promotes the NAM in Kenya.

"Rethinking the South" seminar on the 13th October, 2015 On Tuesday October 13, 2015, in the headquarters of the African Union in Kenya, the seminar "Rethinking the South" was held, as part of the activities organized by the Embassy on the occasion of the Presidency of the Non-aligned Movement that will be assumed by Venezuela in the first quarter of next year.

The event was attended by the Assistant of the Director of the Foreign Service of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Trade of Kenya, Mokaya Kennedy, Ambassador of the Arab Republic of Egypt, Mahmoud A.Talaat and the Ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Malek Hoseein Givzad, as members of the troika of the organization, it was also attended by members of the Asian and African diplomatic corps accredited to Kenya, Ambassador of Cuba in Nairobi, Raul Rodriguez, President of the Social Democratic Party of Kenya and Chair of the Solidarity Committee Venezuela-Kenya, Mwandawiro Mganga, and the Kenyan student movement and International Relations students at the University of Nairobi and the Technical University of Kenya.

The seminar was moderated by Ambassador Jhony Balza Arismendi, who expressed his joy at the realization of this political-academic activities, which brought together diplomats in Kenya with social movements and student movements, adding that it is one of the best opportunities to make known the legacy through which the Non-Aligned Movement was created.

The activity began with interventions of the ambassadors of Egypt and Iran, who expressed gratitude for conducting such meetings, that display through the conference and debate the reasons why this international forum began, praising the legacy of the founding leaders of the Movement and that today, the rise of anti-integration forces such as the Islamic State would undermine the efforts of cooperation between nations of the South.

The seminar continued with the participation of a representative of the Kenyan Foreign Ministry, Mokoya Kennedy, who explained the role played

by Kenya as a member of this organization, the challenges to be faced by members of the Non-Aligned Movement in the Post 2015 Development Agenda adopted in the United Nations to seek the strengthening of this international organization.

The Ambassador of the Republic of Cuba in Kenya, Raul Rodriguez, then spoke and stressed the importance of this type of organization as a trench to defend the rights of people, peace and auto determination as a mechanism to combat inequality, racism and poverty. Similarly he praised and provided support to the governments headed by Presidents Rafael Correa, Evo Morales, Cristina Kitchner and Nicolas Maduro, remembering the legacy of President Hugo Chavez in favor of the union of the people of the South.

In the afternoon, the seminar received the lecture of the university Professor HĂŠctor Constant, who addressed the issue of Latin America and the Caribbean and its role in the Global South, highlighting the integration process developed in the region since the beginning of the Bolivarian revolution.

Concluding the seminar, President of the Social Democratic Party of Kenya and Coordinator of the Solidarity Committee Venezuela – Kenya, Mwandawiro Mganga, presentrd his paper on the duty of the Non-Aligned Movement on the claim of the people and called the members of this body to be the spokesmen of the social demands.

Finally, the participants at the event intervened with questions, ideas and positions on the objectives of the Non-Aligned Movement since its inception and what role this international body should play.

Ambassador Jhony Balza, gave thanked the participants of the seminar, requesting they be transmitters of what was experienced in this activity and that they be promoters of activities that carry the message about the Non-Aligned Movement and its role as a representative of the countries supporting the South-South cooperation and people’s diplomacy Source: Venezuela Embassy, Nairobi Kenya

2

Encouraging the plans of cooperation between Kenya and Venezuela

Encouraging the plans of cooperation between the two nations on Wednesday October 7, 2015 Ambassador Jhony Balza Arismendi held a meeting with the Cabinet Secretary for Communication and Information Fred Okengo Matiang'i.The purpose of this meeting was to inform about the Canaima Education Project, which has been carried out with great success in our country since 2009, being a flagship project of the revolutionary government, which has also been recognized by UNESCO. This comes after the announcement by the Government of Kenya in June of the creation of an interministerial commission to assess and provide it with recommendations for a period of two (2) years, to ensure the delivery of laptops to primary school pupils, which was one of the campaign promises of President Kenyatta when he began his term in 2013.

He further expressed the intention of the government of Kenya to strengthen ties with the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean, which began as a guideline of President Kenyatta during the 70th General Assembly of the UN, where he held several bilateral meetings with Caribbean countries .

Source: Venezuela Embassy, Nairobi Kenya

Mr. Matiang'i, was grateful for the information and said that his team has been tracking countries that have similar project such as Brazil and Venezuela and this material will be useful for the technical team that is responsible for presenting proposals. In this vein, he promised to hand in the material and coordinate a future meeting between the two technical teams through a seminar or workshop, to deepen the Exchange of knowledge of Canaima Education Project.

3

Promoting the South-South cooperation and the People’s Diplomacy at the University of Nairobi.

With the discussion topic "Latin America and the Caribbean and its Role in the Global South" held between the university Professor and Coordinator of Venezuela in MERCOSUR, Hector Constant and students of the Institute of Diplomacy and International Studies, at the University of Nairobi, on the 15th October 2015, the Embassy of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela in Kenya shared its experience in foreign policy and integration achieved over the last 15 years, under the programmatic lines of President Hugo Chavez and continued by President Nicolas Maduro.

At the roundtable discussion, the Ambassador of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela in Kenya, Jhony Balza Arismendi; the Director of the Institute of Diplomacy and International Studies, Ambassador Maria Nzomo; the Deputy Director of the Institute, Prof.

Gerishon Ikiara; Professor Anita Kiamba and students of the Institute of Diplomacy and International Studies at the University of Nairobi.

The activity began with the words of the Deputy Director Gershon Ikiara who welcomed the students of this institution, he also introduced Ambassador Balza and Professor Constant, saying it was a valuable opportunity to get to know the regional integration processes and external policies of both Venezuela and the rest of Latin America and the Caribbean, and to learn of the relevant factors in international relations, that the region has achieved and how Africa can be linked to this type of foreign policy.

Ambassador Balza praised such initiatives, which allow strengthen the academic and political ties between the institution diplomatic studies and our mission accredited to Nairobi.

Beginning the discussion, Professor HĂŠctor Constant began by first listening to the concerns of students and responding to them, intertwining with his presentation. Concerns were diverse, but they centered on the Venezuelan foreign policy in regional integration and context as well as the relations between Venezuela and Africa, the foreign policy of the Bolivarian Government, the vision of our country focused on human rights, the valuation of Venezuela on democratic and dictatorial political systems based on the political history of our country, the Venezuelan oil policy and what would be its contribution to Africa in the future, learning from the

experience of our country in matters oil and finally empowerment of the youth in political and social matters.

Professor Constant, addressing some of the concerns of students of the institution, said that Venezuela has played a leading role, through its foreign policy, which seeks to integrate the region to counter the hegemonic policies of the powerful countries, making a diagnosis of the threats affecting our country and how the nation had assumed such problems through policies contrary to those established in the world order, based on the progressive leadership built in Latin America and the Caribbean in recent years.

Professor Constant also highlighted the importance of the nations of the South to assume leadership in integration, using their cultural diversity for a new world order that will safeguard the sovereignty and in turn strengthen ties between the people of the South.

Concluding the activity, Ambassador Balza closed the discussion appreciating the large attendance of students of international relations and diplomacy, expressing his satisfaction to take to another level the relations between the Embassy and the Kenyan academia. He also called on the authorities to redouble their efforts so that knowledge of Latin America and the Caribbean is imparted in the classrooms of the university.

Ambassador Balza said that the integration of nations that have suffered under the prevailing capitalist model is an important means to generate different policies that lead to a conquest of the claims that people need, and this is achieved reaffirming the South-South cooperation and the People’s diplomacy.

Finally, the Director, Prof. Maria Nzomo, thanked Ambassador Balza for having realized this activity, stressing that the challenges of both Africa and Latin America are very similar but with the approch between the regions the needed policies can be addressed to achieve common goals.

Source: Venezuela Embassy, Nairobi Kenya

4