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).
weeklynewsletter VOL. 1 18th MAY 2015 ISSUE. 9
What’s Inside! 1. Maduro: Venezuela was born to Make revolution 2. Venezuela promotes construction of housing 3. How an Auditable Voting System is the Guarantee of Electoral Transparency 4. Is venezuela home to the last Virgin land on earth? 5. Venezuela signs agreement of university degrees recognition with Mali
MADURO: Venezuela was born to Make revolution
“Are heard the steps of a Latin America that fought as a power, and which starts again on the paths of what we will be: a power of peace, love, social happiness and Venezuela will always be at the forefront”, said President Maduro on May 12th in its “ En Contacto con Maduro” (In Contact with Maduro) program, broadcast on Tuesday from Miraflores Palace. He said Venezuela was born to make Revolution and combat the fake mark that have left to the people the participatory democracy and neo-colonial structures. “We will continue leading the way (…), facing the risks that may have to face, but our country was born to promote new models of peace, happiness and true equality in the world.” The Head of State stressed that Venezuela is respected internationally because it has been dedicated to bringing the truth of what it has accomplished, rescued and also of what it represents. “One never ceases to be amazed by the friendliness of the leaders of the world by the Venezuela of today, free, independent, sovereign, dignity, standing with a brave voice of its own. There is a lot of respect for our country.” www.rnv.gob.ve
Venezuela promotes construction of housing Caracas, May 12 (PL) The Great Housing Mission of Venezuela (GMVV, Spanish initials) today starts a new challenge to accelerate implementation of projects with a view to build three million homes by 2019, the Minister of Housing and Habitat, Ricardo Molina said. We intend to reach one million houses before 31st December; the official told the news portal Hoy Venezuela and recalled that 700 thousand families have benefited from this plan. To achieve this, this social program (created in 2011 by the late President Hugo Chavez) requires the work and participation of all sectors, said Molina. Since its inception the GMVV has guaranteed the conditions to build decent homes under a scheme for equitable redistribution of wealth in the country, which continues under the leadership of President Nicolas Maduro. The initiative aims to gradually reduce the housing deficit, while creating capacity to construct 400 thousand houses per year. Once the accumulated debt is repaid, a slowdown of the works is expected, the idea is to develop an industrial base to meet the needs of Venezuela and then help other countries.
To ensure the realization this endeavor, agreements were signed with Russia, Belarus, Spain, Iran, Portugal, China and Turkey, among others. The GMVV mission has a great social impact but also a huge financial cost, said Molina, who said that the Superior Housing Organ monitors, evaluates and makes proposals to achieve the goals in this area. The minister expressed his confidence in the success of the initiative which he said has the spirit of Chavez: set goals and do everything necessary to fulfill them. According to official statistics, during the 14 years prior to the coming to power of Bolivarian Revolution in 1999, some 891 000 houses built in the country, as of 2011 to date more than 700 thousand have been built. www.prensa-latina.cu/index.
2
How an Auditable Voting System is the Guarantee of Electoral Transparency
President of the National Electoral Council (CNE), Tibisay Lucena, praised on May 10th the sound auditable voting system for ensuring transparency in each election held in Venezuela. Lucena was emphatic in stressing that there is absolutely no question that the Venezuelan electoral system can be violated, “there is not one single possibility,” she said Sunday in an interview with Jose Vicente Hoy in his Sunday analysis TV show. She referred to the more than 17 audits to test automated election system, considered by former US President Jimmy Carter as the best in the world, a statement he made based on his experience of electoral observation of 92 elections worldwide. Lucena spoke about the audition made to the software of voting machines, the program that properly tallies the votes, and stores them at random to keep its secret being revealed. Concerning this audit, Lucena said after this software is audited, authorities designate
passwords to be shared by the representatives of all political organizations participating in the elections, CNE and the external audit firm, that is, “neither side can modify nothing in these machines, there are shared keys to prevent an electoral process from being changed unilaterally,” she said.
regions guests that have included Africa, Europe, Asia, as well as parliamentarians from several countries, always respecting sovereignty and partnership, which “has been a concept adopted by the Electoral Council of UNASUR (Union of South American Nations),” she said.
Another element checked during audit of the electoral system, is the production of voting machines, which verifies proper audited software set on each of the more than 30,000 voting machines.
“We believe in the sovereignty, and here any other country can not come to decide what national are up to decide, and much less to ensure an electoral process that the Electoral Branch can only do, as established by the Constitution,” she said.
In the pre-dispatch audit, a batch of machines are checked again to ensure that installed software has not been modified. Similarly, the technology platform totaling the votes, the system of identification of citizens, the transmission of data, ballots, voting notebooks and even the indelible ink are also audited. Lucena also stressed that electoral processes in Venezuela draw growing interest across the world, so the CNE has an observation program with electoral missions composed from other
Lucena said the date of the 2015 parliamentary elections will be held in the last quarter of the year. Some 167 posts will be elected, according to a population of 339,083.60, established with the Venezuelan population projection that National Institute of Statistics (INE) presented to the CNE. www.hoyvenezuela.info
3
IS VENEZUELA HOME TO THE LAST
VIRGIN LAND ON EARTH? The tepui located in southern Venezuela, are table-top mountains which are usually standing isolated in the midst of the forest which turn the mountains in the house of endemic plants and animals. These enormous rocky formations give visitors the opportunity to feel like real explorers: most of the tepui have never been visited because of the difficulties in reaching them. Most of the Tepuis are located in Venezuela and the most outstanding ones are Neblina, Autana, Auyantepui and Mount Roraima. Some of them elevate over 1,000 meters over the jungle. Though it may seem that tepuis have an immense biodiversity which is also unique: around one third of the plants and animals found there cannot be found in any other part of the world. The nearly vertical walls and the dense jungle around the tepuis make the natural landscape inaccessible to explorers on foot. Only three of them are accessible, including the most famous of them, Mount Roraima. It is believed that over 90% of tepuis haven’t been explored by humans. This fact keeps most of the secrets and biodiversity of the place untouched. It is believed that such mystery is behind the inspiration Arthur Connan Doyle found to write “The Lost World”. www.hoyvenezuela.info
4
Venezuela signs agreement of university
degrees recognition with Mali The People’s Power Minister for Higher Education, Science and Technology (Mppeuct), Manuel Fernandez, on behalf of the Bolivarian Government, signed on May 12th along with the Minister for Higher Education and Scientific Research of Mali, Mountaga Tall, a bilateral agreement on recognition of certificates, diplomas and degrees in higher education, that will enable professionals graduated in the framework of this agreement to legally practice their careers in each country. In this regard, Fernandez thanked the visit of the delegation of the Republic of Mali and mentioned how happy would be the Eternal Commander, Hugo Chavez, to see him reunited with the brothers of the African country. “We are doing a work in terms of strengthening relations; in this regard, President Nicolas Maduro is also pleased because he has a high sensitivity to build relations with the entire South, an autonomous, sovereign, very respectful relationship,” he said. He stressed that in the educational scope, what makes the process irreversible is training, education, information and awareness of the people. “The instruments that we sign today are not only a formal commitment, but the realization of a policy and a future commitment,” stressed the Venezuelan minister. For its part, the Malian Government’s official said his visit to
Venezuela is part of the relations of friendship and fraternal collaboration between the two nations. Likewise, he also reminded Commander Chavez on his passing through Mali, who by then had sought the cooperation between the two countries. “We are here as part of the effort of South-South cooperation, particularly in the field of higher education, science and technology. This signing is important because it allows researchers and scientists from both republics to form talent and train them”, he said. The event was also attended by Deputy Minister for Africa of the Venezuelan Foreign Ministry, Reinaldo Bolívar, who accompanied the foreign delegation and said that an agreement on recognition of diplomas with
the Republic of Mali, a country in West Africa which is very much a friend of Venezuela. “It is an extremely important step. In Venezuela are enrolled students from 22 African countries, therefore this process is vital for them to pursue the careers they are studying in Venezuela, and then to contribute to the development of their nations.” Thanks to these agreements that have signed the Bolivarian Government with their counterparts from some 40 African countries, Venezuela has the presence of young people from this continent, who are being formed in careers such as medicine, sport and agriculture, among others, in various universities and in the Latin American School of Medicine “Dr. Salvador Allende ”(Elam). www.rnv.gob.
5