Latin American integration moves forward

Pg.
g 7 | Analysis
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Pg. 8 | Opinion
Are US-Venezuela relations
Oscar-winning actor Sean Penn
frozen indefinitely or can they be fixed? on rejecting US sanctions against Venezuela
FRIDAY | June 10th, 2011 | No. 67 | Bs 1 | C ARACAS
ENGLISH EDITION The artillery of ideas
Latin American integration
moves forward
Venezuelan art
in London
On a mini Latin America tour this week,
Venezuela’s Chavez strengthened cooperation with neighboring nations
Implementing reforms
to fight crime
Stopping first in Brazil to meet with the South American giant’s new head of state, Dilma Rousseff, and
then on to Ecuador and Cuba, President Hugo Chavez furthered the growing integration and cooperation
model his country has been building in the region during the past decade. Dozens of new agreements were
signed to promote regional commercial activity and social programs, as well as progress in hemispheric
independence and sovereignty. Preparations for next month’s launching of the Community of Latin
American and Caribbean States (CELAC) were also advanced. | pages 2-3
Venezuelan President
Hugo Chavez announced
major initiatives to battle
internal police and security
corruption, as well as
improve prison conditions
and promote disarmament
in communities nationwide.
He called for a more in
depth focus on human
rights training for security
forces. A new national
disarmament program was
also implemented this week
to reduce the number of guns
in the streets and fight crime.
| page 4
Politics
Housing solutions advance
A new public housing
program gains ground in
Venezuela. | page 5
Politics
Hunting banned,
conservation promoted
The Venezuelan state is
taking steps to preserve the
environment and endangered
species. | page 5
Social Justice
Millions benefit from free
healthcare in Venezuela
Free, universal, advanced
medical attention is saving
lives throughout Latin
America. | page 6
D
Crime drops in Caracas
ue to the work of the newlyformed National Bolivarian
Police (PNB), crime is down by
nearly 53% in Caracas, according
to the Chief of Police. Last Saturday, head of the PNB, Luis Fernandez, said that thanks to operations of the force, which was
officially launched last year, the
violent crime rate has decreased
by 52.78%. So far, the PNB is only
active in Caracas as part of a pilot
program to reduce crime, but the
new force is in the process of expanding nationwide.
As part of efforts to reduce crime
and police abuse, in March the in-
famously corrupt Metropolitan
Police of Caracas was formally
disbanded. The now defunct Metropolitan Police was notoriously
known for internal corruption,
facilitation of crime and drug-trafficking, and was even involved in
the 2002 coup d’etat against President Chavez. The force was trained
from 2000-2002 by ex-NYPD police
chief William Bratton.
Chief Fernandez said homicides in Caracas were down by
48.61% so far this year, and police have arrested 2,569 people,
and dismantled 249 gangs, 221 of
which were drug related.
In the Caracas Metro system,
known for small-scale robberies,
Fernandez said the crime rate
was down 71.7% compared to
last year.
The PNB was formally created
in 2009, and became active in the
streets in early 2010. Its police
are trained in the new National
Experimental Police University,
and the force is one of the government’s main policy initiatives
aimed at combating the high
crime rate and police corruption.
T/ Tamara Pearson
A
selection
l i off art bby some
of Venezuela’s most acclaimed modern artists is
currently on show at the contemporary Latin American art
exhibition, Pinta, at London’s
Earl’s Court. Maria Fernanda
Lairet, an artist from the Caracas-based Estudio 8 gallery
exhibits a number of impressive works from her Global
Narratives series, which takes
on themes of social and economic diversity by fusing the
imagery of bank notes from
different countries, mixing
colors, symbols and geometrical lines. The result is a powerful mix of national icons
such as the Queen, George
Washington and Simon Bolivar. One of her most emblematic works was the fusion of
the dollar and the euro, representing the phenomenon of
globalization and the domination that certain cultures exercise in the world.
Other artists from Latin
America included Mexican
Emilio Chapela, who created a
visual, color block representation of what people search for
in Google. More left wing political themes were searched
for in Spanish whereas
searches in English tended to
be more right wing. The artist noted that Venezuela was
the country with the most
Google hits for the word “democracy”.
|
2 | Impact
NoÊÈÇÊUÊFriday, June 10th, 2011
The artillery of ideas
Chavez and Dilma
fortify Venezuela-Brazil ties
Venezuelan President
Hugo Chavez met
with his Brazilian
counterpart, Dilma
Rousseff in the capital
city of Brasilia last
Monday on the first
stop of a 3-nation
Latin American tour
intended to promote
regional integration
and strengthen
bilateral cooperation
T
he meeting between the two
heads of state marks their
first encounter since Rousseff was
sworn in as Brazil’s new president on January 1st, and saw the
signing of ten new accords in areas of agricultural, housing, and
energy.
“We can say that a new strategic moment is beginning in this
relationship”, President Chavez
said of Brazil-Venezuela ties
upon his arrival in Brasilia Sunday night. “Without a doubt, in
past years we have been creating ventures, clearing paths, and
opening horizons. Now there is
a great coming together of projects, programs and possibilities
between our nations”.
HOUSING, TECHNOLOGY AID
Topping the list of deals signed
on Monday was an agreement
between the Venezuelan government and the Brazilian company
Odebrecht which will see the
Chavez administration receive
$4 billion in financing for social
projects.
Most notably, the financing
will be used to further Venezuela’s ambitious new public housing program, known as Mission
Housing Venezuela, which seeks
to construct 2 million new homes
in the Caribbean country by
2017.
Odebrecht, one of Latin America’s largest infrastructure contracting firms, has been operating
in Venezuela since 1992 and is
currently involved in a number
of development projects including metro, bridge and damn construction.
Chavez’s visit on Monday also
yielded a memorandum of un-
derstanding between Venezuela’s
state oil company PDVSA and
the Brazilian development bank
BNDES for the creation of shipyard in Venezuela to benefit the
Bolivarian Alliance of the Americas (ALBA).
ALBA, the 9 state regional block
which seeks to counterbalance US
hegemony in Latin America, was
founded in 2005 and includes
Venezuela as a leading member.
BNDES will loan $637 million
to PDVSA for the shipyard that
will construct oil tankers in the
eastern Venezuelan state of Sucre
with the assistance of Brazilian
firms.
Other pacts signed between
the two governments include the
development of joint agricultural
research projects as well as scientific cooperation in areas of biotechnology.
According to the Venezuelan
President, the new agreements
highlight the mutually beneficial
ties the two nations have fostered
in recent years.
“We’re creating and articulating a new relationship with Brazil that is not limited to neoliberal concepts but rather is based
on a model of cooperation which
needs to be strengthened. The
accords signed on Monday are
an example of this”, Chavez declared.
GROWING RELATIONS
Relations between Venezuela
and Brazil have grown strong over
the last 8 years. Rousseff’s predecessor, Lula Da Silva, maintained
trimestral meetings with Chavez
and signed over 200 agreements
with the Venezuela President, a
trend that both governments plan
to continue.
Commercial activity between
the neighboring South American
countries reached over $4.5 billion last year as increased collaboration between the Venezuelan
government and private Brazilian firms moves forward in areas
of agriculture, energy, transportation and now more than ever,
housing.
For President Rousseff, the economic cooperation that has flowered between the two nations has
been accompanied by a shared
sense of trust, allowing for the
creation of new social development projects.
“The dimensions and the reach
of these projects demonstrates the
confidence that the private sector
has in the Venezuelan economy”,
she said on Monday.
Part of this growing commercial and social relationship also
involves, President Chavez commented during his visit, the full
admittance of Venezuela to the
regional trade block, the Common Market of the South, or
Mercosur.
Awaiting only the approval of
the Paraguayan parliament, Venezuela’s entrance to Mercosur
will, according to Chavez, represent a further step towards solidifying South American economic
and social independence.
On Monday, Rousseff expressed her support for Venezuela’s participation in the regional
alliance and reiterated her government’s commitment to Latin
American unity.
“Venezuela can be sure that
Brazil is at its side in the fight
of all Latin American countries
for integration, the creation of
harmonious cooperation and a
democratic world, respectful of
human rights”, she said.
T/ COI
P/ Presidential Press
Chavez: OPEC has
no reason to increase
oil production
O
n Tuesday, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez argued
that since the international oil
market is sufficiently supplied and
oil prices are fair, there is no need
for the Organization of Petroleum
Exporting Countries (OPEC) to
increase oil production.
“The international crude oil
market is sufficiently supplied.
There is no crisis. The cause of fair
prices is not the lack of oil supply,
but rather several structural factors”, said Chavez during a press
conference with his Ecuadorian
counterpart, Rafael Correa. The
Venezuelan leader met with Correa earlier this week in the coastal
Ecuadorian city of Salinas as part
of their IX Tri-Monthly Presidential Meeting.
President Chavez mentioned
situations such as “the madness
of bombing Libya, or the aggressions against Iran, another
OPEC country”, as causes for
high oil prices. He commented
that oil prices have been moving
towards a fair level, which is, according to him, what is currently happening. “Today’s prices,
about $100 per barrel, are fair,
according to our point of view. In
the coming years they will keep
increasing, as well as the costs of
gold, food and medicine”.
“OPEC has no reason to increase oil production in this moment. As the demand grows, it
will have to be increased”, he
stressed. The Venezuelan President also added, “There is oil for
150 years in Venezuela with the
current rate of exploitation; it’s
scientifically certified”. Venezuela’s national oil reserves exceed
300 billion barrels, the world’s
largest.
On Wednesday, OPEC energy
ministers met in Vienna for the
organization’s 159th ministerial
meeting. The Minister of Energy
and Oil, Rafael Ramirez, attended
the meeting in representation of
Venezuela. The OPEC meeting resulted in a deadlock on increasing
oil supply, which some countries,
such as US-ally Saudi Arabia, tried
to justify. But others, such as Venezuela and Iran, refused to budge
on raising production output.
Venezuela is a founding member of OPEC, along with Iran,
Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.
T/ AVN
NoÊÈÇÊUÊFriday, June 10th, 2011
The artillery of ideas
Integration
|
3|
Ecuador and Venezuela strengthen bilateral relations
T
he Presidents of Venezuela
and Ecuador, Hugo Chavez
and Rafael Correa, together with
their cabinet members, signed 12
new accords of cooperation this
week to continue strengthening
bilateral relations.
In matters of science, technology and intermediate industries,
on Tuesday the Presidents signed
a deed of commitment to build a
joint venture of technology and
engineering to construct houses
in Venezuela as part of the “Grand
Mission Housing Venezuela”, a
social program geared towards
building 2 million new homes
over the next 6 years.
“It’s important to create a joint
venture for housing construction
materials in Venezuela”, Chavez
said during a press conference
with Correa.
A deed of commitment to supply glass bottles from Venezuela’s
Venvidrio to Ecuadorian companies was also signed Tuesday.
Glass would be sold at fair prices
to private Ecuadorian companies,
Chavez explained.
Similarly, another deed of commitment in matters of innovation,
training and technical assistance
for the textile sector was entered
into and additional accord signed
by the two nations foresees the
creation of a joint venture of plastic containers in Venezuela.
The two Presidents also signed
an agreement to extend the relationship in matters of academic
exchange and human resources
training, aimed at granting five
scholarships for Ecuadorian students to undergo doctoral studies
in Venezuela.
In matters of agriculture and
land, an agreement was entered into for produce and trade
plants. The Venezuelan President
explained the two nations will
work to develop 2,000 hectares of
plantain and banana farms in the
southern Maracaibo Lake region
in western Venezuela, taking advantage of Ecuador’s experience
in the industry.
Another deed of commitment
signed by both states will create
an accord to produce and export
flowers, in order to complement
the potentiality of the two nations
in matters of productive, commercial components, as well as
logistical export processes.
An agreement was also signed
to create a joint venture to produce and process cocoa beans.
SHRIMP FARM
As part of the 12 new cooperation agreements, one is aimed at
developing activities in matters
of fishing and aquaculture. “Taking advantage of the Ecuadorian
experience, we will establish a
shrimp farm in Venezuela and a
factory to process tuna. We will
also create a factory of balanced
food items for fish and shrimps,
and for aquaculture supplies.
In Ecuador, we expect to build a
fish-processing plant on a smaller scale”, announced President
Chavez.
In terms of energy, a memorandum of understanding between
Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA)
and Petroleos del Ecuador (Petroecuador) was established to exploit mature oil fields.
“We have agreed to continue
bringing more drills and invest
more resources in these mature
fields in Ecuador. PDVSA has
already invested about $100
million in those fields. Petroecuador will also participate in
oil production in Venezuela in
fields that are producing about
10 thousand oil barrels per day.
We expect to have 40 thousand barrels per day in about 5
years”, added the Venezuelan
President.
This project also envisions the
joint exploitation of oil belts and
the construction of refineries
which will enable the export of
by-products in the long term.
In matters of tourism, the two
Presidents signed a memorandum of understanding to develop
a binational tourism program, in
order to promote tourism in both
nations.
BINATIONAL FUND
During this 9th encounter between Ecuador and Venezuela,
the Presidents signed two documents to ratify the creation of the
Binational
Ecuador-Venezuela
Fund.
Chavez and Correa signed an
addendum to the regulations of
the binational technical commission of the Ecuador-Venezuela
Fund (Fedves), which is managed by Venezuela’s economic
and social development bank
Bandes and Ecuador’s Finance
Ministry.
SOCIAL PROJECTS
Venezuela and Ecuador also
created a joint fund of $66 million
to finance social projects for the
benefit of both nations.
President Rafael Correa detailed that Venezuela will contribute with $50 million, while Ecuador will provide $16 million.
“Each meeting, especially with
Venezuela, but with all the countries of Latin America, is useful
to strengthen the dream of our
Liberator: the Patria Grande
(the great homeland). Today, we
continue with the fight to build
that dream”, affirmed President
Correa.
T/ AVN
P/ Presidential Press
Venezuela and Cuba advance integration model
T
he energy cooperation between Cuba and Venezuela,
which has expanded in the last
few years, is promoting a new integration model for Latin America and the Caribbean, on the basis
of mutual cooperation, solidarity
and sustainable socio-economic
development of the region.
This week in Havana, General
Manager of PDVSA Cuba, Hector
Pernia, outlined the progress of
diverse economic and social projects during Venezuelan President
Hugo Chavez’s visit to the island
to sustain meetings with Raul
Castro and strengthen ties.
Pernia noted the importance
of the construction of the Camilo
Cienfuegos Refinery, inaugurated in Cuba in December 2007.
Currently, the plant has the capacity to refine 65,000 barrels of
oil per day.
“There is project to expand
this refinery and increase its capacity to 150,000 barrels”, he announced.
Pernia also mentioned the construction of a re-gasification plant,
including a gas pipeline and port
facilities.
Likewise, there are projects to
build a plant of urea and ammoniac, and a new refinery in
the province of Matanzas (northeastern Cuba) with the capacity
to process 150,000 barrels of oil
per day.
“We also have a project in Santiago de Cuba to upgrade the
refinery Hermanos Diaz from
22,000 to 50,000 barrels per day”,
Pernia said.
All these projects of investments are aimed at fostering the
production and commercialization of lubricants, fuels and
other oil derivatives for Central
America and the Caribbean in
the framework of the PetroCaribe
agreement, run by Venezuela.
In addition, each area where
PDVSA Cuba operates, social
projects are also promoted, which
is one of the principles guiding
this new integration model.
“We have an endogenous development center in Pinar del Rio
that attends to the populations
in Bolivar, Sandino and Marti.
There, we have developed a full
agriculture and livestock production program and we have
improved the entire social infrastructure, transportation, housing, roads and sewage system in
the region”, he explained.
There are two projects under
development in Cienfuegos, including the construction of a 26mile road and improvement of
the public transport system.
PDVSA Cuba started operations in Havana on April 28, 2005,
aimed at fostering PetroCaribe in
the framework of the agreement
to launch the Bolivarian Alliance
for the Peoples of Our Americas
(ALBA).
During President Chavez’s visit to Cuba this week, all these accords were strengthened. Chavez
also sustained private meetings
with Cuba’s President Raul Castro and ex-leader Fidel Castro.
T/ AVN
P/ Presidential Press
|
4 | Security
NoÊÈÇÊUÊFriday, June 10th, 2011
The artillery of ideas
Getting crime under control
in Venezuela, humanizing police
and healthy living over a culture
of violence”.
Emphasizing respect
for human rights
and the rule of law,
Venezuelan President
Hugo Chavez called
for an end to
corruption and abuse
within the nation’s
security forces last
Sunday during his
weekly television
show, Alo Presidente
T
he announcement came in the
wake of a scandal that broke
on May 27th revealing the death
of three inmates allegedly killed
by police officers in a detention
center in the capital of Caracas.
The prisoners, found dead at
the headquarters of the nation’s
investigative police, CICPC,
showed signs of suffocation and
internal bleeding consistent with
homicide. Four officers have been
arrested for the crimes.
Broadcasting from the presidential palace of Miraflores,
President Chavez condemned the
acts of violence and reaffirmed
his government’s commitment to
prisoners’ rights as stipulated by
the Venezuelan constitution.
“The beating and torture of
prisoners must definitively be
eliminated”, Chavez exclaimed
during his program. “Investigate
this to the roots and clean up [the
police forces]”, he demanded
from the cabinet members gathered for the television program.
REFORMING PRISONS
Venezuelan prisons, as is the
case in many Latin American societies, are known for their overcrowding and poor conditions.
While much of the blame for
the problems associated with the
penitentiary system lies with its
neglect on the part of previous
governments, the Chavez administration has embarked on a
reform program that has sought
to humanize conditions for those
convicted of crimes.
Although May’s prisoner scandal demonstrates the need to continue with the reforms, the government has made positive strides
including providing incarcerated
populations with educational and
recreational programs never before seen in Venezuelan prisons.
Earlier this year the country’s
legislative body, the National Assembly, passed a new Penitentiary Code that seeks to overhaul
the prison system, bringing it in
line with the progressive and humanistic values of the nation’s
constitution.
HUMANIZING POLICE
The Chavez government has
also made advancements in
cleaning up the country’s police
forces, many of which have been
known for their corruption and
ineffectiveness.
In March, the notorious Metropolitan Police Force of Caracas was
disbanded in efforts to standardize
security measures and install a new
ethic in public safety operations
grounded in human rights.
The disbandment follows the
inauguration in 2010 of the National Bolivarian Police (PNB),
a new security force defined
by rigorous training and educational programs as well as
methods based in community
engagement.
In its first year of existence,
three thousand new officers belonging to the PNB were put on
the streets on Caracas with those
numbers set to expand to 12,500
around the nation by the end of
2011.
On Sunday, Chavez applauded
the efforts being made to improve
the nation’s security apparatus,
but expressed his intolerance for
any acts that run contrary to the
values of the constitution.
“I’m making a call to police
officers. I congratulate the great
majority who do their job, but a
bad apple spoils the bunch”, he
said, noting that the fight against
crime in the country in no way
justifies abuse.
“We continue to fight against
insecurity, but we must respect
human rights. You can’t, regardless of the cause, mistreat or beat
prisoners”, he said.
HEEDING THE CALL
Following Chavez’s condemnation of prisoner abuse during
his broadcast, the Minister for
Justice and Interior, Tareck El Aissami, held a press conference on
Monday where he announced the
creation of new reform initiatives
intended to promote a culture of
nonviolence in the country.
Part of the announced reforms
includes the implementation of a
technical assessment of the investigative police (CICPC) focused
on the treatment and processing
of people under custody, El Aissami said.
The assessment will be used
to recommend changes to police
procedures and policies in order
to ensure greater compliance with
the norms and laws established
by the Venezuelan constitution.
Parallel to the investigation,
the Minister also announced the
implementation of four working
groups to formulate public disarmament policies with the goal of
“encouraging a culture of peace
GUN CONTROL
The working groups, El Aissami explained, are the result
of a Presidential Disarmament
Commission created last May to
research approaches to gun control and encourage dialogue as a
method of conflict resolution.
The National Assembly is set to
discuss and approve the Commission’s work plan next Thursday
at which time the nation’s short
term disarmament measures will
be announced along with a timeline for long term action.
According to Luis Fernandez,
Director of the PNB, the need to
for gun control in Venezuela is essential in cutting down on violent
crime and promoting personal
security.
“The disarmament process in
the country is a complex process
and we need to take it on with
great responsibility”, he said.
“Arms were made to destroy
life, that’s why we need to promote a culture of resistance to the
use of weapons in our citizens”,
he added.
Apart from the disarmament
measures, the government also
announced last Monday the creation of a new sports program to
take root in the nation’s prisons,
intended to provide greater opportunities for inmates to participate in organized athletics.
The program will benefit five
thousand prisoners across the
country with equipment and
training in sports such as basketball, volleyball, table tennis, and
softball.
A national tournament for incarcerated populations is also being
planned to begin in different prisons across the country on July 2nd.
“This opening tournament will
be carried out for three months
and will be based on the participation of the inmates with the
purpose of recognizing them as
serious and not just casual athletes”, said Johan Garcia, Coordinator of the government’s prison
sports division.
T/ COI
P/ Presidential Press
NoÊÈÇÊUÊFriday, June 10th, 2011
The artillery of ideas
Politics
|
5|
Housing solutions advance in Venezuela
A
fter being sidelined for nearly a month with a knee injury, Venezuelan President Hugo
Chavez resumed his public work
agenda last week, focusing on
housing during his weekly television broadcast on Sunday.
Before departing for a threenation Latin American tour that
began with Brazil, the Venezuelan head of state informed the
country on the progress of the
government’s new public housing initiative that has set as its
goal the construction of 2 million homes in the country by
2017.
The social program, known
as Mission Housing Venezuela,
began its inscription process in
May and according to the Venezuelan President, has already
registered more than one million
families in four states and the
capital district.
The next step for these regions,
the President reported, will be to
use the data gathered through
the enrollment process to organize small brigades to make
house calls and evaluate the
needs of those registered with
the mission.
DOOR-TO-DOOR
Starting on June 20th, groups of
four guided by GPS units will be
deployed in the states of Vargas,
Miranda, Zulia, Falcon and the
city of Caracas to canvass neighborhoods in efforts to interview
enrollees.
“I want to invite you to not see
this as something individual”,
Chavez said during the program.
“The problem is collective and the
solution must be collective with,
of course, results for families and
individuals”, he declared.
Receiving updates from various cabinet members on housing
projects taking place across the
country, the Venezuelan head of
state praised the steps being taken by the new mission to ensure
that the Caribbean country “will
not suffer more” for lack of affordable homes.
One of these projects includes
the erection of City Cariba in the
state of Vargas where 1,450 new
apartments are in construction in
Venezuela’s first planned socialist
and ecological city.
on the progress of existing housing pojects, Chavez also defended on Sunday his government’s
decision to expropriate unused
parking lots in the capital which
will be dedicated to home construction, a move that has been
attacked by the nation’s rightwing opposition.
“We can’t allow for some parking lots in ruins to be occupying
land. What’s more important, a car
or a house? What’s more important, cars or people?” he asked.
Sunday’s 375th broadcast of
Alo Presidente, a show that normally lasts for the majority of the
day, ended after two hours due
to Chavez’s trip to Brazil, Ecuador and Cuba, where he signed
further agreements strengthening
the country’s housing initiatives.
CARS VS. PEOPLE
Apart from updating the nation
T/ COI
P/ Presidential Press
Venezuelan Government bans wildlife hunting & trading
T
he tricolored-plumage ara macaws, best known as guacamayas, are one of the endangered
species in Venezuela because they
are frequently extracted from
their habitat in the Amazonas,
where they mate for life. This is
the reason why they die when
they are hunted and taken out of
their environment.
These birds, and other animals
such as parrots, monkeys and
snakes, are exhibited by their
captors in cages for days on the
main road of Amazonas state, in
southern Venezuela. Their buyers move them in wrapped boxes
to bypass the National Guard
checkpoints. When they reach
their “new home”, these animals
usually die as a result of stress
and sudden habitat change.
Now, the Venezuelan government is taking measures in Caracas and the states of Anzoategui,
Bolivar, Falcon, Guarico, Lara,
Monagas, Miranda, Sucre, Zulia
and Yaracuy in order to prevent
this situation.
The measures ban the illicit
trade and possession of birds and
other wildlife species, as well as
products derived from wildlife,
on public roads (highways, paths,
streets and avenues) and in
unauthorized shops.
In addition to these
measures, the Vene-
zuelan state is promoting a number of environmental preservation programs.
ARRAU TURTLES
The arrau turtle, also known in
Venezuela as the Orinoco turtle,
is the biggest of the Podocnemis
genus and was widely abundant 200 years ago. Nevertheless, since 1995 it has been
an endangered species, although it has been legally
protected since 1946.
In the first quarter of
2011, the Venezuelan
government, through
the environmental ministry, freed 10,000 Arrau
turtles (Podocnemis expansa) in the Amazon as
part of the conservation
program to protect this
endangered species.
The program, which
is being developed to prevent illegal hunting, aims to transport
endangered nests to zoo-farms
over a one-year period, in order
to subsequently return the species to their natural habitat. Over
51,000 turtles bred in captivity are
expected to be freed this year.
Jose Zambrano, director of the environmental
office in Amazonas, said
that this activity “shows
the interest of the Venezuelan government
in preserving wild
fauna, especially endangered species”.
So far, 12,806 Arrau turtles have
been freed in the
Refuge of Wild
Fauna and Protecting Areas, located in the village of Santa Maria
del Orinoco, in the southwestern
state of Apure, and 6,000 in the
state of Bolivar. By June, 22,000
turtles are expected to be freed in
Anzoategui, in northeastern Venezuela, and 949 in Barinas.
PROTECTING NATIONAL PARKS
For a long time, Venezuela
was the victim of an activity that
caused irreparable harm to the
environment. The “Fun Race”
private organization staged offroad car races in different national parks of the country where
participants raced through hundreds of miles on unpaved terrain in the shortest possible time.
Many of the circuits did not have
the authorization required by the
Venezuelan authorities to hold
these races, through which the
company earn millions.
Venezuela’s Attorney General,
Luisa Ortega Diaz, imposed a ban
on this type of activity last month.
“These races cause irreparable
harm because the vegetation cover wears
out and its recovery can take
up to 200 years”.
The Venezuelan government took legal actions and
ordered the Fun Race company
to promote, design and develop
awareness-raising campaigns to
show the ecological harm caused
by this activity in the country’s national parks and protected areas.
MISSION TREE
Venezuela has a 123.5 millionacre forest area that represents
56% of its territory. In South
America, this is equivalent to
5.6% of forests and 1.3% of the
world’s forest area.
Communities nationwide have
organized jointly with the Ministry of the Environment (Minamb)
to working on the consolidation
of Mission Tree, which aims to
contribute to the restoration and
maintenance of forests and local
green areas.
Currently, nearly 5,200 conservation committees, comprised of
50,000 people, have been created.
Over 19 million plants have been
planted throughout the country,
thus allowing for the recovery
of over 56 acres. Venezuela’s
minister for the environment,
Alejandro Hitcher, explained
that “the government’s social
program strengthens the spirit of
conservation of the population,
thus contributing to economic
development and environmental
sustainability”.
T/ AVN
P/ Agencies
|
6 | Social Justice
NoÊÈÇÊUÊFriday, June 10th, 2011
The artillery of ideas
Children’s Cardiology Hospital: synonym of life
W
hen Jonathan Vasquez came
from the Dominican Republic with a ventricular septal defect
(VSD) and a severe pulmonary
hypertension, it was very difficult
for him to breathe. This was an immense obstacle for his daily activities, such as playing or practicing
any sports. Eighteen days after
his surgery, Jennifer Vasquez, his
mother, affirmed that her son is
getting better due to the attention
of the Children’s Cardiology Hospital “Dr. Rodriguez Ochoa”.
“All the procedures, including
the passport, round-trip tickets
and the hotel stay have been exonerated. Technology, service and
personnel are excellent. This is a
great project because of which my
son is alive”, she exclaimed.
This type of testimony is only
possible in a country with a political model that aims at guaranteeing health services for everybody
without any political, economic
or social distinction. Furthermore, Venezuela is giving a helping hand to sister nations.
For years, Venezuelan public healthcare was totally abandoned. Medical attention was primarily only available at private
clinics which required substantial
payments and insurance. Mental
and physical well-being became a
way to make profits. But now, the
Bolivarian Revolution has implemented a healthcare system with
a socialist and human vision.
four hospital center. This category,
granted to specialized medical centers, is based on the highest technological and scientific capacity.
FREE AND QUALITY ATTENTION
In 1998, only 141 children experiencing these pathologies were
operated on, while in 2010, 1,113
patients were operated on for
free. 85% of them came from the
countryside. Isabel Iturria, director of the Children’s Cardiology
Hospital “Dr. Rodriguez Ochoa”,
affirmed that all patients receive
treatment for free, including their
transportation from anywhere,
even those coming from other
countries. Up to today, this specialized center has attended to
66 international patients coming from 12 countries, including
Gambia, Bolivia and Nicaragua.
Today, testimonies like Jonathan’s are repeated all throughout Venezuela and the region. The
Children’s Cardiology Hospital
“Dr. Rodriguez Ochoa”, located
in Caracas, is considered a world
pioneer in pediatric cardiopathies
attention.
VENEZUELAN HEARTS
BEAT LOUDER
Around the world, 8 newborn
babies out of 1,000 have a congenital cardiopathy. In Venezuela,
it is estimated that around 4,500
children are born with these heart
conditions each year. 70% of them
need either surgery or cardiologic
intervention, and until August 20,
2006 only 600 patients were operated on annually in the 8 Regional
Pediatric Cardiovascular Centers
in Venezuela.
After launching the Children’s
Cardiology Hospital “Dr. Rodriguez Ochoa”, Venezuela now has
the capacity to triple the amount
of beneficiaries. The Venezuelan
government has created a formidable medical structure and a level
STATE-OF-THE-ART
The hospital is a square-based
building surrounded by a 9.6 acre
yard, including a 4.44 acre surgical treatment area and a 2.47 acre
consultation area. The hospitalization level covers 1.98 acres
and the top level covers 2.55 additional acres. There are exterior
areas and a parking lot covering
11.70 acres, plus the residential
area with 142 hospital beds. The
most important characteristic of
this modern health center is that
it incorporates state-of-the art
technology.
Amongst the different equipment
at its disposal are hemodynamics,
ultrasonography, monitoring, ventilation, surgery, anesthesia machines
and instrumental equipment.
NATIONAL NETWORK
Iturria also explained that the
hospital has 18 pediatric cardiovascular regional centers
throughout the country. They
are located in public hospitals in
several states nationwide. The
network relies on highly trained
personnel and top quality equipment. Patients are examined, diagnosed, and some are operated
on in these centers. Complicated
cases requiring them to be transported to the Children’s Cardiology Hospital in Caracas are reported by regional centers.
Even though it was once an illusion for many people, today
free medical attention in Venezuela is a reality. Jonathan received
excellent treatment and a helping
and supportive hand. He went
back to his homeland with a new
heart that beats louder and full of
hope. The Bolivarian Revolution
is consolidating a Healthcare Network in Venezuela with the main
objective of ensuring people’s
wellbeing, without discriminating against anyone, and therefore
guaranteeing life, especially for
children.
T/ Venezuela de Verdad
Millions enjoy free healthcare in Venezuela
O
ver the last eight years, more
than 11 million Venezuelans,
almost 40 percent of the country’s population, have enjoyed
free medical care in thousands of
public health centers across the
country through an innovative
social program known as Mission
Barrio Adentro (Inside the Neighborhood).
The program, established in
May 2003 with technical and human support from Cuba, has increased medical coverage through
various types of centers dedicated
to preventive and corrective care.
After eight years, there have been
over 438 million medical consultations – physical, eye and dental
– throughout Venezuela.
Data from the Ministry of
Health shows that from May
2003 to April 2011, 6,712 primary
care medical clinics were built, in
which 302,171 lives were saved
and 7,382 babies delivered.
Additionally, a network of
49 popular clinics for people
with eye problems was created
throughout the country. Those
clinics have handled more than
30 million cases and given almost
eight million sets of corrective
lenses free of charge.
Another benefit through the
program has been dental care.
Over eight years, there have
been 67 million visits and procedures at clinics throughout
Venezuela.
A second level of care has seen
42 new facilities – including Integral Diagnostic Centers (CDI),
Comprehensive Rehabilitation
Facilities (SRI) and Centers for
Advanced Technology (CAT) –
to benefit communities in areas
where people depended on the
services of a single hospital or
ambulances for transportation to
other locations in order to receive
proper care.
With the new facilities, there are
now 525 Integral Diagnostic Centers, 30 High Technology Centers
and 564 comprehensive rehabilitation rooms totaling 1,149 operating centers across the country,
exceeding initial expectations.
Health Ministry data shows that
each diagnostic center performs
a daily average of 30 MRIs, 23
ultrasounds, three endoscopies,
and 233 laboratory tests, amongst
other tests, all free of charge.
The program, which has minimized crowding in emergency
rooms, has also served a significant percentage of the population
with disabilities. Since 2006, the
establishment of Rehabilitation
Rooms has allowed people to recover motor and other skills.
T/ AVN
NoÊÈÇUÊFriday, June 10th, 2011
The artillery of ideas
Analysis | 7 |
US-Venezuelan relations
Just frozen or beyond repair?
A
ccording to the US Energy
Administration, two months
ago the United States total crude
oil imports averaged 9,033 thousand barrels per day (tbpd), with
the top five exporting countries
being Canada (2,666 tbpd), Mexico (1,319 tbpd), Saudi Arabia
(1,107 tbpd), Venezuela (930 tbpd)
and Nigeria (918 tbpd.)
Notice anything odd about this
list? First, three of the top five
oil exporters to the US are in the
Western hemisphere, and two of
them are neighbors.
Secondly, only two of the five
states can comfortably be described as stable. Mexico is slowly unraveling due to the drug
war, Nigeria’s militant groups
regularly attack foreign oil concessions in the Niger delta and
Saudi Arabia’s geriatric monarchy is nervously watching
events unfold in the Middle East,
wondering if the “Arab spring”
may impact their autocratic hold
on power, a view no doubt made
more nervous by the sudden arrival on June 6 of Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh to Saudi
Arabia for medical treatment.
Of the remaining two, Canada
is a stable, prosperous state, and
its relations with Washington are
excellent.
Which leaves Venezuela –
while a stable state, policies under President Hugo Chavez have
rattled Washington to the point
that since 2010 neither state has
had accredited ambassadors.
On June 28, 2010 Obama nominated Larry Palmer as US Ambassador to Venezuela but three
months later Chavez announced
on his weekly TV program that
he would not allow Larry Palmer
to take up his post after Palmer
made offensive statements regarding Venezuela’s armed forces, internal politics and said the
Chavez government supported
FARC terrorists. On December
28, Chavez gave the final refusal
to accept Palmer because of his
derogatory remarks and the following day the US revoked the
visa of Venezuelan ambassador,
Bernardo Alvarez.
This past Sunday Venezuelan
Minister of Foreign Affairs Nicolas Maduro said during a TV
interview, “The relation (with the
US) is frozen... It does not move
and there is no indication that
there could be positive elements
of communication and respect in
the near future”.
What led to the impasse?
Chavez’s final sin in Washington’s eyes was Venezuela’s stateowned oil company Petroleos de
Venezuela (PDVSA) supplying
gasoline products to Iran, which
led the Obama administration
on May 24 to impose unilateral
sanctions against PDVSA. In response, Venezuela’s Energy Minister Rafael Ramirez, who is also
the head of PDVSA, said the following day that as a sovereign
nation Venezuela would continue
to maintain relations with Iran
and any other country it wanted,
adding, “This is a right we are not
going to renounce”.
Washington’s myopia leads it
to treat Central and Latin America as if the Monroe Doctrine
were still valid. In fact, the most
underreported political story in
the American press over the last
decade is how Latin America
has gradually moved out from
under Washington’s smothering “big brother” embrace as
first the Bush administration
and now President Obama’s fixated on both on the war on terror and Iraqi oil reserves. Most
notable among the Latin American states rejecting Washington’s
dominance, along with its attendant financial institutions of the
World Bank and the International Monetary Fund has been Brazil, which now, along with Russia, China and India, is lumped
under the sobriquet BRIC as a
collective economic powerhouse
of the 21st century.
Can Washington really afford
to antagonize a nation that exports nearly a million barrels per
day to the US? Should Venezuela
turn off the taps, the recent gasoline prices of nearly $4 a gallon
will begin to look like a bargain.
And speaking of China, its economic interest in trade devoid of
Washington’s hectoring political
lectures has found a warm reception in Caracas. China has
agreed to provide more than $32
billion in assistance to Chavez’s
government, with the loans to
be repaid in oil, in increasing
amounts of it during the next
decade. China is now Venezuela’s biggest foreign lender, enabling Chavez to boost social
spending ahead of the country’s
2012 presidential election, leading Chavez to exclaim “Viva
China!” on national television.
Venezuela is now exporting to
China about 460,000 barrels a day,
about 20 percent of its oil exports,
according to official figures,
which Caracas hopes to double
soon. Chen Ping, political counselor at the Chinese Embassy in
Caracas noted simply, “Venezuela has what we need”.
Pity that Washington, blinkered by outdated ideology, does
not see its own interests as clearly
as counselor Chen.
T/ John Daly
Portlanders: US sanctions on Chavez send the wrong message
A
sea of government supporters dressed in red roared their
approval as Portlanders Crystal
Geyer and Shamus Cooke shared
their opposition to the recently announced sanctions on Venezuela.
The Portlanders were speaking at
a mass rally in Caracas last Sunday, May 29th, in opposition to
the sanctions recently imposed by
the US against Venezuela’s stateowned oil company, PDVSA.
Geyer and Cooke joined 8 other delegates from the US invited
to share a stage with Cabinet
Ministers from the government
of controversial leftist President
Hugo Chavez.
“Our committee here in Portland promotes human rights for
people in Latin America”, said
Geyer, a social worker in her mid20s. “Some of those rights include
basic access to food, healthcare
and housing. We think the sanctions will hurt those rights”.
The US State Department announced the sanctions on May
24th, claiming the move was a response to Venezuelan support for
nuclear ambitions on the part of
Iran, an ally and fellow founding
member of OPEC.
For Geyer, that explanation
doesn’t hold water. “This move
is designed to undermine a gov-
ernment the US doesn’t like, the
government of Hugo Chavez”,
she said. “The countries of Latin
America are starting to become
more independent, and the US
doesn’t necessarily like that”.
“The media like to portray
Chavez as a dictator”, Geyer added, “but the President of Venezuela was democratically elected,
and more than once”.
For Shamus Cooke, the current administration in Venezuela
has marked an investment in social programs that not only have
helped reduce poverty in Venezuela, but are sorely needed here at
home, he believes. “People in the
US want healthcare, jobs, and affordable education—some of the
things that the Chavez government has been able to provide for
the first time”.
Most analysts agree the US
sanctions will not have a significant impact on the economies of
either country. However, given
the history of US sanctions in the
region, there is concern the could
mark the beginning of more aggressive economic campaign
against Venezuela.
According to Cooke, the sanctions could hurt low-income residents in the US benefiting from a
heating oil subsidy from Venezu-
ela’s US subsidiary, Citgo. Time
magazine reported Citgo was
the only major US oil company
to respond to a 2005 letter from
over a dozen US Senators who
sought heating fuel aid for lowincome constituents in the northern states.
According to Citgo’s records,
this year alone the company donated an estimated 25 million
gallons of heating oil in 25 states,
benefiting 132,000 families/
households, 234 homeless shelters and approximately 250 Native American communities.
T/ PCASC
FRIDAY | June 10th, 2011 | No. 67 Bs 1 | C ARACAS
ENGLISH EDITION The artillery of ideas
A publication of the Fundacion Correo del Orinoco • Editor-in-Chief | Eva Golinger • Graphic Design | Alexander Uzcátegui, Jameson Jiménez • Press | Fundación Imprenta de la Cultura
OPINION
Sean Penn speaks out rejecting US sanctions against Venezuela
A State Department that can
W
ith due respect to
the United States
Department of State
and Secretary Clinton,
in regards to economic sanctions leveled under CISADA
on Venezuela and six
other foreign entities.
Among the affected
countries, only Venezuela is a nation in
abject poverty. Oil is
its primary export and
the exceptionally devastating impact upon
its people should be of specific consideration. There has been
a systemic barrage of misreporting and context-shifting within
the US media and espoused by
many US Representatives relative to Venezuela and its democratically elected President Hugo
Chavez.
The people of the United States
have grown accustomed to hearing the Venezuelan President
referred to as a dictator, not only
by media representatives but by
members of the leadership in
both parties. This is a defamation, not only to President Chavez, but also to the majority of
Venezuelan people, poor people
who have elected him president time and time again. This
is not a dictator supported by
the wealthy classes, but rather, a
President elected by the impoverished and at the service of the
Venezuelan constitution, a document not unlike our own. He
is a flamboyant, passionate leader. And while our own cultural
and constitutional conditioning
would lead us to serious concerns in the powers of his office,
there must be an informed adjustment to give our analyses a
context that may extend beyond
our borders.
The current environment of
passive US citizen response
provided by this lack of understanding and misleading
information is one where the
essential oversights of public
opinion are effectively defaulted
upon, and in exchange, a predisposition to accept US intervention
in Venezuela exists. Furthermore, lobbyists of the fringe right
exploit a void of direct diplomatic communication between the
United States and Venezuela, and
inflame a division affecting both
countries with enormously shared interests. It is upon the USG
and the American people to carefully and publicly consider any
economic intervention upon a
foreign nation, in particular those
plagued by poverty. The United
States, and indeed, all capitalist
nations, engage in largely unrestricted trade with numerous nations, both secular and theocratic,
traditionally associated with social and political oppression, and
indeed contributors (suspected or
acknowledged) to nuclear proliferation. While it is noted that Iran
is such a nation, and that it is due
to Venezuela’s oil trade with Iran
(actual or alleged) that they have
been listed, it should also be noted
that an entity in the state of Israel
has also been named among the
seven sanctioned.
The potential
for overreach of
CISADA’s “energy” classification may be reminiscent of restrictions and prohibitions on exports prohibited in pre-war Iraq,
specifically when non-weaponized materials such as x-ray machines, entirely inadaptable to weaponization were characterized as
“dual use” materials, the only significant result of that policy was to
deprive sick Iraqi civilians of basic
care. That it is assumed in the State Department’s announcement,
that by Venezuela supplying its
single lifeline export to a country
suspected of developing instruments of proliferation, therefore it
is an action-worthy compromise
of CISADA, risks precedent and
abuse that must be scrutinized
and balanced in
full context and in
full view. While the State Department has reported its investigations into overall impacts on oil
markets, no such comprehensive
study has been offered in balance
with the human impact on countries sanctioned.
On this basis, the people of the
United States should call for a
moratorium on the CISADA sanctions of Venezuela until such time
as a congressional hearing may
be convened and strategic benefits evidenced in balance with the
historic effects of similar sanctions
in other developing and impoverished nations. With the recent
actions of mediation taken by
Venezuela in collaboration with
Colombia for the reintegration of
Honduras into the Organization
of American States (OAS), President Chavez and Venezuela have
demonstrated a will toward diplomatic harmony, and the sanctions themselves should serve
to initiate high level interaction
that has for too long suffered the
prejudice of profile and anti-Venezuelan political lobbying.
Sean Penn
Sean Penn is an Oscar-winning
actor