Saturday, May 31, 2008
President Chávez makes a call to dismantle empire's plan to split the country
ABN 30/05/2008
The President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Hugo Chávez Frías, made a call to Venezuelans to dismantle North American empire's plan to split the country in order to create a similar situation to the one lived in Bolivia.
“North American empire is trying, in different ways, to create a situation like Bolivia's. They want to split the country into pieces. I am sure they would try it, declaring the autonomy at the east of the country, disregarding the Government of Chávez”, said the President of Venezuela during an event carried out in Anzoátegui State in order to close the stage of spreading ideas by the pre-candidates of the Socialist United Party of Venezuela (PSUV) for next mayors and governors elections in November.
Chávez stated that “Venezuelan oligarchy and those who sell our country, as well as United States, will support that idea in joint with other countries of Europe and America. World television channels would support them as well”.
Furthermore, Chávez stressed that Venezuelan opposition, in joint with North American empire, would try to declare the autonomy of the states of Zulia and Táchira supported by the Colombian paramilitarism and the drug trafficking.
“They would look for guns, use regional police departments, and ask for alliances with military sectors or they would try to bring paramilitaries, mercenaries, place bombs, and make the country ungovernable”, President Chávez denounced.
Translated by Ernesto Aguilera
Saturday, May 24, 2008
Revolutionizing Education and the Face of Venezuelan Society
May 22nd 2008, by Carlos Ruiz - Ven Central
U.S. foreign policy talks of democracy to mean subversion to Western capital, although this interpretation arises via dubious logic from the unwavering principle of economic freedom for all. Obviously, all policy (including economic) should follow from democratic choice, but the inherent problem for capitalists is that their ideology can only be seen to benefit a majority when viewed from the perspective of an increasingly privileged minority.
The position of Western countries, having plundered the third world for time immemorial, is clearly better than that of their victims, whose claims to successful Westernization are evident only in the centers and well-kept suburbs of major cities and resorts. Venezuela is a country that has broken free of the preferred form of imposed capitalism; that which places particular emphasis on the ability of U.S. multinationals to operate abroad as they see fit, embedding themselves with political establishments.
Capitalism is maintained primarily through the media system, which is operated entirely by the capitalists themselves, and the school system, which is so important in terms of avoiding masses of truly critical thinkers that it must be centralized in the hands of the capitalist state. With the public education and media optimised to keep obedient, unquestioning workers enclosed in a mass capitalist reality, there will only be a minority of dissenters. These will go largely unheard, and can thus be prevented from assuming political power.
Venezuela was once like modern-day Colombia, where President Uribe was “conclusively” voted in with a mere 7.3 million votes in a country of 43 million. Mass abstention happens to be a conclusive demonstration of how the system alienates the poor, because political candidates only pretend to speak for majority interests.
Many things have changed in Venezuela since Chavez came to power in 1999, following an unusual, fortuitous and tragic set of circumstances. He was comprehensively re-elected in 2006 as 75% of the electorate turned out to vote. Venezuela probably has the most politicized population on the planet, and the most fair and trustworthy democratic process.
EXPOSING A VULNERABLE SYSTEM
The opposition’s problem is that all this democracy is taking the country in a direction that has stripped them of their political power, and threatens to empower the working class beyond all recognition. In order to do this, the capitalist media is being marginalized in an entirely legal fashion, maintaining the freedom of the opposition to say practically anything they wish. Meanwhile, the schooling system is a principal target for outright revolution.
Traditional schooling in Venezuela follows the Western format, which in normal circumstances guarantees most students enter the workplace without even the slightest knowledge of politics. Why would the elites want to politicise anybody when the status quo is already working for them? All they require are institutionalized workers who follow orders, accept reality, and spend the rest of their lives slaving to enrich the capitalist class (and a relatively small section of themselves).
A true revolution in Venezuelan public schooling would not require the teaching of any particular ideology, or even values. The difference would simply be a liberation from a one-way, teacher-student monologue, and all the incessant memorization and testing that implies. In the traditional system, students are essentially receptacles for a state curriculum which of course narrates the elitist Western perspective of history. A revolutionary curriculum would tell a rather different story, since input into its content would come from society as a whole and not just the corridors of government.
Aside from a more realistic ‘people’s history’ of the world, the emphasis would undoubtedly be on usable skills, a classical education, and important issues concerning the planet. But the eventual outcome has little to do with any designated curriculum, because the priority is that students play a role in adapting their education to their own interests, and that the teacher is more of a catalyst or moderator, who inspires debate and questions, and permits the maximum degree of personal freedom.
RESHAPING REALITY
The idea is simply to fit education into the structure of society at large, rapidly reshaping to accommodate popular power and ideas which happen to conflict with capitalist principles. The media environment in Venezuela is now far removed from the previous arrangement of a lame duck state TV channel that stooped so low as to broadcast commercials, while all other stations and print media were operated by rich private interests. State media now actively combats the Westernization of culture and exposes the very foundations upon which capitalism is maintained.
Nowadays, the state media has expanded to prioritise culture and education, while an explosion in grassroots media has resulted in thousands of local radio stations and community publications. The government has reined in the private media’s penchant of throwing insults at the new government, and denied the renewal of a free-to-air broadcast license to a TV network that conspired to overthrow it in 2002, while habitually perpetuating distortions and morally questionable soap operas.
Venezuela’s new TV spectrum has become more protective of children, and is now far more racially representative. Unfortunately, the private stations continue to present the white European faces in abundance, together with mind-numbing commercials and Western influences, and utilizing their freedoms to brazenly oppose all government policy, thereby twisting the truth for a large section of a society.
The way the opposition frame the process of revolutionary change is interesting. Traditional media and schooling are perceived to be a natural order, and therefore correct and harmless. Children have always been fed Christian ideas in school, so that is undoubtedly the best way to raise them. I was taught this way, so why not my children? They raise the question of the freedom to have one’s child schooled in any given fashion, but misunderstand the entire nature of what the revolution wants to achieve.
For a start, the key choices provided within traditional education are between religious and secular, with the option of an elite school if you have the money to pay for it. Any choice between traditional and “liberational” education would be a valid one, though it is worth noting that no such choice existed when elites were in government. What Chavez seeks to impose on all schools is a democratic curriculum, while the mode and method of teaching itself will adapt over time. It is likely that there will remain the option to teach in the traditional fashion, though over time people would recognise any superior method and its popularity would spread.
Clearly the opposition do not desire any change in any part of the curriculum or protocol, and so their tactic is to sow fear that parents will lose their children to the state. Distortion and ignorance are widely evident. A Globovision reporter, sent to a school in a nice part of Caracas where parents were waiting to collect their children, asked one: “Do you believe that the ideals of socialism should be taught in school?”. The answer was: “Of course not. I don’t know anything about socialism, and it doesn’t interest me. I am 44 years old, was raised in democracy, and want my son to be a democrat also.”
Another parent, when asked whether religion should be taken out of schools, replied: “Never! We’ve had it for 200 years and it has produced excellent results.” He goes on to say “They just want to indoctrinate our children”, which is the common refrain, along with allegations of “Cubanization” and the idea that the government wants citizens to become “instruments of the state”.
Anyone who has read Paolo Friere, the Brazilian Marxist pedagogist, knows that teaching Marxist ideas is not advocated in any of his books. In materials produced by the Venezuelan Ministry of Education, they appear to rely heavily on his studies and writings, which do not concern the actual content of education, only the “liberational” method. Quite simply, this produces inquisitive beings capable of comprehending and critiquing the society around them. This, he said, was the basis of a just society and true democracy.
Another famous quote in the Ministry’s materials is that of Simon Rodriguez, the philosopher and educator, and tutor to Simon Bolivar:
To teach is to teach to think. To assign things to be recited from memory is to train parrots… Teach the children to ask questions, so that, asking the Why behind what you tell them to do, they become accustomed to obeying Reason: not authority, like the limited, nor custom, like the foolish.
When people in the Venezuelan opposition claim the natural order of education is democratic, free or correct, it shows that they are accustomed to obeying authority and custom. In next year’s display of democracy, which will center on “revolutionizing” education, the opposition will be invited to give democratic input into a new curriculum, and will refuse. The reality they construct for themselves is based on being ignorant about proposed changes, and resistant to change based on this ignorance.
http://vencentral.com/2008/05/22/revolutionizing-education-and-society/
U.S. foreign policy talks of democracy to mean subversion to Western capital, although this interpretation arises via dubious logic from the unwavering principle of economic freedom for all. Obviously, all policy (including economic) should follow from democratic choice, but the inherent problem for capitalists is that their ideology can only be seen to benefit a majority when viewed from the perspective of an increasingly privileged minority.
The position of Western countries, having plundered the third world for time immemorial, is clearly better than that of their victims, whose claims to successful Westernization are evident only in the centers and well-kept suburbs of major cities and resorts. Venezuela is a country that has broken free of the preferred form of imposed capitalism; that which places particular emphasis on the ability of U.S. multinationals to operate abroad as they see fit, embedding themselves with political establishments.
Capitalism is maintained primarily through the media system, which is operated entirely by the capitalists themselves, and the school system, which is so important in terms of avoiding masses of truly critical thinkers that it must be centralized in the hands of the capitalist state. With the public education and media optimised to keep obedient, unquestioning workers enclosed in a mass capitalist reality, there will only be a minority of dissenters. These will go largely unheard, and can thus be prevented from assuming political power.
Venezuela was once like modern-day Colombia, where President Uribe was “conclusively” voted in with a mere 7.3 million votes in a country of 43 million. Mass abstention happens to be a conclusive demonstration of how the system alienates the poor, because political candidates only pretend to speak for majority interests.
Many things have changed in Venezuela since Chavez came to power in 1999, following an unusual, fortuitous and tragic set of circumstances. He was comprehensively re-elected in 2006 as 75% of the electorate turned out to vote. Venezuela probably has the most politicized population on the planet, and the most fair and trustworthy democratic process.
EXPOSING A VULNERABLE SYSTEM
The opposition’s problem is that all this democracy is taking the country in a direction that has stripped them of their political power, and threatens to empower the working class beyond all recognition. In order to do this, the capitalist media is being marginalized in an entirely legal fashion, maintaining the freedom of the opposition to say practically anything they wish. Meanwhile, the schooling system is a principal target for outright revolution.
Traditional schooling in Venezuela follows the Western format, which in normal circumstances guarantees most students enter the workplace without even the slightest knowledge of politics. Why would the elites want to politicise anybody when the status quo is already working for them? All they require are institutionalized workers who follow orders, accept reality, and spend the rest of their lives slaving to enrich the capitalist class (and a relatively small section of themselves).
A true revolution in Venezuelan public schooling would not require the teaching of any particular ideology, or even values. The difference would simply be a liberation from a one-way, teacher-student monologue, and all the incessant memorization and testing that implies. In the traditional system, students are essentially receptacles for a state curriculum which of course narrates the elitist Western perspective of history. A revolutionary curriculum would tell a rather different story, since input into its content would come from society as a whole and not just the corridors of government.
Aside from a more realistic ‘people’s history’ of the world, the emphasis would undoubtedly be on usable skills, a classical education, and important issues concerning the planet. But the eventual outcome has little to do with any designated curriculum, because the priority is that students play a role in adapting their education to their own interests, and that the teacher is more of a catalyst or moderator, who inspires debate and questions, and permits the maximum degree of personal freedom.
RESHAPING REALITY
The idea is simply to fit education into the structure of society at large, rapidly reshaping to accommodate popular power and ideas which happen to conflict with capitalist principles. The media environment in Venezuela is now far removed from the previous arrangement of a lame duck state TV channel that stooped so low as to broadcast commercials, while all other stations and print media were operated by rich private interests. State media now actively combats the Westernization of culture and exposes the very foundations upon which capitalism is maintained.
Nowadays, the state media has expanded to prioritise culture and education, while an explosion in grassroots media has resulted in thousands of local radio stations and community publications. The government has reined in the private media’s penchant of throwing insults at the new government, and denied the renewal of a free-to-air broadcast license to a TV network that conspired to overthrow it in 2002, while habitually perpetuating distortions and morally questionable soap operas.
Venezuela’s new TV spectrum has become more protective of children, and is now far more racially representative. Unfortunately, the private stations continue to present the white European faces in abundance, together with mind-numbing commercials and Western influences, and utilizing their freedoms to brazenly oppose all government policy, thereby twisting the truth for a large section of a society.
The way the opposition frame the process of revolutionary change is interesting. Traditional media and schooling are perceived to be a natural order, and therefore correct and harmless. Children have always been fed Christian ideas in school, so that is undoubtedly the best way to raise them. I was taught this way, so why not my children? They raise the question of the freedom to have one’s child schooled in any given fashion, but misunderstand the entire nature of what the revolution wants to achieve.
For a start, the key choices provided within traditional education are between religious and secular, with the option of an elite school if you have the money to pay for it. Any choice between traditional and “liberational” education would be a valid one, though it is worth noting that no such choice existed when elites were in government. What Chavez seeks to impose on all schools is a democratic curriculum, while the mode and method of teaching itself will adapt over time. It is likely that there will remain the option to teach in the traditional fashion, though over time people would recognise any superior method and its popularity would spread.
Clearly the opposition do not desire any change in any part of the curriculum or protocol, and so their tactic is to sow fear that parents will lose their children to the state. Distortion and ignorance are widely evident. A Globovision reporter, sent to a school in a nice part of Caracas where parents were waiting to collect their children, asked one: “Do you believe that the ideals of socialism should be taught in school?”. The answer was: “Of course not. I don’t know anything about socialism, and it doesn’t interest me. I am 44 years old, was raised in democracy, and want my son to be a democrat also.”
Another parent, when asked whether religion should be taken out of schools, replied: “Never! We’ve had it for 200 years and it has produced excellent results.” He goes on to say “They just want to indoctrinate our children”, which is the common refrain, along with allegations of “Cubanization” and the idea that the government wants citizens to become “instruments of the state”.
Anyone who has read Paolo Friere, the Brazilian Marxist pedagogist, knows that teaching Marxist ideas is not advocated in any of his books. In materials produced by the Venezuelan Ministry of Education, they appear to rely heavily on his studies and writings, which do not concern the actual content of education, only the “liberational” method. Quite simply, this produces inquisitive beings capable of comprehending and critiquing the society around them. This, he said, was the basis of a just society and true democracy.
Another famous quote in the Ministry’s materials is that of Simon Rodriguez, the philosopher and educator, and tutor to Simon Bolivar:
To teach is to teach to think. To assign things to be recited from memory is to train parrots… Teach the children to ask questions, so that, asking the Why behind what you tell them to do, they become accustomed to obeying Reason: not authority, like the limited, nor custom, like the foolish.
When people in the Venezuelan opposition claim the natural order of education is democratic, free or correct, it shows that they are accustomed to obeying authority and custom. In next year’s display of democracy, which will center on “revolutionizing” education, the opposition will be invited to give democratic input into a new curriculum, and will refuse. The reality they construct for themselves is based on being ignorant about proposed changes, and resistant to change based on this ignorance.
http://vencentral.com/2008/05/22/revolutionizing-education-and-society/
Chávez warned Bush that the only thing being sped up by God is the end of the North American empire
ABN 21/05/2008
Caracas, Distrito Capital
Caracas, May 21. ABN.- The President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Hugo Chávez Frías, emphasized that if there was something being sped up by God was the end of the North American empire, which is speeding up history, time, and awakening the countries.
The statements were made by Chávez this Wednesday as an answer to recent declarations offered by the President of United States, George W. Bush, who asked God to speed up the end of “Cubans' suffering”, which was emphatically condemned by the President Hugo Chávez Frías.
“Fidel Castro told me once that he was convinced that God helps Chávez and his friends. Therefore, Mister Bush, I want to tell you that, if there is anything being sped up by God is the end of the empire”, Chávez said during an event to welcome the II Promotion of students of the Latin
American School of Medicine (Elam).
Furthermore, he stressed: “Thanks God. The God of the people, of the oppressed people, exploited ones, poors'. Thanks to the dynamic of the time for awakening people. Thanks to many other factors the North American empire is still declining and will keep declining, and before the empire falls, the government of mister Bush will finish, which has filled the
world with terrorism, misery, death, and hunger”.
Chávez showed his satisfaction about the event because 445 students will start their studies at the Elam: 208 from Bolivia, 13 from Chile, 22 from Ecuador, 12 from El Salvador, 64 from Gambia, 13 from Mexico, 74 from Nicaragua, 12 from Paraguay, 11 from Peru, 2 from Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and 14 from Panama.
Furthermore, he stressed this is the result of a set of actions that show the way (to the socialism) while empire attacks against Venezuela are getting worse, using lackeys, institutions, and countries, with the only goal of isolating Venezuela, stopping the Bolivarian Revolution, which is humanist and deep.
“While those attacks are getting worse, against the revolutionary Cuba as well, we are complying with our commitment of Sandino, our people, our revolution, our conscience”, he held.
Elam idea was born from the so-called Commitment of Sandino, which was a political cooperation agreement undersigned between the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and the Republic of Cuba in Sandino City, Cuba, on August 2005.
“The world thanks God because Bush will finish soon its government and after you (Bush), knight of death and terror, progressively, the ill-fated North American empire will go out by the same door. Nobody can stop it. That is happening and is going to happen. We have been chose to speed up the end of the empire”, he insisted.
Caracas, Distrito Capital
Caracas, May 21. ABN.- The President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Hugo Chávez Frías, emphasized that if there was something being sped up by God was the end of the North American empire, which is speeding up history, time, and awakening the countries.
The statements were made by Chávez this Wednesday as an answer to recent declarations offered by the President of United States, George W. Bush, who asked God to speed up the end of “Cubans' suffering”, which was emphatically condemned by the President Hugo Chávez Frías.
“Fidel Castro told me once that he was convinced that God helps Chávez and his friends. Therefore, Mister Bush, I want to tell you that, if there is anything being sped up by God is the end of the empire”, Chávez said during an event to welcome the II Promotion of students of the Latin
American School of Medicine (Elam).
Furthermore, he stressed: “Thanks God. The God of the people, of the oppressed people, exploited ones, poors'. Thanks to the dynamic of the time for awakening people. Thanks to many other factors the North American empire is still declining and will keep declining, and before the empire falls, the government of mister Bush will finish, which has filled the
world with terrorism, misery, death, and hunger”.
Chávez showed his satisfaction about the event because 445 students will start their studies at the Elam: 208 from Bolivia, 13 from Chile, 22 from Ecuador, 12 from El Salvador, 64 from Gambia, 13 from Mexico, 74 from Nicaragua, 12 from Paraguay, 11 from Peru, 2 from Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and 14 from Panama.
Furthermore, he stressed this is the result of a set of actions that show the way (to the socialism) while empire attacks against Venezuela are getting worse, using lackeys, institutions, and countries, with the only goal of isolating Venezuela, stopping the Bolivarian Revolution, which is humanist and deep.
“While those attacks are getting worse, against the revolutionary Cuba as well, we are complying with our commitment of Sandino, our people, our revolution, our conscience”, he held.
Elam idea was born from the so-called Commitment of Sandino, which was a political cooperation agreement undersigned between the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and the Republic of Cuba in Sandino City, Cuba, on August 2005.
“The world thanks God because Bush will finish soon its government and after you (Bush), knight of death and terror, progressively, the ill-fated North American empire will go out by the same door. Nobody can stop it. That is happening and is going to happen. We have been chose to speed up the end of the empire”, he insisted.
President Chávez : Unasur represents an important step for South American unity
ABN 23/05/2008
Brasilia, May 23. ABN (Julio Pereira – special correspondent).- The President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Hugo Chávez Frías, stressed that the signing of the Treaty of the South American Union of Nations (Unasur, Spanish acronym), which is taking place this Friday in Brasilia, Brazil, represents a real step towards the union.
“We are talking about union and not integration because the latter is a concept that was born from the neoliberal and hegemonic globalization project. Therefore, we come up with an unitarian and original project based on the Great South American Motherland”, he pointed out.
President Chávez stated that Unasur definitely represents the new approach needed for Latin American countries and the world.
“Nowadays, South America shelters a new project of change, which is an impressive dynamic that has been unleashed in recent times and could perfectly become into the foundation stone of world's changes”, he stressed.
Regarding the bilateral relations with Brazil, Chávez reiterated the dynamism lived by the exchange, as well as the diverse joint cooperation and development projects that are being carried out, between both countries.
“I approved yesterday 50 million dollars for projects that are already taking place; for instance, massive breeding of poultry and ecologic sustainable agriculture; machinery assembling, food processing, industrial projects on steel to give an added value to raw materials, etc”, he emphasized.
In this sense, Chávez reminded that Brazil and Venezuela have the 2 more important iron reserves of the continent, and plenty of workforce for the area who are going to be needed in order to develop in joint projects.
Venezuelan President arrived early in the morning of this Friday to the Air Base of Brasilia and he was welcomed by the Chief of Protocol of the the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Brazil, Ruy Casares, and the Ambassador of Venezuela to Brazil, Julio García Montoya.
Translated by Ernesto Aguilera
Brasilia, May 23. ABN (Julio Pereira – special correspondent).- The President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Hugo Chávez Frías, stressed that the signing of the Treaty of the South American Union of Nations (Unasur, Spanish acronym), which is taking place this Friday in Brasilia, Brazil, represents a real step towards the union.
“We are talking about union and not integration because the latter is a concept that was born from the neoliberal and hegemonic globalization project. Therefore, we come up with an unitarian and original project based on the Great South American Motherland”, he pointed out.
President Chávez stated that Unasur definitely represents the new approach needed for Latin American countries and the world.
“Nowadays, South America shelters a new project of change, which is an impressive dynamic that has been unleashed in recent times and could perfectly become into the foundation stone of world's changes”, he stressed.
Regarding the bilateral relations with Brazil, Chávez reiterated the dynamism lived by the exchange, as well as the diverse joint cooperation and development projects that are being carried out, between both countries.
“I approved yesterday 50 million dollars for projects that are already taking place; for instance, massive breeding of poultry and ecologic sustainable agriculture; machinery assembling, food processing, industrial projects on steel to give an added value to raw materials, etc”, he emphasized.
In this sense, Chávez reminded that Brazil and Venezuela have the 2 more important iron reserves of the continent, and plenty of workforce for the area who are going to be needed in order to develop in joint projects.
Venezuelan President arrived early in the morning of this Friday to the Air Base of Brasilia and he was welcomed by the Chief of Protocol of the the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Brazil, Ruy Casares, and the Ambassador of Venezuela to Brazil, Julio García Montoya.
Translated by Ernesto Aguilera
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Venezuela has denounced the violation of its territorial and air space by Colombia and the
During a press conference, the Minister of People’s Power for Defense, Gustavo Rangel Briceño, denounced on Monday, May 19, that a U.S. fighter violated the Venezuelan air space on Saturday night, one day after Caracas complained about a Colombian army’s incursion
into Venezuelan territory.
According to Rangel, who read loud an excerpt of the conversation between the Venezuelan control tower and a U.S. pilot, explained that the latter was not aware he was in Venezuelan territory and that his course was set to the Caribbean Curaçao island during a flight exercise. At the same press conference, the Venezuelan Foreign Affairs Minister, Nicolás Maduro, announced he talked with his Colombian counterpart, Fernando Araujo, about the incursion of the Colombian military into Venezuelan territory. He said they both agreed on activating diplomatic mechanisms in order to settle cross-border conflicts via diplomatic means. Regarding the U.S. fighter, Maduro said he will arrange a meeting with the U.S. Ambassador to
Venezuela, Patrick Duddy, in order to demand an explanation.
On Saturday, Venezuela protested the Colombian military incursion; however, on Sunday, the Colombian Defense Minister, Juan Manuel Santos, denied it was an “act of provocation” as the Venezuelan government described it.
On March 1, Colombian troops illegally entered Ecuadorian territory in order to bombard a temporary FARC camp. During the attack, the Colombian army slaughtered over 24 people (guerrilla members and civilians), including the FARC second-in-command, Raul Reyes, four Mexican students and an Ecuadorian citizen.
The violation to Ecuador’s sovereignty led this country to break diplomatic relations with Colombian, whose government defended the attack and justified it as part of its war against “terrorism.”
TeleSUR / May 19. 2008
into Venezuelan territory.
According to Rangel, who read loud an excerpt of the conversation between the Venezuelan control tower and a U.S. pilot, explained that the latter was not aware he was in Venezuelan territory and that his course was set to the Caribbean Curaçao island during a flight exercise. At the same press conference, the Venezuelan Foreign Affairs Minister, Nicolás Maduro, announced he talked with his Colombian counterpart, Fernando Araujo, about the incursion of the Colombian military into Venezuelan territory. He said they both agreed on activating diplomatic mechanisms in order to settle cross-border conflicts via diplomatic means. Regarding the U.S. fighter, Maduro said he will arrange a meeting with the U.S. Ambassador to
Venezuela, Patrick Duddy, in order to demand an explanation.
On Saturday, Venezuela protested the Colombian military incursion; however, on Sunday, the Colombian Defense Minister, Juan Manuel Santos, denied it was an “act of provocation” as the Venezuelan government described it.
On March 1, Colombian troops illegally entered Ecuadorian territory in order to bombard a temporary FARC camp. During the attack, the Colombian army slaughtered over 24 people (guerrilla members and civilians), including the FARC second-in-command, Raul Reyes, four Mexican students and an Ecuadorian citizen.
The violation to Ecuador’s sovereignty led this country to break diplomatic relations with Colombian, whose government defended the attack and justified it as part of its war against “terrorism.”
TeleSUR / May 19. 2008
Saturday, May 10, 2008
Taking back dignity
Report by Tamara Pearson http://gringadiary.blogspot.com/
Seen: On the train, two women with two tiny kids- a boy and a girl, and the girl was playing with a doll that was white with the blondest blond hair. There are a few white people here, but most people are all beautiful shades of brown. Yet a lot of the advertising and products originate from overseas or buy into the whole blond (north American) is beautiful cultural imperialism garbage.
Brigade moments: Coral translating ‘hugs’ as ‘cuddles’ – which is so much more sexual and affectionate! Jammo, who owns 80 musical instruments, doing charades of them and we had to guess…whilst a bit drunk... Me at the Bolivar Museum- I thought a glass showcase with Bolivar’s boots and writing table and stuff in it, had a top- and put my book on it, of course there was no glass there and it dropped into the display. So the Venezuelan Lonely planet was added to the display cos the glass walls were too high for me to reach over and get it. Bolivar might have used it in his time if it had existed J. Well, embarrassed, I asked a museum worker to help me, who had to pull the case half apart…
…Me again going psycho on the bus to Ciudad Bolivar. Don’t know what happened there, but I seemed to need to throw things at people, then on Sinndy’s advice, started a rumour that there were rats on the bus with the intention of tickling people’s feet while they were asleep and freaking them out, but never got around to it.
..Coral talking English to the Venezuelans then Spanish to us. People have no idea how HARD translating is. It’s one thing to listen to what people are saying in Spanish and understand, its another thing to remember what they said, say it in English, and listen to what they are saying in Spanish as they interrupt you because they are so keen to say what they have to say..
…certain unmentionable romances that did and didn’t happen..
...some brigadistas finally letting go and standing under the sprinklers to conquer the heat
…waiting for our friendly Venezuelan hosts to pick us up…they said they’d be there at 1, so we waited in the stuffy hallway of the hotel at five to 1, like good little gringos… and they turned up at 215. By then people were sleeping in the hallway, sitting down, trying different walls to see which one was cooler, playing silly word games. Turns out the bus driver decided he’d have lunch, while most of us went without so we could be there on time
…big lizards, Margaret happier cuddling a kitten than she was at Mayday (just kidding..although…), and rescuing tiny abandoned kittens…big men trying to feed them with caps of water, and ‘dipping’ their heads in the water to make them drink (ok maybe I had a part in that too).
… countless shared pizzas in an effort to deal with the really expensive prices…and many more, some of which I’ll mention specifically below…
May Day… [photos: people in red] speaking of Jammo- he was on the moon and dancing around at the May Day protest. It was pretty awesome. From about 9 till about 12 or 1 people met at Las Banderas train station and marched down to the centre. There was like a continuous stream of red on the road. I got my wallet stolen on the train, and it was hot and humid and a long march, but that didn’t dampen anyone’s spirits.
At the stage end there were speeches and music and some dancing, a few drunks, a few friendly people. We were pretty popular-interviewed for a few TV channels along the march and Coral and John even got up and spoke. The footage was played through the next day- I think we were probably the only country specific contingent there.
People were touched by the solidarity I think- both the people we met and spoke with- and just random people we met. One woman on a train had a pamphlet of one of Fidel’s speeches, and she wrote ‘revolutionary greetings to Australia’ on it, and gave it to me, saying she’d seen us on TV.
Radio Ali Primera in El Valle, Caracas: we went and checked out and chatted with people from this community radio station which was made for people who don’t have degrees (a requirement to work in radio) or the resources to have a voice. They have all sorts of programs, including one by a 12 year old who’s been involved since the beginning, various countering mass media misinformation and deep news analysis, culture- poets from the community reading their poems for example, women’s shows, etc. People from the community run the shows and the radio workers are directly involved in the community- and this relationship meant that, for example in 2004 when the radio was threatened with being attacked by the opposition, they made a broadcast about it, and within minutes hundreds of members of the community were outside the radio station, and the opposition ran away :)
Ciudad Bolivar/Puerto Ordaz – we had a chat with union leaders from ALCASA- a nationalised aluminium plant, at their centre of formation- which supports the formation of the workers of ALCASA and the surrounding community- which means fostering values of cooperation, solidarity, honesty, discovery, and learning about different economic systems, the new forms of social participation etc
We also visited an internet centre built by the government, now used by indigenous and non indigenous students. It also has phones. Before people only had mobiles but no fixed lines.. the woman working there said it had opened up their life to the world, as they are able to read about the world on the internet. Made me think about how easy it is to be completely isolated when you are poor…
Las Amazonas- I think this would unanimously be voted the most inspiring experience of the brigade. Driving into this suburb we could see people with flags occupying unused land on the edge of it. (Something economically and legally encouraged by the government). We could also see the shacks of found corrugated iron etc that people had built only a few days and weeks ago. This would be a start.
3 and a half years ago the people of Las Amazonas did the same, and 80% of them now have good, complete concrete houses- with 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, floor, toilet etc. All of them financed by the government, and the same model, but painted a rainbow of colours, making the village a delight to see (I would have taken more photos but it was getting dark). However, they are still waiting for asphalt to put on the roads (which are dirt at the moment).
They were so proud. Most of these people were homeless before. Now they are organised in this new community, sorting out their own business- streets, lighting, sewage etc. We met with the spokespeople of the community council and after a welcoming rain dance [see photo] and various speeches demonstrating how proud they were of their revolution, they took us on a walk around the town. We saw the ‘nutrition house’ which receives for example, 90 kilos of chicken a week, and feeds about 150 children a day, we saw a market with regulated prices, and our hosts knocked on one of their neighbours door, “there are some visitors!”, and this poor woman who’d obviously just been asleep came to her door to see 14 camera wielding Aussies and a bunch of Venezuelans we’d picked up a long the way. They just wanted us to see the inside of her house, to see how good it was. Indeed it was nice, and the woman welcomed us in. What was clearest was the dignity these people now have- both from watching them, and from their own words.
Sidor – [photo: workers with AMWU- Aussie Metal Workers Union- flag] and finally we got to visit the recently nationalised (largest) steel factory of Venezuela. Our bus pulled into the area where all the buses drop off workers at the shift changes. We got out, met a few union leaders but were quickly surrounded by heaps of other workers. Poor Coral was stuck in the middle of all these tall men in blue uniforms who all interrupted eachother as they told us the history of the plant, their struggle, how they were attacked by police, their 3 strikes… and “Chavez has liberated us from slavery”. They insisted that we “Come back in a year to see how the changes have taken affect”. Then there was exchanging of union flags and tshirts and hugs of solidarity all round.
(For more information about this struggle see http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/)
That was roughly the end of the brigade..I got on my bus back to Merida and was genuinely sad to say goodbye- all the brigadistas had been very nice, and interesting and different. It’s meant to be 22 hours from Puerto Ordaz to Merida… after about 12 hours, at 10 in the morning, they suddenly decided to take us off one (comfortable) bus and put us on another one- no air conditioning, toilet, space for feet or bags etc (I was cooking because I had thermal underwear on because of the really cold bus I’d just been on). Which after another 12 hours then terminated at El Vigia, so me and a few others had to pay for a taxi to finish the trip- 1 hour- to Merida. Where it was raining, and I had to get another bus to my place, then walk. So the
Unions, collectives, wage increases, colourful wool and blackouts
Report by Tamara Pearson http://gringadiary.blogspot.com/
I write this while I’m watching Chavez on TV in my friends’ apartment in Caracas. He’s giving the May Day speech (the night before May day) where he usually announces the new increase in the minium wage.
It’s amazingly relevant to the brigade that we have on at the moment and the discussions that we had today (I’m here in Caracas helping out with an AVSN brigade, 12 Aussie trade unionists here to learn about the revolution, with a focus on the trade union aspect).
We finished today off by talking to the vice president of the Latin American Parliament, Carolus Wimmer. He argued that in a way, Chavez is blocking the development of movements, because he keeps handing down change- that for example, the trade unions have little reason to struggle, because he keeps just giving them pay increases.
Everyone is coming down from their rooms because he’s about to announce the wage increase and people are debating how much it will be. The atmosphere reminds me a bit of the final announcement of Australian Idol. Chavez has a graph out, asking the cameras to focus on it, using a book as a ruler to draw lines on it. Such a funny guy, drawing lines and explaining the way wages are worked out, how you have to include the ‘basket tickets’ – food vouchers. Not to mention all the free services and subsidies etc.
A lot of people share his excitement. Often throughout the brigade people have gotten so into what they were saying that we had to interrupt them so we could translate.
Haha. Chavez announces that the raise is 2%, Everyone looks at eachother then suddenly laughs, including him “This is what a capitalist government would say.”
It’s a 30% increase. Higher than the rate of inflation. “it is justice, nothing more”
And now Venezuela has the highest minimum salary in Latin America. If you include the food voucher almost 3 times the average of Latin America.
Wimmer also said that “If we can say that Chavez is a military leader, he can’t fight without any army- on his own.” And he named “3 enemies of the revolution: corruption, bureaucracy and inefficiency.”
Before him we met with the president of BANMUJER- the ‘different’ bank for women- which gives micro credit to majority women collectives at very low interest rates and with a long time to pay it off, and with the objective of helping women achieve self sufficiency, and not of profit.
Nora Castenada is her name, she is NOT against abortion, and she spoke very generally. I asked her how she felt about the creation recently, announced by Chavez, of a minister for women, “The women’s movement demanded INAMUJER, BANMUJER (etc), and so we demanded a minister, and we demand a ministery… since it was created by the movement, it is good for women, and whatever is good for women is good for BANMUJER”. They are also campaigning for a compulsory 50/50% representation of women in any elected representation.
And this morning we met with Eduardo Pinata, National director of the FSBT, of one of the Teachers Unions, and also of Foundation of the Formation of Socialist Workers. At the moment teachers are working- teaching- 54 hours a week, with an average of 38 students in each classroom (bad but other South American countries are worse). They want to decrease both these numbers, to 36 hours of teaching face to face, with 6 hours of research and 4 hours of community work each week.
He was great, very nice, and interesting. He joked that half of Cubans are in Venezuela and vice versa (Venezuelan teachers went to Cuba for 15 days to observe their education system).
On Tuesday in the morning we visited NUDE- a nucleus of all sorts of missions and collectives. Walking past car repairers and factories, you suddenly arrive at a street with colourful murals on each side (painted by participants in the missions).
We saw a textile collective, It was great, the women (for they were mostly women working there) seemed quite relaxed. They have assemblies of all the workers once a year where they choose their new division of labour: who will sew, work in administration, run the factory etc. It changes every year and the people who do the ‘real’ work- the sewing, get paid more. They made some t-shirts for the members of our brigade right there, in under an hour :). Their wage is 30% of earnings, and sometimes they might need to work weekends or nights, when they have extra work- but it’s a choice each person makes.
We also saw a barrio adentro (dentist, 2 gyanacolegists, a farmacy, etc, all completely free), a Mercal- which sells food at a solidarity price- ie very cheap, and PDVAL- which sells it at cost price- but with per person limits to prevent businesses buying it to use for profit. All of these function under the rules of collectives.
After that we talked to some of the leaders of the Electricity Union. Boy was that an adventure! They talked about some of the difficulties of combining what was once private and public companies into one public company- the different regulations, pay scales, etc. They are currently working towards a law which will see the company have 50% state representation and 50% workers. Before it was nationalised like this, the 10 years in private hands meant that no infrastructure was built, there was no development. Now under Chavez, with all the wage increases and free services, consumption has gone up a lot and people have money to buy electrical goods like blenders, TVs etc. There’s also quite low environmental consciousness here, so the amount of electric consumption has gone up massively. So finally I understand all the blackouts! And the problems are worse in places like Merida because it is further away and further back in the ‘queue’.
Then, as we said our goodbyes, there was a blackout! Haha. Outside it was chaotic, as the traffic lights weren’t working, the trains had stopped and motor taxis quickly caught on and started charging 40Bs ($20). The buses were packed, with people hanging out, and the streets were full with people waiting for buses. Finally they just started walking, and it looked like May day had come early :). After 4 hours, we eventually decided we’d walk too (the centre was about 14km away), but just as we did the trains started again. They were PACKED and there were little shouts each time it stopped and more people tried to squeeze in.
There’s a lot to say :) I haven’t even got to the bureaucratic mess of ONIDEX which is where passports and visas are processed. And the cold bus ride down here where I was freezing despite wearing thermal underwear, shirt, jumper, pants and 2 skirts J and to top it off they played loud cheesy music from about 7 in the morning (it’s a 12-14 hour trip).
And the other world that is Caracas- it hits you in the face as you walk out of the bus terminal, especially as it is so different to Merida- the stall holders yelling out at you, all the concrete and towers and rubbish and humidity….(and stories of my friends who live here of being robbed and people being shot in gang fights during a party they were at)..
And the surreal experience of walking to one of these humid stations (god they are uncomfortable but at least the trains come like every 2 minutes…and are extremely cheap) and the stairs were covered in different coloured wool that went out into the street where people were playing with it and making music and doing acrobatic things- it seemed to coincide with Chavez’s announcement that day of a national circus and reminded me of that ad where people drag big balls of wool through the street- it was just like that.
It’s amazingly relevant to the brigade that we have on at the moment and the discussions that we had today (I’m here in Caracas helping out with an AVSN brigade, 12 Aussie trade unionists here to learn about the revolution, with a focus on the trade union aspect).
We finished today off by talking to the vice president of the Latin American Parliament, Carolus Wimmer. He argued that in a way, Chavez is blocking the development of movements, because he keeps handing down change- that for example, the trade unions have little reason to struggle, because he keeps just giving them pay increases.
Everyone is coming down from their rooms because he’s about to announce the wage increase and people are debating how much it will be. The atmosphere reminds me a bit of the final announcement of Australian Idol. Chavez has a graph out, asking the cameras to focus on it, using a book as a ruler to draw lines on it. Such a funny guy, drawing lines and explaining the way wages are worked out, how you have to include the ‘basket tickets’ – food vouchers. Not to mention all the free services and subsidies etc.
A lot of people share his excitement. Often throughout the brigade people have gotten so into what they were saying that we had to interrupt them so we could translate.
Haha. Chavez announces that the raise is 2%, Everyone looks at eachother then suddenly laughs, including him “This is what a capitalist government would say.”
It’s a 30% increase. Higher than the rate of inflation. “it is justice, nothing more”
And now Venezuela has the highest minimum salary in Latin America. If you include the food voucher almost 3 times the average of Latin America.
Wimmer also said that “If we can say that Chavez is a military leader, he can’t fight without any army- on his own.” And he named “3 enemies of the revolution: corruption, bureaucracy and inefficiency.”
Before him we met with the president of BANMUJER- the ‘different’ bank for women- which gives micro credit to majority women collectives at very low interest rates and with a long time to pay it off, and with the objective of helping women achieve self sufficiency, and not of profit.
Nora Castenada is her name, she is NOT against abortion, and she spoke very generally. I asked her how she felt about the creation recently, announced by Chavez, of a minister for women, “The women’s movement demanded INAMUJER, BANMUJER (etc), and so we demanded a minister, and we demand a ministery… since it was created by the movement, it is good for women, and whatever is good for women is good for BANMUJER”. They are also campaigning for a compulsory 50/50% representation of women in any elected representation.
And this morning we met with Eduardo Pinata, National director of the FSBT, of one of the Teachers Unions, and also of Foundation of the Formation of Socialist Workers. At the moment teachers are working- teaching- 54 hours a week, with an average of 38 students in each classroom (bad but other South American countries are worse). They want to decrease both these numbers, to 36 hours of teaching face to face, with 6 hours of research and 4 hours of community work each week.
He was great, very nice, and interesting. He joked that half of Cubans are in Venezuela and vice versa (Venezuelan teachers went to Cuba for 15 days to observe their education system).
On Tuesday in the morning we visited NUDE- a nucleus of all sorts of missions and collectives. Walking past car repairers and factories, you suddenly arrive at a street with colourful murals on each side (painted by participants in the missions).
We saw a textile collective, It was great, the women (for they were mostly women working there) seemed quite relaxed. They have assemblies of all the workers once a year where they choose their new division of labour: who will sew, work in administration, run the factory etc. It changes every year and the people who do the ‘real’ work- the sewing, get paid more. They made some t-shirts for the members of our brigade right there, in under an hour :). Their wage is 30% of earnings, and sometimes they might need to work weekends or nights, when they have extra work- but it’s a choice each person makes.
We also saw a barrio adentro (dentist, 2 gyanacolegists, a farmacy, etc, all completely free), a Mercal- which sells food at a solidarity price- ie very cheap, and PDVAL- which sells it at cost price- but with per person limits to prevent businesses buying it to use for profit. All of these function under the rules of collectives.
After that we talked to some of the leaders of the Electricity Union. Boy was that an adventure! They talked about some of the difficulties of combining what was once private and public companies into one public company- the different regulations, pay scales, etc. They are currently working towards a law which will see the company have 50% state representation and 50% workers. Before it was nationalised like this, the 10 years in private hands meant that no infrastructure was built, there was no development. Now under Chavez, with all the wage increases and free services, consumption has gone up a lot and people have money to buy electrical goods like blenders, TVs etc. There’s also quite low environmental consciousness here, so the amount of electric consumption has gone up massively. So finally I understand all the blackouts! And the problems are worse in places like Merida because it is further away and further back in the ‘queue’.
Then, as we said our goodbyes, there was a blackout! Haha. Outside it was chaotic, as the traffic lights weren’t working, the trains had stopped and motor taxis quickly caught on and started charging 40Bs ($20). The buses were packed, with people hanging out, and the streets were full with people waiting for buses. Finally they just started walking, and it looked like May day had come early :). After 4 hours, we eventually decided we’d walk too (the centre was about 14km away), but just as we did the trains started again. They were PACKED and there were little shouts each time it stopped and more people tried to squeeze in.
There’s a lot to say :) I haven’t even got to the bureaucratic mess of ONIDEX which is where passports and visas are processed. And the cold bus ride down here where I was freezing despite wearing thermal underwear, shirt, jumper, pants and 2 skirts J and to top it off they played loud cheesy music from about 7 in the morning (it’s a 12-14 hour trip).
And the other world that is Caracas- it hits you in the face as you walk out of the bus terminal, especially as it is so different to Merida- the stall holders yelling out at you, all the concrete and towers and rubbish and humidity….(and stories of my friends who live here of being robbed and people being shot in gang fights during a party they were at)..
And the surreal experience of walking to one of these humid stations (god they are uncomfortable but at least the trains come like every 2 minutes…and are extremely cheap) and the stairs were covered in different coloured wool that went out into the street where people were playing with it and making music and doing acrobatic things- it seemed to coincide with Chavez’s announcement that day of a national circus and reminded me of that ad where people drag big balls of wool through the street- it was just like that.
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Inclusion in Elementary and Secondary School Increases 23%
The inclusion of Venezuelans in the educative system increased 23% in the last nine years, said the Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez during a Cabinet meeting held on Tuesday April 29.
The Venezuelan head of State affirmed that the government is responsible of strengthening education in high schools and Bolivarian schools, and pointed out that education “is everybody’s responsibility.”
Chávez recalled that they approved about $1.4 billion in order to continue construction works in 1,225 schools. Some of them must be rebuilt, and widened, but new facilities must be built in order to have them ready in 2008.
The resources came from the Ministries of Education; Infrastructure; Housing and the Environment.
He pointed out that the Housing Ministry is in charge of recovering 161 schools; widening 199 and building 54 new facilities. The Infrastructure Ministry will be in charge of recovering 160; widening 197 and building 50 new schools.
Regarding the Environment Minister, President Chávez said that its mission is to build 47 new schools, widen 197 and recover 160.
Chávez explained they will build a total of 151 new buildings, including 47 Simoncitos (kindergarten); 47 Bolivarian schools (elementary school); 35 Bolivarian high schools, 4 educative towns, and 16 special education schools.
He said that Venezuela’s government expects to build one educative town in every state of the country; this year they expect to build four.
When talking about the students’ organizations, President Chávez stated that “Venezuela’s United Socialist Party (PSUV, Spanish acronym) has to promote it and respect student’s movements.”
He said that the spokespersons of students’ movements will be named “pioneers”, and stressed that they must be strengthened from first year to fifth year in high-school.
The Venezuelan president highlighted the need of taking values and social education to the Bolivarian schools and high-schools.
UNESCO’s figures
As he compared the growth of education in Venezuela (69%), President Chávez mentioned that - according to UNESCO’s figures - the percentage of kids attending kindergarten is still below 20% in Africa and the Arab countries.
Venezuela’s new education model moving forward
President Chávez said that while the new education model is under discussion, the Venezuelan government is open to debate, and explained that the new project will be an educative tool for all Venezuelans.
Likewise, he stated that those criticizing the implementation of this new educative model must contribute with ideas in order to improve it.
The Venezuelan president made clear that the new model is based on the Constitution, which is the project of all Venezuelans.
Finally, he stressed that it is also based on the respect to all thoughts and leanings because young people must be provided with tools in order to help them make decisions; that’s the reason why the new educative model discusses socialism and Bolivarian ideals, as well as capitalism.
”It is not a dogma. It must be a collective creation,” he affirmed.
Presidential Press Office
The Venezuelan head of State affirmed that the government is responsible of strengthening education in high schools and Bolivarian schools, and pointed out that education “is everybody’s responsibility.”
Chávez recalled that they approved about $1.4 billion in order to continue construction works in 1,225 schools. Some of them must be rebuilt, and widened, but new facilities must be built in order to have them ready in 2008.
The resources came from the Ministries of Education; Infrastructure; Housing and the Environment.
He pointed out that the Housing Ministry is in charge of recovering 161 schools; widening 199 and building 54 new facilities. The Infrastructure Ministry will be in charge of recovering 160; widening 197 and building 50 new schools.
Regarding the Environment Minister, President Chávez said that its mission is to build 47 new schools, widen 197 and recover 160.
Chávez explained they will build a total of 151 new buildings, including 47 Simoncitos (kindergarten); 47 Bolivarian schools (elementary school); 35 Bolivarian high schools, 4 educative towns, and 16 special education schools.
He said that Venezuela’s government expects to build one educative town in every state of the country; this year they expect to build four.
When talking about the students’ organizations, President Chávez stated that “Venezuela’s United Socialist Party (PSUV, Spanish acronym) has to promote it and respect student’s movements.”
He said that the spokespersons of students’ movements will be named “pioneers”, and stressed that they must be strengthened from first year to fifth year in high-school.
The Venezuelan president highlighted the need of taking values and social education to the Bolivarian schools and high-schools.
UNESCO’s figures
As he compared the growth of education in Venezuela (69%), President Chávez mentioned that - according to UNESCO’s figures - the percentage of kids attending kindergarten is still below 20% in Africa and the Arab countries.
Venezuela’s new education model moving forward
President Chávez said that while the new education model is under discussion, the Venezuelan government is open to debate, and explained that the new project will be an educative tool for all Venezuelans.
Likewise, he stated that those criticizing the implementation of this new educative model must contribute with ideas in order to improve it.
The Venezuelan president made clear that the new model is based on the Constitution, which is the project of all Venezuelans.
Finally, he stressed that it is also based on the respect to all thoughts and leanings because young people must be provided with tools in order to help them make decisions; that’s the reason why the new educative model discusses socialism and Bolivarian ideals, as well as capitalism.
”It is not a dogma. It must be a collective creation,” he affirmed.
Presidential Press Office
Venezuela: Highest Minimum Wage in Latin America
Venezuela: Highest Minimum Wage in Latin America
A 30 percent raise came into force on May 1 and it will reach 5 million workers and 1.2 million pensioners. Expropriation of Venezuela’s largest steelmaker, Sidor, becomes official.
The President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Hugo Chávez, raised Venezuela’s minimum wage by 30% on May 1, 2008.
During a national broadcast, the Venezuelan president also announced that all public employees’ wages will be increase by 30% and the salary scale will be adjusted. This event also included the swearing-in ceremony of the new Minister of Popular Power for Work, Roberto Hernández.
On this occasion, this raise gives Venezuela the highest minimum wage in Latin America and increases it from US $ 285 to US $ 372. President Chávez said such raise is justice and will include workers from both the Venezuelan public and private sectors in rural and urban areas.
”We’ll defeat inflation, but not at the expense of workers,” he stressed.
Venezuelans’ minimum wage moves from the second to the first place in Latin America, whose minimum wage average is US $ 312. In addition, Venezuelan workers earning minimum wages also receive US $ 186 in food stamps.
The monthly minimum income of Venezuelan workers will total US $ 558, which is 2.6 times higher than the average minimum wage of any worker in the region.
President Chávez explained that the Venezuelan State will invest over US $ 2.5 billion in this move, thus benefiting 5,333,726 workers representing 20% of the Venezuelan population.
He added that in the public sector 328,288 administrative employees and workers providing technical support; 268,569 professionals and technicians and 168,411 workers, as well as 1.2 million pensioners, will be benefited.
”I think I have the morals to ask the country’s workers to join the construction of the Bolivarian socialism,” said President Chávez.
Sidor joins public sector
At the same event, President Chávez signed a Decree that orders the nationalization of the largest Venezuelan steelmaker Siderurgica del Orinoco (Sidor, Spanish acronym), which was privatizwed in 1997 and controlled by the Italian-Argentinean company Ternium.
In this regard, he assured the Bolivarian Government has followed all the legal procedures regarding this measure.
“Sidor has been recovered by the Venezuelan government. Let’s turn Sidor into a socialist company, belonging to the socialist State and workers,” highlighted the Venezuelan president.
Sidor, located in Bolívar state (Venezuela’s southeast), has a payroll of 4,500 workers, produces 85% of the Venezuelan steel and is the most important steelmaker in the Andean and Caribbean regions.
A 30 percent raise came into force on May 1 and it will reach 5 million workers and 1.2 million pensioners. Expropriation of Venezuela’s largest steelmaker, Sidor, becomes official.
The President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Hugo Chávez, raised Venezuela’s minimum wage by 30% on May 1, 2008.
During a national broadcast, the Venezuelan president also announced that all public employees’ wages will be increase by 30% and the salary scale will be adjusted. This event also included the swearing-in ceremony of the new Minister of Popular Power for Work, Roberto Hernández.
On this occasion, this raise gives Venezuela the highest minimum wage in Latin America and increases it from US $ 285 to US $ 372. President Chávez said such raise is justice and will include workers from both the Venezuelan public and private sectors in rural and urban areas.
”We’ll defeat inflation, but not at the expense of workers,” he stressed.
Venezuelans’ minimum wage moves from the second to the first place in Latin America, whose minimum wage average is US $ 312. In addition, Venezuelan workers earning minimum wages also receive US $ 186 in food stamps.
The monthly minimum income of Venezuelan workers will total US $ 558, which is 2.6 times higher than the average minimum wage of any worker in the region.
President Chávez explained that the Venezuelan State will invest over US $ 2.5 billion in this move, thus benefiting 5,333,726 workers representing 20% of the Venezuelan population.
He added that in the public sector 328,288 administrative employees and workers providing technical support; 268,569 professionals and technicians and 168,411 workers, as well as 1.2 million pensioners, will be benefited.
”I think I have the morals to ask the country’s workers to join the construction of the Bolivarian socialism,” said President Chávez.
Sidor joins public sector
At the same event, President Chávez signed a Decree that orders the nationalization of the largest Venezuelan steelmaker Siderurgica del Orinoco (Sidor, Spanish acronym), which was privatizwed in 1997 and controlled by the Italian-Argentinean company Ternium.
In this regard, he assured the Bolivarian Government has followed all the legal procedures regarding this measure.
“Sidor has been recovered by the Venezuelan government. Let’s turn Sidor into a socialist company, belonging to the socialist State and workers,” highlighted the Venezuelan president.
Sidor, located in Bolívar state (Venezuela’s southeast), has a payroll of 4,500 workers, produces 85% of the Venezuelan steel and is the most important steelmaker in the Andean and Caribbean regions.
Monday, May 5, 2008
Noheli Pocaterra urged Bolivians to keep their country's integrity
ABN 02/05/2008
Caracas, May 2. ABN.- Sectors trying to separate Bolivia want to manage State's resources and they reject, because their excluding and racist attitude, that an indigenous man, like Evo Morales Ayma, is the President of Bolivia.
The statements were made by the deputy of the National Assembly, Noheli Pocaterra, during a mass meeting act organized by Venezuelan indigenous people in joint with the Universidad Bolivariana de Venezuela (UBV) for Bolivian people unity.
“Those sectors have divided the economic destiny of the country supported by the Government of United States, because they want to take possession of the natural resources and keep managing the continent as it were its colony”, she held.
Pocaterra pointed out that the separatist action that some are trying to carry out in Bolivia is rejected by the Organization of American States (OAS).
“Bolivians as well as international community reject this action, the OAS is against it and it is trying to reach a dialog to mediate in the situation”, she said.
Pocaterra assured that those promoting the referendum in Bolivia are also trying to sabotage the integration of South American countries.
“We make a call to Bolivians to keep their cohesion and unity. It is about the defense of their territorial integrity, of their lives. We do not accept to be nobody's colony”, she stressed.
Pocaterra said that indigenous people movements have gathered to show their solidarity to Bolivians and to say to the world that they reject a separatist attempt.
“Those trying to divide Bolivia are against the new political
constitution and the re-founding of the motherland”, Pocaterra pointed
out.
Translated by Ernesto Aguilera
Caracas, May 2. ABN.- Sectors trying to separate Bolivia want to manage State's resources and they reject, because their excluding and racist attitude, that an indigenous man, like Evo Morales Ayma, is the President of Bolivia.
The statements were made by the deputy of the National Assembly, Noheli Pocaterra, during a mass meeting act organized by Venezuelan indigenous people in joint with the Universidad Bolivariana de Venezuela (UBV) for Bolivian people unity.
“Those sectors have divided the economic destiny of the country supported by the Government of United States, because they want to take possession of the natural resources and keep managing the continent as it were its colony”, she held.
Pocaterra pointed out that the separatist action that some are trying to carry out in Bolivia is rejected by the Organization of American States (OAS).
“Bolivians as well as international community reject this action, the OAS is against it and it is trying to reach a dialog to mediate in the situation”, she said.
Pocaterra assured that those promoting the referendum in Bolivia are also trying to sabotage the integration of South American countries.
“We make a call to Bolivians to keep their cohesion and unity. It is about the defense of their territorial integrity, of their lives. We do not accept to be nobody's colony”, she stressed.
Pocaterra said that indigenous people movements have gathered to show their solidarity to Bolivians and to say to the world that they reject a separatist attempt.
“Those trying to divide Bolivia are against the new political
constitution and the re-founding of the motherland”, Pocaterra pointed
out.
Translated by Ernesto Aguilera
Ambassador of Bolivia thanks Venezuelan people for its constant support to his country
ABN 02/05/2008
Caracas, May 2. ABN.- The Ambassador of Bolivia to Venezuela, Jorge Alvarado, thanked Venezuelan people for its permanent solidarity and support to the policies of the Bolivian President, Evo Morales.
“We receive daily a great amount of denounces against the current illegal situation in Bolivia; therefore, I want to publicly thank people support to the defense and integrity of my country”, he said.
In this regard, he informed that the Organization of American States (OAS) has shown its solidarity with Bolivians. However, Alvarado expects that OAS will declare illegal the process that will take place next Sunday, May 4.
“We hope OAS will take severe measures and officially declare as illegal and unconstitutional the Bolivia's separatist movements”.
Furthermore, Alvarado stated that “there are some organizations in Santa Cruz and Media Luna that hurt in a inhuman way farmer's pacific protests, which is enough prove to say that there is racism in those acts, and that is the main reason for a separatist movement in Bolivia”.
Translated by Ernesto Aguilera
Caracas, May 2. ABN.- The Ambassador of Bolivia to Venezuela, Jorge Alvarado, thanked Venezuelan people for its permanent solidarity and support to the policies of the Bolivian President, Evo Morales.
“We receive daily a great amount of denounces against the current illegal situation in Bolivia; therefore, I want to publicly thank people support to the defense and integrity of my country”, he said.
In this regard, he informed that the Organization of American States (OAS) has shown its solidarity with Bolivians. However, Alvarado expects that OAS will declare illegal the process that will take place next Sunday, May 4.
“We hope OAS will take severe measures and officially declare as illegal and unconstitutional the Bolivia's separatist movements”.
Furthermore, Alvarado stated that “there are some organizations in Santa Cruz and Media Luna that hurt in a inhuman way farmer's pacific protests, which is enough prove to say that there is racism in those acts, and that is the main reason for a separatist movement in Bolivia”.
Translated by Ernesto Aguilera
Thursday, May 1, 2008
Chávez Congratulates Lugo; Announces Upcoming Meeting
El Universal
April 21, 2008
Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez congratulated Paraguay's president-elect, leftist Fernando Lugo, and said he intends to "meet as soon as possible" with him, reported on Monday the Venezuelan government.
"Upon learning about the victory of Fernando Lugo in Paraguayan presidential election, President Chávez phoned the incoming president of Paraguayans to congratulate him," said a press release from the Ministry of Communication and Information, AFP quoted.
Chávez and Lugo "expressed their willingness to meet as soon as possible to discuss cooperation and complementariness plans and the need to pursue the Union of South American Nations based on the historical claim of our peoples' fight," the paper added.
Chávez "assured" the ex bishop "of his willingness to continue working on the common development of the Paraguayan people and the Venezuelan people," said the ministry.
April 21, 2008
Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez congratulated Paraguay's president-elect, leftist Fernando Lugo, and said he intends to "meet as soon as possible" with him, reported on Monday the Venezuelan government.
"Upon learning about the victory of Fernando Lugo in Paraguayan presidential election, President Chávez phoned the incoming president of Paraguayans to congratulate him," said a press release from the Ministry of Communication and Information, AFP quoted.
Chávez and Lugo "expressed their willingness to meet as soon as possible to discuss cooperation and complementariness plans and the need to pursue the Union of South American Nations based on the historical claim of our peoples' fight," the paper added.
Chávez "assured" the ex bishop "of his willingness to continue working on the common development of the Paraguayan people and the Venezuelan people," said the ministry.
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