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Venezuelas El Sistema brings music to tsunami victims page 7

Th madness of US policy The in the Middle East page 8

Street government promotes social ethics

Calling for a new socialist ethic based on values of solidarity and efciency, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro visited the state of Anzoategui last weekend as part of the second phase of his administration's Street Government initiative. He referred to these elements as fundamental components of a new value system that can recreate Venezuelan society with the socialist morals exemplied by former President Hugo Chavez and Independence hero Simon Bolivar. page 2
Politics

Friday, October 18, 2013 | N 179 | Caracas | www.correodelorinoco.gob.ve

ENGLISH EDITION/The artillery of ideas

INTERNATIONAL
Municipal elections on Schedule for December
T/ AVN The president of Venezuelas National Electoral Council (CNE), Tibisay Lucena, announced this week that preparations for the December 8 municipal elections are proceeding according to schedule. She afrmed that the ofcial ballots have already been printed, along with unofcial ones used to educate voters at information fairs. To promote awareness about the electoral process, a simulated vote will be held next Sunday, October 20, at 421 electoral centers around the country, which will have 3,825 voting tables open so that citizens can do a trial run. Of those 421 voting centers, 55 will be pilot centers at which the whole voting platform will be put in place, including being staffed by the members of the voting tables, which are volunteers selected at random and trained to work at the polls. Lucena said that at the pilot centers, political party representatives may be present to offer their own information, something that is tradionally allowed. The simulated vote allows for the voting platform to be tested and any necessary corrections made. Its a trial to evaluate the functioning of the voting machines, the transmission system, and we use this as an opportunity for voters to come out and practice, she said. Regarding the audit of the last presidential election on April 14, the CNE president said that it was a success, and was held with experts from the Union of South American Nations (Unasur) and the InterAmerican Union of Electoral Experts (Uniore).

Venezuela battles corruption on fast track

Protesting Miss Venezuela

Feminist activists protested the beauty pageant for perpetuating beauty myths & encouraging plastic surgery. page 3
Politics

On Tuesday this week a special commission of the National Assembly was designated to analyze President Nicolas Maduros request for special law making powers to tackle political and economic corruption in Venezuelan society. President Maduro formally requested the Enabling Law before the National Assembly last Tuesday October 8, declaring he wanted to spearhead a profound transformation of the justice system and crack down on economic and political corruption. If granted, the Enabling Law would last for one year. Page 4

Venezuela: 62% of revenues in social programs

T/ AVN

US ship released
A US-operated oil exploration vessel was briey detained for violating Venezuelan territory. page 5
Economy

Public enterprises promote production

A new subsidized cotton plant promises jobs creation and advancement of domestic industry. page 6

Venezuelan Vice President Jorge Arreaza said Wednesday that, since 1999, the national government has invested 62% of national revenues in its social missions and other social investment programs designed the to attend to the needs of the population with regard to health, education, housing and other issues. He explained that $213.28 billion entered the country from 1985 to 1998, of which $78 billion 36% of revenue went to social investment, but after the Bolivarian Revolution began in 1999, national income reached $883 billion and $551 billion 62% went to social investment.

This social investment went to the health centers of [the social mission] Barrio Adentro, the Integral Diagnostic Centers, the missions, the highways, the universities, [subsidized supermarket chains] Mercal and Pdval, pen-

sions, the minimum wage, which has gone up every year. That is to say, everything the revolution has done. This social investment is what [past governments] used to steal from the nation; it comes from the oil revenues, Arreaza said.

2 Impact | .sFriday, October 18, 2013

The artillery of ideas

Venezuela's Street Government promotes new socialist ethic at the local level

for farmers has been built and a distribution point for affordable staple foods has also been inaugurated to ght the price speculation and hoarding of basic products occurring in the private market. In his address, Maduro was forceful in his condemnation of what he called the economic sabotage being carried out against the Venezuelan people and its government. Those who are hoarding are violating the principles of the revolution. I believe in a government of order and Im going to put order to the parasitic bourgeoisie to be able to protect the poor, he declared.

ADVANCES IN BOLIVAR
While the President met with residents in Anzoategui, members of his executive cabinet alongside the military were engaging with citizens in the southern state of Bolivar. During their exchange, more than four million bolivars ($635,000) were disbursed to indigenous organizations in the town of Piaroa for agricultural development. The money will be divided, authorities report, between 246 small producers to cultivate cassava and beans. In the state capital, Ciudad Bolivar, the Venezuelan Minister of Womens Affairs Andreina Tarazon received nancing proposals from different groups of women for a variety of socio-productive enterprises in the textile, service and food industries. The minister also met with womens organizations in a local prison and informed that 35 similar projects have been approved for funding in the Vizcaino correction facility. With respect to disease control, Health Minister Isabel Iturria reported that a new government plan to ght malaria in the state of Bolivar has been progressing and will continue to provide the medication necessary to curb the epidemic. Weve had extraordinary achievements. In just 8 weeks of having activated our Special Anti-Malaria Plan, weve achieved a reduction of 46 percent in the statistics of this disease, Iturria stated. A study released in June by the Venezuelan Society of Infectious Disease revealed that 90 percent of the near 38 thousand cases of malaria in the country had been found in the state of Bolivar. An overwhelming 80 percent of those cases are found in the single municipality of Sifontes, an area known for illegal mining activity.

T/ COI P/ Presidential Press alling for a new socialist ethic based on values of solidarity and efciency, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro visited the state of Anzoategui last weekend as part of the second phase of his administrations Street Government initiative. While in Anzoategui, the head of state urged his fellow countrymen and women to work towards a new political and civil ethic that is republican, Bolivarian, Chavista, and Christian. He referred to these elements as fundamental components of a new value system that can recreate Venezuelan society with the socialist morals exemplied by former President Hugo Chavez and Independence hero Simon Bolivar. We have to renew ourselves every second of every day, Maduro explained as he met with citizens and Governor Aristobal Izturis in the city of Barcelona. During the exchange, the leader of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) ratied his desire to work with local governments in order to facilitate greater coordination between the national executive and regional organizations.

With an eye on the countrys mayoral elections on December 8, the former union leader commented that local elected ofcials must create new work values and the people need to accompany them so that their time in ofce is efcient. This includes strengthening the nations Communes - a policy initiative that binds Venezuelas grassroots community councils together in regional clusters. The Communes were designed by the socialist government of Hugo Chavez as a way of passing political power to the local level and streamlining the nancing of neighborhooddevised development projects. Since being elected president in April, Maduro has taken up his predecessors policy, emphasizing the importance of the regional organizations in advancing participatory democracy and in ghting excessive bureaucracy in the country. The Communes are going to indicate to us where we need to work. The people with their spokespeople will make the decisions regarding the projects that need to be undertaken, he said.

A NEW PHASE OF GOVERNMENT

In a similar move to bolster political participation, Maduros Street Government has promoted a more inclusive approach to

governance by engaging with citizens in their localities. Through popular assemblies, the executive branch has been able to receive development ideas as well as criticisms from ordinary residents and activists working at the community level. On Saturday, the head of state spoke of a new phase of the Street Government that will focus on increasing efciency, fostering the new socialist ethic, and taking pride in productive and well-made public works. The Homes of the Homeland proposal will be an important aspect of this push towards the consolidation of a new Venezuelan society, Maduro stated. We must achieve the construction of the Homes of the Homeland and the foundation for the homes that are comprised of honest people who are committed to teach their children and grandchildren...

There cannot be vices inside of this home. There must be workers, students, social justice activists, and revolutionary patriots, he asserted. In its rst phase, the administrations Street Government approved more than two thousand proposals for community projects presented via popular assembly. This trend is set to continue, the Venezuelan President assured last weekend, as he listened to some of the gains made by the socialist government in the state of Anzoategui. According to Governor Isturiz, the state has provided low-income workers with new housing and recently inaugurated the San Diego de Cabrutica thermoelectric plant that will provide residents with 150 megawatts of power by the end of October. An agricultural complex to ensure greater access to seeds

The artillery of ideas

.sFriday, October 18, 2013

| Politics

Venezuela celebrates Indigenous Resistance Day amid criticisms of Spains homage to colonialism
T/ COI P/ Agencies enezuelan President Nicolas Maduro took issue with Spain for its celebration of October 12 as Hispanic Day last Saturday, accusing the European nation of extolling the massacre of our grandparents. Following his participation in a spiritual cleansing ceremony performed by members of the Karina ethnic group in the state of Anzoategui, Maduro expressed his resentment over Spains homage to Christopher Columbus. I had a feeling of indignation when I saw that they are celebrating Hispanic Day in Spain. October 12 is a great day for them, the day when the massacre of our grandparents began, he imputed. Im asking Spain, what do you think about the nearly 100 million indigenous who were murdered between 1492 and 1592 in the rst 100 years since your arrival to America? Is it something to celebrate? he asked rhetorically. In Venezuela, the late Hugo Chavez denominated October 12 as Indigenous Resistance Day by presidential decree in 2002.

Over the weekend, numerous public acts were held to celebrate the culture of native peoples and the ght against colonialism in the Americas. President of the Indigenous Parliament of America-Venezuelan Parliamentary Group (PIA-GPV), Cesar Sanguinetti, spoke of how the Chavez administration has given more visibility to native issues than any previous government. Respect for the identity of indigenous peoples was a utopian

idea 14 years ago but President Chavez, after his arrival to power in 1998, committed himself to dignifying us and included us in the Bolivarian Revolution, Sanguinetti said. This has manifested itself in the recognition of ancestral lands by the Venezuelan government, the creation of special social programs designed to improve the economic well-being of original peoples and the founding of the countrys first Indig-

enous University where students are taught in their native languages.

INDIGENOUS MERCOSUR
In conjunction with the cultural activities that took place around the nation, leading members of Venezuelas indigenous communities participated in an international conference to discuss greater inclusion in the Common Market of the South (Mercosur) trade bloc.

The meetings were held in the state of Bolivar in Southern Venezuela and saw the attendance of Foreign Minister Elias Jaua, Minister for Indigenous Affairs Aloha Nunez, as well as representatives from Peru, Ecuador, Brazil, Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia and Uruguay. A number of work groups were created, under the name Indigenous Mercosur, to present proposals to incentivize the participation of native peoples in the continent-wide commercial alliance. We must go from the mere economic...to the cultural integration of our indigenous peoples, Minister Jaua said at the encounter. For Minister Nunez, the conversations are about righting a historical wrong and returning power to those victimized by colonization. The liberation of indigenous peoples isnt a question of putting them in a constitution but rather of giving back the power that was stolen from them more than 500 years ago. This is only going to happen by giving back the land that belongs to them since ancestral times so that they are able to produce and develop through their own methods, customs, and traditions, she said. The working groups comprising Indigenous Mercosur will present their proposals for approval by the heads of state of the blocs member nations when they meet in Caracas in December.

Undeterred by police, feminist activists protest Miss Venezuela pageant

T/ COI P/ AFP ith signs reading, My body is beautiful without silicone and Our bodies are not commodities feminist protestors took to the streets of Caracas last week Thursday to demonstrate against the annual Miss Venezuela beauty pageant. The rally began in the neighborhood El Valle and was truncated by a police cordon before arriving outside the Poliedro arena where the event took place without disruption. Activists wearing sashes bearing titles such as Miss Submission and Miss Racism expressed their outrage at being denied the right to peacefully protest outside the pageant by members of Venezuelas National Bolivarian Police. Were not protesting violently! Were protesting peacefully and we will continue to do so! shouted Maria Fernando Romero from the group Skirts in Revolution upon being denied access to the Poliedro. Its a shame that the national police are protecting the capitalists, the patriarchs and those that dont care about the people, said another demonstrator.

A BEAUTY FACTORY
Miss Venezuela is one the South American countrys most prominent televised events. Broadcast in over 20 nations worldwide, the beauty contest is considered by many to be a Venezuelan tradition and continually earns some of the highest television ratings in the country. The pageant is owned by the multi-billion dollar media cor-

poration, the Cisneros Group, which has used Venezuelas success in international contests such as Miss Universe and Miss World to instill a sense of nationalist pride in the nations beauty queens. But protestors argue that the spectacle is more about proteering than it is about celebrating the true beauty of Venezuelan women as the annual

event generates more than $35 million for the Cisneros Group in advertising revenues. On Thursday, activists took particular aim at the President of the Miss Venezuela Organization, Osmel Sousa, who has made openly racist statements against Venezuelan women and is known for his excessive utilization of plastic surgery on the pageants contestants. This use of plastic surgery has also expanded to greater Venezuelan society as many women feel the obligation to meet the stereotypes dictated by Sousa and the Miss Venezuela Organization. According to the International Society of Aesthetic and Plastic Surgery, the number of cosmetic operations doubled in Venezuela between 2011 and 2012. Many of these operations have come with a human cost as back alley clinics offering budget surgeries skirt health regulations and put in danger

the lives of those going under the knife. While ofcial statistics are not kept on deaths resulting from plastic surgery, news reports in September revealed that at least 17 Venezuelan women died over the past year from illegal biopolymer injections. Were tired of the fact that women are dying from operations. Were tired that women are dying from liposuctions. Were tired that women are being abandoned only because their not good looking, Romero said. Last Thursdays protest is the rst time since 1972 that the Miss Venezuela pageant has come under re from feminist activists. We are not stereotypes and were not women who can be measured by cubic centimeters. We are authentic women who are protesting against this pattern beauty that is part of a patriarchal system, said Pacha Catalina during the demonstration.

4 Politics | .sFriday, October 18, 2013

The artillery of ideas

President Maduros enabling Law bid begins passage through Parliament

T/ Ewan Robertson P/ Presidential Press n Tuesday this week a special commission of the National Assembly was designated to analyze President Nicolas Maduros request for special law making powers to tackle political and economic corruption in Venezuelan society. The special powers, which fall under the Enabling Law, give the head of state the power to pass laws in certain areas without congress for a specied length of time. The eighteen member parliamentary commission, composed entirely of pro-government legislators, will prepare a

report on the Enabling Law request, to then be introduced to the National Assembly for full discussion. A three-fth majority of the congressional chamber, calculated at 99 out of the 165 deputies, must vote in favor of the measure in order for the special powers to be granted. President Maduro currently counts on the support of 98 pro-government lawmakers, meaning he requires at least one opposition deputy to support the measure. In a press conference on Monday, National Assembly president Diosdado Cabello said that the special powers were being pursued in strict accordance with the Venezuelan constitu-

tion, and that the bill would likely take three weeks to pass through congress. The lawmaker, who is also a leader of the governments United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV), expressed condence that the Enabling Law would be passed. The day that the Enabling Law is debated, if we have 100 votes, then we will get 100, if we have 99 votes, it [will be passed by] 99, he said.

A NATIONAL DEBATE
President Maduro formally requested the Enabling Law before the National Assembly last Tuesday October 8, declaring he wanted to spearhead a profound transformation of

the justice system and crack down on economic and political corruption. If granted, the Enabling Law would last for one year The President is also requesting powers to ght against what the government has termed an economic war being waged against the Venezuelan economy by actors opposed to the Bolivarian revolution. On corruption, Maduro means to revise the penal code and mechanisms of investigation and prosecution for corruption-related crimes. He also wants to create a legal framework for the nancing of political parties. I call on the people not to permit corruption[and] not to tolerate corruption either by those with a yellow collar [opposition gures] nor the corruption of those with a red collar [government supporters]. Its the same thuggery no matter how you dress; its the same anti-people and anti-national behavior, the President said to lawmakers as he introduced the request. The nations Comptroller General, Adelina Gonzalez, has supported the move, saying that the powers are key to modernizing the Venezuelan state in the ght against the structural problem of corruption. In an interview on public channel VTV on Monday, she said the Enabling Law would allow for the re-engineering of the legal framework currently in place to tackle corruption in public, political and economic life. Im convinced that the presidents request is reasonable. Its not about a whim. We [the Comptroller Generals ofce]

are convinced that its important for designing a strategy of struggle against corruption, she said. Meanwhile the conservative opposition has opposed the move, arguing that special presidential powers are not required in order to combat corruption. We feel that the government has all the necessary legal instruments to attack administrative corruption, due to which said request [for an Enabling Law] has no justication, said Vicente Bello, a political advisor to the oppositions MUD coalition, to media last week. However this view appears to be at odds with the majority of the Venezuelan people. According to a poll in August by polling rm International Consulting Services (ICS), 71.5% of the population considers an Enabling Law necessary to the ght against corruption. The government has accused the opposition of resisting the measure due to reluctance to address corruption in their own ranks. The fascist right-wing is worried by the Enabling Law, they see themselves painted as corrupt and maa-like; there cant be impunity, wrote Cabello on Twitter the day the powers were requested. Every Venezuelan President for the last forty years has requested the special powers at some point to address issues of national importance. Late President Hugo Chavez was granted an Enabling Law four times during his fourteen-year administration, which he used to speed up sweeping changes to the countrys politics and society.

PSUV Mayor Impeached for Corruption

T/ Paul Dobson P/ Agencies

ollowing President Maduros calls for an all-out war on corruption, of all political colors, another signicant public ofcial fell this week, as Mayor of Valencia was arrested and impeached of his public responsibilities on charges of corruption. Edgardo Parra Oquendo was apprehended at his home in Valencia on Saturday, impeached in a preliminary trial on Monday, and will face a full trial within 90 days.

Parra Oquendo, who belongs to the governing Socialist Unied Party (PSUV), was elected in 2008 as Mayor of Valencia Municipality in Carabobo State with 38.15% of the votes. Valencia is the 3rd largest city in Venezuela. He was not supported for re-election in the upcoming local elections.

He is accused of serious public damage, corruption, generation of capital for personal benet, irregular contraction, criminal association, and embezzlement. The Valencia Municipal Chambers have elected Alexis Lopez as the stand in Mayor until the 8th December elections.

Interior Minister, Miguel Rodriguez Torres, explained that Parra ran a parallel ofce. Our sources informed us that this (parallel) ofce was where many contracts, permits, extortion payments, and commissions went through. The Minister went on to explain that the police found 93 receipt books, blank cheques, rubber stamps, large cash sums, foreign currencies, papers for 10 vehicles, some of which were bullet proofed, boats, a yacht, 14 properties, and a jet. Sixteen people are currently being investigated, and arrest warrants are out on Parra Oquendos son, Edgardo Parra Guardia; the Mayors Head of Property, Alberto Teran; and the Mayors Director of Environment, who are all cur-

rently eeing the Venezuelan judicial system. His son, Parra Guardia, who is accused of running the parallel ofce, left the country 2 weeks ago, and Teran ed across the land border to Colombia last week. Edgardo Parra Oquendo had planned vacations outside of Venezuela this Monday, and so has been denied bail by the authorities following his arrest. Alongside Parra, an ex-Miss Venezuela (2000)- Victoria Eugenia Lopez Pando- and James Bell Smythe Romero, were arrested as associates to the crimes. Only last week, President Maduro promised to act with speed and efciency against this evil (corruption), this disease, with the aim of preserving the life of the Republic and guaranteeing the public health.

The artillery of ideas

.sFriday, October 18, 2013

| International

T/ Ryan Patrick Mallett-Outtrim P/ Agencies he crew of a US-operated oil exploration ship were released on Tuesday by Venezuelan authorities, after their vessel was detained last week for allegedly violating Venezuelan waters. The Malaysian corporate owner of the vessel Teknik Perdana announced the release of the 36 crew, including ve US citizens earlier this week. In a press release, the company, SapuraKencara Petroleum, expressed its gratitude to the government of Venezuela for ensuring the safety and welfare of the crew. The Teknik Perdana was boarded by a Venezuelan warship last Thursday, after maritime authorities alleged that the ship entered Venezuelas economic zone without authorization. According to the foreign ministry, the Teknik Perdana was carrying out illegal activities in Venezuelan waters on the disputed border with Guyana. The crew were detained on Margarita Island, and an investigation was launched under International Maritime Law and pursuant to the safeguarding of our sovereignty in maritime areas, the ministry stated. Speaking to Union Radio, Admiral Angel Belisario Martinez stated that the case had been turned over to prosecutors, describing the vessels activities as unauthorized scientic work. The admiral stated that the crew were being questioned with the strictest respect for human rights. Then on Monday, the attorney generals ofce announced that the Teknik Perdanas Ukrainian captain Igor Bekirov was set to stand trial. The following day, both the ship and crew were released. Guyanese authorities have rejected claims that the ship entered Venezuelan territory. [T]he Teknik Perdana was in Guyanas waters when this incident took place, the countrys foreign ministry has stated. When the ship was intercepted, it was in the vicinity of the coast of Esequiba- a 159,500 square kilometer strip of land that has been subject to dispute between Venezuela and Guyana since the 19th Century. Historically, the territorial dispute led to numerous diplomatic spats between Guyana and Venezuela. However, under former President Hugo

US-operated ship released by Venezuelan authorities

Chavez Venezuela pursued a more reconciliatory policy towards Guyana, and bilateral ties improved. Over the last decade, both sides have pledged to resolve the dispute peacefully. When President Nicolas Maduro visited Georgetown in August, he said the territorial dispute was nothing more than a remnant of colonial rivalries.

Esequiba is currently administered by Guyana, and the Teknik Perdana was in the area to perform geological surveys on behalf of the Guyanese government, according to both Guyanas foreign ministry and the contractor, Anadarko Petroleum. In recent years, interest in oil exploration in the waters off South Americas northeast

coastline has increased, after a major nd in 2011 off the shores of French Guiana. In June 2012, the Texas-based oil and gas exploration company Anadarko was awarded a deep-water survey contract by Georgetown. The survey work was being conducted by Teknik Perdana, a non-military vessel whose sole purpose is undertake oil

and gas related survey work, SapuraKencara stated in a press release this week. The ship had been chartered by Anadarko. At the time the Teknik Perdana was intercepted by Venezuelan authorities it was engaged in a multi-beam survey of the seaoor, as part of its seismic study of the area, according to the Guyanese foreign ministry. Flying under a Panamanian ag, the 285-foot Teknik Perdana carried two UK citizens, two Russians, one French, ve Ukrainians, two Brazilians, ve Malaysians, 14 Indonesians and the ve US citizens. Although the Venezuelan foreign ministry stated that it strongly protests against the vessels alleged violation of Venezuelan waters, the ministry also stated it will continue to respect Guyanan sovereignty. A meeting between Foreign Minister Elias Jaua was set to meet with his Guyanese counterpart yesterday. [T]he Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela reiterates its commitment to peace and will not return to past situations of confrontation with the sister Republic of Guyana, and will also continue to persevere on the path opened by Comandante Hugo Chavez to promote cooperative relations between our peoples and strengthen Latin American and Caribbean integration, the ministry stated.

Venezuela to build 4400 new houses in Haiti

T/ Ryan Mallett-Outtrim www.venezuelanalysis.com P/ Agencies he Venezuelan government has pledged to construct 4400 new housing units in Haiti worth around US$260 million, according to Haitian Prime Minister Laurent Lamothe. Lamothe announced the initiative after a one day visit to Caracas on Monday. 3900 of the houses will be constructed in Port-au-Prince, while 500 will be built on Ile-aVache. An island just off Haiti's south-west peninsula, Ile-aVache is currently being developed for tourism by the Haitian government. The Venezuelan government is partially funding a $66 million hotel project on the island. Along with housing and tourism deals, Lamothe's visit reportedly focused on discussion of Haiti's Petrocaribe debt obligations. Under Petrocaribe, Caribbean states are able to purchase Venezuelan oil at preferential rates. Following the 2010 earthquake that devastated the country, Haiti was forgiven $400 million in Petrocaribe debt. Debt can also be paid back in products instead of currency. According to a Haitian govern-

ment press release, Lamothe's delegation met with Venezuelan ofcials to negotiate exchanging agricultural products for debt payment. The agreements discussed this week will be nalised in a second meeting later this month. The two governments also reportedly discussed a $15 million health services deal, which will see the Development Bank of Venezuela fund new health facilities in Haiti. Lamothe also met with ofcials from the Bank of ALBA, which pledged to invest a further $10 million in Haitian literacy programs. Haiti is yet to recover from the 2010 disaster, and is one of the poorest countries in the region. In July, Haitian president Michel Martelly praised Venezuelan aid, stating that the majority of state projects in areas including education, infrastructure and agriculture are supported by Petrocaribe. Most of what is done today in Haiti is achieved with Petrocaribe funds, Martelly stated.

6 Economy | .sFriday, October 18, 2013

The artillery of ideas

Venezuela launches new state-owned cotton plant

Fuel smugglers making large prots, Venezuelan authorities crack down
T/ Tamara Pearson www.venezuelanalysis.com P/ Agencies s part of a clamp down on trafcking of Venezuelas regulated and subsidized fuel, authorities have conscated 1 million liters of fuel being smuggled across the border to Colombia and dismantled a maa gang in Bolivar state which smuggled up to 250,000 litres per week, most likely to Brazil. On Monday, General William Barrientos, head of the Border Command being implemented in Zulia state along the border with Colombia, talked to press about how the plan has been going since its commencement 44 days ago. He said that the Bolivarian National Armed Forces had been carrying out maintenance on water and road infrastructure, but also running operations to uncover Caletas, which he argued were the roots of the problem of food and petrol being smuggled across the border. Caletas are the places where food or petrol, bought at regulated prices, is stored. Barrientos said that in 44 days the army had repossessed a million liters of gasoline and 300 tons of food. Further, in Guajira, to the north of Zulia, the Border Command is carrying out of census of families in order to distribute food in an organized way. Guajira, with a population of 65,000, a majority of which are indigenous Wayuu, borders Colombia and is on the Caribbean coast. Were designing a system with all the institutions that are working with the Border Command in order to take basic food items directly to housing, house by house, Barrientos said. He stated that food arrived in the Guajira municipality in amounts that are above the real consumption needs of the area. Last month petroleum minister Rafael Ramirez also announced the implementation of a special petroleum distribution system, called Special Border Fuel Supply (Safec) in La Guajira. It involves PDVSA, Venezuelas state oil company and local cooperatives selling fuel at an international price of 5-12 bolivars per liter (US$ 0.80 1.90 at the ofcial exchange rate). The price provides cooperatives with a reasonable prot, but also undermines the smuggling rings. Gasoline costs 0.082 bolivars in Venezuela and is selling at 20 bolivars on the border, or 250 times more the buying price. Moreover, on Sunday the National Guard arrested 12 people in Bolivar state for allegedly smuggling fuel. It also conscated 250,000 liters of gasoil they had on a boat, and shut down the smuggling complex. The complex involved storing gasoil in cisterns and transporting it through hundreds of kilometers of underground piping to the river and the boat. General Commander of the National Guard, Justo Noguera, said the boat was loaded up once a week. It would have headed to Brazil or Guyana. Fuel smuggling to Colombia costs Venezuela $1.4 billion per year, with 30,000 barrels smuggled daily, according to a report coming out of a bilateral meeting between the Colombian and Venezuelan governments in August this year. Eight states in Venezuela share borders with other countries, including the islands of Curazao, Aruba, and Trinidad and Tobago.

T/ Ryan Mallet-Outtrim www.venezuelanalysis.com P/ Presidential Press ne hundred jobs will be provided by a new stateowned cotton factory inaugurated by President Nicolas Maduro in Miranda state on Tuesday. Located in Mirandas Guaicaipuro municipality, the factory will produce cotton clothing, fabrics and bers. It is part of the state-owned Algodones del Orinoco (Orinoco Cotton), based in Guarico state. The Guaicaipuro plant was previously privately owned. Speaking at the inauguration, minister for foreign affairs and head of the national governments Integral Development Corporation of Miranda State Elias Jaua stated that its previous owners had neglected the factory in the 1990s, but it has been under rehabilitation since 2011. More than 171 workers had been abandoned by the capitalist owner, he stated. Chavez ordered the expropriation of the premises, approved resources and paid the workers. If anyone wants to see how socialism works, heres this company, Jaua said. According to state news agency AVN, the government has invested around 84 million bolivars ($13.3 million) in rehabilitating the factory, which will now employ around 100 workers.

The inauguration took place during Maduros visit to Guaicaipuro, as part of the second phase of his street government. The President described the factory as crucial for the production, for work, for... economic growth in the municipality. Algodones del Orinoco joins the popular government as part of a new stage of the revolution, Maduro stated. According to Maduro, the rehabilitated plant has been outtted with Chinese machinery, acquired through bilateral deals with the Chinese government. This latest technology is bringing a revolution in economic development to Venezuela, Maduro stated. In recent years China has become the Venezuelan governments largest foreign source of nancing, lending Caracas over US$32 billion since 2007. The low-interest loans are being paid of by the Venezuelan government with oil exports to the Asian giant; around 430,000 barrels a day of crude as of 2012. According to state media, the factory will also include facilities for worker training, including political education. The investment is also part of efforts to boost Venezuelas national cotton industry, which has struggled over the last decade with low output. According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Lands, Venezuela lost over half its cotton

producing land between 1975 and 2012, though the government hopes to increase productivity in the sector over the next few years. Along with opening the new cotton plant, during the Miranda street government the Maduro administration also pledged to improve public infrastructure across the state. The national government will focus on revitalizing historic buildings in the state capital, Los Teques, and implementing Barrio Adentro, Barrio Tricolor, afrmed Jaua. The latter is a national scheme aimed at upgrading Venezuelas poor neighbourhoods. However, during Tuesdays inauguration, Maduro also hit out at the state governor of Miranda, former presidential candidate Henrique Capriles. Describing Capriles as a parasite, Maduro accused his former rival for presidency of being excessively absent from his position. On Wednesday, teachers held a protest in Los Teques, alleging that the Miranda state government had failed to pay their wages. The people have the right to activate all institutional and legal mechanisms against anyone who fails to meet their obligations, Maduro stated. Such a government [of Miranda state] belongs to the people of Miranda, not a fascist, he said.

The artillery of ideas

.sFriday, October 18, 2013

| Culture

El Sistema pays homage to tsunami victims in visit to japan

incredible how they all move in the same direction.

ABSOLUTELY EXTRAORDINARY SUCCESS

The network of Venezuelan Youth and Infantile Orchestras currently includes 350,000 children in Venezuela, and is setting up similar projects in Scotland, Angola, and other countries in the world. President Maduro has set the goal of expanding it to 1 million children as soon as possible. Its founder, Maestro Jose Antonio Abreu, told the public that the goals of the international trip were to establish contacts that allow the necessary conditions to achieve this goal. Some initial agreements with Japanese instrument builders have been signed, Abreu went on to explain, whom have generously offered their support to help provide more instruments to those participating in Venezuela. Similarly, it was announced that in February there would be an interchange of teachers from Venezuela to Japan to encourage shared musical experiences between the two countries, which are more than 20,000 kilometers apart. Furthermore, there have been some agreements made to take advantage of Japanese help to construct specialist buildings of the highest (acoustic) quality in each Venezuelan State in which the children can practice and learn their instruments. The assessment and direct assistance of Japan has been essential for us in this sense, stated Abreu. The trip has been of an absolutely extraordinary value concluded Abreu, who has led El Sistema since 1975.

T/ Paul Dobson P/ Agencies he National System of Youth and Infantile Orchestras and Choirs of Venezuela culminated the rst part of its international tour to Japan and South Korea this week, with moving concerts of solidarity both in the community of Soma, Fukushima, devastatingly hit by the tsunami in 2011, and Hiroshima, which still suffers the repercussions of the US nuclear bombing of 1945. With the participation of the Caracas Youth Symphonic Orchestra (CYSO), playing alongside local Symphonic Orchestras, ve sold out concerts were given throughout Japan, climaxing in a moving concert which provoked 10 minutes of ovation in the Metropolitan Arts Space of Tokyo. The wife of the Emperor Akhihito, present at the nal concert, professed to being very impressed with the performance. The CYSO, which forms part of the colloquially named El Sistema, played a range of pieces during the tour, including Mozart, Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, Shostakovich and Chopin, and was graced with the presence of numerous soloists. One of them, Edicson Ruiz, from Venezuela, highlighted

the level of professionalism and talent of the CYSO. These kids are incredible. I had never worked with them before, but just two rehearsals were enough. They played majestically. I have to admit that as a soloist I have never cried during a piece until now, revealed the double bass player.

ance on the balconies of part of the Venezuelan Orchestra; integrating the crowd into the music with what is now worldfamous energy and passion.

HOMAGE TO TSUNAMI VICTIMS

In perhaps the most important visit of the tour, a Venezuelan String Quartet played a special concert in Soma, Fukushima province, a zone that was devastated in March 2011 by the tsunami. The concert in the Sakuragaoka School included the presence of the local pianist Mami Hagiwara, and was followed by an interchange with the 120 Japanese children who form the newly set up nucleus of El Sistema in Fukushima, established to try to replicate the success of the Venezuelan experience in tsunami-hit Japan. All of the children in the Fukushima nucleus lost their homes in 2011, and 80 of them have been reassigned to new, children-less families after being left as orphans in the tragic disaster. Yutaka Kikugawa, founder of the nucleus, highlighted the mental and psychological damage, which the children have suffered after the disaster, and explained that they hope to use music to help these children recover. They have

MUSIC TO CURE NUCLEARINDUCED HARM

Elsewhere on their visit to Japan, the CYSO played a moving concert in the internationally recognized landmark of Hiroshima. Director of the CYSO, Dietrich Paredes, explained that the Hiroshima concert was a beautiful experience with precious musical moments, and that he had felt strong sentiments. The concert in Hiroshima was special because of the place, the feelings which it causes and the history of the site. In a later concert in Chiba, in which the Chiba Youth Orchestra also participated, the leader of the local grouping praised the Venezuelan heart, and the purity of their children. This has been fantastic, we have much to learn from Venezuela. I just want to tell the children of Chiba that they learn from their Venezuelan companions. The Chiba concert was characterized by a surprise appear-

a lot of mental pressure, emotionally they struggle to live day to day, she stated. The tour of El Sistema was initially planned to take place two years ago, but was cancelled due to the tsunami tragedy. For this reason, the concert in Soma was organized to pay tribute to the disappeared and to act as proof of what El Sistema can sew here. Director of the Simon Bolivar Musical Foundation, Eduardo Mendez, explained in Fukushima that essentially Venezuela is exporting technical assistance in the musical eld to Japan. For his part, Ollantay Velasquez, who formed part of the Quartet which played in Soma, remarked on his attitude to such exchanges: each time that we see a child, wherever they may be, of whatever skin color, we see in their eyes their hope, and that they genuinely love music and value what they do. He also highlighted that the professional musicians can also learn from the children, as the 120 children displayed what they have learned in one month of El Sistema in Soma with a short performance: we have learned a lot from them during this concert too, stated Velasquez, they are perfectionists to the last detail! Its

ABREU RECEIVES PRIZE

Abreu was awarded the special Culture Prize for Peace, from the Goi Foundation in Japan during his visit. The prize was awarded for, in the words of the Foundations President, Hiro Saionji, his visionary leadership, and his love for humanity. You have changed the lives of millions of young people through the extraordinary program El Sistema, explained Saionji. Maestro Abreu, on receiving the prize, stated, I feel deeply moved and thankful. This will allow me to re-double my efforts to construct a better world through the sewing of music in the soul of the children. The tour continues to South Korea, where the Caracas Grouping will play in the Seoul Arts Center amongst other concert halls.

INTERNATIONAL

Friday, October 18, 2013 | N 179 | Caracas | www.correodelorinoco.gob.ve

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Opinion
A meditation on US policy towards The Middle East

Madness

T/ Daniel Kovalik

he other day, I was rereading a little chestnut by Seymour Hersh from March 5, 2007, entitled, The Redirection: Is the Administrations new policy benetting our enemies in the war on terrorism? This article turns out to be quite prescient and helpful in understanding, in particular, the current conict in Syria. In this piece, Hersh explains how, as far back as those six and a half years ago, the US was already shifting its policy away from its post 9/11 war on terror which purported to attack Sunni extremists, best typied by Al Qaeda, and instead towards attacking Shiite organizations and governments in the Middle East with the help of the very Sunni extremists we claimed to be at war with. As Hersh writes, [t]he US has also taken part in clandestine operations aimed at Iran and its ally Syria. A by-product of these activities has been the bolstering of Sunni extremist groups that espouse a militant vision of Islam and are hostile to America and sympathetic to Al Qaeda. Hersh explains

that the Bush Administration decided to take this redirection because, quelle surprise, its toppling of Saddam Hussein in Iraq had the unintended, and yet predictable, effect of bringing to power a Shiite government in Iraq which was friendly to Iran, thereby empowering Iran beyond the liking of the US. The US decided that Iran was now the bigger threat to the US than the perpetrators of the 9/11 attacks, and so sided with the latter to weaken Iran and its allies, such as Syria. Obama, of course, appears to be following suit, aligning with jihadists in Libya to topple Muammar Gadda one of the most aggressive enemies of Al Qaeda and with Sunni extremists in Syria, some directly aligned with Al Qaeda, in order to topple, or at least weaken, the Syrian government in Damascus. While this alignment must be rather perplexing to most Americans, at least to the extent that they are aware of it, there appears to be little sanity in the entire arch of US involvement in the Middle and Near East. Thus, to the extent we are adversaries with Iran today (though I

certainly dont view Iran in that way), it is directly a consequence of the US coup against Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh in 1953 and its subsequent support of the Shah and the dreaded SAVAK security forces which used systematic torture against the Iranian population. The US supported the Shaw until his overthrow in 1979. It is no wonder, then, that the Iranian government harbors some resentment towards us. After 1979, the US, wanting to weaken and crush the Islamic Revolution in Iran which arose in opposition to the US-backed Shah, supported Saddam Husseins brutal war against Iran, including his chemical gassing of Iranians on a mass scale. And, at one point, the US was arming Iran at the very same time in return for payment which it used to (illegally) fund the Contra terrorists ghting the new revolutionary government in Nicaragua Nicaragua itself having just overthrown a US-backed dictator in 1979. Also in 1979, the US began to arm the Mujahadeen in Afghanistan. Contrary to popular opinion, the US did not arm these forces in order to counter

the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, but rather, to bring about such an invasion. Thus, as then U.S. National Security Adviser, Zbigniew Brzezinski, later admitted, the arming of the Mujahadeen had the intended effect of drawing the Russians into the Afghan trap and you want me to regret it? The day that the Soviets ofcially crossed the border, I wrote to President Carter. We now have the opportunity of giving to the USSR its Vietnam war. Of course, one of the leaders who emerged from the chaos of the US-sponsored war in Afghanistan was a rich Saudi named Osama bin Laden who bankrolled allies of the USbacked Mujahadeen and who himself would later turn on the US in infamous ways including by ordering, or at least inspiring, the 9/11 attacks upon the World Trade Center. After the 9/11 attacks, the US quickly attacked the Taliban government in Afghanistan a government which directly grew out of the Mujahadeen forces which the US sponsored to draw the Soviet Union into a brutal war in Afghanistan, and which was allied with Al

Qaeda and Osama bin Laden himself. Iran, a mortal enemy of the Taliban and the Sunni radicals, offered to assist the US in this effort, but the US demurred. Meanwhile, after the IranIraq war ended, and US ally Saddam Hussein had done his worst against the Iranians, the US quickly decided that he was not a reliable enough ally, and therefore invaded Iraq in 1991, imposed brutal economic sanctions upon the Iraqi people, and intermittently bombed Iraq through the 1990s. Then, in 2003, the US, claiming to be acting in response to the 9/11 attacks, nally deposed Saddam Hussein in the second invasion in 2003 though it is clear that Hussein had nothing to do with the 9/11 attacks, and the US was quite aware of this fact. This then brings us to the present when the US, in its period of redirection, as Seymour Hersh termed it, is supporting forces aligned with those very Muslim extremists who the US claims carried out the 9/11 attacks so as to weaken Iran which was strengthened by the US invasion of Iraq, an invasion which itself was justied by the 9/11 attacks though Iraq had absolutely nothing to do with them. Are you following this? Anyone looking at this series of events would have to conclude that the US intervention in the Middle East, apart from destroying the lives of hundreds of thousands if not millions in that region, has been utterly counterproductive of the US national security interests, at least if one views the safety of US civilians as synonymous with national security. Of course, it is clear that our leaders do not view US national security interests in those terms. Rather, the only interest which could possibly be viewed as the intended benefactor of such an otherwise insane foreign policy is the military-industrial complex which prots from this policy whether or not that policy succeeds in ways in which most rational humans would measure as success. This state of affairs can be seen as nothing short of horrifying. Daniel Kovalik teaches International Human Rights at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law and tweets