The artillery of ideas ENGLISH EDITION

Friday | May 11, 2012 | N 108 | Caracas

page 7 | Analysis:
Colombia: The empire
strikes back
page 8 | Opinion
Luis Britto Garcia
on judges and being judged
Venezuelas
inflation down
Venezuelas National Con-
sumer Price Index recorded
a 0.8% inationary increase
in April, which represents
a decline in ination for
the 5th month in a row, in-
formed Finance Minister
Jorge Giordani.
Presenting the results of a
report drafted by the Vene-
zuelan Central Bank and the
National Statistics Institute,
authorities conrmed that
accrued ination during
the rst four months of 2012
amounts to 4.4%, while the
annual rate from May 2011
to April 2012 is 23.8%. This
represents a fall from the
annualized ination rate in
March of 24.6%.
Giordani said this down-
ward trend reafrms the
goal set in the national
budget of annual ination
in 2012 of between 20% and
22%.
This data is accompanied
by a decline in the unemploy-
ment rate (7.9% in March),
and the result of rst quar-
ter economic performance,
the minister stated.
Variation of the National
Consumer Price Index rated
0.9% in March. In February
it was 1.1%, in January 1.5%
and in December 2011, 1.8%.
Intelligence chief reveals
assassination attempt
against President Chavez
Peoples pharmacy
provides low-cost
medicine
As part of ongoing efforts
to ght price hikes
and speculation, the
Venezuelan government
has inaugurated a publicy-
owned pharmacy chain that
will provide consumers with
savings up to 40 percent on
medical prescriptions, over
the counter drugs and other
health and hygiene items.
The new Farmapatrias
form part of a group of
state-subsidized businesses
launched over the past
several years, including
supermarkets, restaurants,
cafes and clothing shops,
to ensure consumers have
access to low-cost, quality
affordable goods. | page 4
Politics
Chavez to start campaign
President Hugo Chavez
afrmed hell be on
the campaign trail
this summer. | page 3
Culture
Dancing Caracas
Residents of Venezuelas
capital enjoyed a week of
dancing in the streets. | page 5
Interview
Venezuela an
inspiration to US
anti-war movement
An interview with Brian
Becker of the Answer
coalition. | page 6
The Venezuelan President has been a victim of several assassination attempts
throughout his two terms as head of state
Venezuela: Promoting Urban Agriculture
V
enezuelas urban agriculture
program has seen urban
communal and family based
food gardens developing rap-
idly over the last two years, to
a current total of 19,000. The
program provides free training,
information, seeds, and other
materials, in order to encour-
age healthy and environmen-
tally friendly food production
and food sovereignty.
Martha Bolivar, president of
the Training and Innovation
Foundation in Support of the
Agrarian Revolution (Ciara),
said this week that the urban
agriculture program is aiming
to produce 18,000 ton of pro-
duce this year.
The program comes un-
der the governments Agro-
Venezuela mission, and aims
to take advantage of unused
spaces in cities to produce
vegetables, fruit, medicinal
and ornamental plants on a
small scale, in order to pro-
mote self-supply and commu-
nity and family based micro
economies.
It is prioritizing twenty prod-
ucts, among them; radishes,
parsley, tomatoes, and capsi-
cum, and according to Bolivar,
the vegetables are 100% free
of agro-toxic products.
In Caracas metro stations
there are Ciara stalls explain-
ing urban agriculture and
what individuals, families, or
collectives can do. People can
also apply for seeds and small
parcels of land at these stalls.
We can plant in any avail-
able space... on balconies,
patios, at roofs... there are
many options available for the
people to contribute to food
sovereignty, said Bolivar.
Last week President Hugo
Chavez approved a further Bs
97.6 million ($22.7 million) to
support urban agriculture.
The artillery of ideas
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Impact N
o
nU Friday, May 11, 2012
T/ COI
P/ Presidential Press
T
he head of Venezuelas Na-
tional Intelligence Services
(Sebin), Miguel Rodriguez,
revealed last Sunday further de-
tails of a plan by right-wing op-
position activists to destabilize
the nations political environ-
ment in an interview broadcast
on the private television station
Televen.
While appearing on the show
Jose Vicente Today, Rodriguez
described a plot uncovered by
the Venezuelan government in
May 2004 that involved a group
of more than 100 Colombian
paramilitaries training in the
municipality of El Hatillo just
outside Caracas with plans to
attack the presidential palace of
Miraores and assassinate head
of state Hugo Chavez.
The irregular groups, discov-
ered in the estate of opposition
extremist Roberto Alonso, were
dressed as Venezuelan soldiers
with the intention of propagat-
ing the idea that a domestic mil-
itary insurrection was taking
place in the country.
After a long process of gath-
ering intelligence, On May 9,
2004 in the early hours of the
morning 116 Colombians were
detained and later identied
as paramilitaries brought to
Venezuela with the intention of
overthrowing the government
and putting an end to the life of
[President] Chavez. At that time
we saw the real nature of the op-
position that were confronting.
Nobody thought it would arrive
at such extremes, the Sebin
director said during the inter-
view.
Rodriguezs declarations
come in the wake of recent al-
legations by former Venezuelan
judge Eladio Aponte who, work-
ing with the Drug Enforcement
Agency in the United States, ac-
cused the Venezuelan govern-
ment of fabricating the entire
2004 incident as well as manipu-
lating judicial outcomes in the
country.
Aponte was dismissed as a
Supreme Court Judge by the
Venezuela intelligence chief reveals
right-wing destabilization attempts
Venezuelan congress on March
20 for links to narco-trafcking
including assisting the drug
lord Walid Makled in the illegal
acquisition of an ofcial govern-
ment ID.
In April, Venezuelan In-
terior and Justice Minis-
ter Tareck El Aissami
announced that the
Chavez government
had put out an interna-
tional request for the ar-
rest of Aponte who, according
to the minister, ed because he
was dismissed from his post in
order to be brought to justice.
The order for his arrest was
nally made by Interpol on May
3, requiring that the respective
authorities of any country with
knowledge that [Aponte] is pres-
ent within its national territory
must detain him immediately
and turn him over to the Ven-
ezuelan judiciary, El Aissami
informed last week. Aponte is
rumored to be in Miami, pro-
tected by the DEA.
URIBES LINKS TO THE PLOT
According to Sebin Direc-
tor Miguel Rodriguez, the plot
uncovered by the Venezuelan
government in 2004 reached as
far as former Colombian Presi-
dent Alvaro Uribe who the secu-
rity chief also accused of being
linked to the drug trade and
paramilitary activity.
Alvaro Uribe surely had
his hands involved in this op-
eration... Weve discussed this
with the sources and infor-
mants that we have and weve
evaluated the performance of
[Colombias former Immigra-
tion Director] Jorge Noguera,
a man very close to Uribe.
When we tie all the informa-
tion together, we arrive at the
conclusion that, with great cer-
tainness, Uribe knew of these
plans, Rodriguez said.
The Venezuelan ofcial also
revealed that the head of the
paramilitaries found at the es-
tate, Carlos Ayala, confessed to
Sebin that he had worked direct-
ly with Venezuelan opposition
politicians such as the ex-mayor
of Caracas, Alfredo Pea, as
well as ex-general Ovidio Pog-
gioli Prez.
EXTREMISTS STILL ACTIVE
Rodriguez mentioned that
many of the right-wing radicals
involved in the 2004 conspiracy
are still active in Venezuelan
politics, some of who are cur-
rent governors and congress-
men in the countrys National
Assembly.
In fact, it was the action of a
group of conspirators including
Henrique Capriles Radonski,
Governor of Miranda state and
current opposition candidate
for presidential elections this
October 7, who hampered the
efforts of the national security
forces in their intents to break
up the plot.
At that time, it was very dif-
cult for us to arrive at the site
with greater speed because
there was an inner-circle of
protection that the police, com-
manded by the opposition, were
providing... they sabotaged the
intelligence work that we were
doing to nd out the location of
killers, many of Colombian ori-
gin, to assassinate small farm-
ers involved in the Chavez ad-
ministrations far-reaching land
reform program which seeks to
redistribute fallow estates to ag-
ricultural workers.
It is also well known that the
opposition-controlled border
states of Tachira and Zulia are
all but overrun by Colombian
paramilitaries linked to drug-
trafcking and other forms of
contraband.
On Sunday, Director Rodri-
guez warned that many of these
extremist elements are current-
ly working to sow panic and cha-
os in the population during the
nations presidential elections,
slated for October 7.
We are carrying out our mis-
sion to detect threats against
the state. The opposition that
were up against has a group
of radicals that think of violent
solutions at the margin of the
constitution. But these groups
have not had the support of the
people nor the military, he
stated.
the paramilitaries, the intelli-
gence chief explained.
Although Rodriguez referred
to the 2004 plan as without
precedent and that the plot
surprised the Sebin because
of its scale and the levels of for-
eign involvement, such activity
has been characteristic of the
Venezuelan opposition.
In April 2002, the Venezu-
elan right-wing in collabora-
tion with the private media
and the US State Department
carried out a violent coup
dtat against the Chavez gov-
ernment which resulted in the
death of more than a dozen in-
nocent bystanders.
The failed coup was then fol-
lowed later that same year by a
management lock out of the oil
industry which brought the Ven-
ezuelan economy to a standstill
and forced widespread hardship
upon the majority of the nations
citizens.
In addition to these acts, oppo-
sition-aligned landowners in the
Venezuelan countryside have
also been employing contracted
N
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The artillery of ideas
T/ COI
P/ Presidential Press
D
uring a telephone call to
state television last Mon-
day, Venezuelan head of
state Hugo Chavez reafrmed
his optimism regarding the
nations upcoming presiden-
tial elections and informed
residents on the imminent end
of his current cycle of cancer
treatment.
While calling in from Cuba
where the socialist leader has
been receiving medical atten-
tion for the cancer detected
in his pelvic area last year,
Chavez reported that he was on
the nal stretch of his treat-
ment and that he was still ac-
tively performing his duties as
President.
Im governing and carrying
out my functions as the head of
state and head of the govern-
ment in this special situation
that will be over in the coming
days. Soon I will be [in Venezu-
ela], the two-time incumbent
said.
At the end of April, in compli-
ance with the nations constitu-
tion, the Venezuelan congress
approved Chavezs absence
from the country while he con-
tinues his convalescence in
Cuba.
During his telephone conver-
sation, the 57-year head of state
also expressed his condence
that he will attain a favorable
outcome in the nations presi-
dential elections slated for Oc-
tober 7.
The opposition will never
again win in Venezuela. Were
going to knock them out and
we havent even begun to enter
the campaign yet... Im asking
the Venezuelan people that we
reach 70 percent of the vote.
Theres no way that theyre go-
ing to beat us. Even in the Unit-
ed States they know that this
[opposition candidate Capriles
Radonski] and the backing of
the bourgeoisie wont be able
to beat us this year nor in the
future. As such, we need to be
even more aware of any kind of
destabilization plan, Chavez
declared.
With respect to recent revela-
tions made by the head of Ven-
ezuelas intelligence services
that former Colombian Presi-
dent Alvaro Uribe had been
involved in plans to destabilize
Venezuela through the use of
paramilitaries in 2004, the head
of the Caribbean nation said he
spoke with his current Colom-
bian counterpart and received
the assurance that no such in-
cidents will transpire in the fu-
ture.
[Current Colombian Presi-
dent Juan Manuel Santos] has
told us that our government
in Venezuela is a cause for sta-
bility in the region... his gov-
ernment will have no role in
any plan against Venezuela,
Chavez remarked.
Although members of Ven-
ezuelas right wing opposition
have tried to portray the situ-
ation of the presidents health
as necessitating a change in
the ruling partys candidate for
the upcoming elections, leaders
of the United Socialist Party of
Venezuela (PSUV) have been
quick to discard speculations of
a possible successor to the cur-
rent head of state.
The opposition has invented
an untold number of arguments
but we from the PSUV say that
President Chavez vows electoral victory
in October, prepares to return to Venezuela
there is only one sure candi-
date for the elections on the
7th of October and thats Hugo
Chavez. We have no plans for
any change, said the president
of the nations congress and
PSUV Vice President, Diosdado
Cabello.
Venezuelan Vice President,
Elias Jaua, also red back at
the nations opposition who
have attempted to use Chavezs
creation of a new State Council
of advisors as evidence of plans
to facilitate a transition from
the current president to a new
leader of the socialist party.
The opposition has to pre-
pare itself to recognize the de-
feat that theyre going to expe-
rience in October by Chavez.
There is no transition here,
only a strengthening and accel-
eration of socialism. There will
be no pact with the bourgeoisie.
There will be elections and the
reelection of a new era with
Chavez. [The opposition] lives
on the dream of a transition,
but they will keep dreaming,
Vice President Jaua said.
T/ AVN
V
enezuelas Minister of For-
eign Affairs, Nicolas Ma-
duro, called on countries in the
region to create institutions to
defend human rights within
organizations like the Commu-
nity of Latin American and Ca-
ribbean States (Celac) and the
Union of South American Na-
tions (Unasur).
We say to all our brothers
and sisters of Latin America
and the Caribbean that its
time to dismantle the struc-
ture of the Inter-American
Court and the Inter-American
Commission of Human Rights.
Lets build from Unasur and
Celac new institutions to guar-
antee, protect, and guard hu-
man rights based on our expe-
riences.
Maduro, who attended a Un-
asur ministerial meeting in
Cartagena, Colombia, last week
highlighted the need to dis-
mantle the Washington-based
Inter-American Commission on
Human Rights (IACHR) and its
court because they are subdued
to US interests.
Last week, Venezuelan Presi-
dent Hugo Chavez asked the
newly-named Council of State to
study the withdrawal of Caracas
from the IACHR for having dem-
onstrated several times that it is
an inefcient institution with
double standards.
We have many reasons,
many, from a long time ago, said
Chavez after announcing the
possible withdrawal. He argued
that Venezuela has to continue
strengthening and building full
national independence.
For this reason, Maduro invit-
ed the countries of the region to
guarantee and protect human
rights from within our own ex-
periences and institutions, and
recalled that the US has not
signed any human rights proto-
cols nor is it subject to decisions
by the IACHR.
Last Monday, Chavez asked
Vice President Elas Jaua to speed
up the installation of the Council
of State, an organism established
by the Constitution to recommend
domestic policies to the head of
state. The Venezuelan President
urged the council to present a
proposal in the coming days to
complete Venezuelas withdrawal
from the commission.
The Council of State will be
led by Jaua, and its members
include Venezuelan journalist
Jose Vicente Rangel, Venezue-
las Ambassador to the OAS Roy
Chaderton and attorney and
writer Luis Britto Garca.
CELAC AND UNASUR
In December 2011, a group
of 33 heads of state from Latin
America and the Caribbean met
in the Venezuelan capital of Ca-
racas to found the Community
of Latin America and Caribbean
States (Celac). Beyond being an
institution of political dialogue,
this novel mechanism has an
agenda to strengthen unity, de-
fend democracy, and promote co-
operation in economic and social
development in the region and
cultural exchange.
Unasur is a regional group
created in 2008 in the Brazilian
capital city of Brasilia. It seeks to
foster political, social, economic,
cultural, environmental, and in-
frastructure integration among
member states. It includes 12
countries: Brazil, Argentina, Bo-
livia, Guyana, Colombia, Chile,
Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, Suri-
name, Uruguay and Venezuela.
Venezuela calls for regional
mechanisms to guarantee human rights
The artillery of ideas
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Economy N
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T/ COI
P/ Agencies
T
he Venezuelan government
took a further step forward
in the ght against price
speculation last Monday when
it inaugurated a publicly owned
pharmacy chain that will pro-
vide residents with savings of
up to 40 percent on important
medical prescriptions and over
the counter drugs.
Farmapatria will soon be com-
prised of 172 outlets throughout
the national territory and will
supply access to quality medi-
cines, informed Venezuelan
Food Minister Carlos Osorio
during a public act celebrating
the opening of the new chain in
Caracas.
According to Osorio, the work
of the Farmapatria drug stores
will be directed towards all resi-
dents but will especially serve
those most in need in order to
improve the well-being of the
people from a health point of
view.
All of these establishments
that will be working in different
phases of evaluation and prepa-
ration are going to be a part of
T/ Ewan Robertson
www.venezuelanalysis.com
P/ Agencies
V
enezuelan President Hugo
Chavez has approved the con-
struction of the factory Haier
Venezuela, which is to produce
low-cost household appliances
for the Venezuela population.
The move was announced
Monday by Venezuelan Vice
President, Elias Jaua, during
an ofcial event in which the
Government Federal Council
granted 992 million bolivars
($231 million) to community and
grassroots organizations over
seven regional states.
The factory, which is being
built in the central Miranda
state and is expected to be up
and running by mid-Septem-
ber this year, will produce
household items such as elec-
trical kitchen appliances, in-
cluding refrigerators, ovens,
dishwashers, washing ma-
chines and dryers, and even
high quality, large at screen
televisions.
The goods will be sold through
the government program My
Well Equipped House, which
sells household appliances to
the Venezuelan people at dis-
counted prices to improve liv-
ing standards and defend the
people against the greed of capi-
talism, according to President
Chavez.
The program was launched
as the result of an agreement
between China and Venezuela
in May 2010, which included a
contract by the Venezuelan
government to buy over 300,000
household electrical items from
Haier Electric Appliances. The
new Haier Venezuela factory is
also being built with Chinese as-
sistance.
New community pharmacies to ght speculation,
ensure quality medicines for the population
existent, government-run medi-
cal distribution centers belong-
ing to the Health and Commerce
Ministries in 15 states through-
out the country.
Health Minister Eugenia
Sader, also present for the inau-
guration on Monday, informed
that the new drug store chain
would be comprised of two types
of outlets.
The rst, a smaller distribu-
tion point, will provide residents
with over the counter drugs and
contain a pharmacy annex while
the second, larger outlet will not
only supply standard drugs but
will also ensure access to vac-
cines, therapy options and medi-
cal supplies.
Sader explained that the new
pharmacies t into a larger
plan of the socialist govern-
ment of Hugo Chavez to boost
domestic production of medi-
cal drugs in the South Ameri-
can country.
This includes the construc-
tion of ve new factories that
will begin operations in the rst
trimester of 2013.
The new manufacturing
plants, to be located in different
states around Venezuela, are
the result of a series of accords
signed between the Chavez ad-
ministration and the govern-
ments of China, Portugal, Cuba,
and Colombia.
As the state begins its na-
tional medicine production and
begins to export in great quan-
tities, well be able to lessen
the number of pharmaceutical
products we have to import, the
Health Minister said.
Sader also informed that the
government is moving forward
with a plan to better track the
production and distribution of
medical drugs in the country
in efforts to prevent deciencies
and ensure the constant avail-
ability of medicine for the popu-
lation.
Every company that imports
raw materials or medicines
needs to register. This way we
will know the distribution that
we have throughout the coun-
try, whether they be private or
public businesses, the Health
Minister stated.
a system of sustainability that
is making sure that every fam-
ily has access to medicine and
which is eliminating the busi-
ness aspects that are found with
respect to medicine, the Ven-
ezuelan minister explained on
Monday.
The new Farmapatria initia-
tive follows similar measures
by the Venezuelan government
to ensure availability of staple
food products to the population
through its creation of subsi-
dized grocery chains and distri-
bution points.
In fact, 96 of the new phar-
macies will form part of the
state-owned grocery stores
including Mercal, PDVAL and
the countrys Bicentennial
markets.
The remaining Farmapatrias
will be integrated into already
Venezuela to build household
appliance factory with China
N
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The artillery of ideas
T/ Rachael Boothroyd
P/ Agencies
D
ancers from across Ven-
ezuela took to the streets
of Sabana Grande Boule-
vard in Caracas last weekend to
round off the capitals week-long
. l a v i t s e f e c n a d t o o f n o s a c a r a C
Primarily held to commemorate
International Dance Day, the
event was also a celebration of
the various public parks, squares
and sidewalks which have been
regenerated by the government
for recreational public use.
Celebrated on Friday and Sat-
urday last week, the event saw
the whole boulevard come alive
with over 180 brightly dressed
dance collectives, who performed
a range of dances from Argentine
tango to Venezuelan traditional
folk dance, with hordes of Vene-
zuelans turning out to watch the
exhibitions or join in themselves
in spite of the heavy rain.
The aim of the festival is to gen-
erate an organized platform for
dance groups in Caracas which
will allow us to show our exhibits
in the public spaces which have
been recovered by the national
government, said Reinaldo Mi-
jares, one of the organizers. Its a
way of accompanying the policies
which are being advanced by the
Ministry of Culture, he added.
Previously considered a no-go
area, the once shabby Boulevard
T/ Patricia Grogg - IPS
L
ocal communities can play a
key role in adaptation to cli-
mate change if they are helped
to properly understand the
problem and take it on board.
Climate literacy is needed,
says Angela Corvea, a long-
time Cuban environmental
activist.
People do not always take
these problems seriously, and
do not see the risks involved in
extreme natural events, which
will become more frequent and
increasingly severe, Corvea
adds.
In her view, small-scale ac-
tions by local communities can
help deal with these changes,
which are no longer merely
imminent, but are already
happening. Rising tempera-
tures and sea levels, recurrent
droughts, and more intense
oods and hurricanes are some
of the consequences of climate
change.
In 2003, Corvea created an
environmental project named
Acualina, to raise awareness
about the environment, espe-
cially among children and teen-
agers. Every year for over a de-
cade, she has organized coastal
clean-up actions to contribute
to the global campaign Clean
Up the World, which started in
Australia.
We need to encourage con-
serving water and other re-
sources, consume only what is
necessary, avoid polluting, and
try to keep our surroundings
clean and pleasant; we need
to recycle, and to be informed
and teach others, especially
children and young people; we
need to act in solidarity, and
to talk about these issues ev-
erywhere in order to draw at-
tention and create awareness,
Corvea says.
Enrique Arango, an expert at
the National Center for Seismo-
logical Research (Cenais), agrees
with Corvea that the risks asso-
ciated with climate change are
only apparent in the long term,
which makes it difcult to raise
awareness at the community
level. Its like smoking: no one
sees the immediate effects, so
people dont give up the habit
of Sabana Grande was revamped
by the government in 2010 and
has since become a focal point of
public life, with Venezuelan fami-
lies ocking to the area of a week-
end to enjoy the zones colourful
street culture, including artists,
musicians and dancers.
Differing from the usual im-
age of the Latin American dance
festival and its towering Brazil-
ian samba dancers, last week-
ends exhibitions were given by
Venezuelans of all shapes and
sizes, with women, men, chil-
dren and senior citizens all per-
forming for the crowds. It was
a totally inclusive event, con-
tinued Mijares.
Throughout the week leading
up to the open-air dance event,
the government put on a se-
ries of free dance activities and
shows for the public, including
dance classes in the publically
owned La Estancia Park,
dance performances in the Te-
resa Carreno Theater, and a free
public performance by world-re-
nowned amenco star, Joaquin
Cortes, in Plaza Ibarra in cen-
tral Caracas, where thousands
of Venezuelans turned out on
Thursday evening to watch the
amenco star give a live rendi-
tion of his Cal piece, mean-
ing gypsy.
The dancer told journalists
that he was delighted to be able
to bring dance and music to the
people and not just to represen-
tatives of the elite.
Im a rebel with a cause, Ive
always wanted to bring dance to
the world, and above all to the
people... I think this initiative to
give the performance in a public
space in Caracas is wonderful...
What better way to give the peo-
ple music? said Cortes prior to
the concert.
The regeneration of Sabana
Grande Boulevard is just one
of many government initiatives
aimed at making culture and
recreation readily available to
the Venezuelan people by taking
dance, theater, sport and music
into the nations public spaces.
As well as setting up outdoor
gyms across Caracas, most bar-
rio neighbourhoods now also
have access to sports facilities.
Numerous parks and squares,
including Plaza Bolivar in
downtown Caracas, have also
been remodelled by the govern-
ment and converted into spaces
where Venezuelans can receive
dance and exercise classes free
of charge.
We senior citizens dont feel
old now, and thats thanks to
President Chavez, who made
us visible and gave us dignity.
We have dance teachers in the
senior citizens clubs, and we
dance and were happy, said El-
cier Sanchez who attended the
open-air dance festival.
Caracas on Foot
dance festival shakes
up Venezuelas capital
Spreading climate
literacy in Cuba
even though they know smoking
is harmful, he says.
According to Arango, one
way to teach people climate
change literacy in their neigh-
borhoods is through interac-
tive projects in which a high
percentage of the population
participates. A systematic ap-
proach, strong leadership, and
above all political will are re-
quired at all levels; otherwise,
results will only be achieved
while the programme is under
way, he said.
Social networks began to
play a denite role in Cuba in
creating ecological awareness
in December 2011, when users
of the microblogging network
Twitter convened clean-up ac-
tion and environmental educa-
tion at the mouth of the Almen-
dares river.
Big things grow from small
things. Everyone worked on
their own little patch and
helped each other. Ultimately,
the issue was not just clean-
ing up the garbage, but pro-
voking a reaction, raising the
awareness of the population
of the area itself to clean up
and care for their own section
of river, twitterer Salvatore
(@salvatore300) commented
to IPS.
Meanwhile, based on his ex-
perience as a photojournalist,
Rolando Pujol is convinced
that the population must have
more knowledge of the risks it
faces.
Often, coastal dwellers insist
on remaining in at-risk areas
because their life and liveli-
hoods are closely linked to the
sea. They prefer to rebuild
their homes time and again
after they have been destroyed
by hurricanes, and they are also
inuenced by stories of places
far inland that have had to be
rebuilt, he said.
Ramon Pichs, an expert on cli-
mate change and development,
said the role of the population
in adaptation strategies was es-
sential in Cuba and the rest of
the Caribbean islands.
The success of any project will
be greater if the communities
have an adequate level of aware-
ness about the problems, said
Pichs.
The artillery of ideas
|
6
|
Interview N
o
nU Friday, May 11, 2012
T/ COI
P/ Agencies
A
s part of ongoing efforts to
disseminate US and Ven-
ezuelan voices engaged in
the struggle for social and eco-
nomic justice, Correo del Ori-
noco International brings this
exclusive interview with leading
anti-war activist Brian Becker.
As National Coordinator of the
Answer (Act Now to Stop War
and End Racism) Coalition and
founder of the US-based Party
for Socialism and Liberation
(PSL), Becker provides a unique
look into the politics of democra-
cy in both the United States and
Venezuela.
What are your thoughts on the
upcoming presidential elections
to be held in the United States?
It is clear that the candidates
from the two ruling class par-
ties, President Obama for the
Democrats and Mitt Romney
for the Republicans, have some
differences in political orienta-
tion, agenda and program. But
overall, the two candidates have
more in common than against.
Both support the ongoing oc-
cupation of Afghanistan. Both
are for maintaining an elabo-
rate network of nearly 1,000 US
military installations located
in more than 130 million coun-
tries as a method to enforce and
maintain the American em-
pire. On the home front, both
supported the Troubled Asset
Relief Program (TARP), which
provided nearly $7.7 trillion to
the largest banks in the form of
cash infusions, loans and loan
guarantees. While they differ
on healthcare policy, both are
ardent supporters of a system
that puts huge healthcare insur-
ance corporations at the center
of the delivery of healthcare
services in the United States.
The primary function of the
insurance healthcare corpora-
tions is to maximize prot, not
to provide affordable and effec-
tive healthcare services for the
people. In terms of US foreign
policy overall, there is little dif-
ference between Romney and
Obama perhaps in the atmo-
Discussing democracy:
Voices on the 2012 elections
spherics or tone or rhetoric, but
both will maintain a traditional
US foreign policy based on the
interests of US imperialism. In
the case of Latin America, for
instance, both parties and both
candidates want to overthrow
the governments in Cuba, Ven-
ezuela, Bolivia and other coun-
tries.
As you know, Venezuela is
holding presidential elections
later this year. What are your
thoughts on the Bolivarian Rev-
olution, President Hugo Chavez,
and on Venezuelas struggle to
build a Socialism of the 21st
Century?
The importance of the Bo-
livarian Revolution and the
leadership of President Hugo
Chavez in particular cannot be
overstated. This revolution not
only brings hope to the poor
and the dispossessed within
Venezuela, but has become a
magnet for progressive change
throughout the rest of the conti-
nent. The strategic relationship
between Venezuela and Cuba
has provided an invaluable
counterweight to the designs
of Yankee imperialism, which
seeks to use economic methods
but not economic methods alone
to subvert and strangle the Cu-
ban Revolution.
The revolutionary process
has its own unique national
particularities. This progres-
sive government, with socialist
aspirations and a socialist per-
spective, came to ofce through
an electoral victory and ha s
been maintained by
the expansion of
grassroots people
power, which
allowed the gov-
ernment to win
repeated elec-
toral victories.
But the gov-
ernment still
presides over
a class soci-
ety and the
dangers of coun-
terrevolution lurk
from within the old
privileged classes in Venezuela
who are organically tied to US
imperialism, which prioritizes
the destruction of the Bolivar-
ian Revolution.
In Venezuela, the Chavez
government has embarked on a
massive campaign to reduce un-
employment, end poverty, and
build affordable housing. What
has the Obama administration
done to help working families
make it through the economic
crisis?
While the Chavez government
in Venezuela has made a prior-
ity of reducing unemployment,
ending poverty and providing
affordable housing, a particu-
larly daunting task during a
global economic contraction,
the US government has not suc-
ceeded in any of these areas.
President Obama came into of-
ce in January 2009 as a can-
didate of change. He was not a
Republican. He was not George
W. Bush. His election was made
possible, at least in part, by a
massive movement of African
American people, the unions,
young people and others who
considered themselves progres-
sive.
But looking back at the rst
three years of his administra-
tion, we can say, based on fac-
tual evidence, that there is more
unemployment, more poverty
and less affordable housing than
when he took ofce.
Now, the inability of the Obama
administration to succeed in
ending unemployment, poverty
and homelessness is not the
failing of an individual or even
an entire administration, it is
primarily the function of the
capitalist system, which puts a
priority on corporate and bank-
ing prot, and does not provide
basic guaranteed rights to the
people in social questions.
What are your thoughts on the
struggle for social and economic
justice in the Americas - both
North and South?
The struggle for social and
economic justice has revived
within the United States. The
Occupy Movement, despite any
organizational contradictions,
is a true indicator of the desires
of the masses of
people for
far-reaching change. To reverse
the path of growing income in-
equality, which is so obscene
and grotesque in the United
States, and to provide working
families with that which they
need to survive, millions of
Americans were excited about
this movement and wanted it to
succeed. The Answer Coalition,
in addition to playing a major
role in the US anti-war and anti-
imperialist movement, is also
a vital force within the Occupy
Movement.
When the Occupy Movement
sprang up, it spread all over
the world. We live in a new era
where that which happens in
one country, either good or bad,
can become a contagion and
dynamically inuence the poli-
tics of many countries, and per-
haps the entire world. The US
people, when they played a van-
guard role in the struggle for
civil rights or against the war
in Vietnam, were recognized as
an important force in the global
movement for social justice and
equality.
Likewise, the people of Vene-
zuela, the Bolivarian Revolution
and the other great social move-
ments that are sweeping the
continent, are shaping
the political conscious-
ness, ideology and world
outlook of people in the
United States. By fear-
lessly raising the ban-
ner of peoples power and
socialist in the 21st centu-
ry, the people of Venezuela
are recognized as a source of
inspiration for all people in all
countries.
N
o
nU Friday, May 11, 2012 Analysis
|
7
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The artillery of ideas
T/ Dan Kovalik
P/ Agencies
I
n mid-April, the Summit of
the Americas was held in
Cartagena, Colombia. Of
course, the Summit will be most
remembered for the scandal of
the US Secret Service who were
there to prepare the way for the
visit by President Obama, but
who were more interested in
bedding down prostitutes and
then refusing to pay.
However, two important, and
equally disturbing, develop-
ments also came out of the sum-
mit: (1) President Obama an-
nounced that the US would be
implementing the Free Trade
Agreement (FTA) with Colom-
bia this month; and (2) Obama
announced that the US would
be sending US brigade com-
manders to advise the Colombi-
an military and police in their
counter-insurgency campaign.
While the former announce-
ment was widely publicized, the
latter was not -- this, despite the
fact that both policies are close-
ly related.
The FTA is designed to open
Colombia up for greater ex-
ploitation and penetration by
multi-national corporations,
particularly by those in the ex-
tractive industries such as oil,
coal, ethanol (from palm oil),
gold and other precious metals.
In the past 10 years, 40 percent
of all Colombian land has been
awarded or solicited by mining
and crude oil companies.
According to a Peace Bri-
gades International (PBI) re-
port, of the 114 million hect-
ares of Colombias extensive
and prosperous territory,
more than 8.4 million have
been licensed for mineral de-
posit exploration and more
than 37 million hectares are
licensed for crude oil explora-
tion. Moreover, according to
the Ministry of Agriculture
and Rural Development more
than 5.8 million hectares of
land were licensed for mining
non-renewable resources in
2010.
Colombia is indeed a re-
source-rich country, with a rich
supply of gold, emeralds, silver,
platinum, nickel and copper;
the largest coal reserves in all
of Latin America; and oil pro-
duction comparable to that of
neighboring Venezuela and sur-
passing that of Egypt. However,
the price for extracting these
valuable resources in Colombia
Colombia:
The empire strikes back
is enormous, with millions of
Colombians literally paying for
this extraction with their lives,
lands and homes. Thus, as PBI
relates, 80 percent of the hu-
man rights abuses in Colombia
in the last ten years were com-
mitted in mining and energy-
producing regions, and 87 per-
cent of Colombias displaced
population originate from these
places. Such displacement is
unprecedented in the world,
with Colombia now possessing
the largest internally displaced
population on earth at over 5
million (out of a population of
around 45 million). In other
words, as a direct consequence
of the mining efforts taking
place in Colombia, over 10 per-
cent of the Colombian popula-
tion is now internally displaced
-- a quite staggering gure.
Since 2000, the US has sup-
plied around $8 billion in mili-
tary aid to Colombia, making
Colombia one of the largest re-
cipients of military aid in the
world. Now, according to The
Wall Street Journal, President
Obama is upping the ante, an-
nouncing at the Summit of the
Americas that the US would
be sending US brigade com-
manders with hands-on coun-
terinsurgency experience in Af-
ghanistan and Iraq to spend two
weeks with Colombian army
and police units being deployed
in rebel strongholds to help
subdue those areas.
These commanders are in ad-
dition to the already 250 US mil-
itary personnel in Colombia - a
gure which, as the Wall Street
Journal explains, does not in-
clude the CIA and DEA opera-
tives in that country. While
the US and Colombia already
have set up about ve Joint
Task Forces in areas where the
FARC are most active, the goal
is to create seven such task forc-
es. Moreover, while The Wall
Street Journal claims that the
US is merely considering Co-
lombias request for drones to
help in the counter-insurgency
efforts, other sources, including
The Washington Post has re-
ported that the US has been sup-
plying Colombia with drones
since 2006, though the US con-
tinues to take pains to keep this
under the radar screen.
And, though the US claims it
is helping the Colombian mili-
tary to subdue areas to ght
drugs, it is in fact clear that
those areas are to be subdued
for exploitation by multina-
tional corporations in the ex-
tractive industries. Not surpris-
ingly, then, the US commanders
will be operating out of a base
in Tibu, Colombia -- home to
vast supplies of palm and crude
oil. As an added bonus, Tibu is
on the Venezuelan border, al-
lowing the US and Colombia to
intimidate Venezuela and its
President, Hugo Chavez.
The US assistance will in-
clude aiding Colombia with its
own version of the US militarys
Joint Special Operations Com-
mand to conduct hunt-and-kill
missions, again aimed exclu-
sively at the left-wing FARC
rebels and not at the right-wing
paramilitary groups which are
aligned with the Colombian
state and which are responsible
for most of the human rights
abuses in Colombia. Indeed,
as Susana Pimiento and John
Lindsay-Poland of the Fellow-
ship of Reconciliation explain:
US participation in such an
aggressive military campaign
would undercut prospective at-
tempts to negotiate a settlement
of the armed conict, which has
increasing support in Colom-
bia. The campaign which ap-
parently does not target succes-
sor paramilitary groups, is also
likely to benet those groups
which continue to commit hu-
man rights abuses, engage in
drug trafcking, and operate
in more than 400 municipalities
in 31 Colombian states, accord-
ing to a report by the Institute
of Development and Peace, In-
depaz.
Already, the announcement
of the imminent implementa-
tion of the FTA, in conjunction
with the announcement of the
US heightened military role
in Colombia, is emboldening
those forces in Colombia bent
on violently repressing those
who non-violently engaged in
the struggle for peace, land and
labor rights. As Justice for Co-
lombia has reported, on April
26, the Colombian army assas-
sinated a community leader
named Duvier Celeita Cifu-
entes, an organizer with the
agricultural union Sintrapaz
which is calling for a peaceful
settlement to the armed con-
ict in Colombia. On April 27, a
bodyguard to Alfonso Castillo,
the President of Andas (the Na-
tional Association of Displaced
Persons), was murdered. In
addition, Martha Cecilia Gue-
vara, a local organizer of the
national peace march held in
Bogota (the Patriotic March)
disappeared on April 18 just as
she was preparing to go to the
march. Similarly, on April 18,
Herman Henry Dias, a peasant
organizer with Fensuagro, was
killed, presumably by the Co-
lombian military, after he had
organized the Putumayo con-
tingent to the Patriotic March.
With the intensication of
the US military and economic
push in Colombia, we sadly
can anticipate more such vio-
lence against peaceful actors
in Colombia in order to make
Colombian land secure for mas-
sive appropriation and exploita-
tion. It is such violence and loss
of life which is the true cost of
US intervention in Colombia.
Indeed, the Secret Service scan-
dal has become an apt metaphor
for US involvement in Colombia
and the rest of Latin America,
for the US continues do to all of
Latin America what the Secret
Service did to those women in
Cartagena.
A publication of the Fundacion Correo del Orinoco EditorinChiel Eva Golinger rahic Besiqn Arisabel Yaya Silva Fress Fundacin Imprenta de la Cultura
The artillery of ideas ENGLISH EDITION Friday | May 11, 2012 | N 108 | Caracas | www.correodelorinoco.gob.ve
Judge and be judged
A
fter 12 years in ofce,
Chavez remains over-
whelmingly favored for
reelection in October. Given the
alternative, most Venezuelans
have a clear choice.
In this timely piece translated
by Correo del Orinoco, ac-
claimed author and intellectual
Luis Britto Garcia provides a
critical look at international at-
tempts to discredit the Venezu-
elan judiciary. Britto Garcia,
who was recently invited to join
the countrys Council of State
by President Hugo Chavez, is
an advocate of Venezuelas with-
drawal from the Inter-American
Commission on Human Rights
(Iachr) which he asserts serve
only to legitimize imperial ac-
tions.
THE REPETITIVE SCRIPT
Comedies dont exist without
pre-written scripts. Its quite
rare to nd a brilliant impro-
viser and the mediocre man
doesnt go much further than
the autocue and teleprompter.
In the great farce that has been
set up by the opposition, used to
condemn Venezuela within in-
ternational courts, the scripts
have also been written, with
their snares and all.
Such was the case on Septem-
ber 25, 2009, in direct violation
of the American Conventions
Article 46 (which prohibits the
consideration of cases which
have yet to be resolved by a
countrys internal judicial
mechanisms), when the Inter-
American Commission on Hu-
man Rights (Iachr) formally
accepted a complaint by Allan
Brewer Carias. To justify this
gross violation of its own stat-
utes, the Iachr recommended
that Venezuela take measures
to ensure the independence of
the judiciary, making reforms
that would serve to strengthen
the procedures for naming and
removing both judges and pros-
ecutors, thus ensuring stability
in their positions and eliminat-
ing the provisional situation
in which the vast majority of
judges and prosecutors nd
themselves, with the overall
objective being to guarantee
judicial protection established
in the (American) Convention.
In other words, the Venezuelan
judiciary would not be indepen-
dent but instead be replaced by
the Inter-American Commis-
sion and its Court.
Editors Note: Article 46a of
the American Convention on
Human Rights stipulates that
the remedies under domestic
law have been pursued and
exhausted in accordance with
generally recognized princi-
ples of international law be-
fore any case by considered by
the Iachr.
Is it then just a casual coin-
cidence that the oppositions
Diego Arria repeated a special
mention to the judicial branch,
which now stands on bended
knees when facing the Head of
State (Venezuelan President
Hugo Chavez) and Government,
as has been certied by recog-
nized organizations dedicated to
defending Human Rights when
he submitted his November 21,
2011 complaint to the Interna-
tional Criminal Court (ICC)
at The Hague. That same day,
following the poorly-rehearsed
script, Arria also afrmed to
(right-wing Venezuelan jour-
nalist) Roberto Giusti, even
the Criminal Division of the Su-
preme Tribunal of Justice (TSJ)
Court has elaborated legisla-
tion by which drug trafcking
is considered a crime against
humanity. Diego Arria, both a
lawyer and a thinking being,
should know that the TSJ does
not write legislation but in-
stead issues sentences. It would
appear that some blind-eyed
undergrad of the School of Law
writes up the oppositions al-
legations while pre-candidates
and international courts repeat
them with any indication of re-
ective thought.
APONTE APONTE
Given all of the aforemen-
tioned, it also doesnt seem to
be mere coincidence that Eladio
Aponte Aponte, the Venezuelan
judge who ed the country so
as to avoid charges of criminal
misconduct, repeated similar
claims on US television net-
work Soitv last month: The ju-
diciary gives autonomy where
none exists, that is, it acts like
an independent branch and
this is a fallacy. Asked about
the independence of the differ-
ent branches of government in
Venezuela, he had it memorized:
I dont think theres that much
independence. His declarations
t like a glove for the interna-
tional entities afrming that our
tribunals arent autonomous,
the same international players
who feel they should draw up
sentences against us.
A statement, or testimony, is
worth as much as the witness
T/ Luis Britto arcia
that makes it. And in the case of
Aponte Aponte, its worth less
than nothing. A judge ees the
country, in his own words, to
clear out, or in other words,
so as to avoid being charged
with crimes he committed.
He admits to having issued a
military identication card to
known drug trafcker Walid
Makled. He also admits to
manipulating decisions while
serving as President of the
TSJ Criminal Division when
there was money on a certain
side of things. What happens
is that I was asked favors and
I carried them out. When
asked if he had supported the
removal of judges who didnt
consent to such conduct he re-
sponds, yes, I did. Asked if
he ever made decisions that fa-
vored drug trafcking, he con-
fesses only in one case that I
can think of at this time. He
alleges that Venezuelas cur-
rent National Anti-Drug Ofce
(ONA) Director supports drug
trafcking, but when it comes
to evidence, says I dont have
it with me, right now. He
warns that he will soon write
his memoirs.
GRANTING THE GAVEL
These are confession that
would merit a lengthy convic-
tion if presented in a Venezuelan
court. But in a US or interna-
tional court, where testimonies
are purchased like stocks in
the market, his confessions are
to be awarded with immunity,
impunity, and protection from
extradition. What are we doing
submitting ourselves to courts
that the United States does not
submit itself to and which serve
only to legitimize imperial ac-
tions? And what are we doing
systematically granting power
to unpatriotic, delinquent defec-
tors who lack ideology, works,
and/or trajectories?
The fault is not of the judge,
but of he who grants him the
gavel.
`Luis Britto arcia is an awardwinninq
vene/uelan author, laywriqht, lawyer
and constitutional scholar.