ENGLISH EDITION/The artillery of ideas INTERNATIONAL Friday, February 7, 2014 | N 190 | Caracas | www.correodelorinoco.gob.

ve
With a series of commemorative acts and demonstrations, Venezuelans celebrated last
Sunday the 15-year anniversary of the arrival of President Hugo Chavez to power and
the ascendancy of the Bolivarian Revolution as the South American nations preemi-
nent political force. On Tuesday, Venezuelan authorities and government supporters
marked 22 years since February 4, 1992. Now called the Day of National Dignity, the
date marks the moment when Hugo Chavez led a military uprising that changed the
course of Venezuelan politics. Pages 2/3
Economic
offensive
in next stage
The second stage in the
governments offensive
against the economic
sabotage affecting
the South American
nation got under way
this week, following
notable success during
its initial deployment
back in October. The
Law of Fair Costs and
Prices, which is being
widely circulated
in communities,
allows for the
application of much
harsher penalties,
both criminal and
monetary, on those
found guilty of the 15
crimes dened
in the law. Page 4
Integration
Venezuela mediates
Haiti & DR
Foreign Minister
Elias Jaua helped
dialogue between
Dominican Republic
and Haiti. Page 5
Sports
Caribbean Series
in Venezuela
The South American
nation hosts the regional
baseball event. Page 6
Culture
Disarming
gangs
A new movement is set
to tackle crime rates
through culture
and the arts. Page 6
Bolivarian Revolution Celebrates
Important Anniversaries
Analysis
Noam Chomsky:
Prerogatives of power Page 7
Opinion
US foreign policy leaves
open door fo China Page 8
Venezuela helps US
poor with Heating Oil
CITGO Petroleum Corporation
and Citizens Energy Corpora-
tion announced the launch of the
ninth annual CITGO-Venezuela
Heating Oil Program this week.
The CITGO-Venezuela Heating Oil
Program, the only of its kind in the
United States, has donated more
than 235 million gallons of heating
oil to more than 1.8 million people
since 2005. As in previous years,
this program will assist families,
homeless shelters, and Native
American tribes in 25 states and
the District of Columbia.
According to the National Ener-
gy Assistance Directors Associa-
tion, this year nearly seven million
US households will need heating
assistance. The typical heating
oil customer who lives in the Nor-
theast is expected to spend more
than $2,000 on fuel this winter,
up 35 percent from the winter of
2008-2009. Families living in ol-
der homes will spend as much as
$4,000 to keep the house warm.
Families struggling to pay for
home heating oil can call Citizens
Energy Corporation at 1-877-563-
4645, to see if they are eligible for
heating oil assistance.
Ven Embassy
in US kickstarts
Chavez Was
Here global event
The Embassy of the Bolivarian
Republic of Venezuela and its con-
sulates in the US began the Global
Event Chavez Was Here, aiming
to commemorate the political
and social legacy of the leader of
the Bolivarian Revolution, Hugo
Chavez, not only in Venezuela but
all around the world.
In the US capital activities
started with the screening of
the lm The Revolution will not
be televised. The documentary
narrates the important events in
the recent history of the country
like the restitution of constitu-
tional order in Venezuela after
President Chavez was victim of
a US-backed corporate-media
coup detat in 2002.
After the screening of the lm
Dr Adina Bastidas, current repre-
sentative of Venezuela in the In-
teramerican Development Bank,
narrated her experiences and
remembered the movement that
brought President Chavez to the
presidency and a new system of
government based in grassroots
power. She spoke of the popu-
lar debates around the country
centered on the new constitution
of 1999, and the many achieve-
ments of Chavez mainly in the
reduction of poverty.
Representatives of different
grassroots organizations, activ-
ists, intellectuals and other orga-
nizations aiming to achieve social
change in the US expressed their
admiration for the policies in fa-
vor of the poor pushed by Presi-
dent Chavez.
President Chavez was a revo-
lutionary leader who left an enor-
mous legacy in a short period of
time not only for Venezuelans
said Kamau Frank Benjamin,
a social activist present in the
screening.
The artillery of ideas
2 Impact | Friday, February 7, 2014
dependence on the United States
and has instilled a new sense of
Latin American pride.
Accords with countries like
Cuba and the creation of the
Bolivarian Alliance of Our
America regional bloc have
strengthened South-South rela-
tions in the continent and have
provided a real alternative to
free trade by prioritizing coop-
eration and human need over
corporate prots.
Chavez survived a number of
attempts to overthrow his gov-
ernment by the nations right-
wing including a 2002 coup and
an oil industry lock out later
the same year.
On Sunday, President Maduro
made reference to the obstacles
that have been confronted by
the revolution over the years
and vowed to follow the example
of his predecessor by meeting
any threats that may lie ahead.
Historically, the Bolivarian
Revolution has overcome dif-
culties and will continue to
do so. Our civic-military union
has been strengthened. In the
face of any destabilization at-
tempt, the country is going to
radicalize the Bolivarian Revo-
lution and make it stronger,
the socialist head of state said.
THE REVOLUTIONCONTINUES
During his speech, Maduro
emphasized the gains that have
been made in the country dur-
ing the Chavez years and reiter-
ated the popular support for the
reforms that have been enacted
since 1999.
After 15 years, the revolu-
tion has maintained victory
after victory - in power with
the people and consolidating
the road towards socialism. We
are the majority! he exclaimed
during his speech.
Maduro implored the mem-
bers of the United Socialist
Party of Venezuela (PSUV) to
eschew complacency and to
continue debating ideas and
platforms as to maintain the
dynamism necessary to con-
front the new challenges facing
the Caribbean country.
Today has to be a day of
reection, of struggle, of ana-
lyzing accomplishments and
errors, of criticisms and self-
criticisms so that the revolu-
tion does not plateau and that
there is a renewal of our politi-
cal thought, he added.
The 51 year-old president
spoke of the need to build po-
litical alliances and unity in
the country and to focus on the
construction of Venezuelas So-
cialism of the 21st Century to
combat violence and the anti-
values of capitalism which he
holds responsible for the na-
tions social ills .
To do this, Maduro called for
a strengthening of popular de-
mocracy through the nations
community councils and the
Communes - networks of grass-
roots organizations proposed by
Chavez to promote participatory
democracy at the local level.
We are the children of Boli-
var, as our Comandante Chavez
used to say. In the blood that
runs through our veins, runs
the blood of Americas liberators
- those who made a homeland of
Venezuela. And we are the sons
and daughters of Chavez, the
greatest Bolivarian that has
existed in two centuries on this
Earth, he declared.
T/ COI
P/ Presidential Press
W
ith a series of commemo-
rative acts and demon-
strations, Venezuelans
celebrated last Sunday the 15-
year anniversary of the arrival
of President Hugo Chavez to
power and the ascendancy of
the Bolivarian Revolution as
the South American nations
pre-eminent political force.
During a public address from
the presidential palace of Mira-
ores, current head of state
Nicolas Maduro referred to
Chavez, who lost his battle with
cancer last March, as the great-
est follower of Venezuelan inde-
pendence hero Simon Bolivar
that the nation has seen over
the past 200 hundred years.
Today, on February 2, 1999,
the time of the people of Ven-
ezuela arrived! The time of the
resurrection of the homeland
of Simon Bolivar! We are cel-
ebrating the birth of our free
Venezuela, of the Bolivarian
Venezuela that we had always
dreamed of, Maduro said
from the Peoples Balcony of
the palace.
Obtaining more than 56
percent of the popular vote,
Chavezs 1998 landside presi-
dential victory marked a de-
nitive break with a Venezu-
elas outdated political system
which had become character-
ized by severe class differ-
ences and abandonment of the
underprivileged.
Before running for ofce,
the former lieutenant colonel
led a military uprising in 1992
against the government of then
President Carlos Andres Perez,
after the latter had implement-
ed a neoliberal economic pro-
gram of privatizations and em-
barked on a brutal campaign of
repressing dissent.
The uprising failed but
Chavez became an increasingly
popular political gure as a re-
sult of the rebellion.
He was jailed for his role in the
uprising but was subsequently
released from prison in 1994,
only to spearhead a nationwide
movement that demanded fun-
damental reforms to Venezu-
elas crumbling social order.
Chavez came to carry out
the program that he took to the
streets of Venezuela in order
to be elected president. For the
rst time, a president did what
he promised to do and what
Chavez promised to do was to
carry out a peaceful revolu-
tion and change everything,
President Maduro afrmed on
Sunday.
Upon his election as Presi-
dent, the leftist leader called for
the drafting of a new constitu-
Venezuela celebrates
15 years in revolution
tion, which would put human
rights, democracy and basic
social services as binding re-
sponsibilities of the national
government.
I swear before God, before
the homeland, before my people
that I will begin the democratic
transitions necessary so that
the republic has a carta magna
that is in line with new times,
Chavez said during his inaugu-
ration before the Venezuelan
congress in 1999.
An assembly was convened
and a new constitution was
written which was overwhelm-
ing ratied by the Venezuelan
population.
SOCIAL ADVANCES
UNDER CHAVEZ
Throughout his 14-year
mandate, Chavez prioritized
social spending and created
dozens of government-run
programs, or missions, that
resulted in substantial de-
creases in child malnutrition,
expansion of educational op-
portunities for all citizens,
and the reduction of Venezu-
elas poverty by half.
Internationally, the Barinas-
native was an ardent supporter
of regional unity and went to
great lengths to foster a new,
hemisphere-wide diplomacy
that has lessened Venezuelas
The artillery of ideas
Friday, February 7, 2014 | Politics 3
T/ Ewan Robertson
P/ Presidential Press
O
n Tuesday, Venezuelan
authorities and gov-
ernment supporters
marked 22 years since Feb-
ruary 4, 1992. Now called the
Day of National Dignity,
the date marks the moment
when Hugo Chavez led a mili-
tary uprising that changed
the course of Venezuelan
politics.
At the time Venezuela sim-
mered with discontent due to
an economic crisis and the
harsh neoliberal policies of the
government of Carlos Andres
Perez. Half the population
lived in poverty, while mass
street rioting three years ear-
lier was bloodily put down by
state security forces.
In response to the crisis, a
progressive movement with-
in the military organized to
rescue the country from
being sold out to foreign
multinationals and the local
oligarchy. This group was led
by then-lieutenant coronel
Hugo Chavez, founder of the
left-nationalist Revolution-
ary Bolivarian Movement.
The uprising was launched
in the early hours of February
4, 1992 in Caracas and other
key points around the coun-
try. However, the rebelling sol-
diers failed to take Miraores
presidential palace, the seat
of power in the capital. Hugo
Chavez offered his surrender,
and was able to address the na-
tion with the following words:
Comrades: lamentably, for
now, the objectives that we
set ourselves have not been
achievednow its time to re-
ect and new situations will
come, and the country deni-
tively has to head towards a
better destinyI assume re-
sponsibility for this Bolivar-
ian military movement.
The lieutenant coronel was
then imprisoned, but in 1994
was pardoned by Perez suc-
cessor Rafael Caldera. In 1998,
Hugo Chavez won the Venezu-
elan presidential election, and
began the countrys Bolivar-
ian revolution.
On Tuesday this week
Chavistas gathered at the
Barracks of the Mountain
in the 23 de Enero district of
Caracas, from where Chavez
launched the military rebel-
lion, and where his remains
now lie.
Twenty-two years later,
the revolution continues its
path of unity, battle and vic-
tory with Chavez, tweeted
President Nicolas Maduro,
Chavezs successor, to sup-
porters.
Meanwhile Vice President
Jorge Arreaza afrmed, On
February 4 the people of Ven-
ezuela identied themselves
with the voice of that brave
soldier who assumed his re-
sponsibility and spoke to us
of a better destiny. With this
brave comandante the peo-
ple have walked a thousand
paths, have defeated a thou-
sand conspiracies, and today
exercise peoples power.
In Caracas, local residents
also remembered February
4, 1992, and what has changed
in Venezuela since then.
When I saw Chavez [mak-
ing his speech], as Im a
revolutionary, I said to my-
self: at last someone has ar-
rived whos going to ght for
the people. In that moment
the situation was difcult,
but we were happy because
something had happened
that we knew would mark
the difference, said Francis
Hernandez, a retired lady.
Chavez was reelected three
times and held the Venezu-
elan presidency until his
death in March 2013. During
that time he spearheaded a
wave of nationalizations, so-
cial programs and grassroots
democratic initiatives that
came to be known as social-
ism of the 21st century. Pov-
erty more than halved under
his government, among oth-
er social achievements.
Luis Fuentes, a motor-bike
taxi driver, said of Chavezs
era following February 4,
1992, Whats changed is
this: with the social pro-
grams there are less illiterate
people, less children on the
streetpeople have changed
their shacks for houses, now
s/he who doesnt study is
because they dont want to,
and the people no longer go
hungry.
Francis Hernandez also ar-
gued that people would con-
tinue to remember Chavezs
contribution to transforming
Venezuelan society. Weve
solved a lot of problems, but
we still have Chavez in our
memories, above all for what
still needs to be achieved, she
said.
Venezuela remembers the day Chavez
rose against neoliberalism, 22 years later
Twenty-two years later, the revolution
continues its path of unity, battle
and victory with Chavez
The artillery of ideas
4 Economy | Friday, February 7, 2014
POPULAR POWER KEY
Vice President Arreaza un-
derlined the importance of
the organized communities in
re-ordering the economy, and
highlighted that the discover-
ies in Caracas were thanks to
denouncements made by com-
munity members through the
new 0800 SABOTAGE phone-
line: It was thanks to popular
power that we were able to de-
tect this the militants of the
PSUV communicated the ex-
act location to the Superinten-
dence, he explained.
Alongside Arreaza (31), the
newly named Superintendent
for the Defense of Social-Eco-
nomic Rights, Andreina Taraz-
on (26) also emphasized the role
of organized people in the offen-
sive against the unscrupulous
businesses that are trying to
topple the government through
economic warfare.
Popular power, the social
movements, the men and wom-
en of our people are the keys to
be able to stabilize the econo-
my, she explained. The people
must be the maximum impulse
in the necessary actions to bal-
ance out the prices.
Tarazon, speaking from
the warehouse full of diapers,
chicken, and meat, in Campo
1220, described the hoarding as
deplorable.
We have found diapers and
rotten chicken. Its illogical,
its terrible, its deplorable that
businesses like this try to de-
stabilize our country. It is unac-
ceptable that while the children
of our country need diapers, we
nd a great quantity of these
diapers past their use by date
in this warehouse. Its unac-
ceptable that while our people
need chicken, need meet, essen-
tial elements of the basic food
basket, in this type of place we
nd more than 5 ton expired,
she proclaimed.
ABANDONEDSHIPPING
CONTAINERS
Similarly, Superintendent
Tarazon declared that they will
be investigating the large quan-
tity of abandoned containers
found that the principal ports
of Venezuela this week, in La
Guaira and Puerto Cabello.
It is estimated that over 5000
containers have been abandoned
at the ports, and the goods have
been left to damage or expire.
These are the businesses to
which we provide (subsidized)
dollars because they said they
were going to bring in a series
of goods to the country, that
they were going to distribute
and sell them in shopping cen-
ters, and they were never even
picked up from the ports, ex-
plained Tarazon.
Due to distortions in the
illegal dollar market, busi-
nesses often applied to receive
subsidized dollars using the
pretense of imports. Such dol-
lars they then later sold on the
black market making massive
prots, and often neglected
the imported good which pro-
duces only an average prot
margin.
T/ Paul Dobson
P/ Agencies
T
he second stage in the gov-
ernments offensive against
the economic sabotage af-
fecting the South American na-
tion got under way this week,
following notable success dur-
ing its initial deployment back
in October.
Rebel February of Revolu-
tion is under way! Everyone to
deepen the economic offensive!
tweeted President Maduro, as
his cabinet and economic team
deployed across the nation,
checking commercial outlets,
productive centers, and enforc-
ing the new Law of Fair Costs
and Prices which came into ef-
fect this week.
President Nicolas Maduro
has been designing a new archi-
tecture, not just for a new offen-
sive, but to balance and clean up
the economy as well as elimi-
nating the induced perturba-
tions in the productive chain,
explained Vice President Jorge
Arreaza, who is leading the new
stage of the economic strategy.
The Law of Fair Costs and
Prices, which is being widely
circulated in communities, al-
lows for the application of much
harsher penalties, both crimi-
nal and monetary, on those
found guilty of the 15 crimes
dened in the law. Such crimes
include good hoarding, over
pricing, counter banding goods,
and falsely generating short-
ages. Those goods found to be
hoarded will be taken and
will be made available to the
people, stated Arreaza. It also
stipulates a top ceiling of 30%
for businesses prot levels.
In October and November, nu-
merous warehouses were dis-
covered with great quantities
of hoarded goods that private
owners kept from the market
so as to create fake shortages,
as well as taking advantage
of extortionate street prices,
themselves generated by such
apparent shortages. Such false-
ly created shortages were then
used for political ends by anti-
government groups. What the
bourgeoisie want to hoard, to
use to make themselves rich,
we will make available to the
people, explained Vice Presi-
dent Arreaza.
President of the business
owners association FEDECA-
MARAS, Jorge Roig, declared
the law illegal and anti-con-
stitutional, and called for its
nullication.
10 YEAR PRISONSENTENCE
Following the deployment
of the offensive, 92 businesses
were inspected on the rst day,
with major irregularities found
both at the poultry farm Don
Jose and the Food Distributor
Campo 1220, both in Caracas.
In the poultry farm, 8 tons of
chicken were found to be being
sold at a price well above that
stipulated by the law, and there
was evidence of the hoarding of
foodstuffs, with some products
having been acquired in 2010.
The owner of the business has
been arrested, ned 1.07 mil-
lion bolivars, and may face up
to 10 years prison due to the
harsh regulations against such
activity established by the new
law. Their supplier will also be
investigated.
In the Food Distributor
Campo 1220, six tons of rotten
chicken and beef, which was to
be sold the following day, were
found in the warehouses. Sim-
ilarly, 280 packages of diapers,
and a ton of other expired food-
stuffs such as ham, cheese,
and bacon were found at their
headquarters.
Such products are dened as
of high necessity by the law,
and their hoarding or overpric-
ing brings harsh penalties of up
to 5.3 million bolivars of nes,
10 years of prison, and/or the
conscation of the businesses.
It is evident that there is
hoarding of products of high
necessity in the business, ex-
plained Food Minister Felix
Osorio, present at Campo 1220.
We are decided to ght, the
businessmen thought that the
measures against hoarding
and speculation in October last
year were just simple populism.
Its not like that!
Maduro: Economic offensive
into second stage
The artillery of ideas
Friday, February 7, 2014 | Integration 5
T/ Paul Dobson
T
he President of the Ven-
ezuelan National Electoral
Council (CNE), Tibisay Luce-
na, was in Ecuador this week
to assist and provide support
to her Ecuadorian counter-
parts who nished prepara-
tions for the rst ever elec-
toral process using electronic
voting machines.
The elections, set for Febru-
ary 23, will see 11.6 million vot-
ers elect 5,628 local authorities
including mayors and prefects.
They will trial run three types
of electronic vote machines,
including those used success-
fully in Venezuela since 2004.
The Venezuelan machines
will be deployed in the Santo
Domingo de los Tsachilas
province, while the voters in
the Azuay sector will vote us-
ing Argentine models, and
those in La Morita sector in
northwest Quito will use Rus-
sian technology to vote. In to-
tal, some 900,000 voters will
vote electronically, compris-
ing roughly 10% of the entire
electorate.
Lucena highlighted that
Venezuela is offering all the
technological and logistical
support requested, and that
the Ecuadorian CNE must de-
termine for itself which type
of voting machine best ts it
electoral process and elector-
ate. It is expected that after
extensive post-electoral analy-
sis, the chosen model will be
applied in 100% of the voting
centers for future elections.
President of the Ecuadorian
CNE, Domingo Paredes, him-
self an international observer
in Venezuelas December elec-
tions, explained that it is the
electoral authorities responsi-
bility to prove the trustworthi-
ness of the electronic system
to the electorate: we cant ask
that it be taken as an act of
faith, but rather that the facts,
with support from the audits,
show the strength.
He also underlined that Ven-
ezuela has been learning and
perfecting their process since
they implemented an electronic
voting system, experience from
which Ecuador can benet.
Vice-President of the Ec-
uadorian CNE, Paul Salazar,
explained that it is the duty of
the CNE to keep improving and
developing the voting process:
the CNE has the obligation to
provide better tools to guaran-
tee efciency and to reect the
will of the Ecuadorian people at
the ballot boxes.
Voting is obligatory in Ecua-
dor, and participation has been
high since socialist Rafael Cor-
rea inspired voters to partici-
pate in forming a new society
through the Citizens Revolu-
tion in 2006.
The Venezuelan voting sys-
tem has been widely recog-
nized as one of the most secure
in the world, with the electoral
investigation center, the Carter
Foundation, declaring it the
most reliable in the world.
Other international bodies, in-
cluding UNASUR, the UN, the
EU, trade union movements,
universities, social movements,
and lawyers associations regu-
larly observe over the electoral
processes, and repeatedly rec-
ognize the transparency and
trustworthiness of the process.
Ecuador to try Venezuelan voting
machines in upcoming elections
totally denied, Amnesty re-
searcher Chiara Liguori stat-
ed in a press release following
the ruling last year.
The Dominican government
initially stated the ruling could
affect around 24,000, though op-
ponents of the decision have put
the gure as high as 200,000.
This weeks negotiations fol-
lowed on from talks last month
in Ouanaminthe, Haiti. Ob-
servers from the European
ing to introduce preferential
visa conditions for Haitians,
which will be presented to the
countrys congress on Febru-
ary 27.
Dominican presidential chief
of staff Gustavo Montalvo an-
nounced that his government
would speed up the issuing of
visas to foreigners within
the Dominican Republic. Ac-
cording to a Telesur report,
Haitian students and tempo-
T/ Ryan Mallett-Outtrim
P/ Agencies
V
enezuelan Foreign Min-
ister Elias Jaua has wel-
comed signs of progress in
a citizenship dispute between
Haiti and the Dominican Repub-
lic following negotiations this
week, which he himself mediat-
ed. A second round of talks be-
tween Haiti and the Dominican
Republic took place on Monday
in the Dominican border town
of Jimani to resolve an ongoing
dispute over a high court rul-
ing that critics say could render
thousands of Dominican born
Haitians stateless.
Mediating the negotiations,
Jaua warned that the issue
that has chilled relations be-
tween Haiti and the Dominican
Republic cannot be a pretext
for dividing the Latin Ameri-
can and Caribbean region.
This unfortunate situation
can not be the excuse for for-
eign interests in the region try
to divide the Latin American
and Caribbean union that we
are building, Jaua stated. The
region wants this resolved here
among Latin Americans and
Caribbeans...by means of dia-
logue, through peaceful means,
respecting the sovereignty and
independence of countries and
ultimately safeguarding the
rights of those concerned, Jaua
stated ahead of Mondays talks.
Mondays meeting closed af-
ter more than 12 hours of ne-
gotiations that ended with the
issuing of a joint statement that
the Dominican government
would draft new legislation to
address Haitian descendants.
Last September the Domini-
can Republics constitutional
court ruled that anyone born in
the island state without Domin-
ican parents after 1929 isnt en-
titled to automatic citizenship.
The decision has been criti-
cized by non-government or-
ganizations including Haitis
Support Group for Repatriates
and Refugees and Amnesty
International.
The full implementation
of this ruling will have a dev-
astating impact on the lives
of hundreds of thousands of
people whose identity docu-
ments would be canceled and,
therefore, would see many
of their human rights free-
dom of movement, education,
work and access to healthcare
Union (EU) and the Caribbean
Community (CARICOM) were
among those that attended
Mondays meeting.
We came to contribute to a
solution that would strengthen
the Latin American and Carib-
bean union. Its the purpose of
Venezuela, as an observer, as
a mediator in this meeting,
Jaua stated.
The meeting ended with the
Dominican government agree-
rary workers will also be eligi-
ble for lower cost visas. The
Haitian delegation also agreed
to increase the distribution of
passports to Haitian descen-
dants.
Montalvo thanked Venezu-
ela for its mediation when the
talks came to an end in the ear-
ly hours of Tuesday morning.
The two countries also pledged
to improve security on their
shared border, deeper coopera-
tion in counter-narcotics efforts
and relax trade barriers.
These developments con-
stitute a very signicant mile-
stone, and reveal the extent
of this dialogue, Montalvo
stated.
Jaua welcomed the new
agreements, but stopped short
of endorsing the Dominican
governments proposed legisla-
tion. Venezuela will analyze,
with respect for the sovereign-
ty of Dominican Republic, the
text of the law once it is in the
Dominican parliament, Jaua
stated.
He added that a nal solu-
tion to the dispute would have
to allay concerns over human
rights among member states of
the Community of Latin Amer-
ican and Caribbean States
(CELAC). However Jaua ar-
gued that this weeks negotia-
tions have already shown how
Latin America and the Ca-
ribbean can resolve regional
disputes without interference
from foreign interests.
We are condent that we
will resolve this without inter-
vention, without exclusively
condemning any party, Jaua
stated.
Venezuela mediates talks between
Haiti and the Dominican Republic
The artillery of ideas
6 Culture and Sports | Friday, February 7, 2014
T/ COI
P/ Presidential Press
V
enezuelan President Nico-
las Maduro threw out the
ceremonial rst pitch at
the opening game of the Carib-
bean Series baseball tourna-
ment that began last Saturday
in the island of Margarita.
The annual sporting event,
which includes the participa-
tion of Venezuela, Mexico, Do-
minican Republic, Puerto Rico,
and Cuba, will continue until
Saturday when the 2 best teams
will face off for a winner-take-
all championship game.
Long live peace! Long live
baseball! Long live Venezuela!
President Maduro said during
the inaugural ceremony.
The Cuban team is playing
for the rst time in 54 years
after having dominated the se-
ries from 1949 to 1960, winning
7 of the 12 contests in which it
participated.
The stadium hosting the
event in Margarita is a newly
constructed, rst-class facility
that boasts all the attributes
of a completely modern base-
ball eld, the governor of the
island state of Nueva Esparta,
Carlos Figueroa, commented
on Monday.
[The stadium] has better
illumination, better sound, a
better eld and dugouts with
pitching and batting cages...
Its a rst-rate stadium for the
residents of Margarita and for
this reason we are very proud,
Figueroa said.
In addition to hosting the
Caribbean Series, Venezuela
has begun a bid to be a region-
al host for the Baseball World
Classic in 2017.
On Sunday, the President of
the Caribbean Series organiz-
ing committee, Tobias Car-
rero, told the press that he
will be speaking with Major
League Baseball so that the is-
land of Margarita is one of the
locations considered for the
coming tournament.
We have the support of the
regional government of [Gov-
ernor] Carlos Figueroa and we
have a stadium with a capacity
of 18,000 people. We have the
ability to make a request to
Major League Baseball so that
Margarita is one of the hosts
of the next Baseball Classic,
Carrero informed.
OPPOSITIONPROTESTS
A group of right-wing Ven-
ezuelan opposition activists
protested the presence of the
Cuban team at the state-run
Venetur hotel in Porlamar,
Margarita.
According to the Governor
Figueroa, anti-Cuban protes-
tors engaged in vandalism
and attacked security in front
of the hotel in attempts to dis-
rupt the international sport-
ing event.
This is behavior motivated
by mental smallness which is
the product of a psychotic dis-
sociation that does not permit
reasoning... These people com-
mitted crimes and attacked
members of the National
Guard. We cannot allow it and
there will be consequences.
We will be severe, Figueroa
said.
The Nueva Esparta gover-
nor afrmed that the actions
of the extreme right are a
small minority of the Ven-
ezuelan population and in no
way are representative of the
overwhelming majority who
see the series as an exercise of
peace and solidarity between
sister nations.
Our people reject this be-
havior. I have received many
messages, not only from ev-
eryday citizens but also from
members of the opposition who
have rejected these actions,
he asserted.
Figuero assured that suf-
cient security has been de-
ployed to guarantee the safety
and well-being of the Cuban
players and all the partici-
pants in the Caribbean Series
during the events time in
Margarita.
For his part, Venezuelan
President Nicolas Maduro
weighed in on the matter on
Sunday, informing that a
group of violent protestors had
been arrested for alleged as-
sault on Cuban players.
A group of these people
have been detained and were
going to take them to trial. It
is unheard of and unaccept-
able that they try to attack
these athletes... There will be
no weakness in the face of fas-
cism, Maduro said.
Caribbean Series comes to Venezuela,
opposition protests Cuban team
T/ Paul Dobson
P/ Agencies
P
resident Nicolas Maduro
approved $63.5 million in
special funding for the Move-
ment for Peace and Life this
week, which aims to pacify
the country and tackle high
crime rates.
The special funds will be
specically destined to -
nance productive projects that
have been proposed by gangs
who have followed the call for
voluntary disarmament and
have incorporated themselves
into the struggle against crim-
inality and violence.
These resources are to
invest in projects which
have mostly been presented
by groups of violent gangs
which we are disarming
and mobilizing. We must in-
vest resources to generate
employment, for productive
projects, for agricultural
projects for these people,
explained the former union
leader turned President. He
also highlighted that there
are numerous cultural and
sport-based projects that will
benet from the funding.
Maduro has repeatedly
called for armed gangs oper-
ating in poor neighborhoods,
barrios, to abandon their
ways and to take advantage
of the amnesty offered by the
government if they voluntari-
ly hand over their weapons
to the authorities. His gov-
ernment is committed to re-
integrating those youths who,
through lack of other options
and inuenced by violent cul-
ture promoted by movies, mu-
sic, and videogames, fall into a
life of crime.
The Movement for Peace and
Life offers them opportuni-
ties to study, train, work, and
looks to use sports and culture
as tools to encourage a differ-
ent lifestyle in such citizens. It
forms part of a two-pronged
approach to crime, working
alongside a modernization of
the police forces, new security
cameras, more policemen and
women, and a renewed judi-
cial and penitentiary system.
Hundreds of individuals and
gangs have already headed
the call.
In similar news, President
Maduro announced that the
special law for the pacica-
tion of the country, which
will be implemented through
the Movement for Peace and
Life, is nearly ready. I am
handing it over to Blanca Ee-
khout (Vice-President of the
National Assembly) so that
this project for law is passed
around the people and the
communities as part of a
popular consultation, he ex-
plained.
Minister for Interior Re-
lations, Justice and Peace,
Miguel Rodriguez Torres also
announced the proposal for
the creation of a new section
in the Great Mission A Life
for All Venezuela.
The Great Mission current-
ly has 6 sections: (1) holistic
prevention and solidarity
coexistence; (2) strengthen-
ing of the security bodies; (3)
transformation of the penal-
judicial system and the cre-
ation of alternative mecha-
nisms for the resolution of
conicts; (4) the moderniza-
tion of the penitentiary sys-
tem; (5) a national system for
attention to victims; (6) the
creation and socialization of
knowledge for coexistence
and citizen security.
Rodriguez Torres presented
the proposal to create a sev-
enth section which emphasis
the role of the family, which
he described as essential if
we want to achieve peace in
our country.
It is a proposal which was
born from consulting numer-
ous sectors to add the sec-
tion Family, designed to get
the family on board as a fun-
damental nucleus of society
from the point of view of spiri-
tual, moral, ethical, social,
and historical values, to con-
struct and make Venezuela
into a territory of peace, he
elaborated.
Funds approved for
productive projects presented
by disarmed gangs
The artillery of ideas
Friday, February 7, 2014 | Analysis 7
The opposite is more nearly
correct. The roots of the con-
ict within Islam are many and
varied, but it cannot be seri-
ously denied that the split was
signicantly exacerbated by
the American- and British-led
invasion of Iraq. And it can-
not be too often repeated that
aggression was dened at the
Nuremberg Trials as the su-
preme international crime,
differing from others in that it
encompasses all the evil that
follows, including the current
catastrophe.
A remarkable illustration of
this rapid inversion of history
is the American reaction to
the current atrocities in Fal-
lujah. The dominant theme is
the pain about the sacrices, in
vain, of the American soldiers
who fought and died to liberate
Fallujah. A look at the news re-
ports of the US assaults on Fal-
lujah in 2004 quickly reveals
that these were among the most
vicious and disgraceful war
crimes of the aggression.
The death of Nelson Mandela
provides another occasion for
reection on the remarkable
impact of what has been called
historical engineering: re-
shaping the facts of history to
serve the needs of power.
When Mandela at last ob-
tained his freedom, he declared
that During all my years in
prison, Cuba was an inspira-
tion and Fidel Castro a tower
of strength. . [Cuban victories]
destroyed the myth of the in-
vincibility of the white oppres-
sor [and] inspired the ghting
masses of South Africa . a turn-
ing point for the liberation of
our continent - and of my people
- from the scourge of apartheid.
. What other country can point
to a record of greater seless-
ness than Cuba has displayed
in its relations to Africa?
Today the names of Cubans
who died defending Angola
from US-backed South African
aggression, defying American
demands that they leave the
country, are inscribed on the
Wall of Names in Pretorias
Freedom Park. And the thou-
sands of Cuban aid workers
who sustained Angola, largely
at Cuban expense, are also not
forgotten.
The US-approved version is
quite different. From the rst
days after South Africa agreed
to withdraw from illegally oc-
cupied Namibia in 1988, paving
the way for the end of apart-
heid, the outcome was hailed
by The Wall Street Journal as
a splendid achievement of
American diplomacy, one of
the most signicant foreign
policy achievements of the Rea-
gan administration.
The reasons why Mandela
and South Africans perceive a
radically different picture are
spelled out in Piero Gleijeses
masterful scholarly inquiry
Visions of Freedom: Havana,
Washington, Pretoria, and the
Struggle for Southern Africa,
1976-1991.
As Gleijeses convincingly
demonstrates, South Africas
aggression and terrorism in
Angola and its occupation of
Namibia were ended by Cuban
military might accompanied
by erce black resistance
within South Africa and the
courage of Namibian guerril-
las. The Namibian liberation
forces easily won fair elections
as soon as these were possible.
Similarly, in elections in An-
gola, the Cuban-backed govern-
ment prevailed - while the Unit-
ed States continued to support
vicious opposition terrorists
there even after South Africa
was compelled to back away.
To the end, the Reaganites re-
mained virtually alone in their
strong support for the apartheid
regime and its murderous dep-
redations in neighboring coun-
tries. Though these shameful
episodes may be wiped out of
internal US history, others are
likely to understand Mandelas
words.
In these and all too many oth-
er cases, supreme power does
provide protection against re-
ality - to a point.
T/ Noam Chomsky
A
s the year 2013 drew to an
end, the BBC reported on
the results of the WIN/
Gallup International poll on
the question: Which country
do you think is the greatest
threat to peace in the world
today?
The United States was the
champion by a substantial mar-
gin, winning three times the
votes of second-place Pakistan.
By contrast, the debate in
American scholarly and media
circles is about whether Iran
can be contained, and whether
the huge NSA surveillance
system is needed to protect US
security.
In view of the poll, it would
seem that there are more perti-
nent questions: Can the United
States be contained and other
nations secured in the face of
the US threat?
In some parts of the world
the United States ranks even
higher as a perceived men-
ace to world peace, notably in
the Middle East, where over-
whelming majorities regard
the US and its close ally Israel
as the major threats they face,
not the US-Israeli favorite:
Iran.
Few Latin Americans are
likely to question the judgment
of Cuban nationalist hero Jose
Marti, who wrote in 1894 that
The further they draw away
from the United States, the freer
and more prosperous the [Latin]
American people will be.
Martis judgment has been
conrmed in recent years,
once again by an analysis of
poverty by the UN Economic
Commission for Latin Ameri-
can and the Caribbean, re-
leased last month.
The UN report shows that
far-reaching reforms have
sharply reduced poverty in
Brazil, Uruguay, Venezu-
ela and some other countries
where US inuence is slight,
but that it remains abysmal
in others - namely, those that
have long been under US dom-
ination, like Guatemala and
Honduras. Even in relatively
wealthy Mexico, under the
umbrella of the North Ameri-
can Free Trade Agreement,
poverty is severe, with one
million added to the numbers
of the poor in 2013.
Sometimes the reasons for the
worlds concerns are obliquely
recognized in the United States,
as when former CIA director
Michael Hayden, discussing
Obamas drone murder cam-
paign, conceded that Right
now, there isnt a government
on the planet that agrees with
our legal rationale for these
operations, except for Afghani-
stan and maybe Israel.
A normal country would be
concerned by how it is viewed
in the world. Certainly that
would be true of a country
committed to a decent respect
to the opinions of mankind, to
quote the Founding Fathers.
But the United States is far
from a normal country. It has
had the most powerful econo-
my in the world for a century,
and has had no real challenge
to its global hegemony since
World War II, despite some
decline, partly self-adminis-
tered.
The US, conscious of soft
power, undertakes major
campaigns of public diploma-
cy (aka propaganda) to create
a favorable image, sometimes
accompanied by worthwhile
policies that are welcomed. But
when the world persists in be-
lieving that the United States
is by far the greatest threat
to peace, the American press
scarcely reports the fact.
The ability to ignore unwant-
ed facts is one of the preroga-
tives of unchallenged power.
Closely related is the right to
radically revise history.
A current example can be
seen in the laments about the
escalating Sunni-Shiite con-
ict that is tearing apart the
Middle East, particularly in
Iraq and Syria. The prevail-
ing theme of US commentary
is that this strife is a terrible
consequence of the withdraw-
al of American force from the
region - a lesson in the dangers
of isolationism.
Prerogatives of Power
A p0b||cat|oo oI the F0odac|oo 0orreo de| 0r|ooco Editor-in-Chief va 6o||oger Graphic Design Pablo Valduciel L. - Aimara Aguilera - Audra Ramones
INTERNATIONAL Friday, February 7, 2014 | N 190 | Caracas | www.correodelorinoco.gob.ve
Opinion
Economist Mark Weisbrot
argues that China could
provide credit lines to
back up Venezuela and
Argentinas currencies
in order to counteract
US designs for the Latin
American region
T/ Mark Weisbrot
I
n the last week or so much of
the international business
press has been focused on
the problems of nancial sta-
bility in developing countries,
some of whom have recently
become more vulnerable to
capital outows. The main
cause is that investors are
trying to get the jump on pos-
sible moves by the US Federal
Reserve to allow interest rates
to rise, which will draw capi-
tal from developing countries
and cause their borrowing
costs to rise.
Argentina has gotten some
of this attention, as it allowed
the peso to fall by 15% in one
day and increased some ac-
cess for Argentines to dollars
on the ofcial market. Ven-
ezuela is not as affected by
these market developments,
but is always negatively por-
trayed in the international
media, and more so since its
exchange rate system prob-
lems have caused its ination
to rise to an annual rate of 56%
over the past year.
The two countries face dif-
ferent sets of problems, but
both likely have to stabilize
their exchange rates to re-
solve them. This is where in-
ternational help can make a
big difference, and there is
one country that has both the
ability and interest in doing
so: China.
China has already helped
Venezuela with tens of bil-
lions of dollars of loans much
of which has already been re-
paid as well as investment.
It has also provided signi-
cant lending and investment
in Ecuador, Cuba, Brazil and
other countries. But there
is more that they could do at
this moment.
Much of Argentina and Ven-
ezuelas problems stem from
some residents believing,
with strong encouragement
from the media, that their do-
mestic currency is not safe to
hold. While it is true that both
countries have high ination
and their currencies have de-
preciated on their respective
black markets, it is not clear
how much of this is due to
fundamental causes and how
much is driven by a bubble in
the black market price of their
currencies. (Certainly in Ven-
ezuela, the black market dol-
lar rate is a bubble caused by
buyers betting that local cur-
rency will fall).
In any case, both govern-
ments could stabilize their
currencies, and would get a
big head start on bringing
down ination, if they were
to have a large enough supply
of dollar reserves. And they
would not necessarily have to
use these reserves: Bolivia, for
example, has had a very stable
exchange rate throughout the
seven years of Evo Morales
presidency despite serious
political turmoil (including
a violent secessionist move-
ment), bursts of ination, and
considerable nationalizations
and other government policy
changes (eg withdrawing from
a World Bank (ICSID) seen as
terribly business unfriendly
by international corporations.
But Bolivia piled up more re-
serves than even China (rela-
tive to its GDP), and nobody
doubts the governments abil-
ity to maintain the domestic
currency at or near its cur-
rent exchange rate.
The IMF has provided a
Flexible Credit Line of re-
serves that is not borrowed,
but is available, to approved
countries. Because the United
States controls IMF policy in
developing countries, the only
three countries approved for
the FCL have been Mexico,
Colombia and Poland three
countries with right-wing gov-
ernments (Alvaro Uribe was
president in Colombia at the
time) that Washington con-
siders strategic allies. Mexico
has access to a hefty $47.3 bil-
lion that it has not needed to
tap.
China has $3.8 trillion in
reserves and would barely no-
tice the money that would be
necessary to nance a simi-
lar credit line for Argentina
and Venezuela. In fact, China
would most likely be better
off even if the money were
borrowed. Argentinas dollar-
denominated foreign public
debt is only about 8% of GDP;
US foreign policy in Latin America
leaves an open door for China
this means that it would never
make sense to default on such
a small debt. Venezuela is also
at low risk for sovereign de-
fault, with $90 billion in annu-
al oil revenue and some of the
worlds largest oil reserves.
Currently, China has the bulk
of its reserves in American
treasury securities, which are
virtually certain to lose value
in the near future as long-term
interest rates rise in the US.
China has a big foreign
policy interest in stabilizing
Latin America. Unlike the
US, which is a global hege-
mon with hundreds of mili-
tary bases around the world,
China has no foreign military
bases and no empire. With the
US pivoting toward Asia,
supporting militarism in Ja-
pan, and seeking to maintain
military dominance in east
Asia, Chinas main interest
is in the further development
of a multi-polar world and a
greater role for the United Na-
tions, developing countries
and international law and di-
plomacy. Latin America, and
especially South America, has
become independent of Wash-
ington in the past 15 years and
has a strong political inter-
est in these same issues, with
deep historical roots.
By the best measures of Chi-
nas GDP (ie purchasing power
parity), the Chinese economy
is already bigger than that of
the US; and even at its cur-
rent, slower rate of growth it
will more than double over the
next decade. As Yan Xuetong
has argued, China is begin-
ning a new foreign policy path
in which it will form alliances
as it did not do in the past.
Although these alliances
will primarily be closer to
home, most of Latin America
is a naturally ally not only be-
cause of its increasing trade
and commercial relations
with China, but because of its
common interest in an inter-
national political order that
favors respect for national
sovereignty and independence
over unilateral intervention
and military force. On the
other side, Washington would
like to get rid of all of the left
governments in the region
and return to a world of lim-
ited sovereignty there that
it maintained 20 years ago. It
is well worth Chinas efforts,
which could be made at little
or no cost, to help maintain
stability in the region.
With the US pivoting toward Asia, supporting militarism
in Japan, and seeking to maintain military dominance
in east Asia, Chinas main interest is in the further
development of a multi-polar world and a greater role
for the United Nations, developing countries
and international law and diplomacy