Venezuela defends Telesur's Cooperation with Aljazeera

On Thursday, Connie Mack, a Florida Republican, criticised the agreement between Aljazeera and Telesur to share content and co-operate in newsgathering.

But an official in Caracas said Mack's criticism was "a direct insult to the governments of Venezuela, Argentina, Cuba and Uruguay." 

In a statement on his website, Mack had said: "When Hugo Chavez launched Telesur last year to spread his anti-freedom rhetoric throughout Latin America I raised numerous concerns that he was creating a TV network patterned after Aljazeera.

"Today, Hugo Chavez has gone even further."

"It wasn't enough for him to spread his Socialist propaganda throughout Latin America. Now he's in cahoots with the original terrorist TV." 

Veiled threat

Yuri Pimentel, Venezuela's information minister said on Thursday that Mack's statements "represent a veiled threat of an airstrike, similar to the bombing that George Bush announced against the Aljazeera headquarters."

Aljazeera has demanded an investigation into British media reports that President Bush considered bombing their network headquarters. The White House, which says the network presents biased accounts of Middle East developments, strongly denied the reports as "outlandish and inconceivable."

Telesur, based in Caracas, aims to provide an alternative to the privately held media that Chavez has accused of US-biased coverage. 

Aljazeera recently opened its first Latin American bureau in Venezuela's capital. 

"We continue to believe in democracy, freedom of expression, and pluralism: all the values that are indispensable in any democracy"

Aram Ahoranian, Telesur's station manager said, the network had a total budget of $10 million last year, with 51% funded by Venezuela and the rest by Argentina, Uruguay and Cuba.

Ahoranian said: "We continue to believe in democracy, freedom of expression, and pluralism: all the values that are indispensable in any democracy.

"We don't have any problem making agreements with any organisation that is beneficial for our channel." 

Independent voice

In July, the US House approved a measure sponsored by Mack authorising the US government, if necessary, to initiate radio and television broadcasts to counter Telesur and "provide a consistently accurate, objective, and comprehensive source of news."

Chavez has vowed to jam the signals if the US tries to transmit them to Venezuela. 

Mack urged the US Senate to approve the measure, saying the United States "must counter the tyrannical, anti-democratic messages that this dangerous alliance will spew to Latin America and the entire world."

Chavez insists his government is fully democratic and accuses Washington of being the real threat to the region. 

He says Telesur will help give South America an independent voice.

Originally posted at: Aljazeera.net

Venezuela May Buy Elsewhere if Spain Cannot Overcome US Pressure

Caracas, Venezuela, 02 February 2006 – The Spanish Government is insisting it will complete a deal to sell military boats and planes to Venezuela despite US efforts to stop them. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said if Spain cannot confirm the deal soon Venezuela will, “have to go to Moscow or Peking to buy them.”

Last November Spain signed a deal to sell Venezuela 12 unarmed military aircraft and 4 boats to help with coastguard and patrol duties. The US said it could not allow the sale to take place as the planes used some US technology. This allows them a veto on the sale.

The US veto only applies to the planes being made by CASA, the Spanish part of EADS, a European Defense Consortium. Spain has confirmed the boats include no US technology and that sale is going ahead as normal.

On January 31, Spanish Deputy Primer Minister Maria Teresa Fernandez de la Vega said, “I am sure that we are going to live up to our word as always.” De la Vega also said Spain is trying to find, “mechanisms of substitution,” for the planes to get round the US Veto and comply with the contract.

Venezuelan Minister for Defense, Orlando Maniglia said yesterday that Venezuela wants the sale to go forward with Spain. Maniglia said, “We are going to listen to the plan of CASA to see if they can or cannot solve the situation by using other equipment and pieces.”

The sale is estimated to be worth $1.7 million. De la Vega said it is, “very important,” for the Spanish Defense industry. Workers in the Defense Industry, “above all have suffered the consequences of some bad relations between other countries,” said the Deputy Primer Minister.

Speaking to a meeting of business people in Venezuela on January 31 Chavez said, “We wanted to help Spain because Zapatero told me one day he had problems with the shipyards.” The Venezuelan President blamed the US for interfering.

Chavez said the US President, “goes around the world blackmailing and pressuring so that no one will sell us what we need for the defense of our territory.” Regardless of US pressure, “Venezuela will have these things, you can be sure of that,” Chavez said.

The US says it is blocking the sale because it feels Venezuela is a, “destabilizing force in the region.” A US government spokesperson also said the sale would, “complicate matters.” The US has been accused of hypocrisy as it sends $182 billion of military aid to Latin America last year.

Chavez accuses the US of sponsoring the 2002 coup against him as well as other efforts to destabilize his government. The Venezuelan President routinely attacks the US in his speeches.

Spain has not been on good terms with the US since the Zapatero government withdrew troops from Iraq. Zapatero recently defended Chavez by saying, “Hugo Chavez, has to be respected because he was elected.”

Problems with Venezuelan democracy came more from the opposition parties attitude rather than the President, Zapatero said. The Spanish Prime Minister referred to the opposition boycott of the December 2005 elections as, “not good news.”

Venezuela Launches 12 New State Enterprises to Substitute Imports

The inauguration of the new state-owned company Coniba (National Company of Basic Industries)
Credit: VTV

Caracas, Venezuela, February 2, 2006—Venezuela’s President Chavez presented a board of directors on Monday, for a new state-owned holding company that will direct 12 new industrial enterprises that are to substitute numerous products Venezuela currently imports. The industries will cover everything from paper, aluminum lamination, textiles, and steel pipes and parts production. The new company will be called Coniba, which stands for National Company of Basic Industries.

Coniba will be funded with a $3.5 billion investment from the country’s National Development Fund FUNDEN, which was created with money from a portion of the Central Bank’s foreign currency reserves. According to Venezuela’s Minister of Basic Industries and Mines, Victor Alvarez, the new company will create 20,000 direct and indirect jobs.

The creation of Coniba, “forms part of the sowing of the oil and of the policy of endogenous development,” of the Chavez government, said Alvarez during the company’s inauguration.

Endogenous development is the term the Chavez government has used to describe the project of developing the country’s economy “from within,” that is, without relying primarily on outside investors. The plan to “sow the oil,” an expression borrowed from Venezuela’s oil boom years in the 1970’s, is a plan to use the country’s oil wealth for investment in and diversification of the country’s economy.

The 12 new companies that will belong to Coniba will be constructed as Social Production Enterprises (EPS), by which the government means that they will not be exploitative and oriented exclusively towards making profits. Rather, according to Alvarez, “work [in these enterprises] will lose its alienated character and will become an element of conscience.” Also, “Its products will be sold at solidarity prices. They will be completely oriented towards endogenous development.”

President Chavez, who also spoke during the inauguration, said that Social Production Enterprises, such as those of Coniba, would work towards eliminating hierarchies and inequalities within the workplace, in contrast to capitalism, where one discriminates on the basis of the type of work one does. “We are all equal … there should not be hierarchical privileges at work,” said Chavez.

The main objective, though, of the new enterprises is to produce industrial products that are currently being imported, for which Venezuela has the raw materials. As such, they will support the country’s energy, construction, infrastructure, rail, and textile industries, explained Alvarez.

Venezuela currently imports approximately 70% of the products it consumes, largely because Venezuela’s large oil revenues have made it relatively easy to purchase imports and expensive to manufacture products within Venezuela. The Chavez government has repeatedly stated that it is committed to diversifying the country’s economy. While non-traditional exports, such as agricultural products, have increased in the past two years, increasing oil revenues have left the ratio between non-traditional exports and oil exports more or less the same.

In one of the first concrete moves to reduce Venezuela’s reliance on imports, Minister Alvarez announced yesterday that the country would reduce its exports of aluminum to zero by the year 2012, so that the domestically produced aluminum could be used for products manufactured in Venezuela.

According to the Associated Press, “The objective is that we will not export even a gram of aluminum or a kilogram of wood,” Alvarez said, adding, “In 2012, 2013, we should be processing 100 percent of our raw materials, our basic products in this country.” “Our goal is for Venezuela, in the next six years, to declare itself an industrialized country.”

Venezuela Agrees not to Cut OPEC Production, Supports Iran

Caracas, Venezuela, 01 February 2006—Venezuelan Energy and Petroleum Minister Rafael Ramirez agreed not to cut oil production as Venezuelan officials had previously suggested. Also, Ramirez gave support to Iran in its nuclear disagreement with the UN Security Council. Ramirez said Venezuela supports, “Iran in the dispute on the nuclear issue.”

The meeting of OPEC, the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries, took place in Vienna on January 31. In a speech in Venezuela on January 30, Chavez said, “We are producing at peak. Very few countries have the possibility of increasing their production.”

In Vienna on the same day, Ramirez went further than this, calling for an immediate cut in oil production of 1 million barrels per day. By the next day Ramirez had changed his position, saying that a cut in production could wait until March. All of the OPEC members in Vienna agreed to keep oil production at their current levels.

The reason for high oil prices was not under-production but, “pressures on producer countries, specifically on Iran,” said Ramirez. The Energy Minister also said, “There cannot be market stability if there is not stability in producer countries.”

Iran is currently involved in a dispute with the U.S. over its nuclear development program. Iran claims their nuclear research is just for peaceful energy purposes. The U.S. and now the E.U. say it could be for nuclear weapons.

The issue might be taken to the UN Security Council soon and sanctions may be put on Iran. Ramirez said Venezuela is, “against Iran being taken to the UN Security Council because we believe people have the right to develop energy sources as Iran is doing.”

Venezuela is one of the top 5 oil producing countries in the world. It was one of the original countries that created OPEC. When President Hugo Chavez first came into office he led a campaign in the oil-producing organisation to keep world oil prices high.

Iran is OPEC’s second largest oil contributor. Venezuela is co-operating with it on a number of economic activities. These include Iran helping Venezuela with oil exploration and making tractors.

The Bush administration has called Iran part of an, “Axis of Evil”, and, “a rogue State.” In a recent speech Chavez said if the US invaded Iran it would find the limits of its power. A US war in Iran would be, “10 times worse than Iraq”, Chavez said.

Venezuela Says It Uncovered U.S. Spy Ring

Caracas, Venezuela, 30 January 2006—Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez said he had proof the U.S. embassy was spying on Venezuela’s military. Chavez said he knew this because, “We have you infiltrated ambassador, don’t move much because we are watching you.”

The Venezuelan President’s comments were made at the launch of a new state-owned enterprise that will manufacture industrial goods yesterday. They come after a week of spying accusations by the Venezuelan Government against the US Embassy.

On January 26, Venezuelan Vice-President Jose Vicente Rangel said some low-ranking Venezuelan officers, “were passing information to the Pentagon." Rangel also said that most of the Venezuelan officers suspected of participating in the spy ring have left the country, but some have been detained.

The next day, Rangel said the government, “has confidential information, properly verified, that officials of the U.S. military mission are involved in that act.” Rangel said this did not surprise him as the US was, “fully involved”, in the April 2002 coup.

Alonso Medina Roa, the defence lawyer for one of the suspected officers said U.S. Naval Attaché John Correa was named as being involved. Correa is accused of bribing military officers for information.

At a speech last Thursday, Chavez said a U.S. spy case had been found. The Venezuelan President warned the U.S. that if another soldier or civilian was found, “trying to obtain information about our armed forces, we’re going to put them in prison.”

Yesterday he said, “The military officers of the U.S. embassy are involved in espionage and we have them infiltrated.” The 1961 Geneva Convention gives embassy staff immunity from prosecution.

Chavez said the information he had on the US officials was so good he knew what they eat and the colour of the furniture in the ambassador’s office. Chavez also asked the US Ambassador, William Brownfield, to “stop spying.”

Although not talking directly about the spy charges, the U.S. ambassador said on Thursday he had, “absolute trust in the people of the U.S. embassy and their desire to maintain and improve bilateral relations.”

Brian Penn of the U.S. embassy said that as of 9 am this morning, the embassy had received no official complaints or requests from the Venezuelan government about the issue.

There are 20 members of the US military mission in the country, Penn said. Only 6 of them are part of the Military group that has frequent contact with the Venezuelan armed forces.

Traffic Jams Worsened in Caracas Because of World Social Forum

Caracas, Venezuela, January 31, 2006—The Caracas gathering of the sixth World Social Forum brought people together from all over the planet, but the traffic that clogged the city—especially around Bellas Artes, the central forum area—kept many Caracas residents apart.

Or, at least it delayed them from getting to where they were going.

Caracas, on its best day, has Los Angeles-esque traffic: heavy, polluting, and highly unpredictable. Add to that tens of thousands of foreign visitors, heavy rain and the closing of part of a major thoroughfare through the city, and commuters, taxi drivers, and even street vendors are left in a bind.

The partial shutdown of Avenida Bolívar, a main artery, for events, markets and protests is not unheard of. But the 3-day street closure, only about half as long as originally planned, was unusual, especially since it took place during the week.

However, Marcos Padovani, the National Director of the Technical Security Corps for Transit and Terrestrial Transport told El Universal, “The people who live here know alternate routes and the security forces are keeping an eye on the surrounding areas.”

Even so, many commuters saw hours tacked onto their daily commutes. Ramon Lopez, who normally leaves at 4am to get to work by 7am, wasn’t getting into the city until 9am. “[Shutdown of the] the avenue was really difficult, because it blocked up everything… There were traffic jams everywhere,” he said.

But many Caracas commuters seemed to take the traffic jams in stride. “The forum was good…it’s good to have more communication between countries, but it caused more traffic. Everything else about it was excellent,” said Emileo Ramo, a security guard for the Venezuelan pro-government newspaper Diario VEA.  

Still, with bus drivers reporting fewer commuters traveling through the Bellas Artes area, street vendors who were unable to appeal to the masses of foreign visitors took a hit. “Wednesday, I didn’t sell anything, Thursday either. Today [Friday], I sold a little more, but that was to my normal clientele,” said Carmen Gomez, who has a flower stand outside of Bellas Artes. Normally, she says, she sells Bs 100,000 almost $50, of flowers a day.

Several blocks away, Rafael José said that in addition to losing 40 percent of his DVD sales, over a period of three days, the traffic was making it difficult to get across town and buy the movies. “The traffic affects us, since we have to travel to buy [the DVDs] …Also our sales have fallen, because there aren’t as many people [around here] because of the traffic,” he said.

Like the commuters, the vendors did not seem overly perturbed the situation. “I don’t have anything bad to say about the forum,” said José. “It seems like a good [event] to me…the rain was slowing traffic down too.”

Taxi drivers also reported losing money. Mario Surmay, a taxi driver for the Caracas Hilton, where many visitors from the forum were staying, said he had lost 30 to 40 percent of his business during the days when Avenida Bolívar was closed, and did not make it up with extra business over the rest of the forum.

Dorias Bustamente, a taxi driver who was waiting with several others outside of the Bellas Artes metro station said he had lost 50 percent of his income that week because of the forum. “I’m speaking for all of us,” he said, gesturing towards his companions, who nodded in agreement. “The traffic jam on this street has backed up half of Caracas,” he added. 

George Brian, a taxi driver who parks about half a mile away from Bellas Artes to wait for rides, said he lost about 20 to 25 percent of his business, and he wasn’t happy about it. “It’s crazy [to close the street down]. It’s a major street. Why didn’t they [have the events] in the Poliedro, [an out of the way area]?,” he said.