Russia Backs Venezuela for Security Council Seat

Venezuela's President Chavez and Russia's President Putin meet in Moscow.
Credit: AFP

Caracas , Venezuela, Julio 29, 2006—Russia's President Putin presented his Venezuelan counterpart with a departing gift yesterday, as he gave his public backing to President Chavez's campaign for a seat for Venezuela on the United Nations Security Council.

The seat will be vacated by Argentina in October and, since two seats are conventionally held by Latin American countries, this one will again be filled by a country from that part of the world. Venezuela and Guatemala are the two contenders fighting for the support needed to win the seat.

During a meeting with President Chávez in the Kremlin Putin said, "We applaud Venezuela's legitimate aspirations to occupy a seat as a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council."

There are ten non-permanent members of the Security Council, each serving two years, with five being replaced each year. By convention normally only Latin American countries would choose their representative by consensus. However, as this time their are two clear contenders, the UN General Assembly, made up of all the world's nation states, will choose from the two in a secret ballot on a one member, one vote basis.

It is widely believed that a major reason for Chávez's international tour is to win support for Venezuela's campaign to overcome US resistance to its membership. The US is a strong and vocal supporter of Guatemala and has been doing a fair bit of arm twisting in order to divert votes in the Central American country's direction. This has not gone down well everywhere, however.

In typical menacing fashion, US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld announced after a meeting with Chilean Defense Secretary Vivianna Blanlot that he would “not understand it” if Chile voted for Venezuela. Blanlot actually concurred in a public statement but she has since been rebuked by President Bachelet. Bachelet said Chile would not be pressured by the US and that no decision had yet been taken. It is still unclear who has most support.

Three Billion Dollar Arms Deal

As more details emerge over the arms deals Russia and Venezuela have signed, it appears that they will be worth three billion dollars not the one billion originally reported. The deal includes 24 Sukhoi-30 fighter planes and 53 attack helicopters, in defiance of U.S. requests to Russia not to make the deal. A few months ago Venezuela had already agreed to purchase 100,000 kalashnikov automatic rifles.

Chavez said of the deal in Russia, “ Russia has stretched out its hand to us in the face of international pressure, and even an embargo that was to be imposed on us. It gives our soldiers a special spirit of firmness when we hand them Kalashnikov rifles that replace old 1940s guns.”

Russia ’s President Putin, seeking to calm U.S. supposed concerns, said the new Venezuelan weapons are “ not directed against other states.”

Other deals that Venezuela signed with Russia include one with Gazprom, Russia's largest gas producing company, which will not only play a part in the Gasoducto del Sur, but also plans to partner with Venezuela in the development of Venezuela's gas sector. Technicians from both countries will spend the next twelve months working out a production and development plan for the next fifty years.

Additionally, a study is to be undertaken on the viability of a new Aluminum plant opening in Venezuela. If approved, the Russian firm SUAL would, in partnership with CVG, a Venezuelan state owned company, process Aluminum and manufacture high-value added products for export. Aluminum is processed from the mineral Bauxite Ore, of which Venezuela has plenty.

Chávez explained the strategic reason for welcoming Russian foreign investment diversity. He bemoaned Venezuela's long standing reliance on solely US investment, saying, “The idea is to diversify technology, the market, and investment,” adding that Venezuela had no intention of breaking economic ties with the US.

Diversity of products for international trade, especially high value products, mean a much more stable economy, less vulnerable to the whims of international oil prices. And diversity of investment means more competition among investors which means a better deal for Venezuela. It also means a single country has less of a grip on Venezuela's economy, using threats of withdrawal as leverage to squeeze out maximum capital.

Chávez has often said his project is long term. He spelled out his vision for Venezuelan-Russian co-operation at the end of his trip, saying, "Every process has its phases. Five years ago Russia was not present in Venezuela at all. In the energy sector, nothing. Now, Lukoil has an office in Venezuela. We have Gazprom, and its technicians are already studying a project to build a gas pipeline from Venezuela to Argentina. Lukoil works in two areas. One is the rehabilitation of old fields. The second: oil production in the Orinoco basin. A system is already in place and production will start at the beginning of 2007."

William Brownfield, US Ambassador to Venezuela, expressed concern over the Venezuela’s Russian military hardware agreements. He said that Venezuela had a responsibility to the “International Community” to carry out arms negotiations with clarity and transparency, something he suggested it wasn't doing in the recent agreements with Russia.

Venezuela’s Electoral Council Announces Presidential Campaign Rules

National Eletoral Council President Tibisay Lucena
Credit: ABN

Caracas, Venezuela, July 27, 2006—Tibisay Lucena, the President of Venezuela’s National Electoral Council, announced the proposed rules for the December 3rd presidential campaign on Tuesday. According to these rules, the campaign officially begins next week, on Tuesday, August 1st. Opposition leaders rejected the proposed rules, saying that they did not sufficiently restrict the President’s power to campaign.

Lucena made the announcement during a weekly radio program on state radio, saying that the CNE was “looking for, in the best way possible, an equilibrium between the right of candidates to emit their messages and the use of the mass media for diffusing these.”

Lucena also explained that coming up with these rules took a long time because this is the first time in Venezuelan history that a president may be reelected. This is not including the presidential election of 2000, which was a special case, because Chavez was elected under the new constitution of 1999. He had originally been elected in 1998, under the old constitution.

The proposed regulations, which will be adopted on Friday following consultations with the presidential candidates, political parties, and with mass media outlets, stipulate that public officials cannot campaign for themselves or for others during their regular work hours or at their place of work. Also, no public funds or public buildings may be used for their campaigns.

Other restrictions include the prohibition on campaigning outside of the designated campaign period, the use of candidates’ names, images, or party symbols without their prior authorization, nor to call for abstention.

While some of these rules are similar to ones that existed during previous presidential campaigns, an important innovation is the institution of special prosecutors or campaign observers. There would be two special prosecutors (fiscales) per state, who would ensure that campaigns adhere to the campaign rules. Previously the CNE dealt with violations only after complaints had been submitted by citizens, which often meant that the issue was not dealt with until after the election was over.

Following a meeting today of the CNE directorate with directors of the private mass media, Federico Ravell, the director of the news channel Globovision, stated that the CNE “guaranteed to us that the right to inform and to opine will be preserved, that the rules will not enter into this area.”

According to the daily El Universal, Ravell, in the name of all of the private mass media declared his trust that the CNE will have clear rules about the president’s activities during the campaign period.

The opposition NGO Súmate, though, declared that the proposed campaign rules are insufficient because they do not recognize the democratic ideal that elections should be carried out under conditions of equity and transparency.

According to Súmate, the rules do not “regulate presidential transmissions via the state television channel nor the hundreds of media that are under the control of the national government, with which the candidate-President could … abuse public resources and public media, which belong to all Venezuelans.”

Venezuela has one main state TV channel, whose director the President appoints, plus a national community TV channel, and a TV channel of the National Assembly. Also, it has a 51% stake in the continent-wide satellite TV channel Telesur. In addition to this, it controls a handful of radio stations. The private mass media, which are almost entirely opposed to Chavez, consist of five major TV channels, and the vast majority of radio stations and newspapers.

Súmate also complained that the campaign regulations do not penalize public officials who pressure their employees to support the President, nor do they prohibit the President to inaugurate public works projects or to disburse public project funds during the campaign. According to Súmate, such acts are prohibited in Colombia and in Brazil.

Presidential candidate Teodoro Petkoff argued similarly, that the rules do not limit the president’s use of state media. According to Petkoff, the regulations ignore the fact that President has access to the largest network of broadcast media, the state’s media.

CNE Meets with European Ambassadors

CNE President Lucena met with a grouping of ambassadors from Europe yesterday, so as to explain to them Venezuela’s electoral system. Ambassadors from 15 of Europe’s most important countries participated in the meeting, along with a delegation from the European Union.

Lucena’s presentation covered the legal basis for Venezuela’s voting system and the functioning of voting machines. With regard to the voting machines, Lucena explained that the machines were far more reliable than manual voting because of the numerous audits that are conducted along every step of the voting process.

Lucena also reiterated the CNE’s intention to concede to some of the opposition’s demands, such as the decision not to connect the voting machines to the CNE server until after polling stations have closed and the plan to conduct a sizeable audit, of 53% to 55% of all ballot boxes. Furthermore, the CNE will open more voting centers, so that areas that used to have few voting centers would be less congested and it will invite a diversity of international elections observers.

Russia Rejects US Pressure not to Sell Jets to Venezuela and Welcomes Chávez

Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez speaks to the press in Russia.
Credit: Prensa Presidencial

Caracas , Venezuela, Julio 26, 2006—President Hugo Chávez was delighted yesterday when Russia rejected US pressure to reconsider plans to sign arms sales agreements with Venezuela.

The deals, purported to be worth one billion US dollars, involve the purchase of at least 22 sukhoi-30 Russian jet fighters that will replace Venezuela’s aging F-16s. Also on the menu are around the same number of helicopters and a number of other smaller agreements.

Russia said it saw no reason to take advice from the United States. And while it has welcomed Chávez with open arms, the US government is upset over the deals. Tom Casey, the US Department of State spokesperson said, "We have expressed our concern to the Russian Government and encouraged them to reconsider the sale."

He added that his government felt the deal would not help stability in South America and that the deal would go beyond Venezuela's basic defensive needs.

However, in the end it was to no avail. Russia was never likely to bow to US pressure, especially given their resurgence as an international power. A “multi-polar world,” which Chavez has been advocating, is probably even more in the interests of the Russian government than those of Venezuela.

Chávez’ response on hearing Russia’s comments said it all: “I would like to thank Russia, the producer of armaments, because Russia has helped to sever the blockade that was tied by the United States around Venezuela. American imperialism wants to hold the world in its fist, but it will not succeed in this.”

Venezuela-Russia cooperation is expected in the military, metallurgy and energy sectors. Upon landing in Russia, Chávez had three days in front of him, his first port of call being Volgograd, the former Stalingrad, where he visited a memorial, a tractor plant, and the Russian Metallurgical Piping Company.

Chávez also announced his interest in signing an agreement with Russia for a new factory that would supply materials for the Gasoducto del Sur, the planned South American gas pipeline, which would be a joint Russian-Venezuelan project. “We are open to the signing of an agreement for the construction, in Venezuela, of a pipe-engineering factory that would operate using Venezuelan steel and Russian technology,” said Chavez.

Yesterday he visited Izhevsk in the autonomous Republic of Udmurtia, a city renowned in Russia for its defence industries, where he visited a Kalashnikov rifle factory and announced Venezuela’s intention to open a similar rifle factory in Maracay, Venezuela. It is expected to begin producing the first rifles in around two years’ time. Pre-empting criticism of the decision he said, “I consider it the state’s responsibility to equip and train the armed forces of the nation. And that is all I’m doing, nothing more.”

Venezuela already has a contract for the supply of 100,000 rifles from Russia, of which 30,000 have been delivered thus far.

Today will be the final leg of his Russian tour, when he will meet with President Vladmir Putin in Moscow.

Venezuelan National Assembly Representative Survives Assassination Attempt

Caracas, Venezuela, July 25, 2006 — Braulio Álvarez, representative of Chavez’s MVR party in the Venezuelan National Assembly (AN) and campesino leader, survived a second assassination attempt on his life last Saturday. Venezuelan Vice President José Vicente Rangel has called the crime “of a political nature, intended to eliminate a leader in the agricultural sector.'' Venezuela is also investigating the possibility that the assassination attempt could be linked to Álvarez’s participation in the reopening of the investigation of the Yumare case, in which nine people were murdered in 1986, presumably at the hands of the Venezuelan intelligence service (DISIP).

The assassination attempt came early Saturday morning when Álvarez came under fire while driving in the Venezuelan agricultural state of Yaracuy. According to the Venezuelan Minister of Communication, William Lara, in an interview with Venezuela Television, the gunfire caused him to lose control of the car, and an impact to the face resulted in a serious injury to the mouth. Álvarez is currently in stable condition.

The assassination attempt comes just over a year after a first attempt on Álvarez’s life in which he was shot twice, wounded, and hurried to the hospital to undergo surgery.

According to a release from the Venezuelan Ministry of Communication, Lara expressed his “repudiation, rejection and ‘profound’ condemnation” regarding the assassination attempt.

Yaracuy state governor Carlos Jiménez stated shortly after the events that the DISIP is working to discover those responsible for the homicide attempt. Vice President Rangel declared, “We are going to investigate until the very end so there isn’t the slightest doubt regarding the events that took place around this attempt.”

During his discourse on Monday in celebration of Simon Bolivar’s 223 birthday, the Venezuelan Minister of Interior and Justice, Jesse Chacon, announced that the original hypothesis is that the assassination attempt was perpetrated by those in support of the latifundios (large plantations), and in reaction to the work that Álvarez has been carrying out in the AN in favor of the application of the Venezuelan land reform law.

Álvarez, however, is also a member of various AN committees, including head of the Special AN Committee to Investigate the Assassinations, Disappearances, and Torture of Venezuelans during the 60s, 70s and 80s and a Special Committee for the Investigation of campesino, indigenous, and fisherman deaths at the hands of assassins.

Chacon explained that both are possible motives for the attempt, and that at this time, although the investigations are advancing, “it would be irresponsible” to rule out either of the two hypotheses.

Nevertheless, Álvarez’s work in support of Venezuelan land reform has received more attention from the press and high government officials. Last Saturday, Communications Minister William Lara indicated that the situation “responds to strategies from internal groups that use mercenaries to assassinate social leaders in the country, particularly campesino leaders.”

Lara added, “In no way are these assassination attempts going to intimidate the campesino movement or the Venezuelan government in our ability to fully execute the Land Law.”

The assassination of campesino leaders in Venezuela is a growing problem and Vice President Rangel verified in a recent interview with Union Radio that there is a list of over 150 Venezuelan campesino leaders who have been assassinated since the passage of the land reform law in 2001. “There has been a large campaign in Venezuela to neutralize [the land reform’s] execution,” he stated.

According to a recent report by Venezuelan Human Rights Defender, German Mundarain, there have been 54 contracted killings of campesino leaders over the past seven years. As a result, Venezuela decided earlier this month to set aside $10 million for a compensation fund for the families of campesino leaders who have been assassinated in the course of Venezuela's land reform program.

See Also: Venezuela to Compensate Campesino Families for Assassinations

Venezuela and Belarus forge “Strategic Alliance”

Caracas, Venezuela, July 25, 2006 —Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez and President Alexander Lukashenko of Belarus cemented their ties yesterday by signing an array of cooperation agreements at the Presidential Palace in the Belarusian capital, Minsk. The two men were full of praise for one another:

“Here, I've got a new friend and together we'll form a team, I thank you, Alexander, for your solidarity and we've come here to demonstrate our solidarity”, said Chávez.

Lukashenko responded by saying, “You are versed not only in the economy of Venezuela but in the Belarus economy as well, you know military science, the military-industrial complex, and this impresses me very much.”

The agreements, seven in all, are part of what Chávez described as a “Strategic Alliance” between the two countries designed to strengthen relationships in the fields of science and technology, agriculture, petrochemicals & energy, food stuffs, mining, and military-technical cooperation. There was also a geo-strategic element to the accords which sought to shore up Chavez’ common themes of national sovereignty and economic independence.

The most significant agreement was that for the petrochemical and energy sectors. A joint venture company is planned to exploit oil and gas reserves. The two leaders agreed to set up a commission to oversee the project which will be presided over by the Venezuelan Minister of Energy and Petroleum, Rafael Ramírez.

It is hoped the agreement will be the catalyst for joint projects in all the various processes in the petrochemical and oil & gas industries such as extraction, distribution, storage and sales. T he Venezuelan government is particularly interested in the research and development of technologies for the processing and refining of heavy and extra heavy oil. Venezuela has an abundance of these, but until the recent high oil price they were considered uneconomical due to the costs involved in processing and in extraction.

The agreement on military-technology is also significant. While short on details of the agreement Chávez said it would contribute to the strengthening of national defense capacity, leaving Venezuela more capable of facing internal or external threats. G iven that Eastern Europe generally is considered a producer of quality defense hardware, it is said that the agreement could also help build relationships across that region.

While emphasizing an exchange of knowledge and expertise, Chávez also hinted at the potential for an increase in trade between Venezuela and Belarus, “ We are importing equipment and oil services worth US$10 billion a year and a good part of this money goes to the United States. We're sure that Belarus can supply a good part of this equipment.”

And all of this was wrapped in the rhetoric of anti-imperialism. Lukashenko said that “a natural urge to depart from the unipolar model of the global order to a community of equal partners is becoming an irresistible consolidating factor.”

Chavez continued, saying, “Belarus is a model of a social state, which we are also building and we must defend the interests of the individual and not the hegemonic interests of the capitalists, wherever they may be, in Europe or Latin America.”.

But while the agreements on economic cooperation may seem relatively benign, politically this is a much more controversial trip for the Venezuelan government. President Chávez has had his shouting matches with the US government and there have been disagreements with one or two European leaders. Economic relations have, however, remained normal.

On the other hand, Belarus has actually been sanctioned by the US and the EU for allegedly rigging elections and for the political oppression of opponents. Lukashenko is known among US and EU elites as “Europe´s last dictator.” Chávez is bound to come under criticism for this meeting from both at home and overseas.

Not everyone views Belarus in such a negative manner, however. Some, such as Dr. Mark Almond, a historian from Oxford University, while acknowledges that Belarus “is far from perfect,” but points out that “Belarus has an evolving market economy. But the market is orientated towards serving the needs of the bulk of the population, not a tiny class of nouveaux riches and their western advisers and money launderers.”

At the end of the meeting between Venezuela and Belarus President Chávez invited his counterpart to Venezuela and both parties seemed to part company relatively satisfied.

Next stop for Chávez is Russia and a meeting with President Putin.

Venezuela and Cuba Highlighted at 30th Mercosur Summit

Havana, Cuba, July 24, 2006—The 30th Mercosur (Common Market of the South) Summit came to a close last Friday in Cordoba, Argentina with the passage of a final declaration and an economic agreement between Cuba and the Mercosur countries. Venezuela will incorporate into the agreement once it has completed the process of integration as a full member of the southern trading block. The Summit also marked Venezuela’s first official meeting as the fifth full member of the trading block since its incorporation earlier this month.

On top of the presidents from the five full member countries; Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil, Paraguay and Venezuela, the summit was additionally attended by Cuban President, Fidel Castro, and Mercosur associate members; Bolivian President Evo Morales, and Chilean President Michelle Bachelet.

The Complementary Economic Agreement reached between Cuba and Mercosur, was signed under the objective of, “driving the trade exchange of the parties through the reduction or elimination of taxes and other applied restrictions regarding the importation of negotiated products.”

The agreement essentially consolidates the already existing bilateral agreements on preferential tariffs that Cuba has with each of the Mercosur members. The text of the agreement indicates that, “the parties will not maintain or introduce new restrictions or tariffs in their reciprocal trade.”

“The trade liberalization of Latin America, with the base of sub-regional and bi-lateral agreements, constitutes one of the instruments for economic and social development,” continues the document.

With the presidents of the Mercosur countries falling politically left of center, there has been a push to expand Mercosur’s traditionally economic role into a more social one.

“Without a doubt, the ideological agreement between the governments that are driving the social process of Mercosur is a necessary condition in order to solidify it. This transformation is the point of convergence towards a new model of integration,” said Argentine diplomat Hugo Varsky, according to Agence French Press.

During his speech at the summit, Fidel Castro offered the Cuban experiences of heath and education in order to fortify the new social concept of the trading block. According to Castro, 261,034 Latin Americans and Caribbeans have received eye operations under the program Misión Milagro. The program is expanding and, together with Venezuela, they have agreed to carry out 600,000 eye operations in ten years. Castro also added that 1.5 million Venezuelans have been taught to read and write under the Cuban literacy method, Yo, si puedo; almost 30,000 Cuban doctors are serving communities outside of the country; and thousands of youth from across the planet are studying medicine in the Caribbean country. Castro also declared that more can be done to lower the infant mortality rate across South America and mentioned that Cuba’s level of 5.6 deaths per every thousand people is well below even that of the United States.

On top of the Cuba-Mercosur agreement, Mercosur countries also released a Final Declaration and a joint communiqué committing to support Venezuelan’s candidacy for the UN Security Council seat.

The Summit’s Final Declaration included 42 points pertaining to strategic energy, institutionalization, and the possibility of the creation of a Development Bank in order to finance common projects.

In a closing act that came after the official summit, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, along with Fidel Castro and the Hebe de Bonafini, the President of the Argentine organization Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo, spoke to a large crowd in the Argentine city of Cordoba and called for the further integration of other South American nations into Mercosur.

“Sooner rather than later, Bolivia should be in Mercosur. Sooner than later, I aspire that Cuba is also a member of the unity of Mercosur! This is the road!” Called Chavez to the thousands gathered at the University of Cordoba. “The day will come, and it is not very far away, that from the Caribbean, to here in the Rio Plata, we will have a solid political body. A League of Republics. Simon Bolivar called it the mother of nations, the mother of Republics. The Union of all of us in one great political, social and economic force.”

According to Mexico’s El Universal, last year global trade exchange with the Mercosur countries reached over $227 billion, with exports over $140 billion. Although trade with Cuba corresponded to only 0.17% of those totals, the Cuba-Mercosur agreement comes at an especially important time just one week after the United States released the 2nd report from the Commission for a Free Cuba, in which it defines further steps towards pushing for an end to the current Cuban government, and strengthening the economic blockade against the Caribbean nation, which has been in effect since 1962.