ENGLISH EDITION/The artillery of ideas INTERNATIONALFriday, June 6, 2014 | Nº 203 | Caracas | www.correodelorinoco.gob.ve

President Maduro warmly congratulated the new President in El Salvador, Salvador Sanchez Ceren, as he formally assumed the presidency this past Sunday. Sanchez Ceren took over from Mauricio Funes, who also comes from the FMLN party, and who oversaw profound changes in El Salvador since 2009, including close relations with Venezuela. The day following the inauguration, the formal entry of El Salvador as a full member of Petro-Caribe was approved at the 13th Meeting of the Ministerial Council of the body, held for the first time in San Salvador. Pg. 2

Venezuela highlights Bolivarian Revolution’s achievementsduring OAS General Assembly

T/ AVN

On Wednesday, during the 44th General Assembly of the Organization of American States (OAS), Venezuela’s For-eign Minister Elias Jaua high-lighted his country’s achieve-ments since the beginning of the Bolivarian Revolution in 1999, when President Hugo Chavez came into office

“In 1999, when Commander Hugo Chavez first assumed the Presidency of the Republic, of so-called Saudi Venezuela, called by that name because of its vast oil income, it was the country with the highest so-cial inequality in Latin Amer-ica and the Caribbean”, Jaua said in Asuncion, Paraguay, where the General Assembly is being held.

The Foreign Minister ex-plained that through the implementation of social pro-grams and after 15 years of Bolivarian and socialist revo-lution, Venezuela now has the most equality in the region and is second highest in pur-chasing power according to World Bank figures.

He indicated that the democ-ratization of oil incomes, which during prior administrations remained in the hands of the Venezuelan elite, contributed to an improvement in the well-being of the people and is lead-ing to development and the elimination of poverty.

Venezuela has reduced pov-erty from 26% to 6% by 2012, thereby meeting the United Nation’s millennium develop-ment goal.

The country has also man-aged to reduce hunger, from 21% to 2.5% in 2012, which led the Food and Agriculture Or-ganization (FAO) of the UN to recognize Venezuela for being among a group of 15 nations that have made exception progress in reducing the prev-alence of malnourishment.

Venezuela named leading memberof ILO

T/ AVN

Venezuela was elected as a titu-lar member of the governing body of the International Labor Orga-nization, according to announce-ment made by Venezuela’s Perma-

nent Mission to the UN in Geneva, Switzerland.

The announcement was made by Vice Minister for Labor Elio Colmenares, who led Venezuela’s delegation in the 103rd Interna-tional Labor Conference which took place in Geneva.

Colmenares emphasized that this election reiterates the recogni-tion the Bolivarian government has received for its important achieve-ments in labor.

“Venezuelan laws and our govern-ment’s actions are oriented towards a historic dignifying of workers, fol-lowing the humanist example of Hugo Chavez that is continued by President Nicolas Maduro, who is a living ex-ample of what the working class has achieved in our country”, he said.

The Governing Body is made up of 28 member governments (14 titular and 14 deputies), 14 employ-ers’ representatives and 14 work-ers’ representatives.

Promoting culturein VenezuelaThe Venezuelan government is launching a strategy to promote cultural expression and education, as well as finding ways to make some cultural activities community run and economically self-sustainable. The strategy is spearheaded by the new “Mission Culture”, which supports the cultural development and expression of the Venezuelan population. In line with recent reforms, which have fused social programs with similar aims and target populations, the new Mission Culture is an amalgamation of several already existing programs. Pg. 3

Impact

Widening social programsA series of reforms to social programs will improve outreach and performance. Pg.2

Opinion

Venezuela, capitalism& climate change Pag. 4 El Salvador’s new leader enters accords

with Venezuela and Latin American left

The artillery of ideas2 Impact | Friday, June 6, 2014

T/ Ewan Robertsonwww.venezuelanalysis.com

Venezuelan President Nico-las Maduro has announced

a series of reforms to the sys-tem of state-run social pro-grams, known as “missions”, in order to improve their reach and performance.

Key initiatives include unify-ing the missions’ administra-tion, merging programs with similar aims and beneficiaries, and passing a law to ingrain the mission system into the nation’s legal framework.

Maduro said the reforms would be carried out this com-ing month to unify the missions into an integrated national wel-fare system.

“I’m going to declare June the month of the National System of Missions and Great Missions. The whole month is going to be dedicated to launching, re-launching and widening the spectrum of ben-efits for the Venezuelan people through the missions”, he said last week on his radio program Contact with Maduro.

The first missions were launched by former president Hugo Chavez in 2003 as pro-grams funded by oil income and aimed at directly address-ing the various social needs of the population. They sought to guarantee free medical atten-tion, widen access to free edu-cation, and eliminate hunger and illiteracy.

Later programs have been added to the system, such as public housing construction, social welfare payments, em-ployment and cultural pro-grams, anti-crime strategies, and an animal welfare scheme. A total of thirty seven missions are currently in operation.

Critics have either labeled the missions as “populist” and designed to buy the politi-cal support of the poor, or as ill-thought out “largesse” in public spending. Supporters meanwhile point out that both government supporters and op-ponents benefit from the mis-sions, and that the programs have improved the quality of life of the nation’s majority.

Nevertheless the missions’ popularity has meant that the conservative opposition now rarely dare to criticize the pro-grams publicly. Further, the missions have been hailed as one factor behind the reduc-

tion in household poverty, which fell from 55% in 2003 to 27% currently. The country has also been praised by vari-ous United Nations organiza-tions for achieving several of the Millennium Development Goals early.

President Maduro announced last week that the missions will now be overseen by a unified Administration and Direction System in order to reduce bu-reaucracy and corruption. The system will also help families find out what missions they are eligible to benefit from.

The missions themselves will be grouped into seven areas for sub-administration: education, public health, la-bour, social security, food, ba-sic services, and housing and security. Each area will be overseen by a specific govern-ment ministry.

As part of this change, mis-sions with similar aims and

Venezuela announces reformsto “widen” social programs

beneficiaries will be merged, also with the aim of increas-ing efficiency. For example, all programs focused on child and family wellbeing will be fused into a new program called Homes of the Nation.

The Venezuelan President argued that the mission system was at the heart of the coun-try’s development model. As such, in addition to “ending poverty and misery”, he said that overall aims of the mission system were “the construction and generation of a new social-ist model”, “to convert Venezu-elan into a productive economic power”, and “to contribute to peace and life”.

“The missions and great mis-sions acquire the character of building a socialist society…I convoke all mission members to go from simple beneficiaries to protagonists in the construc-tion of socialism”, Maduro ex-horted to listeners.

T/ Paul DobsonP/ AFP

President Maduro warmly congratulated the new President in El Salvador,

Salvador Sanchez Ceren, as he formally assumed the presiden-cy this past Sunday.

“A warm hug and all our com-mitment to support you”, said Maduro in reference to what he described as a “historic moment”. “Here in Venezuela you have a people and a revolution which are brothers of the Salvadorian people”, he went on to state.

Maduro highlighted the left wing origins of the ex-guerilla leader, who he described as be-ing the “commander of one of the best organized groups in Central America” when “the generation of the 80’s took up arms” against the fierce, US-backed, dictatorships which savaged their countries.

However, Maduro was quick to underline that the Farabun-do Martí Front for National Liberation (FMLN) which led the guerilla war in the 80’s and has won the past two elec-tions (2009 and 2014) now pro-motes change in the country through peaceful means. “The left in the continent continues its road towards victory in peace, which is what we want: Latin America as a territory of peace”.

Maduro congratulates new leftist President inEl Salvador, welcomes entry into regional blocs

Sanchez Ceren took over from Mauricio Funes, who also comes from the FMLN party, and who oversaw profound changes in El Salvador since 2009, including close relations with Venezuela. The new President was previ-ously Vice-President, Minister for Education, and a legislator for 8 years, comes from a fam-ily of craftsmen, and used the pseudo name ‘Leonel Gonzalez’ during the revolutionary gue-rilla wars. He won the second round of the election in March with 51.32% of the votes with a turnout of 61%.

EL SALVADOR JOINS PETROCARIBE AND ALBA

The day following the han-dover of power to the new Sal-

vadorian President, the formal entry of El Salvador as a full member of Petro-Caribe was approved at the 13th Meeting of the Ministerial Council of the body, held for the first time in San Salvador. El Salvador was previously an observer to the Caribbean oil-based alliance.

Sanchez Ceren explained that, “we wish to join Petro-Caribe not by chance, but as part of a well-articulated strat-egy and vision of the govern-ment of change to be able to count on a secure energy sup-ply for the country, but also one with a deep social component”. President Maduro welcomed his counterpart into the bloc.

Petro-Caribe, which was founded in 2005 by Hugo

Chavez, allows for a fair, so-cially minded distribution of the rich oil resources in the region, principally in Venezu-ela, to its (now) 19 members. Trade is often with extended and beneficial credit terms, and frequently allows payment in services or other goods rather than money, benefitting both parts. It is stipulated within the terms of Petro-Caribe that the monetary savings which nations make from the low cost energy supplies must be invest-ed in social and developmental projects, such as building hos-pitals and schools.

The Salvadorian Foreign Minister, Hugo Martinez, ex-plained that as a full member of Petro-Caribe, his country “can

have a preferential treatment, sometimes through prices, but other times through medium and long term credits, which will permit El Salvador to spend at least 40% of what it deals in petroleum in social programs”. Furthermore, he explained that El Salvador is a county that “doesn’t possess oil resources, so this allows us to supply the country with energy under the principals of cooperation, soli-darity and fair trade”.

“This is a project for the peo-ple, it is a project for integra-tion, for complementation, for efficiency, for productivity, this is a project for cooperation”, explained the President of Pet-ro-Caribe, Bernardo Alvarez, speaking from San Salvador. “Petro-Caribe is an indisput-able reality, which has its base and origin in social inclusion, and which parts from the ne-cessity of guaranteeing access to energy, but which also com-bines access to energy with fi-nancing development”.

Alvarez went on to highlight that since its formation in 2005, the member states of Petro-Caribe have benefitted from more than $15 billion of oil con-tracts, of which $5 billion have been used for social projects. Furthermore, since 2008 dur-ing the economic crisis of capi-talism, the GDP of Petro Caribe states has grown by 25%, the per capita income has risen by $387, and the human develop-ment index has risen from 0.60 to nearly 0.70, showing that while capitalist economies are struggling, economies based on solidarity and social progress are prospering.

The artillery of ideasFriday, June 6, 2014 | Culture 3

T/ Paul DobsonP/ Agencies

As part of its celebrations for the International Day

of Non-smoking, the Venezu-elan government announced further plans to stimulate a reduction of the already di-minished levels of smokers and tobacco addition in the country. Venezuela current-ly has one of the lowest levels of smokers, tobacco related illnesses, some of the stron-gest laws regulating the in-dustry, and some of the best attention for tobacco-related illnesses in the continent.

Venezuela is part of the 5% of the worlds’ nations which have legal bans on smoking in public places, bought in in 2011. They also have a full ban on cigarette advertising, and cigarette packages are obliged to

Venezuela 100% free from smokingcarry health warnings from the Ministry of Health, poli-cies bought in in 2004 and 2005 under the government of Hugo Chavez.

This past May 31st, the gov-ernment unveiled new, up-dated health warnings, which must be printed in larger size on cigarette packages, as well as mentioning that they are currently evaluating increas-ing the already high taxes on tobacco, following the World Health Organization’s call on governments to increase taxes on cigarettes this year, a prov-en method to reduce consump-tion levels.

Rose Melkon, a legal advi-sor to the Health Ministry, explained that “we are doing well on this… we already have a very high tax of 70%, which makes our cigarettes very ex-pensive. Many sellers have stopped selling because they

are so expensive”. Nonetheless, Health Minster Francisco Ar-mada promised to revise and further increase tobacco taxes this year as part of the fight for a healthier society.

Natasha Herrera, from the Pan-American Health Orga-nization, explained that “Ven-ezuela comes from a history of strong tobacco control mea-sures”. She highlighted that the country has seen a reduction in smokers since such measures, from 39% of the population to just 17% currently. Similarly, the per capita consumption of cigarettes has gone down from 2,000 per capita per year to 900.

Cardiologist Eduardo Brice-ño backed up this information: “We have been pioneers in the region and the world, imple-menting strategies against this illness… there is still work to do, but we can say that we have started well”.

The National Antidrug Of-fice held hundreds of public educational activities across the country this week, as part of the National Anti-tobacco Program which aims to make Venezuela a 100% tobacco-free country. Health Minister Ar-mada explained, “we have had thousands of people incorporat-

T/ Ewan RobertsonP/ Agencies

The Venezuelan govern-ment is to launch a strat-egy to promote cultural

expression and education, as well as finding ways to make some cultural activities com-munity run and economically self-sustainable.

The strategy is being spear-headed by the new “Mission

New strategy to promote culture launched in Venezuela

ing themselves into the cam-paign across the country”.

Similarly, Herrera ex-plained that the currently in fashion ‘e-cigarettes’ are still not authorized in Venezuela, as their “efficiency nor thera-peutic affects in the treatment to stop smoking have still not been demonstrated”.

Culture”, a social program which supports the cultural development and expression of the Venezuelan population. In line with recent reforms, which have fused social pro-grams with similar aims and target populations, the new Mission Culture is an amal-gamation of several already existing programs.

Fidel Barbarito, the culture minister, explained on Monday

that a key aim of Mission Cul-ture would be to integrate com-munities into cultural activity via collaboration with commu-nity councils.

This will involve integrat-ing more artists and cultural figures into the program and creating “culture commit-tees” with representatives from community councils and Mission Culture. Courses, workshops and forums will

then be held in educational, community and work centers to support the spread of cul-tural activities and strength-en cultural education.

“We first need to incentiv-ize organization, activate and strengthen the culture com-mittees…to generate reflection from within our communities on the history of our culture, of decolonization”, Barbarito said on Alba Ciudad radio.

The culture minister went on to say that as part of the new Mission Culture, his ministry would pursue three strategic policies to foment greater cultural activity and expression.

The first of these will focus on teaching training to en-able artists to transfer their knowledge to schools and com-munities. “[Teacher training] will be strengthened to share experiences and knowledge in schools, focusing on liberating arts [such as] theatre, painting, dance and circus”, explained Barbarito.

The second policy is to fur-ther integrate artistic activity with community organizations. The third is to invest in commu-nity socio-productive projects that support artistic activity. The culture minister referred to these as “socio-economic cul-tural enclaves” and explained what kind of projects his minis-try has in mind.

“The cultural community cannot remain outside of this [societal] transforma-tion, and this community has

great potential. We give as an example the experience of a group of artisanal weavers who buy wool from a suppli-er. Well, they could present a socio-productive project [to Mission Culture] and with this investment buy sheep, to then produce the raw mate-rial themselves and generate a productive activity related to food”, he said.

The minister added, “We’ve already begun to approve fi-nancing and the handing over of resources. With these, so-cial production companies (EPS) focused on the cultur-al sector will be organized, which will have the opportu-nity of incorporating them-selves into the new productive economic model”.

Mission Culture was origi-nally launched in 2004 by for-mer Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. Its main objective is to “consolidate national identity framed within the process of decentralization, democratiza-tion, and spreading of Venezu-elan culture”.

Other projects related to the mission have included pro-moting reading through book festivals and subsidized book-stores, as well as increasing opportunities for new Ven-ezuelan authors to get pub-lished. The government has also played an important role in the revival of Venezuelan cinema, through founding a new studio Villa del Cine and providing greater funding for cinematic projects.

Editor-in-Chief Graphic Design Pablo Valduciel L. - Aimara Aguilera- Audra Ramones

INTERNATIONAL Friday, June 6, 2014 | Nº 203| Caracas | www.correodelorinoco.gob.ve

Opinion

T/ Caleb Maupin

The problem of global climate change is distressing almost everyone. While a small mi-

nority may deny its existence, or question reports on its causes among the scientific community, it is universally recognized as a serious cause for concern.

The super-hurricanes over the last decade are closely linked to rising temperatures of sea water, and this is just a small taste of what may lie ahead. Something must be done, the question is what?

The responses of governments around the world to the envi-ronmental crisis, and its cata-strophic weather events, have

varied. Various treaties have been signed. Various interna-tional conferences have been convened to discuss the issue. A great deal of research has been conducted, and many different plans for changing the relation-ship of humans to the ecosystem have been proposed.

The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela has just announced its plan to fight climate change. Claudia Salerno, Vice Minister for North America at the Venezuelan Mission to the United Nations, explained her country’s proposals fight climate change at a special meeting with the press May 30. She summed up the plan saying: “Venezuela’s contri-

bution is to change the system, not the climate”.

As Salerno laid out the details of the plan, it became clear that the Venezuelan government is aware of what so many environ-mentalists in the United States cannot bring themselves to say. The failure of governments around the world to address the unfolding ecological crisis is caused by one thing: profits. The changes that desperately must be made to human civilization to stop the climate crisis all cut into the ability of billionaires to make money. They require that restrictions and regulations be implemented. “Our economies are damaging the environment”, Salerno declared.

Salerno pointed out what Vene-zuela has done. She talked of how the Bolivarian constitution pro-tects the environment. Though Venezuela produces a great deal

of oil, 70 percent of the coun-try’s energy is hydroelec-

tric. Venezuela invests $500 million per year into alternative energy.

Already, the Bolivarian government has replaced 155 million inefficient light bulbs with newly de-veloped eco-friendly ones. A program to replace oth-er household appliances with more eco-friendly ones is in the works.

A total of 58 mil-lion hectares of for-est in Venezuela are protected, and a mass program of refores-

tation is being carried out. The Venezuelan government has created a massive public transit system, and is the in process of expanding it. Plans specifically include connect-ing the countryside with the cities, and breaking down the division between the rural and urban parts of the coun-try. Public transportation is much cleaner, much more ef-ficient, and much better for the global environment.

Salerno explained that the effort to fight climate change must be “beyond the govern-ment”. A mass movement of public awareness must be created. The Venezuelan plan to fight climate change, as articulated by Salerno, in-cludes expanding participa-tory democracy, and involv-ing everyday Venezuelans in actively changing the econ-omy and the culture. They include providing more free education, because “When you educate people, they pol-lute less”.

CHANGES MADE POSSIBLEWITH REVOLUTION

The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela is the product of massive struggles. Hugo Chavez began the process af-ter being democratically elect-ed, but almost immediately he faced an attempted coup by “opposition” forces aligned with the United States. After a mass uprising of everyday Venezuelans, and rank-and-file soldiers, the coup was pushed back and Chavez re-turned to power. Chavez built

a mass movement of trade unions, community as-

semblies and others who backed his presi-dency and supported his policies. With a new

constitution, Venezuela is now seizing the prop-

erty of foreign capitalists, and promoting worker co-

operatives. Chavez succes-sor, Nicolas Maduro seeks

to continue the “Bolivarian Process” begun by Chavez and the mass popular move-ment behind him. Their goal is the creation of a socialist society, and the debate goes on each day about how to reach this end.

Venezuela, capitalism & climate changeThe wealthy capitalists in

Venezuela, and their allies in the United States and Britain, are seeking to overturn the Ven-ezuelan government. US me-dia demonizes Maduro and the United Socialist Party, calling them “dictators” despite their record of legitimately winning elections by large margins. The Venezuelan “opposition” has grown increasingly violent, burning buildings and rioting, all while being supported by the United States.

Venezuelan officials have stressed that these massive ef-forts are “not enough”. They want to be part of a global con-versation about creating a long-term plan to combat the climate crisis, and to ensure safety and security for future generations. Salerno called for a “revolution within the UN” to allow pro-grams to be implemented on an international level. Venezu-ela hopes that a legally binding agreement can be established to fight climate change, and all states can be obligated to take certain measures.

If the economy continues to be structured as it currently is, under the command of a small group of western bank-ers on Wall Street, in London, and in Berlin and Frankfurt, things will not change. Ven-ezuela, moving toward social-ism with its “Bolivarian Pro-cess” is leading the world in fighting climate change. It has taken great measures within its own borders, and it hoping to pull other countries along the road of ecological security. It should be no surprise that such sweeping measures to-ward building a better future for the planet by restructur-ing the economy, come from a country that has broken out of Wall Street’s control.

As China leads the world in green technology, and Cuba is being praised for its urban gar-dens and energy efficiency, why should anyone continue to think that Wall Street has the answer to the climate crisis? Commer-cials about “beyond petroleum” and marketing gimmicks about “organic” and “ecofriendly” products will not save us.

Salerno described the pro-cess in Venezuela as “chang-ing things from the bottom up”. Such changes are only possible with the overturning of the current economic set up, where billionaires lead us toward war, poverty and cli-mate disaster.