ENGLISH EDITION/The artillery of ideas INTERNATIONALFriday, December 7, 2012 | Nº 138 | Caracas | www.correodelorinoco.gob.ve

One of Venezuela’s most celebrated traditions was granted Intangible Cultural Heri-tage of Humanity status by the United Nation’s Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco) on Thursday during a committee meeting of the international body in Paris. With the status, Venezuela’s Dancing Devils take their place alongside such cultural manifestations as Spain’s Flamenco, Turkey’s Mevlevi Sema Ceremony, and, more recently, Mexico’s Mariachi music. Page 2

Venezuela stands with PalestineVenezuela last week stood firmly with the global majority at the United Nations in its vote to recognize Palestinian statehood. Perhaps one of the most avid voices among countries backing Palestine’s bid to be a “non member observer state”, Venezuela went even further and demanded Israel be “held responsible” for the “crimes against humanity inflicted on the Palestinian people”. page 4

Politics

Chavez govtdemands efficiency

A new policy of accountability and action is being implemented in all sectors. page 3

Environment

Change

the systemVenezuela backed clear initiatives to address climate change in Doha this week. page 5

Social Justice

Advancesfor disabled citizens

Venezuela has become a reference in disabled people’s rights. page 6

Leading experts in the field of Latin America ad-dressed a large audience on the latest developments in Latin America and hailed the continent’s tide of progressive governments as a “beacon of hope” at the annual Latin America Conference on Saturday December 1 in London.

Under the theme “making a better world possible”, over 20 seminars, workshops and film screenings addressed the progressive movements sweeping the continent and celebrated their political and social achievements. The conference examined a wealth of themes including the misrepresentation of Latin America in the western media, US intervention in Latin America, social progress in Venezuela, what socialism in the 21st century really means for the Venezuelan people, and the impact that ALBA has had on social and economic development in Latin America.

Against a backdrop of austerity in Europe, the Latin America Conference provided a timely reminder of what is possible if governments put people before profit.

Analysis

The 2002 oil lockoutin Venezuela: 10 years later page 7

Opinion

Border crossings:The Venezuelans are coming! page 8

Kyoto: Only protocol for saving environmenton global scale

The Kyoto Protocol is the only legal and binding in-strument on a global scale that allows saving and pre-serving the environment, said Venezuelan Vice Minis-ter of Foreign Affairs Clau-dia Salerno, representing Venezuela in the 18th UN Climate Change Conference, which culminated this Fri-day in Doha, Qatar.

The Venezuelan represen-tative rejected the fact that the final statement of the confer-ence be decided by developed countries, hence “multilater-alism must be respected” and “the voice of everybody must be heard” in order to achieve a “unbiased outcome”.

Salerno warned that devel-oped countries do not want to be committed to the Kyoto Protocol ratification, so they are aiming at a “transitory political implementation” of such agreement.

The Kyoto Protocol was en-dorsed on December 11, 1997 in Japan. It aims at reducing the emissions of greenhouse gases that cause global warming.

The Kyoto Protocol has been supported by 187 coun-tries, except Australia and United States, which is the most polluting country in the world.

Salerno remarked that Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has warned of the urgent need to take concrete measures to save both the planet and humanity.

The stance of the govern-ment of Venezuela is against “capitalist interests” that prioritize profits over hu-man welfare, said the repre-sentative.

TeleSur’s correspondent in Doha, Aissa Garcia, report-ed on Monday morning that “there are no agreements yet to establish a binding docu-ment to substitute the Kyoto Protocol”, which will expire next December 31.

Venezuela’s “Dancing Devils”: CulturalHeritage of Humanity, says Unesco

Beacon of Hope

ge 7

The artillery of ideas2 Impact | Friday, December 7, 2012

Venezuela’s Dancing Devils receive country’sfirst intangible heritage recognition by UnescoT/ COIP/ Agencies

One of Venezuela’s most celebrated traditions was granted Intangible Cultural

Heritage of Humanity status by the United Nation’s Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organi-zation (Unesco) on Wednesday during a committee meeting of the international body in Paris.

Government officials and 22 members of the eleven guilds that make up the Dancing Dev-ils of Corpus Christi, a network of devoted Christians who imi-tate defeated demons through the use of masks and choreo-graphed movements, traveled to France earlier this week to receive the verdict and cel-ebrate the recognition.

“We’re sure that this time the Holy Sacrament will bless us because the communities support us. The homage being paid to the most holy isn’t just through the devils but also the community which respects us and which is praying for us”, said Jose Echenagucia from the Ocumare branch of the guild before the decision.

The first attempt to qualify the Devils as Intangible Heri-tage happened in 2002 at which time the request was denied due to technical errors and a lack of documentation.

This time, a greater emphasis was placed on the meaning of the tradition for the local communi-ties and more effort was made to include the people from those communities in the solicitation.

“The first time, the communi-ties weren’t consulted... But this year a team from the Center of Diversity traveled to our com-munities to interview the people who are a witness to our dem-onstrations”, said Militzo Vega from the state of Carabobo.

With the recognition, the Dancing Devils have become Venezuela’s first cultural ex-pression to receive Unesco’s In-tangible Heritage status.

The measure, largely symbol-ic, sets standards to safeguard the practice of living traditions and provides a series of guide-lines to ensure a non-intrusive conservation of the arts, ritu-als, and festive events.

“While fragile, intangible cul-tural heritage is an important factor in maintaining cultural diversity in the face of growing

Holy Week in the central states of Miranda, Guarico, Carabobo, Cojedes, Vargas and Aragua.

On that day, members of the local parishes dress in red and adorn highly elaborated masks representing the devil, who af-ter hours of struggle eventually bows to the beneficence of the Holy Sacrament.

“You can’t just dance because you like it. It’s a promise to the King of Kings and to the Holy Sacrament”, said Ernesto Her-rera, a 26 year-old devotee.

Herrera is from Yare, Miranda state, where the largest celebra-tion takes place, incorporating some two thousand dancers.

At noon the day before the Feast of Corpus Christi, partici-pants arrive at the town church to receive permission from the

parish priest to engage in the acts. A procession is then carried out and a vigil for the Cruz de Mayo is undertaken until dawn.

Following the vigil, the devo-tees assume their disguises and pay homage to those departed in the local cemetery.

The dancers then pledge promises to the Lord and en-gage in a procession of the Holy Sacrament accentuated by vari-ous types of local music and dif-ferent ritual practices depend-ing on the locality.

“We also dance when we are invited by others. I’ve been danc-ing since I was 7 years old. I feel proud to be a part of this tradi-tion. I have a spiritual commit-ment with the Holy Spirit as well as my great grandfather who was the first President of the Devils. He and my grandfather passed the faith and devotion to me. Al-though it was offered to me for 7 years, I swore my allegiance for my whole life”, Herrera said.

While the Dancing Devils are now recognized as an intrinsic part of the Caribbean country’s heritage, Vice Minister for Cul-tural Identity and Diversity, Benito Irady, expressed alarm at the fact that many Venezu-elans are not familiar with the tradition or its characteristics.

Irady attributes this lack of knowledge to the influence that outside cultures, such as those from the Global North, have ex-erted over Venezuela.

For the Vice Minister, it is cru-cial that Venezuela continue on the path towards reaffirming it’s own cultural identity in the face of a globalized mass media.

As such, officials are hopeful that Unesco’s Intangible Heri-tage status will help aid in rais-ing the consciousness among the population at large with re-spect to the country’s rich cul-tural patrimony.

“The challenge is very great. It’s the need that we have to return our gaze towards our-selves - who we were and who we are”, the Vice Minister said.

Activities have been planned around Venezuela’s central states to celebrate the Unesco recognition starting on Friday.

A mass and a parade, which will include the participation of more than 500 devils, have been organized to take place in Cara-cas on Sunday.

“This will be the first, after 400 years of the tradition, that a mass with all eleven guilds of the tradition will take place in the country”, said Irady last week.

globalization. An understand-ing of the intangible cultural heritage of different communi-ties helps with intercultural di-alogue, and encourages mutual respect for other ways of life”, states Unesco’s website.

With the status, Venezu-ela’s Dancing Devils take their place alongside such cultural manifestations as Spain’s Fla-menco, Turkey’s Mevlevi Sema Ceremony, and, more recently, Mexico’s Mariachi music.

“It’s Venezuelan-ness that is being recognized”, said Culture Minister Pedro Calzadilla re-garding the practice that dates back to the 1600s. “It’s through ex-pressions such as that these our identity is supported”, he said.

The celebrations take place on the ninth Thursday following

The artillery of ideasFriday, Dicember 7, 2012 | Politics 3

“Efficiency or nothing” goes intoaction in the Venezuelan countrysideT/ COIP/ Agencies

The Minister of Government Management, Carmen Me-lendez, officially began car-

rying out inspections of agrar-ian production centers last weekend in a bid to increase the accountability of publicly-fund-ed development projects around the nation.

The visits form part of a new campaign, called “Efficiency or Nothing”, that was announced by President Hugo Chavez shortly after his sweeping elec-tion victory on October 7.

The idea, according to the head of state, is to improve government services and to ramp up the effi-cacy of public sector initiatives.

“The workers of any develop-ment project, any agricultural or industrial project in any part of the country should not be surprised if [Vice President] Nicolas Maduro or a minister appears to carry out an unan-nounced inspection”, Chavez said during a cabinet meeting early in November.

Last weekend, Minister Melendez followed up on this commitment by dropping-in unexpectedly on a number of agricultural settlements fund-

ed by the government to inspect their progress and inquire on their needs.

“We’re taking part in the ‘Efficiency or Nothing’ cam-paign, fulfilling the instruc-tions of our commander-in-chief Hugo Chavez as part of the reorientation that he gave us”, Melendez said.

In the plains state of Apure, the Minister met with farmers

from a group of government-funded Socialist Production Units while in the neighboring state of Barinas, the presiden-tial dispatch visited two similar agricultural centers.

Most of the units are the product of Venezuela’s 2001 agrarian reform law which has sought to break-up large unproductive plantations, known in Spanish as latifun-

T/ COI

Venezuela’s National As-sembly ratified the na-

tion’s budget last Tuesday in a move that will strengthen social spending and boost fi-nancing for a multiplicity of welfare programs designed to improve living standards for low-income citizens.

The entire budget ac-counts for 396 billion boli-vars ($92 billion) and is cal-culated on a $55 barrel of oil price to safeguard against volatility in the internation-al market.

Over 147 billion bolivars ($34 billion) have been des-ignated to social spending, representing 37.3 percent of the entire package and a 27

Venezuelan parliament approves budget,increases spending on social programs

percent increase in the same figure from last year.

Key among the spending is the allocation of financing to the Chavez administration’s anti-poverty programs, known as missions.

This will translate to in-creased spending for public education, health care, social security, housing, maternity, and job creation.

Public safety will also benefit heavily from the new spending with an allocation of just over one billion bolivars ($232 mil-lion) for the country’s National Bolivarian Police (PNB) force.

The PNB was created in 2009 by the Chavez administration to transform Venezuela’s re-pressive and ineffective secu-rity institutions into a commu-

nity-based police that focuses on community engagement and respect for human rights.

“The principal objective of [this spending] is to guarantee the reduction of the crimes with the highest indices of occur-rence in the national territory. These resources are going to put emphasis on the deepening of our intelligence strategies”, said socialist congressman Al-exander Dudamel during the budget debate.

Other sectors that will see higher levels of funding include transportation and communica-tion which has been increased by 185 percent; industry and commerce which will receive a 35 percent hike; and energy, mines and oil which has had its line increased by 31 percent.

With respect to public trans-portation, the metro of Caracas will receive 3.3 billion ($767 million) bolivars for improve-ment and expansion while the metro of Los Teques, adjacent to the capital, will receive 4 bil-lion ($930 million).

Also allocated are 6.3 bil-lion bolivars ($1.4 billion) to Venezuela’s National Electric-ity Corporation (Corpoelec) to strengthen the country’s ener-gy production.

Opposition congress mem-bers abstained from Tuesday’s vote, considering the budget to be “a joke” that “doesn’t trans-late into social spending”, ac-cording to minority leader Ves-talia Sampedro.

For the chair of the Assem-bly’s Finance Committee, Ri-cardo Sanguino, the Venezu-elan conservatives’ abstention is indicative of their elitism.

“Who can turn their back on a government that is sending resources to the people? To-

day the opposition is denying the existence of the missions by refusing to vote for the national budget”, Sanguino said.

In criticizing the opposi-tion’s abstention, the con-gressman from the Andean state of Tachira pointed out the advances that Venezuela has seen in living standards as a result of the spending policies implemented by the government of Hugo Chavez.

“Today Venezuela exhibits the most important social indicators than any govern-ment has been able to display in such short a time. We have improved our social indi-cators, we have the great-est wealth redistribution in Latin America, the highest levels of employment, the so-cial missions, and we’ve seen progress in health, educa-tion, housing, alimentation, culture, science, and technol-ogy”, he affirmed.

dios, and redistribute the land to small farmers.

The reform has been imple-mented to fight inequality in the countryside and boost Ven-ezuela’s domestic agricultural production, thereby guaran-teeing food sovereignty for the OPEC member country.

Last weekend’s encounters touched on themes of infra-structure, labor, and produc-

tion mechanisms, officials report.

As part of the visits, Melendez was shown the different work processes employed by the so-cialist farms in the area, the different crops being produced, and the types of challenges fac-ing the units.

The overall goal, as stated by the Ministry, is to ensure that productivity in the countryside is on track, that government re-sources are being used as they are intended, and that the rights of workers are being respected.

“We’re very pleased with the visit”, the high official said upon arriving by helicopter on the farm El Cedral in Apure. “The most important aspect of these visits are the workers who have made their observations and articulated what is caus-ing them problems... Our com-mitment is to find solutions and correct mistakes”, she said.

In this first leg of the effi-ciency campaign, the Ministry will cover thirteen states in the country with thirty teams of inspectors comprised of a total of 234 people, Melendez told re-porters last Friday.

These include engineers, ac-countants, social workers and others who will provide a holis-tic analysis of each production unit to be handed in to the Ex-ecutive for review.

While Minister Melendez’s visit to the farms last weekend was brief, a team of inspectors will remain with the workers until a complete analysis of the agricultural projects can be concluded.

The artillery of ideas4 Integration | Friday, December 7, 2012

T/ COIP/ Agencies

In another clear demonstra-tion of its sovereign defense of the poor and oppressed,

Venezuela last week stood firm-ly with the global majority at the United Nations in its vote to recognize Palestinian state-hood. Perhaps one of the most avid voices among countries backing Palestine’s bid to be a “non member observer state”, Venezuela went even further and demanded Israel be “held responsible” for the “crimes against humanity inflicted on the Palestinian people”.

Venezuela, Cuba, and other ALBA nations were among the 138 countries that helped secure the two-thirds needed within the UN General Assembly to pass the historic resolution rec-ognizing Palestine. Only nine countries, including the United States and Israel, voted against the Palestinian bid, while an-other 41 nations abstained.

VENEZUELA STANDS FIRMOf the many countries to ex-

press their steadfast support for Palestine during last week’s historic UN vote, Venezuelan Ambassador to the UN Jorge Valero was possibly the most adamant spokesman. Address-ing the UN General Assembly on Thursday, Valero affirmed, “the Palestinian people have the legitimate right to seek dig-nity, justice, and to defend their inalienable right to self-deter-

mination and an in-dependent state”.

Valero described Is-rael as an “occupying power” that “repress-es the Palestinian people for the simple act of struggling for their rights”. He also said Israel “practices state terrorism” and is a “factory of pain and suffering for Pal-estinians”.

“Israel”, he contin-ued, “violates interna-tional law, violates hu-man rights, and fails to respect numerous UN resolu-tions, placing itself outside the rules that govern the interna-tional community of nations”.

Valero also insisted that Is-rael “must explain itself to the UN as it relates to its crimes against the Palestinian people” and denounced Israel’s “use of collective punishment and weapons prohibited by interna-tional law, as well as its applica-tion of policies aimed at ethnic cleansing which have resulted in the deaths of many innocent men, women, and children”.

Venezuela’s Ambassador to the UN added that “an entire set of inhumane policies have been used to secure the segregation and control of the Palestinian people within a colonized ter-ritory. Laws have been passed and institutions established to violate the rights of Palestin-ians, to rob them of their land, among other things”.

“The General Assembly”, he affirmed, “must not remain in-different to the suffering of the Palestinian people”.

SOLIDARITY WITH PALESTINEIn the words of its UN Ambas-

sador, Venezuela “is a country committed to the principles and values of liberty, sovereignty, independence, peace and soli-darity”. As such, Valero added, “and to advance the common good, in defense of territorial integrity, co-existence, and in-ternational law, the Venezuelan government of President Hugo Chavez backs the Palestinian bid to be recognized as an ob-server state within the United Nations”.

“Venezuela votes yes”, he said, “in solidarity with the cause of Palestine”.

In response to the successful vote, Venezuela’s representa-tive to the Latin American

Parliament (Parlati-no) Rodrigo Cabezas expressed his coun-try’s “profound sat-isfaction”.

According to Cabezas, the vote is “an important step forward in the Pal-estinian struggle for recognition as both a nation and state”.

In stark contrast to global sentiment, the US and Israel imme-diately criticized the vote. US Ambassador to the UN Susan Rice

called it an “unfortunate and counterproductive resolution (that) places further obstacles in the path of peace” while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netan-yahu promised the vote “won’t change anything on the ground…won’t advance the establishment of a Palestinian state, but rather, put it further off”.

The US and Israel were joined by Canada, the Czech Republic, the Marshall Islands, Microne-sia, Nauru, Palau and Panama in voting against the Palestin-ian proposal.

In a recent show of support and solidarity, the socialist majority within the Venezu-elan Nation Assembly passed a resolution condemning Israel’s November bombardment of the Gaza Strip. The bombings killed over 100 Palestinians, wounding another 900.

Speaking on behalf of the United Socialist Party of Ven-

ezuela (PSUV), lawmaker Fernando Soto Rojas said the Venezuelan legislature voted to “promote an end to hos-tilities between Israel and the Palestinians”.

“The Palestinian people are a heroic people that represent a historic experience”, said Soto Rojas. “They are a cultured people we’ve known for decades and their struggle is for a home-land, for a land on which to live freely, for a place to stand”.

The PSUV and numerous Venezuelan social movements marched on the streets of Ca-racas during Israel’s recent bombing of Gaza, demonstrat-ing against the “disproportion-ate use of force” by Israel and showing both “unity and soli-darity” with the Palestinian people.

OFFICIAL DELEGATIONSpeaking to reporters over

the weekend, Palestinian Am-bassador to Venezuela Farid Suwwan announced, “The first official delegation of the Pales-tinian state (since the UN vote) is coming to Venezuela”.

“Relations between Venezu-ela and Palestine have never been better”, explained Suw-wan, “which is why Venezuela is to receive a large delegation from Palestine”.

The delegation “will include five ministers, three vice min-isters, and two general sec-retaries” who will meet with their Venezuelan counterparts to “discuss and sign some eight bi-national agreements in the areas of tourism, culture, sports, health and education”, explained Suwwan.

In what he called a “strategic area of cooperation”, Suwwan described plans to “maintain and expand agreements which provide scholarships to young Palestinians looking to study in Venezuela, increase col-laboration for medical student exchange programs, and ap-prove the formal recognition by both states of university de-grees obtained in either nation in the fields of engineering and agriculture”.

In tourism, Suwwan added, “Israel’s ongoing attempts to destroy the Palestinian econo-my have failed and tourism is steadily increasing”. For this reason, he said, “agreements will be discussed on how the people of Palestine can best host Venezuelan visitors who travel year after year to the holy sites of Palestine”.

Venezuela and Palestine have had formal relations since 2009, when the government of Presi-dent Hugo Chavez formally rec-ognized the Palestinian state.

Venezuela stands with Palestine

The artillery of ideasFriday, December 7, 2012 | Environment 5

Venezuela at the COP-18: “Changethe system, not the climate”

T/ Paul DobsonP/ Agencies

“Change the system not the climate” was the message that Venezu-

ela took to the 18th UN Confer-ence of the Parties (COP-18) to address climate change and greenhouse emissions, held this week in Doha, Qatar.

The representatives of the socialist government of Hugo Chavez demonstrated to the 194 countries present in the Qatar National Convention Center the positive advances that have been made in Venezuela since the previous COP-17 in Durban last year.

These advances include Mis-sion Tree, new mass trans-port systems, infrastructural investment which includes two wind farms, extensive hy-droelectric dams, community based solar based technology, and extensive reforestation.

The message taken to the conference by Venezuela was very clear: that capitalism is the cause of our environmen-tal problems, and only under socialism can the human race survive and prosper. One of the five policy areas of recently re-elected President Chavez is to activate programs which deep-en socialism, and that have as

their final aim “saving human-ity” and “rescuing our planet”.

“Markets are not the solution to achieve ambitious emission reductions”, the Venezuelan delegation told the conference in its opening statement. “Fos-tering education about new pat-terns of living goes beyond the Green merchandising” which capitalism has taken advantage of to profit from environmental consciousness.

There exists, the delega-tion complained, a gap in the level of commitment to reduc-ing greenhouse emissions between developed capital-ist economies and developing nations. “Developing coun-tries continue to do their part through all means available to them but more could be done though the facilitation of ap-propriate technology, capacity building and financing. Devel-oped countries have to be more ambitious, not less”.

Venezuelan emissions cur-rently make up a mere 0.48% of the world’s carbon emissions, while it is estimated that the United States contributes 30% of all the greenhouse emissions. The effects of this are starting to be seen with rising sea levels and temperatures, as well as increasingly unpredictable and severe weather phenomena.

Both Venezuela and the Boli-varian Alliance of the People of Our Americas (ALBA), present at the conference, stressed the link between sustainable de-velopment, models of consum-erism, and environmental con-sciousness. “There has been a recognition that poverty eradi-cation, changing unsustain-able patterns of consumption and production, and promoting sustainable ones, and protect-ing and managing the natural resource-base of the economic and social development are the overarching objectives of and essential requirements for sus-tainable development”.

A statement from ALBA raised the issue of agricultural development in the mark of en-vironmental controls. “Agricul-

ture is, without a doubt, a high-ly sensitive topic, socially and economically”. It is a theme, they explained, “that is about sovereignty and food guaran-tees, and this can’t be discussed within the scope of mitigation”.

The ALBA statement also raised the issue of deforesta-tion. “We want to insist in the need to recognize different fo-cuses for the reduction of emis-sions with regards to deforesta-tion and forestry degradation, the setting up and deepening of mechanisms which promote the sustainable use of the forests with an eye on climate change, in a holistic and integral way”.

Speaking on the topic of de-forestation and the wood trade, Venezuelan Minster for Indus-try, Ricardo Menendez, an-

nounced that as part of the next Plan of Government 2013-2019, the Chavez administration plans to reforest 120,000 hect-ares to be used in part by the wood trade. “This is practically multiplying by ten the amount of reforestation that was done in the previous period”, he stated. In 2011, Venezuela reforested 15,000 hectares, which has in-creased to 20,000 hectares this year, amounting to roughly 21 million trees planted.

In their presentation to the UN conference, the Venezuelan delegation highlighted the mul-tiple systems of mass transpor-tation which are being rapidly constructed in various parts of the country, such as the Metro of Valencia, various metroca-bles, cable cars, and tram and train networks. These systems are being made available to the poorest sectors of society, through conscientious plan-ning and heavily subsidized prices. Some are free to use.

The delegation also high-lighted the role of Mission Tree, which organizes communities to reforest their localities, and which involves more than 47,000 activists who have planted more than 43 million trees since its creation in 2006. The mission has reforested over 31,266 hectares and currently has more than 126 tons of seeds in its seed bank.

Similarly, it was explained to the conference that there are over 222 protected areas, such as national parks, across the coun-try, which cover roughly 60% of the national territory and include vast areas of mangroves and swamplands considered to be es-sential ‘carbon sinks’. Amongst these is the National Park Ciena-gas de Juan Manuel, in the west-ern region of the country, where the lightening phenomenon of Catatumbo is considered to be the most important regenerator of the ozone layer in the world.

They also drew attention to the policies implemented to reduce consumption in Venezuela, such as replacing light bulbs with en-ergy efficient ones, and chang-ing the models of consumption to products with low energy con-sumption, especially in white line goods and air conditioning. These high-technology prod-ucts, they explained, are being made available to the people at subsidized prices thanks to the Chavez government.

Finally, they explained that over $500 million has been in-vested in developing the energy infrastructure in Venezuela, with particular focus on renew-able energy sources. Currently 70% of national energy con-sumption is provided by renew-able sources.

The artillery of ideas6 Social Justice | Friday, December 7, 2012

T/ Paul DobsonP/ Agencies

As disabled people marched in protest at austerity mea-sures which are rolling

back their rights in many capi-tals of the world, particularly Madrid and Athens, events organized by disabled citizens to celebrate their substantial gains under the Bolivarian Rev-olution were held this week in Venezuela to commemorate the International Day for those with Disabilities on December 3.

“Currently, Venezuela is the reference point in the organiza-tion of people with disabilities across the world. More than 10,000 disabled people have received political and project training”, explained Edgar Araujo, President of the Na-tional Council of Peoples with Disabilities (Conapdis).

Various organizations took advantage of the main event in Caracas to contribute their pro-posal to the national debate on the Socialist Plan of Government 2013-2019 for the establishment of a Ministry for Disabled Peoples, which was received by Vice Pres-ident of Venezuela’s National As-sembly, Blanca Eekhout.

The organizations highlight-ed the legal and social gains that have been made in the past years for disabled people, start-ing with the revolutionary Con-stitution of 1999, and continuing with the recent Labor Law.

“In article 81 of the Carta Magna… we are defined as people with disabilities, and with this we left behind the so-cial stigma, and we converted ourselves into subjects with rights”, stated Lenín Molina, who suffers from motor dis-abilities, and represents the Foundation of Social Action in the Caracas mayoral office.

“We have seen a development in the attention towards dis-abled people like never seen be-fore in Venezuela, the govern-ment has dedicated important efforts for the re-vindication of this sector and for us to be able to enjoy our rights”.

Araujo highlighted the le-gal framework that includes disabled people into the socio-productive sector of the coun-try. “For the first time we have rights, we also have duties to continue contributing in the

construction of Venezuela”, he explained.

The 2007 Law for Disabled People forced employers to pro-vide medical attention, trans-portation, and inclusion in the labor and educational sectors. It also forces public and private firms to have at least 5% dis-abled people in their workforce.

Araujo also explained some of the linguistic-social changes that the Chavez government

has bought with it: “This pro-cess began by dignifying the way in which we were referred to. Before, we were labeled invalids or handicapped. To-day we are first and foremost people who have some type of disability”, he stated proudly. “There is still a long way to go, but the important thing is that we count on the support of the state and the sensitivity of the Venezuelan people”.

The inclusion of disabled peo-ple into the national workforce is rapidly increasing, Araujo explained. “Every day the num-ber grows of disabled people who contribute with their work in the institutions, they are useful people, and demonstrate their abilities”.

December 3 was celebrated with the slogan ‘One Disabil-ity, A Thousand Abilities”. The wreath laying in Caracas was

Venezuela celebratesadvances for disabled citizens

attended by National Program of Healthcare for Disabled Peo-ple (Pasdis) and the Ministry of Health, amongst others, which plays a vital part of the Cuba-Venezuela health agreements that greatly benefit disabled citizens.

The number of free inte-gral attention health centers for citizens with disabilities has risen from 67 in 1999, which only attended physical-motorary disabilities, to 580 in 2012, which now attend all types of disabilities.

Conapdis currently has 42 centers for its work across the country, and over 2927 com-munity committees to propel projects that integrate disabled workers into socio-productive roles, and which take advan-tage of their potential.

Henry Betancourt, Director of the Asperger’s Syndrome Foundation, reinforced the idea that only as an included part of communal power can disabled people further achieve the equality that they deserve. “We disabled people have potential and capabilities as all do, and we are an organized people’s power. This is why we have to continue working in the con-text of inclusion”.

Finally, Araujo warned that despite the great steps the revolution has made alongside organized disabled communi-ties, there is still a long way to go in achieving a fair, equal society where disabled people are treated with full respect. “We have advanced, but there is a lot more to do. We still have part of the capitalist sys-tem that we inherited, which didn’t take into account people with functional diversity”.

T/ Correo del Orinoco

The domestic affairs commit-tee of Venezuela’s National

Assembly held a session last week to approve 15 articles of the new Special Law to Pre-vent and Punish Torture and Other Cruel, Inhumane and Degrading Treatment.

The Vice President of the committee, Congressman Jose Javier Morales of the United Socialist Party of Ven-ezuela (PSUV), said that the green light was given to 15 ar-ticles and two were deferred. Debates are expected to con-tinue next week on the 18 re-maining articles before the

Venezuelan lawmakersdebate law against torture

committee makes its presenta-tion at a plenary session of the National Assembly.

He said that this legal mea-sure will be important in help-ing prevent any type of cruel or degrading treatment toward persons serving jail sentences by authorities. In his opinion, the Law Against Torture is an-other demonstration of respect for human rights that exists in Venezuela. The country was recently elected to serve on the United Nations Human Rights Council for the 2013-2015 period.

ABOUT THE LAWThe Law Against Torture

would establish prison sen-

tences of 15 to 25 years for pub-lic servants that cause physical or psychological damage to any citizen under their custody in order to punish, intimidate, or obtain a confession.

The law also proposes to give 13 to 23 years in prison to any official that intentionally mis-treats a person behind bars or breaks their mental or physical resistance, generating physical or psychic harm.

The instrument would, howev-er, would not consider cruel the progressive, differentiated and proportionate use of potentially lethal force by state police forces.

A proponent of the law, Con-gressman Juan Carlos Aleman of the PSUV, said that workers that are victims of cruel or in-humane treatment would be protected under the law and given job stability.

Aleman said in his presen-tation yesterday that the law would also put a stop to abuses against visitors to penitentiary centers by protecting them from physical searches. He said that to guarantee this right a scan-ner will be used instead, and a pilot project is already under-way at the El Rodeo prison.

The law would also create a commission to guarantee compliance with the norms, which would be under the Of-fice of the Public Defender.

The law stems from an Ven-ezuela’s constitution, which requires the National Assem-bly to approve “legislation on the punishment of torture, through a special law or re-form to the penal code”. It was approved in a first discussion by the National Assembly ear-lier this year on June 12.

The artillery of ideas Friday, December 7, 2012 | Analysis 7

T/ Yuleidys Hernandez Toledo – Ciudad CCSP/ Agencies

Building nearly a million homes, strengthening the national healthcare sys-

tem, and creating productive sources of new employment are just a few of the things the national government could have done with the $20 billion dollars lost during the oil lock-out launched by the Venezu-elan opposition on December 2, 2002. That’s the way Fernando Travieso, economist and pe-troleum expert, interprets the opposition sabotage of Venezu-ela’s vital industry some ten years ago.

According to Travieso, in-terviewed by Venezuelan daily Ciudad CCS, the opposition’s conduct in late 2002 and early 2003 resulted in a 25% drop in the country’s oil-based Gross Domestic Product (GDP), a blow to the economy that affected all related industries and daily life for the Venezuelan majority.

“The oil sabotage was, eco-nomically speaking, a catastro-phe”, said Travieso. “With the resources lost during the stop-page giant things could have been done for the benefit of so-ciety”, he affirmed.

According to statistics re-leased by Venezuela’s state-owned oil company, Petroleos de Venezuela (Pdvsa), measured in unsold oil during the two-month lockout the public firm suffered $14.4 billion dollar loss in revenue. This massive hit to Pdvsa’s annual income resulted in a $9.9 billion dollar reduction in contributions to the national coffers. The final result: the Chavez administration found itself with a reduced capacity to invest in, and advance, widely-needed social programs, put-ting an almost-complete stop to the national government’s social investment plan for the 2002/2003 period.

According to David Parav-isini, oil engineer and analyst, the lockout organized by the so-called Venezuelan Workers’ Federation (CTV), the Venezue-lan Chamber of Commerce (Fe-decamaras), a right-wing coali-tion known as the Democratic Coordination (CD), and other sectors of the Venezuelan op-position, caused a wave of scar-city in basic goods (milk, rice, meat, etc.) since gasoline used to transport foods became lim-ited. At the same time, private industry knowingly closed its doors to citizens in need, turn-ing scarcity into depravation.

As such, the Venezuelan people were forced to live with the daily consequences of a clearly insurrectional lockout, a politi-cal maneuver aimed simply at overthrowing the President of the Republic.

Paravisini also explained that the paralyzing of the oil industry, which lasted 63 days, inflicted damage to Pdvsa that has yet to be overcome, leaving “over a thousand wells…with some 50 million barrels of oil left in them…broken during the lock-out with yet no possibility (tech-nically speaking) of getting them back into production”.

NATIONAL STRIKE? On December 2, 2002, the

CTV, Fedecamaras, and the opposition’s Democratic Coordination called a “national strike” backed by the so-called “merito-cratic” administrators of Pdvsa – together, they brought oil production to a halt. The objective of their action: force Presi-dent Chavez, Venezuela’s democratically-elected President, to resign.

This was the fourth stoppage called by the opposition within a year, all of which came in re-

sponse to the signing by Presi-dent Chavez of 49 revolutionary laws in November 2001. The first lockout came on December 10, 2001. The second came Feb-ruary 9, 2002, followed by the third on October 21, 2002. All three of these, however, were limited to a stoppage in com-mercial activities (sales). Not unrelated, the April 2002 coup went much further, including orchestrated acts of violence and a failed attempt within the Venezuelan Armed Forces, which lasted only 48 hours, to end Venezuela’s democratic ex-periment with socialism.

Of the aforementioned laws passed by President Chavez, one of the issues that provoked the strongest resistance within Venezuela’s oil-based elite was the Law of Hydrocarbons re-gained “oil sovereignty” for the nation and increased royalties paid by foreign companies from an embarrassing Fourth Re-public (1958-1998) policy of 1%, to its current level of 33.33%.

SABOTAGING INFORMATICSWITH FOREIGN AID

On January 17, 1997, a compa-ny known as Informatics, Busi-ness, and Technology (Intesa) was formed and tasked with optimizing the structures of in-formation technologies used by Pdvsa. This company was born with Pdvsa investing, and own-ing, a 40% share, while another firm – Science Applications In-ternational Corporation (SAIC) – owned the rest (60%). Surprising to many, however, was what the Venezuelan Ministry of Commu-nication and Information (minci) later revealed: SAIC is a US-based company and has, among other members of its executive, ex military intelligence officials

The 2002 oil lockout:10 years later

and former directors of the Cen-tral Intelligence Agency (CIA).

According to Minci, during the oil lockout “INTESA exer-cised its ability to control our computers by paralyzing the charge, discharge, and storage of crude at different terminals within the national grid. It also altered the functionality of most oil substations, compress-ing and processing plants, etc”.

Intesa made sure, in advance, that the manipulation of PDV-SA’s networks was only possible for those with access to secret internal codes – a small group of people working directly for Intesa who knowingly joined the oil lockout and kidnapped Pdvsa’s entire network using a clandestine, carefully-elabo-rated, pre-meditated scheme. This scheme included the use of hidden modems installed in desks and office walls, the use of phone and internet systems to paralyze Pdvsa operations, and the destruction of databas-es needed to keep operations running.

This past October, Pdvsa an-nounced that some thirty ex employees had been sanctioned with fines between $21 and $26 million dollars for their role in the oil lockout. On November 11, 2012, investigative journalist Jose Vicente Rangel reported that numerous legal proceed-ings against saboteurs of Pdvsa are currently “advancing”.

According to Rangel, “a group of 185 ex Pdvsa employees, most of which held administrative or management posts, are under investigation for acts against the Venezuelan people and pub-lic property”.

Regrettably, many of these saboteurs are also fugitives of justice currently living in self-imposed exile.

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

INTERNATIONAL Friday, December 7, 2012 | Nº 138 | Caracas | www.correodelorinoco.gob.ve

T/ John DensmoreP/ AFP

The milagro (magic) of El Sistema, Venezuela’s program of taking im-

poverished kids and teaching them classical music, can be summed up in one sentence uttered by its founder, Dr. Jose Abreu: “If you put a mu-sical instrument in the hand of a kid, he or she will not pick up a gun”. It is somewhat of a miracle, although it is an old idea. The creative impulse (which resides in everyone) can act as a curandero, or healer, to re-imagine dead-end paths down which poor children are headed, and find new roads that are limit-less. America is slow to real-ize this. With weak economic times, we always cut fund-ing for the arts, when that is a time to increase fields that foster new imagination, new ways of thinking. Hold-ing on to our narrow vision that South America stole our name, we know something

is happening south of the bor-der, but we “don’t know what it is, do we, Mr. Jones?” And it’s completely under the CIA’s radar.

Well, New York is about to get a dose of what has healed 400,000 young Venezuelans. On December 10 and 11, the Si-mon Bolivar Orchestra, under the baton of Gustavo Dudamel, will return to Carnegie Hall for two concerts. The LA Phil-harmonic’s new wunderkind conductor, Gustavo Dudamel, is a living example of the re-sults of El Sistema. His enthu-siasm for El Sistema is bound-less because he knows that he was saved, and wants to give back. Gustavo and his mae-stro, El Sistema’s Dr. Abreu, really care about these kids.

It is culture shock to sit at the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles and look down at 100 twenty-something mu-sicians with jet-black hair and olive-complexioned skin. They rip into the repertoire of European classical music like there’s no tomorrow. The

Simon Bolivar Orchestra from Venezuela plays the music of 200-year-old white European composers with such gusto that audiences immediately jump out of their seats as if they were at a rock concert, yelling, “Encore, encore!”

On a recent PBS Special about Dudamel, Tavis Smiley asked the correct question and the maestro gave the correct answer: Smiley inquired as to whether Dudamel was play-ing “dated music,” to which the ever-present Gustavo replied, “It’s not the same... we’re reinterpreting it!” And reinterpreting it they are. It’s as if none of us saw it coming: Beethoven’s butt needed a di-rect shot (mainline) of Salsa! The Venezuelans have Latin music coursing through their veins. Never seen a symphony orchestra stand up and dance while playing? Just check out some of the Simon Bolivar Orchestra’s euphoric perfor-mances of Leonard Bernstein’s “Mambo” from all over the globe. The obvious enthusiasm

comes from most of the musi-cians knowing that El Sistema is probably their only chance of getting out of the dire envi-ronment into which they were born. That’s why they practice their asses off: it’s not a hand-out, but a hand up.

The shadow side of all this passion is that the seasoned players of the LA Phil warn young musicians that pacing will make for a longer career. Like Rafael Nadal, the pas-sionate young Spaniard on the tennis court, Dudamel, the gifted young conductor from Caracas, occasionally suffers from physiological problems. Gustavo and Rafa are just a couple of years apart (31 and 29 respectively), yet Nadal hits every ball as if it’s the last, put-ting everything possible into it. Dudamel is the same with every note of every symphony he’s conducting. The tennis player has knee problems; the conductor’s shoulder and neck give him occasional trouble. But, of course, there is some-thing thrilling about watching

someone “go for it” in every moment. The concentration is palpable.

So yes, there’s a revolution going on, and I had a sense that it was coming when I saw “The Dude” guest-conduct the LA Phil, but I didn’t know the extent of it. I didn’t know that when Dudamel’s hometown musicians came to LA, my eyes would be glued on Felix Mendoza, the Bolivar’s tym-pani player -- the instrument that I’d played in high school. Like his conductor, Mendoza’s entire being is engaged when he plays. Tympani players spend a lot of time counting bars with classical music, because they’re mainly re-quired to provide the dramat-ic climaxes. To see this young man, who looks like he could have wound up in a gang (ex-cept when he smiles!) actually “grooving” to Mahler, while doing the math of counting until he comes in, is mind bog-gling. What this is, and what El Sistema has produced, is a border crossing. If Latino mu-sicians can understand Euro-pean classical music as well as or better than their white Eu-ropean counterparts, a heal-ing occurs. Racism diminish-es. If Caucasians can get into salsa, if African-Americans can appreciate country music, if, if, if...

Gosh, and all this is com-ing from a country that our previous president called one of the “Axes of Evil”. Art and culture are the glue between peoples. If we can be open to understanding the “other,” we just might get along better. Venezuela is doing something right. More than just right, it is a worldwide classical mu-sic phenomenon. It’s almost embarrassing that with all of America’s resources we are cutting funding for the arts, not expanding it. We are a great melting pot, the great experiment that has more di-verse cultures than any other nation. And a way to fast-track all cultures on earth to get along is through the power of the arts... each other’s.

John Densmore is a founding member of The Doors.

Opinion

Border crossings: The Venezuelans are coming!