Friday 30 January 2009

The seeds of Latin America's rebirth were sown in Cuba


[The progressive alternatives to neoliberalism being pursued in Latin America, including in Venezuela, have their roots in Cuba's revolution.]

The seeds of Latin America's rebirth were sown in Cuba

January 29th 2009, by Seamus Milne - The Guardian

On 9 October 1967, Che Guevara faced a shaking sergeant Mario Teran, ordered to murder him by the Bolivian president and CIA, and declared: "Shoot, coward, you're only going to kill a man." The climax of Stephen Soderbergh's two-part epic, Che, in real life this final act of heroic defiance marked the defeat of multiple attempts to spread the Cuban revolution to the rest of Latin America.

But 40 years later, the long-retired executioner, now a reviled old man, had his sight restored by Cuban doctors, an operation paid for by revolutionary Venezuela in the radicalised Bolivia of Evo Morales. Teran was treated as part of a programme which has seen 1.4 million free eye operations carried out by Cuban doctors in 33 countries across Latin America, the Caribbean and Africa. It is an emblem both of the humanity of Fidel Castro and Guevara's legacy, but also of the transformation of Latin America which has made such extraordinary co-operation possible.

The 50th anniversary of the Cuban revolution this month has already been the occasion for a regurgitation of western media tropes about pickled totalitarian misery, while next week's 10th anniversary of Hugo Chávez's presidency in Venezuela will undoubtedly trigger a parallel outburst of hostility, ridicule and unfounded accusations of dictatorship. The fact that Chávez, still commanding close to 60% popular support, is again trying to convince the Venezuelan people to overturn the US-style two-term limit on his job will only intensify such charges, even though the change would merely bring the country into line with the rules in France and Britain.

But it is a response which also utterly fails to grasp the significance of the wave of progressive change that has swept away the old elites and brought a string of radical socialist and social-democratic governments to power across the continent, from Ecuador to Brazil, Paraguay to Argentina: challenging US domination and neoliberal orthodoxy, breaking down social and racial inequality, building regional integration and taking back strategic resources from corporate control.

(click here to view entire article)



U.S. Policy Towards Venezuela and Colombia Will Change Little Under Obama

[Sadly, the Obama years promise more of the same with regard to U.S. foreign policy towards both Venezuela and Colombia.]

U.S. Policy Towards Venezuela and Colombia Will Change Little Under Obama

January 20th 2009, by Garry Leech - Colombia Journal

Recent comments by President-elect Barack Obama, Secretary of State appointee Hilary Clinton and leading congressional Democrats suggest that the incoming U.S. administration will not significantly differ from the Bush administration in its approach towards Venezuela and Colombia. In an interview with the U.S. Spanish-language television network Univision, Obama fired an unprovoked opening salvo across the bow of Venezuela’s President Hugo Chávez that will likely ensure a continuation of the verbal sparring that has marked relations between the Bush administration and the Venezuelan government. Not surprisingly, Secretary of State Hilary Clinton echoed her future boss’s view of Chávez in her confirmation hearings. Meanwhile, the new House majority leader, Democratic Congressman Steny Hoyer, lauded the achievements of Colombia’s President Uribe and, along with leading Democrat Charles Rangel, endorsed the U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement.

In his interview with Univision, Obama alleged that Chávez had “been a force that has interrupted progress in the region.” Given that neoliberalism is the dominant trend in the region that Chávez’s policies have challenged and thwarted, one can only assume that the spread of free market capitalism is what Obama meant by “progress.” Obama professed his support for free trade during the final presidential debate, despite the fact that the neoliberal model has been rejected by tens of millions of Latin Americans who remain mired in poverty while multinational corporations and the region’s elites become richer. In the Univision interview, the president-elect also went on to suggest that “Venezuela is exporting terrorist activities” by supporting the Colombia’s Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).

Obama’s remarks closely mirror the positions held by the Bush administration over the past eight years regarding the Venezuelan leader, thereby suggesting that the ideological battle between Washington and Chávez’s socialist government is likely to continue. The president-elect’s comments were particularly troubling given that they were unprovoked. In fact, Chávez has repeatedly verbalized his hopes that ties between the two countries would improve once Obama moved into the White House.

(click here to view entire article)

Tuesday 27 January 2009

10 Years of Venezuela’s Bolivarian Revolution (Movimientos/London/5/2/09)

MOVIMIENTOS @ The Salmon & Compass
Thursday 5th February

10 Years of Venezuela’s Bolivarian revolution, speakers and discussion + special guest DJs

::: Upstairs

> 7.30pm - Documentary: Puedo Hablar?
"¿Puedo Hablar? / May I Speak?" follows both candidates in the December 2006 Venezuelan elections. The film offers its audience a snapshot portrait of a Venezuelan society at a crossroads; a re-elected president, challenged by a reformed and mounting opposition; a valuable starting block for any debate on current Venezuelan politics. The production team of four journeyed to six different regions of Venezuela, shooting everywhere from the notorious barrios of Caracas to the oil-rich Lake Maracaibo, from a city of five million to an Amazonian pueblo of twenty-three, criss-crossing the country in everything from Chavista motocicletas to dug-out canoes and a private jet.
http://www.sol-productions.org/Sol%20Productions%20In%20Venezuela.htm

> 9.00pm - Panel Discussion
Speakers including Jorge Martin from Hands Off Venezuela (HOV) and Matt Willgress from the Venezuela Information Centre (VIC) discuss 10 Years of Hugo Chavez’s Bolivarian government, the challenges it faces and the way it has been covered in the UK media.
Chaired by Pablo Navarrete (Red Pepper Latin America editor/Movimientos)

> 9.30pm
Exclusive music video screenings from Venezuela’s music scene courtesy of AVILA TV


::: & Music downstairs with Movimientos' resident DJs + special guest from Brazil

Salmon and Compass, 58 Penton Street Angel, N1

7pm-2am / £3 / Donations before 9pm

More info:
www.movimientos.org.uk
www.facebook.com/home.php?#/event.php?eid=46268877933
www.myspace.com/movimientos

Wednesday 21 January 2009

Why Obama Should Meet With Hugo Chavez

[Regardless of what one thinks of Chávez's politics-love him or hate him---it should be obvious that Obama could score an easy political victory by initiating a détente.]

Why Obama Should Meet With Hugo Chavez

Monday 19 January 2009

Chavez: “Obama Is Confusing Me with Bush”


[Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said his country is open to unconditional talks with the new U.S. president, but rejected comments Barack Obama made in a television interview this week.]

Chavez: “Obama Is Confusing Me with Bush”

Did Venezuela's Opposition Meet with US Officials in Puerto Rico?

[Even by Venezuelan standards, the story seemed implausible. On January 9, a young reporter Pedro Carvajalino, from community television station Ávila TV, filmed four leading figures of Venezuela's right-wing opposition returning from Puerto Rico. They had just arrived by private jet from the U.S. territory, where they had purportedly met with representatives of the U.S. Department of State.]

Did Venezuela's Opposition Meet with US Officials in Puerto Rico?

January 14th 2009, by Miguel Tinker Salas - NACLA

Even by Venezuelan standards, the story seemed implausible. On January 9, a young reporter Pedro Carvajalino, from community television station Ávila TV, filmed four leading figures of Venezuela's right-wing opposition returning from Puerto Rico. They had just arrived by private jet from the U.S. territory, where they had purportedly met with representatives of the U.S. Department of State.

According to emails obtained by the reporter, officials held the meeting to plan strategy and secure funding aimed at defeating a proposed amendment to the Venezuelan constitution that would allow elected officials, including President Hugo Chávez, to seek reelection.

The story first broke on Venezolana de Televisión (VTV), a government television channel. The brewing scandal has quickly become a centerpiece of a debate over U.S. interference in the internal affairs of the country as it prepares to vote on the re-election referendum in February.

(click here to view entire article; click here to view the BoRev blog's take on this.)





Friday 16 January 2009

Chavez Turns Into Palestinian Hero

[Venezuelan flags and portraits of President Hugo Chavez have been flying high during protests in the West Bank against Israel's assault on the Gaza Strip.]

Chavez Turns Into Palestinian Hero



Wednesday 14 January 2009

Venezuela: Socialism, Democracy and the Re-election of Hugo Chavez

[On February 15, 2009, Venezuelan voters will go to the polls in order to vote on a constitutional referendum, which would allow for the indefinite re-election of the President. The vote on the constitutional amendment has raised fundamental questions about the relation between electoral politics and democracy. ]

Venezuela: Socialism, Democracy and the Re-election of Hugo Chavez

Monday 12 January 2009

Book launch for "The Real Venezuela", London (Wednesday, 14 January)


Wednesday, 14 January 2009, 7:30pm - 10:00pm

Hands Off Venezuela and Pluto Books invite you to the book launch of "The Real Venezuela" by Iain Bruce, a British journalist and film-maker who has worked extensively in Latin America, at Bolivar Hall, 54 Grafton Way, London W1T 5DL on Wednesday January 14th at 7.30pm, free entry. The author will be presenting his book, with additional speakers to be confirmed.

Iain Bruce has made documentaries for Channel Four and the BBC and has worked as a BBC correspondent in Brazil and in Venezuela. He is currently an adviser at Telesur, the Latin American news channel based in Caracas. His previous book for Pluto, The Porto Alegre Alternative, looked at experiences of direct democracy in Brazil.

The Real Venezuela aims to grasp the significance of the political changes underway in Venezuela, by listening to the stories of the ordinary Venezuelans most directly affected. The book focuses on developments since the August 2004 referendum – the period described by President Hugo Chavez as “the revolution within the revolution”, intended to prepare the way for “a socialism of the 21st century”.

(click here for more information)



New Battle for Indefinite Reelection

[Venezuela is heading for another electoral battle, after President Hugo Chávez kicked off 2009 by putting forward a new proposal to reform the constitution so that all elected officials may be indefinitely reelected.]

VENEZUELA: New Battle for Indefinite Reelection

January 9th 2009, by
Humberto Márquez - IPS

Venezuela is heading for another electoral battle, after President Hugo Chávez kicked off 2009 by putting forward a new proposal to reform the constitution so that all elected officials may be indefinitely reelected.

In December, Chávez proposed a draft amendment to the 1999 constitution that he promoted, but the aim then was to allow only the Venezuelan president to stand for indefinite reelection.

After the Christmas and New Year break, the president and his United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) changed tack and proposed that at least five articles be amended, so that "the right to run for office without restrictions is extended to governors, mayors, and (national and regional) legislators," Chávez said.

"I think this strengthens the (amendment proposal). It is an extension of the right of the people to elect without restrictions and to nominate whomever they want. It's the theory of good governance: if a governor is doing a good job, the people have the right to reelect him as many times as they like," Chávez said at a televised PSUV meeting.

After becoming president in 1999, Chávez renewed his mandate under the new constitution in 2000, and was reelected in 2006 for another six-year term, which expires in January 2013 according to present law.

But in late 2008 the president posed "the need to continue at the helm at least until 2019. After that, God and the people will decide," he said.

"There will be a battle between the government and the opposition to see which side appeals most strongly to the democratic values of the people," analyst Oscar Schémel, the head of the Hinterlaces polling firm, told IPS.

(click here to view entire article)

Saturday 10 January 2009

Venezuela's ALBA in the face of the Global Economic Crisis


[As neoliberalism reveals its fissures and weaknesses, ALBA may be gaining ideological legitimacy as an alternative for poorer Latin American states facing these failures of neoliberalism (past and present). The question remains, however, of how ALBA will gain institutional legitimacy in this economic storm.]

Venezuela's ALBA in the face of the Global Economic Crisis

Friday 9 January 2009

Times have changed in U.S.-Venezuela relations

[To get an idea of why the U.S. foreign policy establishment despises the Venezuelan government of Hugo Chavez, it helps to understand the geopolitical role that U.S. national security managers had in mind for Venezuela prior to Chavez's rise.]

Times have changed in U.S.-Venezuela relations

January 8, 2008, by Justin Delacour - Latin America News Review

To get an idea of why the U.S. foreign policy establishment despises the Venezuelan government of Hugo Chavez, it helps to understand the geopolitical role that U.S. national security managers had in mind for Venezuela prior to Chavez's rise.

In the lead-up to the first Gulf War of 1991, the elder President Bush praised the Venezuelan government of Carlos Andrés Pérez for deciding to increase its oil production in the face of an oil cutoff from Iraq and Kuwait.

On December 8, 1990, ABC's World News Tonight with Peter Jennings aired a telling quote from Melvin Conant, a leading analyst of the geopolitics of energy:

"We can change the geopolitics of oil by sending a signal to the Middle East that in the great oil reserves of Venezuela there are simply enormous sources of oil which could significantly reduce our own dependence upon the Middle East."

Of course, the rise of Chavez would throw a wrench in the plans of the U.S. foreign policy establishment.

(click here to view entire article)

Financing Venezuela’s Communal Councils

[The survival of the community councils depends on their ability to implement meaningful development projects and thereby inspire participation. The embedding of funding in law independent of hydrocarbons revenues is therefore made especially important given declining oil money, which make further ad hoc transfers less likely and shrink existing council income.]

Financing Venezuela’s Communal Councils

Wednesday 7 January 2009

Obama May Use Chavez as Test for Talking With Foes

[Venezuela may provide a useful first test for Obama’s pledge to engage rather than isolate antagonists. While President Hugo Chavez is one of Washington’s noisiest critics, frayed relations would likely be easier to mend than those with nations such as Iran and Cuba, whose leaders are even more hostile toward the U.S.]

Obama May Use Chavez as Test for Talking With Foes

January 6th, 2009, by Indira A.R. Lakshmana - Bloomberg

In a mirrored office tower overlooking Caracas, a top Venezuelan official says his government is ready to accept Barack Obama’s offer to talk with U.S. adversaries -- if the president-elect scraps George W. Bush’s division of the world into friends and foes.

Such categories are “simplistic,” says Bernardo Alvarez, Venezuela’s former envoy to Washington. “Why do nations have to be friends? What we have to do is sit down and discuss issues.”

Venezuela may provide a useful first test for Obama’s pledge to engage rather than isolate antagonists. While President Hugo Chavez is one of Washington’s noisiest critics, frayed relations would likely be easier to mend than those with nations such as Iran and Cuba, whose leaders are even more hostile toward the U.S.

Still, “Obama needs to be cautious” given Chavez’s inconsistent record on democracy, says Elsa Cardozo, an international-relations scholar at the Metropolitan University of Caracas. The 54-year-old former lieutenant colonel has allowed open elections and an opposition press while consolidating power over the government and selectively persecuting political rivals.
“Expect an indirect and gradual approach” that might serve as a template for normalizing relations with other countries run by long-serving charismatic leaders who’ve consolidated power, she says.

Mutual Interest

Some Obama advisers privately suggest the president-elect might reach out to Chavez, proposing cooperation on a few issues of mutual interest -- drug enforcement, energy, poverty -- while asking Brazil and other neighbors to encourage the Venezuelan leader to negotiate in good faith in the interest of regional harmony.

(click here to view entire article)

Then and now, Venezuela and Cuba, 1960-2008

[ Watching Hugo Chavez orate on Venezuelan television rings old memory bells. “Socialism. Revolution, Patria.” Words I heard in 1960-61 in Cuba.]

Then and now, Venezuela and Cuba, 1960-2008

Tuesday 6 January 2009

More Than 100 Latin America Experts Question Human Rights Watch's Venezuela Report

[ In an open letter to the Board of Directors of Human Rights Watch, over 100 experts on Latin America criticized the organization's recent report on Venezuela, A Decade Under Chávez: Political Intolerance and Lost Opportunities for Advancing Human Rights in Venezuela, saying that it "does not meet even the most minimal standards of scholarship, impartiality, accuracy, or credibility." The signers include leading academic specialists from universities in the United States, including Harvard, Johns Hopkins, and a number of state universities, and academic institutions in Argentina, Australia, Brazil, México, the U.K., Venezuela and other countries.]

More Than 100 Latin America Experts Question Human Rights Watch’s Venezuela Report

Hugo Chavez, the FARC Laptops, and the Non-Existent Emails

[While UK and US government officials, NGOs and media outlets rushed to comment on alleged emails showing extensive collaboration between the leadership of the FARC rebel group and representatives of the Venezuelan president, Hugo Chavez, they have shown a reluctance to comment on the the fact that according to the Colombian government-appointed investigator, Captain Ronald Coy, no emails ever existed.]

Hugo Chavez, the FARC Laptops, and the Non-Existent Emails



Monday 5 January 2009

Oil Prices and Venezuela's Economy

[This paper looks at Venezuela’s export revenue, imports, and trade and current account balances under a range of oil price outcomes for the next two years. It finds that Venezuela would run large current account surpluses for prices between $60-90 per barrel, and would even run a small surplus with prices at $50 per barrel. (Most oil industry estimates for the next two years are in the range of $80-90 per barrel). The authors conclude that Venezuela is unlikely to run into foreign exchange constraints in the foreseeable future, and can pursue expansionary fiscal policies to counter any economic downturn.]

Oil Prices and Venezuela's Economy

November 2008, by Mark Weisbrot and Rebecca Ray - CEPR

(click here to view entire report; click here to view entire report in Spanish)