ENGLISH EDITION/The artillery of ideas INTERNATIONALFriday, February 28, 2014 | Nº 193 | Caracas | www.correodelorinoco.gob.ve

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro held a “National Peace Conference” as a means of resolving the on-going violent opposition protests in Venezuela. The opposition has made a set of “demands” for dialogue to begin. Protests began two weeks ago after op-position leader Leopoldo Lopez called supporters onto the streets to force the “exit” of President Nicolas Maduro. Some opposition marches have been peaceful, and have in-corporated complaints over shortages, inflation and high crime. An extremist sector of the opposition has engaged in a strategy of street blockades and nightly riots in an attempt to undermine the government. Page 4

Venezuelans clamor for peaceThousands of Venezuelans took to the streets last weekend to demand peace in the face of violent anti-government protests that have taken place in a handful of cities since February 12. In the capital Caracas, a march spearheaded by women took its pacifist message to the presidential palace of Miraflores on Saturday where President Nicolas Maduro addressed the multitudes opposed to the violence. Page 2

Politics

Venezuela names new ambassadorto United States

Despite recent tit for tat expulsions of diplomats, Maduro pledged to improve ties with Washington. Page 3

Economy

Transport servicesto expand

Two new public bus services began in Greater Caracas to modernize the system.Page 5

Social Justice

Volunteers cleanup from protests

Hundreds took to the streets to clean garbage and debris left by opposition demonstrations. Page 6

Maduro Promotes Peace Conference to Resolve Differences

Solidarity:

Nobel Peace winner supports Venezuela’s democracy Page 7

Opinion

True colors of oppositionstudent movement Page 8

Venezuelan President appeals for peace among all sectors

T/ AVN

President Nicolas Ma-duro appealed to all

citizens for peace and non violence as the way for Venezuelans to reunite and move forward.

“On behalf of parents, grandparents, children, on behalf of the ideal of our liberators, I appeal to ev-erybody for peace. I pray for peace and not violence. Violence is not the way to help Venezuela”, said Ma-duro in the national peace conference, carried out Wednesday night.

At Miraflores Presiden-tial Palace, in Caracas, the President remarked the need of having a method to work for a great peace sum-mit, aimed at eliminating violence in the country.

“This is the path. There is not other”, Maduro stressed in the conference attended by politicians, students, artists, private business owners and media representatives. Opposi-tion leadership, responsible for violent protests over the past two weeks, boycotted the peace forum.

Still, the Venezuelan Pres-ident invited them to partici-pate. “This call is based on dialog and respect, for that reason we have opened the house for the utmost sincere and tolerant discourse”.

Maduro said as well that he would propose a truth commission to investigate violent actions that have taken place over the last days.

People’s participation is the major goal of the na-tional peace conference, underscored the Venezu-elan head of state.

“This may not become a dialog between parties. It has to be a discourse of society... Let’s take our so-ciety out of violence and uplift it”.

Government to Ensure Food Supply

The Venezuelan National As-sembly (AN) just approved the use of 12,119,972,500 bolivares ($1,923,800), to purchase food supply imports that will assist in the implementation of the Special Food Supply Provisions, to stock poultry, beef, powdered milk and other foods, during the current 2014 fiscal year.

During a press release, Rep-resentative Ricardo Sanguino, explained that such measures aim at addressing the current economic war waged against the Venezuelan people, which has caused food supply hoard-ing and prices speculation. The

Institution for Agricultural Ser-vices and Food Supply Provision will be granted the funding.

The delivery of mentioned imported goods will be car-ried out as follows: A weekly ship transport containing 174,250 tons of food cargo will arrive during the first quarter

of the established period; ev-ery ten days, also during the first quarter, 124,000 tons of goods will also be delivered, and a ship transport carry-ing 156,000 tons in goods, will also deliver the cargo every fourteen days during a time-period of two quarters.

The artillery of ideas2 Impact | Friday, February 28, 2014

T/ COIP/ Presidential Press

Thousands of Venezuelans took to the streets last weekend to demand peace

in the face of violent anti-gov-ernment protests that have taken place in a handful of cit-ies since February 12.

In the capital Caracas, a march spearheaded by women took its pacifist message to the presiden-tial palace of Miraflores on Sat-urday where President Nicolas Maduro addressed the multi-tudes opposed to the violence.

“Long live Venezuelan women! The women of the homeland!” exclaimed the head of state upon receiving the demonstrators.

“Greetings to the women who are mothers, daughters, workers, students, teachers, singers, musicians, and ath-letes”, he declared.

The march began at Morelos Square in the sector Bellas Artes and included the participation of professionals, farmers, house-wives, and cultural workers.

Andreina Tarazon, Venezue-lan Minister for Women’s Affairs and Gender Equality alongside Defense Minister Carmen Me-lendez led the mobilization.

Venezuelan Congresswoman Blanca Eekhout, also in atten-dance, referred to the revolu-tionary women of the country as “unyielding” and “impla-cable” in the face of anti-dem-ocratic protests in the South American nation.

“We know who we’re up against and it’s not a sur-

prise. We need to be unified with confidence and our values because we have a democracy”, Eekhout declared.

Saturday’s demonstration has been one of the many public con-demnations of the violence that has been unleashed by extrem-ist elements of the opposition.

13 people have been killed and more than 100 wounded since February 12.

President Maduro has blamed right-wing political leaders for instigating the lawlessness, accusing the Venezuelan opposition of pro-moting a coup d’etat to bring down his government.

While the international me-dia has portrayed the unrest as widespread in the country, members of the United Social-ist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) have been quick to point out that the protests have occurred in a mere 5 percent of the na-tion’s municipalities.

Defense Minister Carmen Melendez assured during the march that the guarimbas, or street violence, being employed by the opposition are being dealt with effectively by the na-tion’s security forces.

“We have everything under control. The people need to trust the armed forces. We are protecting the people, the youth, and the children. We’re fight-ing for peace and for all Venezu-elans”, Melendez affirmed.

SENIORS FOR PEACEOn Sunday, a similar march

led by seniors made its way to the presidential palace to back the socialist government and express its support for the Ma-duro administration’s efforts to restore calm in the focal points of violence.

Cesar Sanchez, a member of the government’s Greater Love social program which provides economic benefits to

seniors, spoke of the improved the quality of life that the el-derly currently enjoy in Ven-ezuela as well as the socialist initiatives designed to promote values of peace.

“We are giving our com-plete backing to the call for peace that you (President Ma-duro) have made and that you have been making through the Movement for Peace and Life. You have been demon-strating to the world and the Yankee empire that we Ven-ezuelans want peace and not war”, Sanchez said.

Through dance and music, the elderly celebrated the Bo-livarian Revolution which has incorporated 76 percent of the nation’s seniors into the social security system.

The program Greater Love, founded in 2011 by former Presi-dent Hugo Chavez has provided impoverished men over the age of 60 and women over 55 with the

Venezuelans clamor for peace amidst violent protests

right to a government guaran-teed pension.

“You seniors represent the experience of the entire home-land. You represent its oral culture. You remember the 20th century and you see how Venezuela rose up. Today we have a homeland that belongs to all Venezuelans”, President Maduro told the crowd.

BIKERS AGAINST VIOLENCEThe anti-violence demonstra-

tions continued on Monday with a caravan of motorcyclists in Caracas.

Thousands of bikers took to the streets of the capital, ar-riving at Miraflores to join the masses over the weekend who have pledged loyalty to the gov-ernment’s calls for peace.

“We are going to unite to form a single movement for peace and for life”, President Maduro said to the group.

Bikers have become a favorite target of opposition protestors who have attempted to link the motorcyclists to extremists ele-ments of the Venezuelan left.

Last week, two motorcyclists were killed by traps set by op-position protestors, including one rider who was decapitated by a wire strung across a major avenue in the capital.

The tactic was disseminated by former Venezuelan General Angel Vivas via his Twitter account along with other in-structions on how to manu-facture makeshift weapons for violent protests.

Vivas has been engaged in an armed standoff with au-thorities since the government issued a warrant for his arrest on Sunday.

During the demonstration on Monday, President Maduro urged the nation’s bikers to or-ganize themselves and to aid community efforts for greater security in the nation.

“Become a collective orga-nization for the community... I want you to become protectors of the peace”, the former union leader asserted.

Maduro also accused the protestors of being responsible for the deaths of 30 people who, apart from being killed in dem-onstrations, have died as a re-sult of blocked roads.

“We have counted 30 fellow Venezuelans who have died of health issues which would have been attended to if not for prob-lems [in the streets]. This is enough!”, the head of state said.

“We are not going to tire of making peace but [the protes-tors] are going to tire sooner rather than later and they will be neutralized by their own com-munities”, Maduro affirmed.

The artillery of ideasFriday, February 28, 2014 | Politics 3

T/ COIP/ Agencies

Washington expelled three Venezuelan diplomats on

Tuesday in response to a sim-ilar move made by Caracas last week.

Envoys Igancio Cajal, Vic-tor Pisani, and Marcos Garcia were given 48 hours to leave the country after being declared personae non gratae.

The expulsions of the Venezu-elans came on the same day that Foreign Minister Elias Jaua named Maximilian Arvelaez as President Nicolas Maduro’s proposal to head Venezuela’s embassy in the United States.

Venezuela has not had an ambassador in the United

States since Bernardo Al-varez was expelled from the country in 2010.

The expulsion of Alvarez came in response to the Ven-ezuelan government’s rejection of Larry Palmer as the US pro-posed ambassador following a number of derogatory remarks made by the diplomat regarding the South American nation.

On Monday, President Ma-duro expressed his desire to begin normalizing relations with the United States - the naming of a new ambassador being the first step.

Arvelaez will be charged, Maduro said, with “strength-ening our embassy and the ca-pacity for dialogue with the so-ciety of the United States. US

society should know the truth about Venezuela because [the people] believe that we are kill-ing, that we can’t even walk to the corner and that the US should intervene militarily in Venezuela. This is craziness”.

During a meeting with gover-nors Monday evening, Maduro reached out to Venezuela’s con-servative opposition to assist in the reparation of relations with the United States.

“I invite the opposition to join me in this. Is the opposition able to accompany me in a respect-ful dialogue for peace with the United States?” he asked.

The head of state reiterated that while he desires to see an improvement in US-Vene-zuelan relations, he will not except foreign meddling in his country.

Maduro singled out declara-tions from the US State depart-ment which have demanded the

release of various Venezuelans implicated in a wave of violent protests in the country.

“Is the US government the Venezuelan judiciary? Does it

have the power to decide who is guilty and who should be free? Not now and not ever will we lie down in front of any em-pire”, Maduro said.

US expels 3 diplomats as Venezuela proposes new Ambassador

T/ COIP/ Presidential Press

Calling for dialogue be-tween the government and opposition leaders,

Venezuelan President Nico-las Maduro met with gover-nors and mayors of the South American nation last Mon-day for an extraordinary ses-sion of the country’s Federal Council.

The meeting was called, in addition to administrative reasons, in order to promote understanding in the midst of violent protests that have gripped a number of cities in the OPEC state.

Henrique Capriles, Gover-nor of Miranda state and the most visible leader of the Ven-ezuelan opposition, refused to attend the encounter.

During the session, Presi-dent Maduro appealed to all sectors of Venezuelan society to attend the government’s National Peace Conference, held on Wednesday, and ex-horted the country’s differ-ent political factions to work together to end violence in the country.

“It is the time for peace, for en-counters, for a new culture of co-existence and tolerance. I firmly believe that it’s time and that we will achieve it”, Maduro stated.

President Maduro calls for dialogue, truth regarding protests

Referring to the violence pro-moted by right-wing protestors in certain focal points around the country as an attempted coup d’etat, the Venezuelan head of state highlighted the economic motivations under-pinning the violence.

The former union leader pointed out that the protests began shortly after the govern-ment passed the Law of Fair Prices which seeks to limit usurious business practices, corruption in the exchange of basic goods, and speculation in the private market.

A major component of the new law has been the fight against contraband, which has been responsible for the loss of more than 30 percent of Venezuelan food production.

Maduro underscored the fact that vast networks of mafias and unscrupulous business owners have partici-pated in the highly lucrative smuggling as price-controlled Venezuelan products are sold for many times their value in Colombia.

“The coup was decided when I went up against the contraband in [the border states of] Tachira and Zulia”, he affirmed.

TRUTH COMMISSIONAs part of his government’s

call for dialogue, the Venezu-elan President reiterated his support for a truth commission to be formed in order to inves-tigate the crimes which have been associated with the cur-rent violence.

At least 13 people have been killed as a result of the protests while more than 100 citizens have been injured.

Maduro assured that the truth behind the violence will come out and that any gov-ernment officials involved in crimes against protestors will be brought to justice.

Venezuela’s Attorney Gen-eral Luisa Ortega reported on Monday that three mem-bers of the country’s police intelligence unit (SEBIN) have been charged for ac-tions related to the death of two protestors on February 12, one of whom was a gov-ernment supporter.

Similarly, the Venezuelan head of state demanded jus-tice for those who have been

killed by traps set by opposi-tion traps designed to maim motorcyclists.

“I want a commission that is truly transparent and which tells the country the truth regarding the people who have been murdered in this attempted coup d’etat. I chal-lenge the opposition to join this truth commission and not run from their responsibility. That’s why I’m asking for the support for this proposal from the entire country”, Maduro declared on Monday.

The 51 year-old further criticized reports of repres-sion by the country’s Na-tional Guard, defending the state’s security body as hav-ing exercised remarkable re-straint in the face of violent provocations.

“If it weren’t for the National Guard, we wouldn’t have the peace that we have in 90 percent of the national territory. They have been upholding peace with great patience as they lis-ten to insults from these violent groups”, he said.

Maduro also emphasized that the any members of the Venezuelan opposition who wish to carry out peaceful protests will be guaranteed the constitutional right to do so without question.

“If you (the opposition) want to have daily marches for whatever reason you want, go ahead. But in peace and with-out violence, without destroy-ing public buildings, without attacking security forces, and without provoking injury or death”, the Venezuelan Presi-dent stated.

The artillery of ideas4 Politics | Friday, February 28, 2014

T/ Ewan Robertsonwww.venezuelanalysis.comP/ Presidential Press

Venezuelan President Ni-colas Maduro has called for a “National Peace

Conference” as a means of re-solving the on-going violent opposition protests in Ven-ezuela. The opposition has made a set of “demands” for dialogue to begin.

Protests began two weeks ago after opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez called support-ers onto the streets to force the “exit” of President Nicolas Maduro. Lopez is currently in custody and being investigated for inciting violent acts.

Some opposition marches have been peaceful, and have incorporated complaints over shortages, inflation and high crime. Meanwhile, an extrem-ist sector of the opposition has engaged in a strategy of street blockades and nightly riots in an attempt to undermine the government.

Last Saturday during a large “march for peace” in Caracas, Maduro suggested that a “National Peace Confer-ence” incorporating “all the social and political sectors of the country” could create the dialogue necessary to resolve the situation.

“It will be a conference for peace. We’ve got to neutralize these violent groups”, he said. The Venezuelan President sug-gested this conference could be held over several meetings with representatives from dif-ferent social sectors such as workers, students, and artists and intellectuals.

The government blames far-right groups within the opposition for the violence in the country, and points to the killing of several civilians on street barricades, rioting, and attacks on government infrastructure as evidence of this. President Maduro ar-gues that these actions are part of a “coup attempt” being orchestrated by the conserva-tive opposition.

The opposition rejects the allegation, and says the gov-ernment and radical chavistas are responsible for repressing “peaceful” protests and causing the deaths of several pro-oppo-sition students.

OPPOSITION STANCEHenrique Capriles made a

list of opposition “demands” to the government during a large opposition march in Caracas on Saturday. One of these was that all “students and youth” allegedly arrested during re-cent protests and violence be released, along with Leopoldo Lopez and Ivan Simonovis, a police captain convicted for his role in the killings during the April 2002 coup.

A second demand was “the ceasing of persecution, repres-sion, and so that exiles can re-turn to the country”, and the “disarmament of paramilitar-ies” that the opposition blames for the violence.

The Venezuelan government denies charges of repression, saying it is maintaining public order against riots and street barricades, while investigating any reported cases of abuses by officials. President Maduro has also publicly asked chavistas not to engage in violent acts.

Capriles on Saturday also made calls to violent opposition sectors to halt their actions, saying that they “make it easy for the government”. “What do you achieve closing yourselves in within your own street? It’s in the government’s interest that the protests are in Altami-ra [a wealthy area of Caracas] and not Catia [a working class area of Caracas]”.

He exhorted the opposition to have “the same agenda”,

and turn the protests into “the greatest social movement in Venezuela”. The opposition leader also made a series of criticisms of Nicolas Maduro, saying that he had an “empty discourse” and telling opposi-tion students not to let Maduro “mess them around”.

TELESUR INTERVIEWOn Sunday President Nico-

las Maduro gave an interview to television network Telesur, where he gave his impression of the situation in Venezuela.

“It’s not another conspiracy plan or another day of street barricades, it’s a developing state coup, decided in the circles of power in the United States, conjured with the business elites of Venezuela, and direct-ed and driven in the streets by a sector of the Venezuelan ex-treme right-wing”, he argued.

According to Maduro the al-leged plan to remove the gov-ernment from power was born before Hugo Chavez died in March last year, and was inten-sified with an “economic war” and “electricity sabotage”.

The president also referred to Henrique Capriles’ refusal to recognize Maduro’s narrow victory in the April 2013 presi-dential election, and the eleven pro-government civilians who were then killed after Capriles called on supporters to “drain their rage”.

In his interview Maduro said a national and international

media campaign by the opposi-tion was currently being used to “annul” the state’s constitu-tional right to maintain public order and defend citizens under attack from violent groups.

He also said there are groups in Colombia financing the far-right’s activities in Venezuela in order to create a “civil war” and provoke “US intervention”. Maduro has previously accused former Colombian president Alvaro Uribe of involvement in the alleged plot.

Maduro cited a recent poll by private Venezuelan firm Inter-national Consulting Services (ICS), which found that 81% of Venezuelans consider that the protests in Venezuela “have been violent”. The poll was taken last week, with a sample of 1,400.

Also yesterday, journalist Jose Vicente Rangel revealed the results of another recent poll on attitudes to mechanisms for political change at Venezu-ela’s current juncture.

According to the poll, under-taken by private consultancy firm Hinterlaces with a sample of 1,400, only 29% of Venezu-elans feel that the government should be forced from office through street actions.

Meanwhile 29% feel a recall referendum on Maduro’s presi-dency should be organised in 2016, and 42% feel that Maduro should be allowed to serve out his full mandate uninterrupt-ed, until 2019.

President proposes “peace conference”to resolve opposition protests

As such, Vicente Rangel highlighted that 71% of the country feels that Venezuela’s political future should be decid-ed through the constitutional electoral process, and that only 29% support the government’s forced “exit” through street ac-tions. “The vote is [part of] Ven-ezuelan culture and the major-ity support stability and hope over chaos and uncertainty,” he argued.

BARRICADES & PROTESTS CONTINUE

The positioning of Venezuela’s political leaders occurred over a backdrop of ongoing protests and violent street blockades in some parts of Venezuela. Op-position protesters continue to meet in the up-market Chacao area of eastern Caracas.

At least 13 people have so far been killed in connection with the violence, according to a re-port by the Attorney General, Luisa Ortega Diaz, today. One of the most recent victims was student Geraldine Moreno, who was reportedly shot in the head with a pellet by a Na-tional Guardsman during a protest in Carabobo state. The scientific police investigation body (CICPC) are investigat-ing the incident.

Ortega Diaz also reported that more than 600 people have been arrested since the protests and barricades be-gan, of which more than 500 have been released on bail conditions within 24 hours of their arrest. Of the remain-ing, 45 have been held for lon-ger periods to be charged, and 5 were released after it was de-termined they had nothing to do with the clashes, she said.

Further, Maduro claimed today that thirty people with respiratory conditions have been killed as a result of op-position street barricades and the smoke created by the burning rubbish, tires and uprooted trees with which they are built.

A few cities, including parts of the capital Caracas, are currently affected by street barricades, which reduce the circulation of traffic and the normal functioning of urban zones. Several violent deaths have also occurred on the barricades.

In Merida city security forces and pro-government citizens have cleared many barricades, but barricaders have set them up again else-where. Barricaders have at-tacked National Guard forces trying to clear away the bar-ricades with rocks and Molo-tov cocktails.

The artillery of ideasFriday, February 28, 2014 | Economy 5

T/ AVNF/ Agencies

The Venezuelan government estimates it will begin a new

Popular Savings Fund in April, a way in which Venezuelans can invest in the main industry in the country, oil, explained the Vice President of the Council of Ministers for the Economy, Ra-fael Ramirez, on Monday.

Also President of the state oil company PDVSA, Ramirez said in a press conference that they are working hard to iden-tify investment opportunities for the people, either in exist-ing projects or plans for start-ing them in the future.

People may be able to invest in the joint venture oil production

Beginning next April Venezuelans mayinvest their funds in the oil industry

that Venezuela has established with several other companies, which always preserves a ma-jority stake within PDVSA.

That percentage of popular participation can range be-tween 10% and 20%, so that people can directly benefit from the production of the main re-source of the country.

”I think it’s a great opportu-nity”, he said, adding that it is a mechanism to encourage sav-ings in the country, protect the wages of workers and the econo-my can use the existing liquidity for activities that may reproduce work opportunities, economic development and the sustained growth of the nation.

People may also invest in infrastructure projects or in

companies that PDVSA in-tends to constitute for the transport of oil, gas, terminals and building services, gas in-jection, and other ventures.

The Minister of Petroleum and Mining also explained that with a relatively low amount of investment, inter-ested parties may purchase securities issued by the Fund and the money will be used for oil projects.

Thus, people have the right to dividends generated from oil production.

The Fund was created by de-cree in 2012 by President Hugo Chavez to make sure that the Venezuelan people have an ac-tive role within the nation’s main industry.

T/ Ewan RobertsonP/ Agencies

Over the previous week two new bus services have begun to function

in the Greater Caracas area, as part of the government’s policy of expanding and mod-ernizing Venezuela’s public transport system.

One of the services runs from Caracas to Ciudad Caribia So-cialista (Caribia Socialist City), an urbanization of some 12,000 people built under the govern-ment’s mass house construc-tion program. The second ser-vice functions in Los Teques, the capital of Miranda, the state adjacent to Caracas.

In total twelve new routes have been opened in urban zones recently, with three more to open in March. The routes use modern Yutong buses, which were acquired by the government through an agreement with China. Fares are kept to low, af-fordable rates, and the buses are equipped with disability ramps, among other features.

“Having finished the train-ing period for our staff, having the highest technology Chi-nese buses available, having set up the stops, and having

worked in coordination with organized communities…Bus Caribia is born”, announced transport minister Haiman El Troudi last Thursday.

The new service has been welcomed by residents in Ciu-dad Caribia and others that live along the route, who will be able to travel to Caracas city centre more easily for work and lei-sure. “This is a more organized system, like the metro-bus [in Caracas]. The buses are very

comfortable, they have air con-ditioning, they’re fast and fit a lot of people, so there are less queues. It’s a real advance”, said Lenin Medina, a local resident.

Ciudad Caribia was con-structed by the government as an example of the kind of inclu-sive city the Bolivarian revolu-tion is trying to create. The city has a range of social services and productive projects, and many residents participate in the city’s communal councils.

Venezuelan Government expands modern public transport services

Clara Valles, who lives in Ciu-dad Caribia, also praised the new bus service. “This is the first time that I’m going to use this new transport service, how-ever I see that those who will most benefit are disabled people, because the jeeps [previously used for transport] are more uncomfortable for these people”, she said to a local newspaper.

The Venezuelan government has greatly invested in improv-ing public transport in the coun-

try. It has extended bus, electric bus and metro services in many urban zones, including the capital Caracas. Further, sev-eral cable cars have been built to connect poorer, more isolated communities in both the capital and in the Andean region. All these new services are either free or have low fares.

Last Thursday the transport minister also criticized the re-cent riots by far-right groups in Venezuela. Rioters have delib-erately attacked the new buses as symbols of the government’s work, damaging over sixty met-ro-buses in central Caracas. The electric bus service in the city of Mérida has also been attacked.

Other public property dam-aged includes the ministry of transport, the attorney gen-eral’s office, and state-owned banks and supermarkets.

The violence comes after far-right opposition leader Leopol-do Lopez called for supporters to take to the streets to force President Nicolas Maduro’s “exit” from power. Lopez is cur-rently jailed and under investi-gation for inciting violent acts.

El Troudi stated the govern-ment’s response to the attacks would be to “create new trans-port systems”. “Keep attacking violent fascists, as we will keep expanding the public transport system throughout the capital city”, he said.

Meanwhile a new user of the Bus Caribia service comment-ed to press, “While the devil is on the loose destroying, we’re here building the nation, with buses for the wellbeing of our community and people”.

The artillery of ideas6 Social Justice | Friday, February 28, 2014

T/ Paul DobsonP/ Agencies

In response to the violence instigated by opposition pro-

testors, volunteers through-out Venezuela took to the streets this week in response, not with guns or other weap-ons, but rather with brooms and shovels. Their job was to to clean the burned trash and dismount the barricades placed by the anti-govern-ment protestors, which have restricted the free movement of thousands of citizens.

In numerous cities around the country, workers, activists, volunteers, motorcyclists, pub-lic officials, and even elected representatives joined forces in impressive operation of public cleaning in a peaceful, humani-tarian response to the chaos created by the violent protests.

Volunteers clean up after opposition protestors’ big mess

The cleanup operations not only took place in the 18 municipalities where violent protests against the govern-ment have occurred, but also in the other 318 municipalities where no violence protests have been reported.

Trash collection is, by law, the responsibility of the mayor of each municipality. However, in many municipalities con-trolled by right wing mayors, such services have failed in recent weeks, leaving an im-pressive accumulation of trash, bringing with it health prob-lems such as dengue and respi-ratory impediments.

This trash also proved to be an effective tool to create dis-order by those minority sec-tors seeking to oust President Maduro. Numerous highways and transit routes have been blocked off by burning trash

since the protests began, with opposition leaders calling for a “great blockade” of the streets on Monday.

The collective cleanup was received by most residents in affected communities as a re-sponse not just to the protests, but also to the failings of the opposition administrations in those communities. Some sus-pect that opposition mayors de-liberately let the trash build up as pre-planning for the protests.

The southeastern city of Ciudad Bolivar was one of the areas where the cleanup oper-ation was launched. In Ciudad Bolivar, a student from the Bo-livarian University of Venezu-ela who preferred not to give his name explained that “this minority group, this violent group wanted to disturb the peace in Ciudad Bolivar. What we want for Ciudad Bolivar is

T/ Tamara Pearsonwww.venezuelanalysis.com

A 34 year-old man, Jimmy Vargas, died on Monday

while he was involved in a violent street blockade. Some opposition leaders and media blamed the govern-ment, however video footage shows it was an accident. Dozens of other people have died this week as a result of the blockades.

Vargas died at the Camino Real residential area, in San Cristobal, Tachira state. Foot-age, sent to CNN shows that

Venezuelan Opposition & mediamanipulate tragic death

to say no to the violence, yes to peace, we are here cleaning the streets of the city because we love Ciudad Bolivar”.

He also appealed to the op-position residents of the sector, calling on them to “come out and help us clean the city”.

In the Andean city of Merida, which has seen some of the most widespread protests due to its influential and populous upper middle class population, more than 700 grassroots volunteers participated in the cleaning op-eration which began on Sunday.

With the assistance of public institutions such as PDVSA Oil Company, the Merida Tour-ism Corporation, and the state government, volunteers and conscientious citizens filled multiple trucks with trash, and dismantled barricades that have left the city intransitable for the last 2 weeks. On Sunday they opened the road leading to a major hospital which had been blocked off for days, leav-ing its patients short on medi-cal supplies and food.

On Las Americas Avenue the residents had also been held hostage by opposition bands which had sealed the entrances to the tower blocks and had closed off the avenue with firearms and threats until the cleaning operation arrived. Trash collection trucks hadn´t been able to enter the neighbor-hood for nearly 3 weeks due to the barricades placed by oppo-sition protestors.

In Carabobo State, motorcy-clists took charge of the clean-ing process, with more than 500 motorbikes participating. The Coordinator of the Bolivarian Motorized Forces of Carabobo, Gilberto Ceballos, explained that “instead of throwing stones (like the violent opposi-

tion groups are doing), we are here to work”.

Similarly, in Caracas, the mo-torized brigades sympathetic to the government participated in the cleaning of the streets and the opening of the major av-enues and roadways.

Numerous participants in the cleaning operations have drawn attention to the national constitution, which underlines the rights of all citizens to free transit of the national territory, to work, and to enjoy public spaces. The burning trash and barricades have restricted thou-sands of workers from getting to their place of work, as well as impeding children from getting to schools, religious believers to their churches, and even the sick and elderly accessing hospi-tals. At least 30 people lost their lives due to the delay of the am-bulances in getting to the hospi-tals because of the road blocks, according to public officials.

Volunteers, who were dressed in red in a sign of support for the government, were subjected to significant aggressions from opposition forces trying to un-dermine their work.

In Merida, the operation had to be accompanied by the Na-tional Guard and the police to protect the physical integrity of the workers, as in certain sec-tors they were confronted by bands throwing rocks, bottles, Molotov cocktails, and even firing live rounds of ammuni-tion from high rises in a show of opposition to the humanitar-ian efforts of the government to clean trash from the streets.

President Maduro has called on his supporters to inten-sify their workload in order to counter the hate and negativity of the opposition with construc-tive production and labor.

it was an accident. However, CNN and other news agen-cies also broadcast repeatedly footage of Vargas’ mother blaming the National Guard and President Nicolas Maduro for the death.

Carmen Gonzalez, the mother, stated, “Maduro and those around him killed [my son], they are the ones who killed him, they killed him, they are the ones who gave the orders for him to be killed, they are killing all of Venezuela... and I’m going to go out and fight for my son, my son died fighting for his

country, fighting for the free-dom of his country…”

On social networks the sto-ry was spread that Vargas had been hit by a rubber buckshot in his left eye, and other sto-ries claimed a tear gas canis-ter shot by the National Guard had hit him.

The newspaper El Nacional also blamed the government, headlining “Two deaths this Monday because of attacks by GNB [National Guard] and motorbike riders [government supporters] on protests”.

Similarly, The New York Times included a ¼ page full-color photo of Jimmy Vargas on a stretcher, with the caption, “Carmen Gonzalez, 58, cried over the body of her son, who was killed Monday in clashes with the police”.

However Vargas’ doctor, Luis Diaz, reported that he had suffered severe traumat-ic brain injury (TBI) after falling from the second floor of a building, the newspaper Ultimas Noticias reported.

Vargas’ sister, Jindry, told NTN24 that her brother fell from the second floor the building after the National Guard fired rubber buckshot and tear gas bombs at him, causing him to lose his bal-ance. In the video Jimmy Vargas tried to climb down on to a balcony ledge and he lost his balance on the ledge, out of line of shot of the Na-tional Guard.

Further, the opposition may-or of San Cristobal, Daniel Cebellos, told the public that Vargas had been murdered.

He tweeted on Monday night, “Since late night...the brutal attack of the GNB continues, more than 10 injuries (3 by bullet) and 1 youth of 34 years murdered”. He continued, “I call on the MUD [opposition coalition] that while they con-tinue to kill our people in the streets there’s no peace for the government. The dialogue they propose is one big lie”.

Tachira governor, Jose Vielma Mora responded, “A citizen who, may he rest in peace, fell from the second floor, he was in guarimba (violent disturbances), it seems he lost his balance... do you know what the mayor of San Cristobal did with a few people? They paraded him through the city... like a war trophy”.

The artillery of ideas Friday, February 28, 2014 | Solidarity 7

We deplore the wave of vio-lence from minority and

extremist sections of Ven-ezuela’s opposition, that left three dead, 60 injured and saw physical assaults on govern-ment institutions, including shots and Molotov cocktails attacks on the state TV chan-nel and a state governor’s residency. This followed a re-cently launched campaign by Venezuela’s extreme right for La Salida (the ousting) of the government of President Ma-duro before his constitutional mandate ends in 2019. La Sal-ida is led by extremist politi-

cians Leopoldo Lopez and Ma-ria Corina Machado, who were both implicated in the 2002 coup in Venezuela. This is not the first time that the sections of the opposition have sought to oust the elected government by unconstitutional means, having lost at the ballot box.

We believe that while people in Venezuela have the right to protest – and that the Ven-ezuelan constitution guaran-tees these and other democrat-ic rights – this must be done peacefully. There is no justifi-cation for violent opposition to the elected government in Ven-

ezuela. We strongly support the statement of the Union of South American Nations that violence to seek to overthrow the elect-ed, constitutional government is unacceptable. We join them in both condemning the wave of violence and in supporting calls for dialogue and peace.

Grahame Morris MP Chair, Labour Friends of Ven-ezuela, Colin Burgon Chair, Venezuela Solidarity Cam-paign, Ken Livingstone, Tariq Ali, Billy Hayes CWU, Peter Hain MP, Professor Doreen Massey, Linton Kwesi Johnson, Sandra White MSP (SNP), Ken

Loach, Professor Julia Bux-ton, John Pilger journalist & filmmaker Bruce Kent peace campaigner Dave Anderson MP Labour Michael Connarty MP Labour Richard Gott writ-er & journalist Andy De La Tour actor Paul Flynn MP La-bour Roger Godsiff MP La-bour Ian Lavery MP Labour Elfyn Llwyd MP Plaid Cymru John McDonnell MP Labour Chris Williamson MP Labour Mike Wood MP Labour Bar-oness Gibson APPG on Latin America Murad Qureshi Lon-don Assembly Member, La-bour Professor Julia Bux-ton academic & consultant Dr Francisco Dominguez Head of Centre for Brazilian and Latin American Studies, Middlesex University Tim Potter Barris-ter & Haldane Society

Public letter from prominent British voices: Violent protest will not help Venezuela

T/Adolfo Perez Esquivel,Nobel Peace Prize

Venezuela is threatened by coup attempts led by Latin American right-

wing factions, along with the US government. This coup attempt is not new, and there is no doubt of that. Member nations of CELAC, UNASUR, MERCOSUR and ALBA have issued joint statements ac-knowledging destabilization efforts against the Venezu-elan democracy, expressing solidarity and the need for dialogue.

Solidarity with the Venezu-elan people and its government is a major challenge for our continent. The intense violence which has caused deaths, inju-ries and property damage, is disturbing and unfortunate.

Former President Hugo Chavez won his last election by more than 10 %. Unfortu-nately, as he could not finish his term, new elections were held in the presence of inter-national observers and there was no doubt of the legitima-cy of the new president. Due to the fact that the majority of Venezuelans understand that their country has im-proved and is more egalitar-ian, Maduro won, and so did, once again, the Bolivarian project initiated by Chavez. For the very first time in his-tory, thanks to the Bolivar-ian process, Venezuela con-trols its own oil resources, which has been helpful in serving its own people and the continent, including the US when it suffered the af-termath of Katrina.

During the last decade the government increased social spending by more than 60.6 % and today Venezuela is the country with the lowest level of inequality in the region af-ter reducing it by 54%, as well as reducing the poverty level by 44%. Venezuela has the sec-ond ranking position in educa-tion amongst Latin America nations, and fifth in the world, with the highest rate of college enrollment. Its public health-care system includes 95,000 physicians and more than 13,721 clinics have been built in neighborhoods neglected by the government in previous

Nobel Peace Prize expresses solidaritywith Venezuela and President Maduro

decades. Under the Bolivarian process, the government has built more than 500,000 hous-es and it continues to finance sport incentives.

However, some factions of the opposition possessing coup intentions (not all) have not accepted their electoral defeat and try to reach vic-tory through violent methods. For the past ten months that he has held office, President Maduro has had to face per-manent aggressions that seek to overthrow him.

All aggression and violence towards Venezuela pose an attack on all the democratic governments of the region.

Such incident is not an iso-lated one, attempted coups are advancing with new methodolo-gies in Latin America. Failed coups have been carried out in Ecuador, Bolivia, Argentina and in Venezuela (in 2002), and other coup attempts have succeeded in Paraguay and Honduras, na-tions where US has expanded its military bases. International corporate media, including CNN, FOX and those in Europe manipulate and disseminate information promoting hateful and war-like propaganda posing as peace and freedom. Their job is to prove that they are neces-sary in the removal of any presi-dent in order to receive better

funding from the US State De-partment. In Latin America we already know they are political actors defending powerful pri-vate interests, while attempting brainwashing shamelessly.

We must learn from history, since the same events hap-pened during the 2002 failed coup, which is considered the first media-led coup d’état in history. This was shown in the documentary “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised”, which I recommend.

The peace process amongst individuals and nations is not a gift, it is something that must be reached dynamically through justice, truth and respect for human rights in a developing democracy.

The deaths of the students on the hands of henchmen must be investigated in order to carry out justice for the victims. On the other hand, support for the National Plan for Peace-ful Coexistence in Venezuela, launched by the government, has amassed great popular support seeking to build public peace, to fight crime, promot-ing the disarmament of the population and instead, arming consciences.

In his speech, Maduro ex-pressed it clearly: “He who wears a red shirt with Chavez’s face on it and pulls out a gun against a fellow Venezuelan, he is neither chavista nor revo-

lutionary, he’ll just go to jail”. Opposition leaders have not acted accordingly.

The media’s effort to de-nounce Venezuela as a dicta-torship is very shameful, con-sidering that Venezuela is the first nation within the region to establish and implement the system of a recall referen-dum midway the presidential term, in order to strengthen democracy. In fact, when this was done in 2004, Chavez won again, just as he did in 13 oth-er elections since 1998.

If one day the current gov-ernment loses an electoral process, it will accept its de-feat as it did during its second constitutional reform in 2007, but it will never lower one of its flags for no reason, simply because all Bolivarians, will continue working for a bet-ter homeland. The Bolivar-ian Revolution has always triumphed at the polls and the streets lawfully and demo-cratically, and it continues to do so, that’s why is so danger-ous for some and necessary for others.

This is why we stand in solidarity and support with the Venezuelan people and their government, to defend its democratic institutions as well as its social, economic and cultural policies which have been achieved through popular participation.

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

INTERNATIONAL Friday, February 28, 2014 | Nº 193 | Caracas | www.correodelorinoco.gob.ve

Opinion

T/ Alex Main - CEPR

On the night of February 22nd, a bizarre incident took place in the Venezuela

media-sphere. At around 4:00 pm Venezuela time, a number of the country’s private media out-lets posted a release from a pro-test group identified only as the “student movement”. The rheto-ric and tone of the statement matches the positions often ex-pressed by extreme rightwing factions within Venezuela’s op-position over the last 14 years. Venezuela, it alleges, is in the grip of Cuban communists:

“Foreign forces have laid a military siege on Venezuela. Their mercenaries attack us in a vile and savage manner. Their goal is to enslave us and be the masters of our existence, dis-honoring the flags that we have held up in the street and that we will defend with our lives.

We want our Freedom. To pro-tect it it’s vital to defend the Sov-ereignty of the Nation, expelling the Cuban communists that are here usurping the government and the Armed Forces”.

The release demands that “the usurper [Venezuelan president] Nicolas Maduro and all of his cabi-net be deposed” and states that the protests will continue until this and other demands are met. The statement also calls for defensive action against state security:

“The regime has declared war on any civilian who doesn’t ac-cept its marxist ideology. Our call is for defense: to not allow the invaders profane your street, your avenue, your property. Pre-vent their access so that they don’t shoot up your neighbor-hood, don’t destroy your proper-ties, don’t hurt your loved ones and, above all, so that they know that here there are battle-sea-soned Venezuelans, who won’t allow themselves to be enslaved through the use of force”.

The rhetoric found in this re-lease is reminiscent of the lan-guage used by the promoters of the “guarimba” protests in 2004 which – similarly to many of the protests that have been occur-ring in Venezuela over the last two weeks – involved protest-ers blocking major roads and

with bonfires and barricades and damaging public property. The explicit goal of the 2004 guarimba protests was to create enormous chaos in city streets thereby forcing the government to either step down or engage in mass repression. Or, in the words of Robert Alonso, the main promoter of the guarimba ten years ago:

“THE ONLY objective of “THE GUARIMBA” (…) is to create anar-chistic chaos on the national level with the help of all citizens and in the main cities of Venezuela, so as to force the CASTRO-COM-MUNIST regime of Venezuela to order “PLAN AVILA [a military contingency plan to enforce pub-lic order that was used during the 1989 Caracazo protests and that left thousands dead]”.

If mass repression occurred, the guarimberos believed that elements of the military op-posed to the “Castro-commu-nist” project would rebel and oust the government.

Needless to say, the terminology and goals of the students’ release probably doesn’t reflect the point of view of most Venezuelan oppo-sition supporters and it certainly doesn’t reinforce the common portrayal of the young protesters as peaceful and reasonable.

But then, as if by magic, the original release of the unnamed “students’ movement” was re-moved from many sites and in a few cases replaced with a much less polemical text. The early version of an El Nacional article on the student movement re-lease that contains the text of the original statement still remains online. Later that evening the editors quietly replaced the orig-inal statement with the second one, in an updated version of the same article. El Nacional, one of the largest newspapers in the country, and other outlets that made the switch, never in-formed their readers of having done so. Here’s a translation of a few key excerpts from the sec-ond release:

“[Venezuela’s] youth can’t stay silent in the face of the pro-found pain in all Venezuelans’ hearts resulting from the hate and division that is being sowed. Our consciences remain clear in protesting those who wish to establish violence, ignore the country’s most urgent problems and trample human rights.

The exacerbation of insecuri-ty, the deterioration of the qual-ity of life of Venezuelans, the economic crisis, the repression and criminalization of citizens’

protests cause us to raise our voices. We want reconciliation and respect for democratic prin-ciples and the Constitution.

(...) We dream of a Venezuela where inclusion, peace and pros-perity are possible”.

No more talk of “Cuban com-munists” that have taken over the government and army or of the need to remove the “usurp-er” Nicolás Maduro. Instead, we see a series of demands that, while based at times on highly questionable premises, appear to be more reasonable, e.g., “lib-erty for all of the detained young people, (…) the disarming of vio-lent groups, (…) the end of media censorship”.

However, one demand from the re-worked release is similar to the main demand of the origi-nal release: the second release calls for “the renovation and re-legitimizing of public pow-ers”. Though this language may seem innocuous at full glance, the basic meaning is clear: those in power are not legitimate and should be removed. In the most charitable interpretation, this can be read as a call for immedi-ate elections, despite the fact that Maduro was elected less than a year ago and that his popular le-gitimacy was reaffirmed in mu-

nicipal elections last December in which pro-government par-ties won the total vote by a ten-point margin.

It is also interesting to note that, unlike most recent youth protest movements like the 2011-2013 Chilean movement, the 2012 Quebec student pro-tests or even the U.S. Occupy Wall Street movement, the de-mands of the Venezuelan stu-dents who have taken to the streets focus neither on social justice issues nor on the gov-ernment’s education policies. It is telling that the University of Chile Student Federation which was instrumental in ending the Pinochet dictator-ship and played a key role in the 2011-2013 protests, released a statement which had the fol-lowing to say about the Vene-zuelan student movement:

“We reject any attempt at de-stabilization, hoarding of food and of coup-mongering that aims to bypass the sovereign decisions of the people of Ven-ezuela (…) Similarly, we don’t feel represented by the actions of Venezuelan student sectors that have taken the side of the defense of the old order and are opposed to the path that the peo-ple have defined”.

True colors of Venezuelan studentmovement apparent in Feb. 22nd releases