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6 THE JAPAN TIMES MONDAY, JULY 5, 2010 (3)

Venezuela independence day

Social investment shows progressSeiko IshikawaAMBASSADOR OF VENEZUELA

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On the occasion of the 199thAnniversary of the Indepen-dence of the Bolivarian Re-public of Venezuela and 200thAnniversary ofthe Declarationof our Indepen-dence, on be-half of our gov-ernment andpeople, I amhonored to con-vey our re-newed commitment to the con-tinued friendship betweenVenezuela and Japan and toextend my best wishes of hap-piness, health and prosperityto Their Imperial MajestiesEmperor Akihito and Em-press Michiko, to the Japa-nese government and its peo-ple. On this auspicious day, Iwould like to express our ap-preciation to The Japan Timesfor this opportunity to addressits distinguished readers.

April 19, 1810, marks the

beginning of the emancipa-tion process for the Venezue-lan independence revolution.On that day, during an ex-traordinary meeting of theCaracas town council, Vicen-te Emparan, the captain gen-eral, appointed by King Fer-nando VII of Spain as thehighest Spanish authority inthe province, was dismissedand a provisional govern-ment was established. Later,on July 5, 1811, this provision-al junta was ratified by all theprovinces that then com-posed the Captaincy Generalof Venezuela, giving birth toour republic.

Thus, 200 years ago a gen-eration of founders consoli-dated a national entity, builtinstitutions and sought recog-nition from the rest of theworld. That foundational in-tention and those ideals stillinspire us today and serve asthe basis to work for ourcountry and to contribute toits progress and welfare.

Today, we can witness the

consolidation of achieve-ments as a result of continu-ous social investment madeby the government of Presi-dent Hugo Chavez:B A May 2010 government re-port assessing Venezuela’sprogress toward meeting itsU.N. Millennium Develop-

ment Goals found that onmost indicators Venezuelahad reached its goals morethan five years ahead of the2015 deadline set by the inter-national community.B Both the levels of extremepoverty and poverty havefallen dramatically in Vene-zuela over the last decade.B In 1996, extreme povertystood at 42.5 percent. Sincethe inauguration of the gov-ernment of President Cha-vez, it has consistently fallen,reaching 7.2 percent in 2009.A similar trend can be seenwith the level of poverty,which dropped from 32.3 per-cent in 2002 to 21.3 percent in2009.B At the same time, inequali-ty in Venezuela has dimin-ished. In 2009, the country’sGini coefficient — a measureof inequality where beingcloser to zero implies moreeconomic equality — reached0.39, the lowest level in LatinAmerica the and lowest dur-ing President Chavez’s ten-ure.B Other indicators also showthe advances made in Vene-zuela. Unemployment at theend of 2009 stood at 7.5 per-cent, down from 16.8 percentin 2003. The level of undernu-trition in Venezuela fell from11 percent in 1990 to 6 percentin 2007, while the number ofchildren starting and finish-ing primary school was 5.6percent higher from 2000-2009than it was for the previousdecade. Similarly, nation-wide literacy rates rose al-most continuously from1999-2009, currently standingat 98.95 percent for men and98.34 percent for women.B Other advances have beenmade in the realm of genderequality. From 1994 to 2009,the index of parity in highereducation increased from .99to 1.46, indicating a higherproportion of women attend-ing institutions of higher

learning. Additionally, thepercentage of women em-ployed in nonfarm jobs hasincreased from 34.81 percentin 1990 to 41.96 percent in2009. Women are also playingmore significant roles in gov-ernment, representing 18percent of the country’s legis-lature, 31 percent of its judg-es and leading four of the fivebranches of government.B The social advances we seein Venezuela are the productof innovative social pro-grams and continuous and in-creasing social investment.What started as a small num-ber of programs in 2003 hasgrown to 26 today covering alarge range of social needs,including health, education,housing, job training, food se-curity, employment, legalidentity, gender equality and

land use.B With these programs, gov-ernment investment in socialdevelopment has increaseddramatically. While spend-ing on social programsamounted to 11.3 percent ofgross domestic product(GDP) in 1998, it reached 21.9percent in 2006 and settled at19.5 percent in 2008. The accu-mulated government invest-ment in social issues from1999 to 2009 stands at $330 bil-lion, five times the invest-ment made in the previousdecade and the equivalent ofmore than 60 percent of allnational revenues in thoseyears.

Venezuela’s advances insocial development havebeen recognized by variousinternational organizationsand agencies:

B According to a 2009 report,Venezuela rose four spots onthe U.N.’s Human Develop-ment Index over the course ofone year from 62 to 58 out of182 countries on the list — andhas jumped 10 spots over thelast decade. The ‘‘Social Pan-orama of Latin America2009’’ report, published by theU.N.’s Economic Commis-sion for Latin America(ECLAC), ranked Venezuelasecond in the region behindonly Argentina in terms of de-creases in poverty and indi-gence between 2002 and 2008.B The 2010 UNESCO Educa-tion for All Global MonitoringReport found that literacyrates in Venezuela rose from90 percent of the population inthe period 1985-1994 to over 95percent in the period2000-2007. The report alsonotes that the percentage ofVenezuelan people with ac-cess to pre-primary educa-tion rose from 45 percent in1999 to 62 percent in 2007 andthat the percentage of stu-dents finishing their primaryeducation jumped from 88percent in 1999 to 97 percentin 2006. More broadly, the re-port finds that Venezuelamade ‘‘significant reduc-tions’’ in its out-of-school pop-ulation from 1999 to 2007.B According to the 2010 WorldBank Human OpportunityReport for Latin Americaand the Caribbean, Venezue-la ranks among the best coun-tries in the region in terms ofthe availability and equitabledistribution of key social ser-vices like education andhousing.

In spite of the recent eco-nomic and financial situationin the world, we are honoredto witness the renewed com-mitments by Venezuela andJapan to further expand anddevelop the bilateral rela-tionship.

Last May, Japanese com-panies Mitsubishi Corp. andInpex Corp., part of a consor-tium led by U.S. oil companyChevron, signed contract

agreements with the Nation-al Oil Company PDVSA tostart the development of oilat the Carabobo Project inthe Orinoco Belt, consideredthe biggest oil reserve in theworld. These contracts willrequire investments of up to$30 billion and will providemuch needed energy securityto Japan. The U.S. GeologicalSurvey said last January thatthere is an estimated 513 bil-lion barrels of recoverableheavy oil in Venezuela’s Ori-noco Belt, the largest accu-mulation ever assessed bythe USGS.

In the following weeks, Mi-tsubishi Corp. and MitsubishiGas Chemical Co. will be inau-gurating METOR II, the ex-pansion project of the success-ful METOR plant in the east ofVenezuela, with investmentexceeding $500 million, dou-bling its production capacityof methanol to 1.5 million tonsand further adding value toour primary products.

We are expecting to furtherexpand our economic andfriendly exchange in areas ofinvestment, trade, coopera-tion and other sectors such aselectricity, environment, pet-rochemistry, communica-tions technology and financ-ing, in an ever-growing dy-namic relationship.

Despite the geographicaldistance that separates us,there are common interestsand links that unite our people.

Japan’s national soccerteam, Samurai Blue, per-formed well above expecta-tions during this World Cupand garnered the respect offans and admirers from everypart of the globe, includingthose in our country. Yet, Ja-pan resembles Venezuela inthe same passion we have forbaseball. In the 2010 season, arecord 58 Venezuelans joinedthe rosters of MLB teams, sec-ond only to the Dominican Re-public in terms of foreign-bornplayers in U.S. professionalbaseball. In Japan, along theCONTINUED ON PAGE 7

Venezuela’s hard-fought road to independence

On April 19, we celebrated thebicentennial of the Proclamationof Independence of Venezuela.This celebrationcommemorates a whole cycle oflengthy struggles and eventsthat resulted in a new republic:independent, sovereign andprosperous, guided by ideals ofequality, justice and socialorder.

This process started inCaracas on April 19, 1810,when a group of ‘‘criollo’’citizens organized a meeting atthe Town Hall to remove theacting captain general, VicenteEmparan, and then theyproclaimed the independence ofVenezuela and established anautonomous governing junta,due to the fact that Spanish King

Ferdinand VII had beendeposed and imprisoned byNapoleon.

Additionally, the Venezuelanjunta proceeded to encourageother South Americanmunicipalities to join theindependence movementinitiated in Caracas. Eightmonths later, the presence ofFrancisco de Miranda andSimon Bolivar was vital to thenext years’ events, especiallyon July 5, 1811, whenVenezuela became the firstprovince in Latin America todeclare itself as an independentrepublic.

Thus, the Patriotic Societydeclared the independence ofVenezuela on July 5, 1811, andwent on to sign the formal

Declaration of Independence.This event marked the

founding of the Republic ofVenezuela that was effectivelyconsolidated, after a long 13years of struggles and war, atthe Battle of Carabobo,commanded by Simon Bolivar,sealing, in this way, theindependence of Venezuela onJune 24, 1821.

After the victory atCarabobo, Simon Bolivarinitiated the ‘‘Campana delSur’’ (The Campaign to theSouth). The battles ofBombona, Pichincha, Juninand Ayacucho resoundedenthusiastically in theindependent-minded fervor ofColombia, Ecuador, Peru andthe newly created Bolivia.

Natural wonder: Canaima National Park is well-known for its flat-topped mountain formations known as ‘‘tepui,’’ which comesfrom a local indigenous language. EMBASSY OF VENEZUELA

President Hugo Chavez

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(3) THE JAPAN TIMES MONDAY, JULY 5, 2010 7

Venezuela independence day

Mutual cultural festivals bring nations closerMasateru ItoPRESIDENT, JAPAN-VENEZUELA

ASSOCIATION

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On behalf of the Japan-Vene-zuela Association, I extend mysincere congratulations to theg o v e r n m e n tand people ofthe BolivarianRepublic ofVenezuela onthe occasion ofthe memorablebicentennial ofthe Proclama-tion of Independence and the199th Anniversary of Indepen-dence.

Japan and Venezuelamaintain a traditionallyfriendly relationship and inrecent years there has been agrowing momentum by bothcountries to strengthen thebilateral relations further, asis shown by the decision of thegovernment of Venezuela toadopt the Japanese ISDB-Tsystem as the standard of dig-ital satellite broadcasting inOctober last year as well asby the acquisition of rights ofexploitation in the Orinoco oil

field by Japanese companiesfollowing the internationalbidding held at the beginningof this year. The acquisitionis of significant importancefor Japanese energy securityin diversifying its supplysources of crude oil as Japa-nese dependence on the Mid-dle East for supply reachesalmost 90 percent.

Our future relations lookpromising when we considerthat both Japan and Venezue-la have enormous potential toexpand the mutually comple-mentary economic relationssupported by Venezuela’srich energy and mineral re-sources and Japan’s technol-ogy and capital. It is also en-couraging that the mutual co-operation will promotetourism between the twocountries. Venezuela has adiverse geography and hasmany attractions such aswhite sand beaches and crys-talline waters; Gran Sabana,the great plain with flat-topmountains called Tepuy; An-gel Falls, the highest cata-ract in the world; and BolivarPeak.

Apart from the economicarea, Japan and Venezuelaalso deepened their bilateralcooperation in the areas ofcultural, artistic and intellec-tual exchanges as well. As aresult of the visit by the Si-mon Bolivar Youth Orches-tra of Venezuela to Japan, to-gether with its world-famousconductor Gustavo Dudameland the founder of the Nation-al System of Children andYouth Orchestras of Venezu-ela Dr. Jose Antonio Abreu,in December 2008, the inter-est in El Sistema, whose mot-to is ‘‘Orchestra saves chil-dren,’’ is growing steadily inour country. Very recently,Friends of El Sistema, Ja-pan, has been founded to fos-ter public relations, to pro-mote El Sistema in Japan,and to maintain close linkswith Friends of El Sistema inother countries.

We have also seen in recentyears a growing academiccooperation between univer-sities of both countries aswell as an increase in Japanstudies in Venezuelan univer-sities. Contrary to the gener-

al image of Venezuela held bythe Japanese, Venezuelanshave a very strong interest inJapanese culture and thereare many institutions and as-sociations in Venezuelawhich promote Japanese cul-ture to Venezuelans. Japa-nese popular culture alsoplays an important role in at-tracting Venezuelan youthsto Japan and increasing theirfascination for Japanese cul-ture and interest in learningthe Japanese language.

It is indeed a pleasure tosee that there is now a betterunderstanding between thetwo nations, and through theefforts on both sides to hold aCultural Festival of Venezue-la in Japan and a CulturalFestival of Japan in Venezue-la, the two nations are nowcloser to each other.

Finally, I would like to reit-erate our warmest felicita-tions on this historic day andto assure all our Venezuelanfriends that the Japan-Vene-zuela Association will contin-ue to contribute to thestrengthening of our bilateralrelationship.

Energy cooperation makes remarkable advances

Yorihiko KojimaCHAIRMAN, JAPAN-VENEZUELA ECONOMIC

COMMITTEE, NIPPON KEIDANREN

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On behalf of the Japan-Vene-zuela Economic Committee ofNippon Keidan-ren (JapanBusiness Fed-eration), Iwould like toconvey myheartfelt con-gratulations toH.E. PresidentHugo Chavez and the people ofthe Bolivarian Republic ofVenezuela on their 199th anni-versary of independence.

Japan and Venezuela havebeen enhancing economic re-lationships, in particular, innatural resources and energyareas. Since Venezuela has anadvantage of abundant natu-ral resources, such as crudeoil, natural gas and iron ore,our cooperation in these areas

is expected to be developedfurther. Japan has also beencontributing to a better life forthe people of Venezuela by ex-porting industrial products,including automobiles.

Recently we have seen a re-markable advance in energycooperation. In March 2009,Japan and Venezuela signedthe memorandum on energycooperation. Subsequentlythat April, the two govern-ments agreed to set up a work-ing group to study the possi-bility of the development ofthe heavy oil in the OrinocoBelt and natural gas. Theseefforts resulted in the con-tract awarded to the consor-tium that includes Japanesecompanies to start developingheavy oil in the Orinoco Beltin the beginning of 2010. It isthe first time Japanese com-panies have been involved indeveloping heavy oil in Vene-zuela.

Another event symbolic ofour cooperation was Venezue-la’s decision to adopt theISDB-T format that was origi-nally developed in Japan forits terrestrial digital broad-casting in October 2009. TheJapanese companies con-cerned are pleased with thisdecision and are keen to playadditional roles in upgradingVenezuela’s broadcastingsystem, leveraging theirtechnology, equipment andcontents.

I hope that in the daysahead we may see many moreexamples of bilateral cooper-ation. The potential of oureconomic relations can be ful-ly realized with a further im-provement of Venezuela’sbusiness environment.

On this auspicious occasionof the anniversary of the na-tion’s independence, I wishVenezuela and its peoplepeace and prosperity.

Government improves society

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 6

years, several Venezuelanplayers have enjoyed the sup-port and passion of Japanesebaseball fans, among themRoberto Petagine, Alex Ca-brera and Alex Ramirez. All ofthem have been awarded thetitle of Most Valuable Playerin Japanese professional base-ball: in 2001 (Central League),in 2002 (Pacific League) and in2008 (Central League), re-spectively.

This year, Venezuela proud-ly hosted the InternationalSoftball Federation’s XIIWomen’s World Champion-ship from June 23 to July 2, inCaracas. Japan’s nationalteam, gold medalist in theBeijing Olympics in 2008, isone of the 16 national teams

that are honoring us with theirpresence and participation.

During President Chavez’ssummit with then Prime Min-ister Taro Aso in April 2009,media coverage of the meet-ing largely boasted about thepraise given to the Japan na-tional team at the World Base-ball Classic, which was won byJapan. This year, SamuraiBlue endured some of theworld’s best football teams,providing pride and joy to Jap-anese fans. In preparation forthe World Cup, Samurai Blueplayed a friendly match withVenezuela in Oita Stadium toa scoreless draw. It is myhope and dream to see Vene-zuela play again with Japan inthe World Cup in Brazil in2014!

‘Paradise on Earth’exudes natural beautyA jewel to the worldA land of variety and con-trasts stirring the senses:like a smile from the SouthAmerican continent to theCaribbean Sea; like a hug be-tween the great Orinoco Riv-er and the Atlantic Ocean;like the ardent desire of theimposing Andean mountainsto touch the tranquil sea. Thisis Venezuela.

We are beautyMaking way into the presen-tation of unique and exuber-ant beauties of the SouthAmerican continent, Venezu-ela shows itself as a tropicalparadise with endless virtuesthat dazzle nature lovers.This ‘‘Land of Divine Grace,’’with its plains, jungles, riv-ers, islands, mountains,beaches and deserts, is brim-ming with life — a life whichoverflows with the warm sun

and the cool rains, alwayssinging, flying and running.This land, whose great man,Simon Bolivar, was the starof the continental liberation,is still the residence of ances-tral spirits living in riversand waterfalls. Here Europe,Africa and America arebound together in a cross-breeding that moves alongbroad avenues and ruralpathways, in a colorful can-vas illuminated by the floraand fauna that announces aneternal springtime. With aprivileged geographical loca-tion that fascinates from allangles, Venezuela is the mas-terpiece of the natural worldgallery.

Venezuela, described asthe ‘‘Paradise on Earth’’ bydiscoverer Christopher Co-lumbus, is an amazing coun-try. We wish to welcome all tothis unique jewel generouslyopen to enrich your senses!

Sharing key values for peace and prosperity

Takeo HiranumaJAPAN-VENEZUELA PARLIAMENTARY

FRIENDSHIP LEAGUE

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On behalf of the Japan-Venezuela ParliamentaryFriendshipLeague, I wouldlike to conveymy heartfeltcongratulationsto theBolivarianRepublic ofVenezuela andits people on the occasion of the199th anniversary of theirindependence.

These are exciting times forVenezuela and Japan. We arein the presence of a bilateralrelation based on a commondestiny, particularly intense,productive and mutuallybeneficial. It reflects our

long-standing, friendly ties.In these last few years, we

have multiplied our interchangeat the highest level ofgovernment and business: theJapanese participation in oilexploration in the Orinoco belt;the Venezuelan adoption of theJapanese digital TV standardISDB-T; the development ofprojects in the areas ofenvironment, energy, gas andpetrochemicals are a vividexample of a relationship inconstant evolution.

On this special day ofcelebration for the peoples ofVenezuela, I would like toreflect that we sharefundamental values thatprovide clear paths towardpeace and prosperity.

Japan and Venezuela aredecidedly in favor ofinternational understanding,

peace and cooperation. In thiscontext we are workingalongside promoting integralhuman rights, social issues,nuclear disarmament,environmental protection forfuture generations and thenecessary reforms of the U.N.Security Council. Furthermore,we admire the great zeal withwhich the Venezuelangovernment and its people arestriving to build a fairer society.The Japan-VenezuelaParliamentary FriendshipLeague is determined todeepen the close relationshipbetween both nations,promoting an open political andeconomic dialogue. I amconvinced that there aremultiple and substantialopportunities that we shallexplore, transit and makeeffective.

Incredible height: Angel Falls in Canaima National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage site, is theworld’s tallest waterfall at 979 meters. EMBASSY OF VENEZUELA

Spectacular: Los Roques Archipelago National Park is the largest marine park in the Caribbean Sea. EMBASSY OF VENEZUELA