President Chavez`s inauguration postponed due to illness Latin

Government
promotes food
production
Venezuelan Vice President
Nicolas Maduro led an
inspection of one of the
country’s leading coffee
producers last Thursday
in a bid to ensure greater
efficiency in government
run enterprises and
guarantee basic food
products for the population
at large. The government’s
food programs have
been crucial in fighting
the hoarding and lack
of supply that normally
occurs during the holiday
season in Venezuela, often
for political reasons. page 4
Analysis
Opinion
Opposition seeks to force
Chavez out, again page 7
The Cubanss
are coming!
g! page 8
Friday, January 11, 2013 | Nº 141 | Caracas | www.correodelorinoco.gob.ve
ENGLISH EDITION/The artillery of ideas
President Chavez’s inauguration
postponed due to illness
PSUV heads
parliament
Economy
State fights
hoarding
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, re-elected with 55% of the vote last October, was
unable to appear for his swearing-in ceremony on January 10 due to his ongoing battle
against cancer and delicate recovery from a complicated surgery in December. Chavez,
58, has undergone four surgeries during the past 18 months for pelvic cancer that has
greatly affected his normally proactive work style. Chavez named his Vice President, Nicolas Maduro, as his political successor should he be unable to continue in office. Maduro
and other members of Chavez’s PSUV party invoked Article 231 of the national constitution to delay the President’s inauguration until he recovers. The National Assembly and
Supreme Court backed the decision. Page 2
Efforts are underway to
tackle private enterprise
stockpiling of consumer
products. page 5
Social Justice
A year for sports
Latin America supports Chavez
Athletism was
celebrated in 2012
with great achievements
by Venezuelan sports
stars. page 6
Supreme Court
rules inauguration
legally delayed
T/ Agencies
Politics
The United Socialist
Party of Venezuela won
leadership posts in the
National Assembly. page 3
INTERNATIONAL
INTERNAT
N IONAL
Heads of states and high-level
representatives from different
Latin American and Caribbean
governments arrived in Venezuela
Wednesday and Thursday to participate in activities in solidarity and
support with the President Hugo
Chavez and the Venezuelan people.
Vice President of the Cuban
Council of Ministers, Miguel
Diaz Canel, was welcomed on
Wednesday morning as was Uruguayan President Jose “Pepe”
Mujica. President Evo Morales
of Bolivia arrived for Thursday’s
mass public celebrations in sup-
port of Chavez’s continuing governance, along with Nicaraguan
President Daniel Ortega. The
Latin American leaders present
also participated in a joint Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples
of Our Americas (ALBA) and PetroCaribe meeting Wednesday in
order to further strengthen regional ties.
Venezuela’s
Supreme
Court has ruled that the postponement of President Hugo
Chavez’s inauguration for a
new term in office is legal.
On Tuesday, the National
Assembly voted to give President Chavez as much time
as he needed to recover from
cancer surgery, under Article 235 of Venezuela’s constitution.
The opposition argues that
Chavez’s current mandate expired on January 10, the day
he was due to be sworn in, and
therefore a power void exists.
Chavez is recovering from
surgery in Cuba and has suffered complications caused
by a lung infection.
Supreme Court President
Luisa Estella Morales said it
would be “absurd” to consider
Chavez’s treatment in Cuba
as an unauthorized absence
since the parliament gave
him permission to go there
back in early December. The
amount of time he could be
away was not specified.
She said that the oath of
office could be taken at a
later date, as the constitution states, and since President Chavez was re-elected,
there would be “continuity”
in government.
Morales said there was a
clear distinction between the
act of taking the oath and the
beginning of a new mandate.
The Supreme Court considered the swearing-in an
important formality, but not
indispensable for the start of
the new presidential term,
she said.
The panel of seven magistrates who handle constitutional issues before the court
made a unanimous decision.
The swearing-in ceremony
would no doubt happen, assured Morales. “But at this
moment, we can’t say when,
how, or where he [the president] will be sworn in”.
2 Impact | .ŽsFriday, January 11, 2013
The artillery of ideas
The legal status of Venezuela’s
presidency: what the constitution states
T/ COI
P/ Presidential Press
W
ith recently re-elected
Venezuelan
President
Hugo Chavez unable to
attend his office’s swearing-in
ceremony slated for January
10 due to a delicate surgery performed last month in Cuba, the
Venezuelan political landscape
has been set ablaze by incessant
accusations of illegality, juridical manipulation and outright
misinformation regarding what
the absence of the leader means
for the immediate future of the
country.
The right-wing, in calling
for protests against Chavez’s
inability to attend his inauguration, has taken a militant, if
not somewhat ironic, position
against his absence which, in
its pugnacity and callousness,
recalls the unsettling events
of 2002 when the opposition
embarked on an ill-fated coup
d’etat against the democratically elected President.
The Chavez camp, on the other hand, has convened a mass
rally in Caracas to support the
convalescing leader with the
presence of Latin American
presidents, including Bolivia’s
Evo Morales and Uruguay’s
Jose “Pepe” Mujica, and international messages of solidarity
declaring the head of state as
the country’s only Commanderin-Chief, regardless of the mere
“formalism” of his attending
the inauguration.
Despite these recent actions, what remains unclear to
many is the actual legal status
of Chavez as well as the Executive branch of the national
government.
While the Venezuelan constitution specifically mentions
a number of possible scenarios
surrounding an elected president’s inability to attend the
office’s swearing-in ceremony,
various interpretations of the
nation’s magna carta have been
wielded by both government
supporters and retractors to
justify their position.
The constitutional articles in
question are 231, 233, 234 and
235.
Article 231 states, “The candidate elected will take possession of the Presidency of the Republic the tenth of January...by
way of an oath taken in front of
Vice President for up to ninety
days, extendable by decision
of the National Assembly for a
further ninety days.
If a temporary absence occurs for more than ninety consecutive days, the National Assembly will decide by majority
if there is an absolute absence”.
While application of article
234 would oblige Vice President Nicolas Maduro to assume the interim Presidency,
no announcement regarding
such status has been made by
the ruling socialists nor does
the constitution stipulate how
such a status would be legally
sanctioned.
THE PEOPLE’S CHOICE
the National Assembly. For any
unforeseen reason the president cannot take possession in
front of the National Assembly,
he or she will do so in front of
the Supreme Court”. (emphasis
added)
Chavez supporters have used
article 231 to back their claims
that the President’s situation
is one of an unforeseen nature
and that, as such, his presence
in front of the National Assembly is not required.
According to the Cilia Flores,
the nation’s Attorney General,
“Chavez underwent surgery
and is recovering. This could
have happened to any re-elected or elected president or candidate who is outside the country.
What has happened is that for
reasons of bad timing he cannot
be present in the National As-
sembly on January 10. That’s to
say that it’s an unforeseen situation, beyond his control, and
he’ll have to [take the oath of office] before the Supreme Court
at a later date”.
As article 231 provides no
timetable nor specifies geographic location for the inauguration before the Supreme
Court justices, it remains to be
seen exactly when and where
this oath of office would be
taken.
ABSOLUTE V. TEMPORARY
Also in contention is the definition of “absolute” and “temporary” absence of the President as articulated by Articles
233 and 234 of the constitution.
Article 233 states “Absolute
absences of the President of
the Republic are: death, resig-
nation, destitution decreed by
sentence of the Supreme Court,
physical or mental disability
certified by medical staff designated by the Supreme Court
and approved by the National
Assembly, abandonment of the
position declared by the National Assembly, and revocation by
popular referendum.
When an absolute absence
takes place with respect to a
President-elect before taking
possession, a new election will
be held within thirty days. During the time of the election and
the taking of possession, the
President of the National Assembly will be charged with the
Presidency of the Republic”.
The Venezuelan opposition
has attempted to cite article
233 as applicable to the case of
President Chavez while members of the socialist party have
rebuffed such claims, pointing
out that there has been no decree of absolute absence by the
Supreme Court or the National
Assembly.
Yet, in contrast to an absolute
absence, independent observers have pointed to the “temporary” nature of the head of
state’s absence as stated by
Article 234 of the constitution,
which reads:
“Temporary absences of the
President of the Republic will
be substituted by the Executive
Beyond the definitions of temporary and absolute absences,
what seems to be Chavez supporter’s current interpretation
of the constitution rests on Article 235:
“The absence from the national territory by the President
of the Republic requires the authorization of the National Assembly or the Delegated Commission when such an absence
occurs for a lapse of more than
five consecutive days”.
Since Chavez received unanimous authorization by the
National Assembly to travel
to Cuba in December, government backers argue that his
current absence is legitimate
and legally sanctioned by the
constitution.
This interpretation is further backed by the fact that
the two-time incumbent won
a landslide election victory in
October and that any attempts
to alter this outcome would be
a violation of Article 5 of the
constitution which enshrines
democracy and the popular
will of the citizenry.
“Sovereignty resides, and is
non-transferrable, in the people who directly exercise it in
the manner stipulated by this
constitution and the law”, reads
Article 5.
Attorney General Flores
made this lager point clear during an interview last week.
“The important date is October 7, when the people expressed and exercised their
sovereignty. This must be respected”, she declared.
On Tuesday, January 8, Vice
President Nicolas Maduro sent
a letter to the National Assembly advising that President
Chavez would be unable to attend the inauguration on January 10 and requesting a future
swearing-in ceremony be held
before the Supreme Court.
The opposition continues to
protest the current situation in
Venezuela.
.ŽsFriday, January 11, 2013
The artillery of ideas
| Politics
3
Cabello sworn in as legislative head, affirms
allegiance to Chavez and the Bolivarian Revolution
T/ COI
P/ Presidential Press
Before departing for Cuba,
Chavez gave specific instructions to his followers to vote for
Maduro in he event he is unable to continue as the nation’s
President.
On Friday, the Vice President
reiterated that Hugo Chavez is
still the country’s head of state
and that regardless of his medical condition the movement
built by the charismatic head
of state will last far into the
future.
“Despite what the opposition says, the children [of the
revolution] are here in order
to guarantee that this socialist
and Bolivarian homeland continues”, he said.
In taking up his second term
as AN President, Diosdado Cabello also pledged to improve
the legislature and to maintain
the legal body as the voice of the
people in government.
The congressman vowed to
confront the Venezuelan opposition in the AN and promised to “not permit another
betrayal against the people” as
happened with the failed coup
d’etat against Chavez in 2002.
In addition to Cabello, legislators Dario Vivas and Blanca
Eekhout were also sworn in on
Friday as First and Second Vice
Presidents of the AN respectively. Both are from the United
Socialist Party of Venezuela
(PSUV), which has an ample majority in the legislative body.
“I take this oath for the happiness of our children, for peace,
for life, for the future and for
our Comandante Chavez who
will be the beneficiary of all the
love that he has planted in this
homeland”, Eekhout said during her swearing-in. She is the
only female legislator currently
in the parliament’s leadership.
creasingly universal and firm
struggle for the complete emancipation of the people”.
The signatories of the text
hail from 70 countries including the US and Canada, India,
Senegal, France, Italy, Spain
and across Latin America.
SinceChavez’sannouncement
on December 8 that he would
undergo surgery for cancer,
he has received expressions
of solidarity and prayers from
around the world.
The Venezuelan government
has frequently offered news of
Chavez’s condition. The last
statement issued on January
7 said that he is “stable” and
responding to treatment.
D
iosdado Cabello was sworn
in for his second term as
President of Venezuela’s
congress, the National Assembly
(AN), last Saturday after receiving a strong majority of votes
from the body’s legislators.
The confirmation of the former military leader and current congressman from the
state of Monagas maintains last
year’s configuration of important government posts decided
by the majority-controlling
United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV).
During the swearing-in ceremony which was presided over
by Venezuelan Vice President Nicolas Maduro, Cabello affirmed
his allegiance to the mandate
of head of state Hugo Chavez,
currently convalescing in Cuba
after undergoing cancer-related
surgery on December 11.
“Hugo Chavez was elected
to be President of the Republic
and he will continue to be so beyond January 10. Let there be
no confusion about it”, the AN
President said in reference to
the Venezuelan Commanderin-Chief’s inauguration, which
was scheduled for Thursday.
As Chavez was unable to attend Thursday’s ceremony,
much of Venezuela’s conserva-
tive opposition has attempted
to capitalize on his absence by
alleging a power struggle between Cabello and VP Maduro,
the two leading figures of the
ruling government.
On Saturday, both high ranking members of the socialist
party demonstrated their unity
and their allegiance to the Bolivarian movement by unequivocally affirming the leadership
of Hugo Chavez, despite his precarious health situation.
Cabello proclaimed his “supreme loyalty” to the revolution, commenting that the leaders of the PSUV “will never
defraud the people”.
“You can be sure, comrades,
that we will never betray the
will of the people and the orders of President Chavez”, the
AN President said.
Intellectuals from 70 Countries send
message of solidarity to President Chavez
T/ Telesur
P/ Agencies
I
n a letter signed by more
than 2,000 people worldwide,
the Network of Intellectuals
and Artists in Defense of Humanity has expressed solidarity with Venezuelan President
Hugo Chavez in light of his
health issues.
Signatories from the United
States include former Attorney General Ramsey Clark,
the actor Danny Glover, Professor James Petras and peace
activist Cindy Sheehan.
The letter, which calls for
unity among Venezuelans,
sends a message of support for
the quick and complete recovery of President Chavez, who
is receiving medical treatment
in Havana after undergoing a
fourth cancer surgery on December 11.
The group expresses hope
that the Venezuelan leader
“will overcome all difficulties and soon resume his daily
tasks” and states that it is “of
paramount importance to reiterate the call made by President
Hugo Chavez’s for unity”.
The statement goes on to emphasize: “The Bolivarian Revolution in its strong and sovereign
road to socialism, requires of all
those of us who support it that
we dedicate our strength, seren-
ity and clarity to combating and
neutralizing any offensive actions by the empire and its allies
and internal operators”.
“The pain and the concern of
the people are not symptoms of
weakness”, the letter states, for
“difficult times are always an
opportunity to secure the best
convictions and the highest values of the human condition”.
Finally, the statement adds:
“All men and women in the
world have become brothers
and sisters in ideas and in action thanks to the work and humanistic convictions of President Chavez. We want to see
you very soon with full health
and at the forefront of this in-
4 Economy | .ŽsFriday, January 11, 2013
The artillery of ideas
Venezuela government ramps up food
production, continues fight against hoarding
T/ COI
P/ Presidential Press
in 2012 through the state’s public retail networks.
More than ninety thousand
open air markets were held
around the country to provide
subsidized and price-regulated
food items to the population at
large over the past year, Osorio
informed.
Vice President Maduro commented that the government’s
food programs have been cru-
cial in fighting the hoarding
and lack of supply that normally occurs during the holiday
season in Venezuela.
On Thursday, Maduro declared his intention to create a
plan to ensure the supply of basic
staples for the national market.
This was followed on Friday
by a meeting with a number
of high ranking government
officials with the aim of investigating and sanctioning the
businesses who engage in speculation and hoarding to the
detriment of the Venezuelan
population.
“We’re going to find out who
the hoarders are. There is sufficient production and exportation for the market to be supplied. We’re going to be tough
and confront the hoarders”,
Maduro said.
At the same time, the VP extended the government’s full intention to work with the members of the private sector to
improve the country’s national
domestic production.
“We need to tell all the small,
medium, and large businesses
that love this country and have
Venezuela in their heart that
they should feel welcome. We
are extending our hand so that
we can work together”, Maduro
assured.
“The great battle of this year
is the battle for a productive
economy”, he added.
Statistics released from the
National Institute of Statistics
(INE) also showed that unemployment had decreased to 6.4
percent, while formal employment had grown from 48 percent to 57 percent of total employment.
“Informal employment has
continued to decrease from 51
percent to 42.5 percent, and
around three million new formal jobs have been created during this period”, said INE president Elias Eljuri.
Some analysts have predicted
that the Venezuelan economy
could be hit hard in 2013 as the
state is forced to devalue the
currency and reduce spending
from 2012.
However, government officials have forecasted 6 percent
growth for 2013, and assure
that the economy is entering a period of consolidated
growth.
“The negative events of the
economy are behind us. We
have entered a stage of growth,
and we are among the five
fastest growing economies in
Latin America”, said finance
minister Jorge Giordani.
Officials did not make any
mention of a devaluation of the
currency, but said that those
kinds of adjustments are not
announced beforehand.
According to calculations
by Bank of America, Venezuela’s fiscal deficit for 2012 is
around 8.8 percent of GDP,
much lower than the 20 percent number that has been
circulating among opposition
sources and used to criticize
government spending.
V
enezuelan Vice President
Nicolas Maduro alongside
members of the nation’s
Executive cabinet led an inspection of one of the country’s
leading coffee producers last
Thursday in a bid to ensure
greater efficiency in government run enterprises and guarantee basic foodstuffs for the
population at large.
The visit took place at the
Fama de America processing
plant in La Yaguara, Carabobo
state where government officials were given a tour of the
facilities nationalized by the
Chavez government in 2009.
“Today we’re going to demonstrate, thanks the investment made by Comandante
Chavez, how coffee arrives
at the tables of Venezuelans”,
said Agricultural Minister
Juan Carlos Loyo during the
inspection.
Loyo detailed that the publicly owned business has grown
by 23 percent since the national
government took control of the
entity and that the plant closed
2012 with an overall production
of over twelve thousand tons of
coffee.
Thanks to businesses such as
Fama de America, the Agricultural Minister pointed out, the
state run Venezuelan Coffee
Corporation (CVC) is now able
to guarantee the supply of 79
percent of the nation’s overall
coffee demand.
This kind of production has
helped to create a positive
working environment as the
company’s employees enter
into collective bargaining this
year.
“The workers are aware that
in order to discuss further
rights we need to continue to increase the plant’s production”,
said Minister Loyo.
According to Vice President
Maduro, a former union leader,
increasing workers’ rights is a
pillar of Venezuela’s push for
socialism but requires reciprocity and a commitment from
workers to assume greater responsibility in the planning
and coordination of economic
activities.
“The working class must become more and more educat-
ed, more and more conscious,
more and more disciplined
and organized because under
socialism the worker must
know how to administer the
business including the investments that are needed and the
technology that must be added
to improve production. [The
working class] must debate
the company’s plans in a disciplined and collective way”,
Maduro told the plant’s workers on Thursday.
“There is still a long way to
go but we’ve begun and you all
are the bastions of this first
pass [towards socialism]”, he
said.
In a related announcement on
Friday, Food Minister Carlos
Osorio reported the distribution of more than 366 thousand
tons of basic food commodities
Venezuela’s economy grew
by 5.5 percent in 2012
T/ Chris Carlson
www.venezuelanalysis.com
V
enezuela’s economy grew
by 5.5 percent in 2012, fuelled largely by public spending and government housing
programs, according to statistics released last week by Venezuela’s central bank.
The 5.5 percent growth in
gross domestic product makes
for 9 consecutive quarters of
growth, higher than the 4.8
percent growth reported for
2011, and higher than the 5
percent growth forecast by the
government.
A heavy push by the government to construct hundreds of
thousands of homes in 2012 created a growth of 16.8 percent in
construction, whereas government services expanded 5.2 percent, according to preliminary
figures.
Commerce grew by 9.2 percent
and communications by 7.2 percent, whereas manufacturing
grew by only 2.1 percent, and the
oil sector grew by 1.4 percent.
“We are above what we had
forecast, even as the world is
submerged in a crisis”, said
central bank president Nelson
Merentes.
.ŽsFriday, January 11, 2013
The artillery of ideas
Government warns food
distributors against illegal activity
T/ Paul Dobson
P/ Agencies
T
his week, Vice President Nicolas Maduro gave a clear
and affirmative response to
certain problems that occurred
this Christmas period regarding the shortages of basic food
items.
The standard factors which
normally cause distribution
difficulties during the Christmas holiday, such as workers’
vacations and increased demand, have been exasperated
by certain private producers
and retailers stockpiling goods
for politico-economic ends in
recent weeks.
Speaking to the sectors that
look to hold the alimentary
status of the nation to ransom
by monopolizing, stockpiling,
or speculating with basic foodstuffs for political ends, Maduro stated that “there is sufficient production for the market
to be satisfied. We are going
to confront the hoarders with
firmness”.
His words were echoed by
Ricardo Menendez, Vice President for the Economic-Productive Area, who exclaimed, “nobody can play with the food of
the people!”
The government has proceeded with various planning
meetings, both with state and
private producers/retailers in
sectors such as bird foul, sugar, oil, flour, meat, wheat, and
oils, in what Maduro calls “a
measure to satisfy the national
market”.
The state run producers and
distributers form a key part of
this measure, and this week the
fifth anniversary of state food
distributor, PDVAL, was celebrated with thousands of open
air markets across the country.
The public markets offered basic goods at up to 70% discount
from private market prices.
The PDVAL food distribution
network uses oil revenues to
provide basic food products at
subsidized prices to the people.
Over 17 million citizens benefit
from the PDVAL network.
Alimentary Producer and
Distributer of Venezuela (PDVAL) was established by Presidential decree on January 6,
2008 as a branch of PDVSA,
the state oil company which
administers the largest
known oil reserves in the
world. In July 2010 it was
brought under the control of the Ministry for
Alimentation, alongside
other similar networks
as Mercal, Food Kitchens, and the Bicentenario Supermarkets. More
recently, state owned and
subsidized restaurants,
the Socialist Areperas,
named after a traditional Venezuelan food, the
“arepa”, were created.
Figures released in
October 2012 show there
are currently 831 fixed
PDVAL outlets across the
national territory. Apart
from these fixed PDVAL
outlets, PDVAL operates
alongside other public
food projects in open-air
markets, which are normally organized in coordination with the communal councils and local
authorities to distribute
basic goods to communities most in need.
Carlos Osorio, Food Minister, announced this week that
90,558 such open air markets
had been held during the last
year, distributing over 366,508
tons of food. He also announced
that real material benefits are
being reaped from the policies
of the Chavez government. In
1999, the nation consumed 13.7
million tons of food, a figure
that has nearly doubled to 24.9
tons in 2011.
The long term aims of PDVAL and other such networks
include tackling inflation, increasing the nutritional status
of the population, democratizing the industry, satisfying the
consumption needs of the people, redistributing the national
oil wealth in a visible and effective manner, combating mo-
nopolization and stockpiling,
and ultimately improving the
quality of life of the working
classes and poorer sectors.
Vice President Maduro further announced this week
that “President Chavez’s team
is working in the streets and
listening to popular demands
and criticisms”. He explained
that consultations within the
productive-alimentary sector,
| Economy
5
whose strategic conclusions are
to be included in the Socialist
Plan of Government 2013-2019,
were conducted by various
high level government officials,
together with local communities and food producers.
“There were problems with
precooked corn flour”, explained Maduro as an example
of the strategy that the government has developed for its
people. “So, Osorio went immediately (Friday) and on Saturday, Sunday and Monday, there
were big open air markets set
up with Mercal and PDVAL
products in the streets”. Another example was denounced by
Technology Minister Ricardo
Menendez involving the case
of a warehouse found with over
9,000 tons of sugar stockpiled,
at a time when there was a moderate shortage of sugar in some
retail sectors in the country.
Discussions have so far resulted in National Guard soldiers
being sent to certain producers
known for illegal hoarding to
assure products are delivered
to retailers, as well as agreeing
on production levels with both
the State and private producers. Other measures include
limiting exportation levels in
sectors where there is little surplus production and making the
necessary changes, as Minister
Osorio explained, to “improve
efficiency in each factory without affecting the pocket of the
consumer”.
The problem of hoarding food
and consumer products has decreased in Venezuela in the last
14 years, but continues to occur
at different moments, often for
political reasons. Many multinational corporations, such
as Nestle and the supermarket
chain Cada, have previously run
into problems with Venezuelan
authorities for stockpiling key
products, such as milk, which
have led to high level court cases,
and in extreme cases the nationalization of certain companies
or expulsion from the country.
Some large-scale producers
and distributors still hoard
products, with the intention
of producing higher profits by
selling them when there is an
imposed, or to later accuse the
government of inefficiency or
corruption in the productive
sector when people observe a
shortage on the shelves.
Combatting this type of
hoarding is clear in the mission statement of PDVAL from
the time it was set up 5 years
ago: “To put the brakes on the
blackmailing from certain private sectors who try to hoard
goods and speculate with food
products to promote an indiscriminate rise in prices”.
6 Social Justice | .ŽsFriday, January 11, 2013
The artillery of ideas
Venezuelan athletes
commemorate “Best Year Ever”
T/ Paul Dobson
P/ Agencies
V
enezuela celebrated
its National Day of
Sport this January
6 with a traditional mass
held in the La Pastora
church in Caracas, which
was attended by athletes,
community spokespersons
and representatives from
the Ministry of Sport, including Minister Hector
Rodriguez.
January 6 has been commemorated every year as a
day of celebrating athletics
since 1945, when the priest
Francisco de Paula Castillo
Toro held a mass in memory of
the athletes Jose Perez Colmenares and Salvador Arguelles.
Minister Rodríguez used the
event to give a balance of sporting achievements during 2012, a
year which he described as “the
best year in the history of Venezuela, from the competitive
and professional point of view.
The results that we had were
impressive”.
The past year saw major
sporting achievements for Venezuela in the Formula 1 car
races, soccer, baseball, athletics, cycling, basketball, boxing,
and of course in various Olympic and Paralympic disciplines,
including fencing, martial arts,
and swimming. Venezuela also
achieved its first ever Gold
Medal at the London Olympics,
in the discipline of fencing, and
advanced in the medal table
from 81st place (Beijing, 2008)
to 50th place. Medals were also
won in the Paralympic games.
The religious ceremony was
attended by many of the most
famous sports personalities
in the country including Antonio Diaz (karate), Ricardo
Valderrama (judo), Tomas Gil
(cycling) as well as Olympian
and Paralympian athletesand
soccer players. Indycar driver
Ernesto Jose Viso told the public at the event that the country
is full of talent, just waiting to
be given the chance: “We have
faith, this word is key to trusting what we have, trusting in
the energy and the talent which
exists in Venezuela. We are
here for our country”.
Pastor Maldonado, Formula
1 pilot for Williams who was
thrown into the world’s spotlight following his pole position
at the Spanish Grand Prix in
May, told the amassed crowd
that “this has been a super
positive year for Venezuelan
motorsport. I am content for
having achieved this triumph,
and this year we will work for
more”. Venezuela also achieved
notable success in the Formula
2 competition during 2012.
The mass was also used to
pray for the health and recovery of President Chavez, who
continues his difficult recovery
from surgery in Cuba. Many
athletes highlighted the key
impact of the revolution on national sport, and directly cited
the all-inclusive politics of the
government as one of the factors in such sporting achievements in 2012.
“Chavez is our principal athlete”, stated weightlifter Hildegar Morillo, who also is the
President of the National Commission of Athletes. “With all of
my heart (I hope that the President) will soon be with us, so
that he can carry on alongside
us in this revolution of Venezuelan athletics”.
Ex-soccer player Luis Alfredo Mendoza Benedetto spoke
of the impact of the 2007 continental soccer tournament,
Americas Cup, that was
held with great success in
Venezuela, and served to
stimulate grassroots sporting participation in various
fields. “We were all very
happy in those stadiums
which (Chavez) built for us
to hold the Cup in. It was all
done with passion, because
he is a sportsman, and because of this he has always
been careful to support all
of the disciplines, not just
soccer”. Venezuela is progressing positively in the
qualification for the next
soccer World Cup in Brazil.
For his part, Sports Minister Hector Rodriguez highlighted the importance of the
legal, economic, and political
commitment of the government to developing Venezuelan
sports. “We pray for the health
of the President… who has dedicated all of his strength and has
guaranteed us great economic
investments”.
For the coming year, Rodriguez stated that the aim is “to
make 2013 a year which is even
better than the previous one”.
He also commented on one of the
major goals of this year, which is
the “further massification” of the
sporting sector, making sporting
facilities even more accessible
and available to all, regardless
of economic, geographic, racial,
sexual, or class status.
Rodriguez is currently overseeing the application of the new
national Sports Law, passed in
2011. This law, amongst other
things, stipulates the creation of
various schools of national sporting talent, the democratization of
the sporting federations, and the
creation of a National Athletics
Fund to finance sports projects
across the country.
Speaking at a similar event
in the coastal city of Cumana,
newly elected Governor Luis
Acuña summarized the importance of sports in social development, especially in the fight
against crime. “We want sports
to participate strongly in combatting crime. We believe that to
bring athletics to poorer neighborhoods means that we can
channel the potential of youth
in those areas into recreational
and sporting activities”.
One of the major sectors that
has benefitted from the sports
policies of President Chavez has
been the disabled.
Ahiquel Hernandez, President of the Venezuelan Polisporting Federation for People
with Intellectual Disabilities
explained, “it was in 1999 when
Hugo Chavez started to generate mechanisms that allowed
for better incorporation of athletes with disabilities”.
She highlighted the legal
changes that permitted social
changes to follow, by breaking down the barriers of elitism and including disabled
athletes as equals. “When, in
the constitution it was manifested that sports are a right,
it became a duty of the State
to ensure this right. Thanks
to the fact that the constitution
guarantees equal attention
and resources for all athletes
without discrimination, the
year 2012 was a year of great
achievements for the Venezuela disabled population”.
She explained that previous
to the Chavez administration,
prior governments “told us
that the swimming pools were
only for athletes with high performance, or that they were a
space for only established talents. For the elites”. Yet after
Chavez was elected, she saw
immediate changes. “For the
first Pan-paramerican games
held in Mexico (1999), we sent
65 athletes, all with uniforms,
without having to sleep in the
airport, and with the resources
in hand to cover the necessities
of the delegation. To send this
amount of Venezuelan participants to an international competition was unthinkable during previous governments”.
The most important change
which the Chavez government
has propelled, according to Hernandez, and which was similarly
expressed by athletes without
disabilities, was the dignity that
they have felt as ambassadors of
the country. “We came out of invisibility, which was something
extraordinary”.
.ŽsFriday, January 11, 2013
The artillery of ideas
| Analysis
7
Opposition pushes forced handover
T/ COI
P/ Agencies
R
ight-wing members of
the Venezuelan opposition kicked off the New
Year demanding an immediate handover of the presidency while re-elected President Hugo Chavez recovers
from his most recent cancerrelated medical intervention.
Claiming to speak on behalf
of constitutionality, the Venezuelan opposition is engaged
in an international campaign
to discredit anything other
than a presidential handover
on January 10th, the day on
which the president-elect was
scheduled to be inaugurated.
Currently on medical leave
granted to him by the National Assembly, Chavez and
his socialist platform won last
year’s presidential election for
the 2013-2019 period.
“JUST A REPLACEMENT”
Under the guise of constitutionality, the Venezuelan opposition has begun a massive
public relations campaign
aimed at forcing out the country’s widely popular and democratically-elected President,
Hugo Chavez. In the context
of his ongoing bout cancer and
what has been described as a
“long and difficult recovery”,
the right-wing opposition held
a press conference last week
pushing for National Assembly President Diosdado Cabello to take over the presidency
and call new elections within
a month.
Speaking to dozens of reporters representing foreign
and domestic corporate news
networks, National Secretary
of the opposition coalition,
Democratic Unity Roundtable
(MUD), Ramon Guillermo
Aveledo insisted that “no one
is looking to take power by
force” but “if the presidentelect is unable to be sworn
into office because of reasons
related to his health, we must
abide by what the constitution
says with regard to temporary
absences”.
“The proposal we have in the
opposition doesn’t imply a substitution, just a temporary replacement”.
While Article 231 of the Constitution of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela (1999) does
state that an elected presidential candidate “shall take office
as President of the Republic
on January 10 of the first year
of his constitutional term” it
also stipulates that “if for any
unforeseen reason the person
elected President of the Republic cannot be sworn in before
the National Assembly, he shall
take the oath of office before the
Supreme Tribunal of Justice
(TSJ)”.
Because President Chavez is
a re-elected candidate on an authorized leave of absence, and
with no constitutionally specified date on which the oath of
office before the TSJ must take
place, many analysts argue
that there is no need to rush his
inauguration.
In an interview with Russia
Today, political analyst Ar-
turo Villoria explained that
“the opposition is looking to
take advantage of the uncertainty surrounding Chavez’s
health in order to question the
legitimacy or legality of the
government”.
“In one way or another”, he
said, “they want to achieve
through pressure and their private media networks something
they were unable to achieve at
the ballot box”.
“NO COUP” AGAINST CHAVEZ
In response to the opposition’s repeated calls for
a rushed move against the
Chavez presidency, high-ranking members of Venezuela’s
socialist leadership have insisted on the need for the popular vote to be respected on
Chavez’s right to recover.
According to Venezuelan
Vice President Nicolas Maduro,
the opposition “should re-read
the constitution” and “understand” that a re-elected Venezuelan President can be sworn in
“beyond the formal inauguration date” of January 10th.
“The formality of his swearing-in can be resolved before
the Supreme Court of Justice at
the time the TSJ deems appropriate”, Maduro told reporters
last week.
“President Chavez”, Maduro
added, “has the right to rest, to
tranquility, and to recuperate”.
Speaking to Venezuelan
Minister of Communication
and Information Ernesto Villegas in an interview last
week, Maduro also explained
that “what Aveledo proposes is
that we, in this case our comrade Diosdado Cabello and the
National Assembly, carry out
a coup d’état against President
Chavez”.
During the same interview,
Maduro also expressed “concern” with a letter written by
Aveledo and sent to numerous foreign embassies based
in Caracas. In it, the opposition spokesman reiterated his
position that the President of
the National Assembly “take
over” on January 10 while
warning that “to proceed in
any other way is a turn backwards with respect to constitutional norms”.
According to Maduro, “Aveledo is sending this letter to all of
the ambassadors that represent
nations with offices in Venezuela, a letter filled with a great
deal of ill intent because it sows
constitutional notions that are
absolutely false”.
Aveledo’s claims are based
on a faulty reading of Article
233 which states that “when an
elected President becomes permanently unavailable to serve
prior to his inauguration, a new
election by universal suffrage
and direct ballot shall be held
within 30 consecutive days.
Pending election and inauguration of the new President, the
President of the National Assembly shall take charge of the
Presidency of the Republic”.
The term “permanently
unavailable” does not apply
to President Chavez, who is
on a medical leave of absence
granted to him by the National
Assembly.
AUTHORIZED LEAVE
“The President spoke to the
nation”, Maduro said, “and in
accordance with Article 235 of
the Constitution the National
Assembly granted him permission to attend to his health”.
Article 235 requires “authorization” from the National Assembly when a Venezuelan President
expects to be absent from the
country “for a period exceeding
five consecutive days”.
On November 27, President
Chavez submitted his formal
request to the National Assembly seeking permission to
leave the country and be seen
by medical experts in Havana.
Once approved, he traveled to
Cuba only to return days later
and inform the nation that his
cancer had reappeared and required another medical intervention.
On December 9, the National
Assembly again granted Chavez
permission to leave the country
and attend to his health needs
for an “undetermined” amount
of time. Meanwhile, according
to Article 234, if at any time
President Chavez becomes
“temporarily unavailable to
serve” he “shall be replaced by
the Vice President for a period
of up to 90 days, which may be
extended by resolution of the
National Assembly for an additional 90 days”.
Throughout Chavez’s difficult recovery from surgery,
Vice President Nicolas Maduro
has repeatedly affirmed that
President Chavez continues to
serve as the country’s only acting President.
Friday, January 11, 2013 | Nº 141 | Caracas | www.correodelorinoco.gob.ve
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UBL
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IICA
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HE
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Opinion
Panic in Washington the Cubans are coming!
T/ Jean
Jean-Guy
Guy Allard
N
ow they don’t even bother
to hide their worry: the
same politicians who
slandered Cuba for decades,
saying Cubans “can’t travel”,
and even going so far as to draft
laws meant to push disaffected
Cubans to hurl themselves into
the sea, are now rushing to
figure out how to stop Cubans
from arriving in the United
States and, in case they manage to arrive, how to stop them
from returning to Cuba.
Victims of the traps they
themselves set at the height of
the Cold War, when the Cuban
Revolution, criminally isolated
by the blockade, was forced to
protect itself by any means,
including restrictive migration laws, the Cuban American
members of Congress and their
clan have suddenly realized
that they’ve shot themselves in
the foot. The political structure
manufactured to serve United
States annexationist plans toward Cuba is on red alert and
desperately seeking a solution
to what it has announced is a
dangerous and unexpected inva
invasion by those it has pretended to
be defending.
“Once the new Cuban immigration laws go into force, on January 14, a Cuban will be able to
leave Cuba for two years without
losing his residency, and during
this time will be able to obtain
residence in the United States
after spending a year and a day
here”, explains a Washington
based US immigration expert.
“This will create a new kind
of Cuban-American, with dualresidency, making the Cuban
Adjustment Act (CAA) completely obsolete and even counterproductive. The US will be under
urgent pressure to change its
“Cuban” policy in order to avoid
this taking place. And right in
the middle of a full debate on immigration reform”.
Incredibly, near the end of an
interview granted to her friends
in the subsidized “anti-Castro”
press, the head of the anti-Cuban political mafia in Washington, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen,
announced that she wants to
revise this heretofore untouchable law, a fundamental part of
the legal framework developed
against Cuba.
The reporter, well known for
his collaboration with US government funded Voice of America – Radio Martí, asked if she
would support a change to close
the gaps in the law in respect to
those who claim political persecution and then go on to travel
frequently to Cuba.
Ros-Lehtinen’s answer was
as twisted as a hot New York
pretzel.
“Yes, I’m in favor of a change
to the CAA so that those who
use this singular and unique
benefit that is only available to
Cuban nationals, cannot return
to visit Cuba”. She added reasoning that she might have applied for quite some time: “One
cannot say that one is subjected
to political persecution in Cuba,
and then go back to visit”.
In June, one of Ros-Lehtinen’s
colleagues, the legislator David
Rivera, had already been talking about reforming the CAA in
order to cancel the permanent
residence granted to Cuban
refugees who return to Cuba
within five years after their en-
try to the United States
States. In the
meantime, the controversial
Rivera – under investigation for
a number of corruption charges
– was kicked to the curb in November’s elections, ending up
in history’s great rubbish bin,
along with his proposed immigration changes.
The Cuban Adjustment Act,
approved in 1966, grants US residency to any Cuban who reaches US territory, while hundreds
of Mexicans are hunted down
in the land of the free by armed
border guards, not to mention
the armed vigilantes working
on behalf of the repressive national system.
But the most absurd treatment of the subject in the land of
Groucho Marx was yet to come.
El Nuevo Herald, the shining
example of made-in-Florida
journalism published a headline
regarding the changes without
even realizing the magnitude of
its error. “The United States Urges Cubans to Refrain from Heading to Sea in Response to New
(Cuban) Immigration Reform”.
The article is based on statements by William Ostick, spokes-
man for the State Department’s
Office of Western Hemisphere
Affairs, acknowledging that
the new Cuban immigration
rules might trigger “changes”
in the flow of immigrants coming from the island.
It goes on to explain that
“The United States’ visa requirements will remain ‘unchanged’, and a visa or other
valid authorization will be required to enter this country”.
No mention is made of the
other panic – that of the corporate bosses in the professional
market who impose a series of
norms, study programs, exams, etc. in order to gain entry. They’re already trying to
figure out how to rescind the
privileges granted up until
now in this sector, in order to
provoke Cuban emigration.
English translation: Machetera. Machetera is a member of Tlaxcala, the international network of translators
for linguistic diversity.
JEAN-GUY ALLARD lives in Cuba.
He can be reached at: jean.guy.
allard@gmail.com