www.venezuelanalysis.com

US airspace denied to Maduro

Venezuela has rejected the United States’ version of events in the dispute over President Nicolas Maduro’s passage through U.S. airspace on 19 September.

The diplomatic fallout reached media attention when Venezuelan foreign minister Elias Jaua told reporters that President Maduro had been denied permission to fly through U.S. airspace.

According to Venezuelan officials, the presidential flight was prohibited from passing over Puerto Rico, with President Maduro considering changing the flight path to reach Paris, France. However after hurried diplomatic talks permission was eventually granted for the flight to pass through U.S. airspace.

The flight’s final destination was Beijing, China, where Maduro conducted a state visit.

www.venezuelanalysis.com

Toilet paper has been scarce in recent months

The Venezuelan government has ordered the occupation of one of the main producers of toilet paper in the country as part of the struggle to combat “shortages and sabotage” in the economy.

Vice President Jorge Arreaza said the factory occupation, announced on Friday, was in order to “verify the production, distribution and sale of toilet paper” from the Manpa S.A. company, located in the central state of Aragua. The measure was ordered by President Maduro after “violations to consumer rights” were discovered upon an inspection of the factory last week.

The occupation – which will last for 15 days – will be carried out by the government’s National Superintendency for Fair Costs and Prices (Sundecop) and responds to “the state’s obligation to guarantee the normal supply of products of basic necessity to the Venezuelan people”.

www.middleeastmonitor.com

In 2009, Chávez was the first Latin American president to recognise the State of PalestineFormer Venezuelan leader Hugo Chávez's internationalist example and legacy is being concretely implemented. On August 24, Mexico's 'El Economista', as well as Iran's Press TV, reported that Venezuela and Palestine have signed agreements under which oil will be sold 'at a fair price' to Palestinians. The five year deal includes training Palestinians with regard to handling and distribution of oil as well as favourable repayment terms.

The agreement was signed in Caracas by Venezuelan foreign minister Elias Jaua and Palestinian counterpart Riad al-Maliki. Al-Maliki declared that the agreement reflects Venezuela's pledge towards cooperation and solidarity, and would also reduce the PA's dependence upon Israel for imported fuel. According to El Economista, Al Maliki stated, 'Venezuela is continuing the legacy of deceased former president Hugo Chávez, who had always declared his support for the Palestinian people and the same commitment is now expressed by President Nicolás Maduro".

Embassy of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela USA www.venezuela-us.org/

citgo energy saving lightbulbsOn August 27, 2013 at the Linden House in Chicago, CITGO Petroleum Corporation President and CEO Nelson P. Martinez was joined by 4th District Illinois State Representative Cynthia Soto to launch the fourth edition of the CITGO-Venezuela Energy Efficient Lighting Program (EELP), which will provide 625,000 compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulbs to families in 21 U.S. cities this year.

'At CITGO, in alignment with the social development principles of the CITGO shareholder, Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A. (PDVSA), we make it our business to provide meaningful social responsibility programs in the communities we serve and beyond,' said CITGO President and CEO, Nelson P. Martinez. 'The CITGO-Venezuela EELP is an important program that not only helps low-income households save on their energy costs during the most expensive season, but helps protect the environment we all share.'

Now 5 million children benefit from free school meals and 93% of children are in educationwww.theprisma.co.uk

In line with its policies on children’s rights and welfare, Venezuela is forging ahead with measures aimed at bolstering the protection afforded its children under the law

Among developments recently undertaken by Venezuela, the 1st International Congress on the Return of Internationally Abducted Children – staged under the auspices of the Venezuelan Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ, to use its Spanish acronymn) and attended by international and domestic experts alike in order to debate this delicate subject – stands out.

Juventud Rebelde

Free eye surgery through Operation MiracleMore than three million patients have recovered vision thanks to the Operation Milagro. The second phase will expand the attention to the African peoples without decreasing the number of operations on patients from Latin America and countries of ALBA

www.venezuelanalysis.com

Nicolas Maduro

On 28 July, Nicolas Maduro has completed his first 100 days since being sworn in as president on April 18, a period marked by his new street government initiative, Latin American solidarity, and debate over spiked inflation and moderate economic growth.

Maduro’s presidency began amidst protest and claims of electoral fraud from Venezuela’s political opposition, who continue to reject the results of the April 14 presidential election in which Maduro won 50.6% of the vote, a 1.6% margin over Henrique Capriles. Since then, polls conducted during his administration have pegged his approval rating around 56%.

A key political initiative of Maduro was his Street Government program, in which he and his cabinet traveled progressively to all states in order to meet with grassroots organisation and regional officials. The program, which began in Zulia state at the end of April, oversaw the approval of numerous projects ranging from environmental issues to crime, and included Maduro’s first expropriation.

Caracas, July 5th 2013 Venezuelanalysis.com 

Maduro makes the announcement on Venezuelan Independence day'As head of state and of government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, I have decided to offer humanitarian asylum to the US youth Edward Snowden,' President Nicolás Maduro announced today at Caracas’ military academy at the start of a parade for Venezuela’s Day of Independence.

'To be independent, we must feel it,' he said. 'We must exercise our independence and sovereignty. Our discourses are meaningless if they aren’t exercised with force at the national level. I announce to the friendly governments of the world that we have decided to offer this statute of international humanitarian law to protect the young Snowden from the persecution that has been unleashed from the most powerful empire in the world,the United States,' he said.

'Let’s ask ourselves: who violated international law?' he continued. 'A young man who decided, in an act of rebellion, to tell the truth of the espionage of the United States against the world? Or the government of the United States, the power of the imperialist elites, who spied on it?'

 Counter-Globalization and Socialism in the 21st Century
Wednesday 10 July  7.30 pm
 
BOLIVAR HALL, 54 Grafton Way, London W1T 5DL
 
This book uses the case of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America - Peoples’ Trade Agreement (ALBA-TCP) to invite to a re-thinking of resistance to global capitalism and the construction of socialism in the 21st century. Including detailed theory-based ethnographic case studies from Bolivia, Cuba, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Venezuela and the USA, the contributors identify social and structural forces at different levels and scales to illuminate politics and practices at work. Centred around the themes of democracy and justice, and the more general reconfiguration of the state-society relations and power geometries at the local, national, regional and global scales, ALBA and Counter-Globalization is at the forefront in the trend of interdisciplinary approaches to the study of social phenomena of global relevance.
 
Speakers include: