Pg. 8 | Opinion

InternationalChavez proposes peace commission in LibyaRejecting foreign intervention, the Venezuelan President proposed a commission of friendly nations help Libya to peace.

National & local governments cooperateOpposition governors are working together with the Chavez government to end crime and violence.

US Government Continues Attacks Against VenezuelaThis week, the Obama adminis-

tration continued to threaten Venezuela with “sanctions” for its commercial relationship with Iran. Despite Venezuelan govern-ment denials regarding the sale and transport of Venezuelan gas to Iran, the State Department is “ex-amining” the relationship between the two nations “very carefully” to determine whether or not US laws have been violated.

The US government maintains unilateral economic sanctions against Iran and alleges that other nations who engage in “unauthor-

ized” commercial relations with the Persian nation could be subject to US sanctions as well. Venezuela and Iran have a close commercial relationship, yet to date, none of the trade between the two coun-tries has fallen under that prohib-ited by US law.

“If there is evidence that violates the sanctions [against Iran], we will act accordingly against Ven-ezuela”, affirmed US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton this week in a hearing before the US Congress. “Until now, there is no proof”, she added.

Nonetheless, congressman Con-nie Mack, chair of the House Sub-Committee on Foreign Affairs for the Western Hemisphere accused the Chavez government of “secretly shipping gas and other illegal mate-rials” to Iran. He offered no evidence to back such claims. Clinton also crit-icized the “deplorable” discourse of President Chavez and accused Ven-ezuela of not being a stable democ-racy. Relations have deteriorated between Washington and Venezuela since Obama took office, despite an initial hope that things would have changed for the better.

First Egypt, Next Venezuela?

CultureUrban cultural center celebrates anniversaryA totally cool and unique urban arts & music center, Tiuna El Fuerte, perseveres.

A giant new discovery in the “La Perla” gasfield

in the Gulf of Venezuela has raised the country’s gas re-serves to more than 15 tril-lion cubic feet, correspond-ing to the equivalent of 2.9 billion barrels of oil.

The “La Perla IV” well was drilled 60 feet deep, and during production tests the well-flow produced 17 mil-lion cubic feet of gas per day at normal conditions and 500 barrels of condensate per day.

According to the website of PDVSA, Venezuela is be-coming one of the major gas reserves in the world. Ven-ezuela already houses the world’s largest oil reserves, well above those located in Saudi Arabia or other Mid-dle Eastern nations.

The current Venezuelan government has used these important energy reserves to invest in national devel-opment and the well-being of the people, demonstrat-ing the commitment of Venezuela to stimulate and strengthen the progress of the country for the welfare of all Venezuelans.

Venezuela’s Popular UprisingThis week Venezuelans commemorated the 22-year anniversary of the mass popular rebellion known as the “Caracazo”, during which thousands poured into the streets protesting the imposition of a neoliberal economic package promoted by the US and the government at that time. Then President Carlos Andres Perez ordered the massacre of thousands of protesters. Venezuelans consider the event the beginning of the Bolivarian Revolution lived today.

President Chavez launched a new program to support artistic expression nationwideThe new National System of Popular Culture will recognize and support those working in both traditional

and non-traditional forms of artistic expression, ensuring they have the resources and space necessary to engage in their area of expertise. The Venezuelan President also oversaw a graduation ceremony for thousands of artists awarded university-level degress in Education and Cultural Development,

acknowledging the importance of arts as an essential part of Revolution

Culture as a Liberating and Revolutionary Force

US military has a plan to use social networks to create virtual friends and propaganda

The artillery of ideasENGLISH EDITION

New Gas Reserves Found in Venezuela

FRIday March 4, 2011 No. 54 Bs 1 CaraCas

Despite what some media say, Venezuela already had its revolution

Pg. 7 | Analysis

The artillery of ideas| 2 | Impact No 54 • Friday, March 4, 2011

Venezuelans Commemorate Popular Uprising Against Privatization

Thousands of Venezuelans from all over the South American country took to the streets last Sunday to commemorate the 22nd anniversary of the seminal uprisings that marked the beginning of the end of neoliberalism and the Washington Consensus in the now socialist nation

Speaking at a rally held in the Caracas neighborhood of

Petare, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez referred to the uprising, known as the Caracazo, as the day “when the people woke up”.

“[The Caracazo] opened the doors of a new history and here we are, 22 years later”, he said.

Understood to be the historical antecedent to Venezuela’s current Bolivarian Revolution, the street rebellions of February 27, 1989 swept across the country in defi-ance of a structural adjustment package implemented by the In-ternational Monetary Fund under the then presidency of Carlos An-dres Perez.

Spurred on by egregious price hikes in public transportation and scarcity of important consumer commodities, street riots, looting and spontaneous political protests rocked the poor areas of the capital Caracas and other urban centers throughout the national territory.

The protests lasted for more than two days as the Perez government implemented a curfew and sent the armed forces into the streets to put down the uprising.

Although the official death toll resulting from the massacre that ensued has been put at 3 hundred, experts and witnesses estimate the number of disappearances as a re-sult of the repression to be closer to three thousand.

“Thousands of Venezuelans were massacred in 1989 by the so-called ‘democrats’ who today ac-cuse me of being a tyrant and who today say they are the hope of the nation”, Chavez said, pointing out

that neither the United Nations nor the Organization of American States came out against the Perez government after the bloodshed.

HONORING MEMORYAs part of the commemoration

events on Sunday, the Venezuelan Public Attorney’s Office oversaw the burial of more than seventy cadavers determined buy foren-sic anthropologists to be victims of state security forces during the Caracazo.

The cadavers, exhumed from a common grave, were laid to rest in the General de Sur cemetery in Caracas where a monument was erected in their honor and in re-membrance of all those murdered during the uprising.

“These acts will never happen again in Venezuela… We will never allow an official or police force to act as they did during the Caracazo”, said Attorney General Luisa Ortega Diaz.

According to Diaz, the security bodies of the current government represent a drastic break with the past because they “respect life and understand what it means to re-spect human rights and love the Venezuelan people”, she said.

With respect to bringing those responsible for the violence of the Caracazo to justice, the Attorney General informed that the investi-gations are on-going. “We will con-tinue with the investigative work. We already have some information to indict some people”, Diaz said.

BEGINNING OF THE ENDAs the first popular and wide-

spread revolt against the free-market policies of the Washington Consensus, the importance of the Caracazo in relation to Venezuela and Latin America’s leftward turn cannot be understated.

According to Chavez, the rebel-lion marked the “beginning of the 21st century, not only [for Venezu-ela] but for the world”.

Indeed, the events of February 1989 served not only to shake up the institutional architecture of neoliberalism but it also served as inspiration to Chavez himself who had been planning a revo-lutionary movement within the military for years.

“February 27…was a catalyst that drove us patriotic military of-ficers”, the head of state recalled during the rally on Sunday.

Three years after the Caracazo, the then lieutenant colonel along-side a group of other military offi-cers attempted a rebellion against the Venezuelan government of Carlos Andres Perez. Although the uprising ultimately failed and Chavez was imprisoned for sub-version, his call for change reso-nated with the Venezuelan public and led to a significant boost in the charismatic leader’s popularity.

After being released from pris-on in 1994, Chavez built a move-ment nationwide and later ran for president in 1998, winning by a landside.

In 1999 the new President called for a constitutional convention, ushering in his Bolivarian Revo-lution and marking Venezuela’s definitive break with the import-ed economic and social policies of the nation’s past political estab-lishment.

CARACAZO LIKE EGYPT Refuting claims that Venezu-

ela is somehow on the brink of a popular revolt, Chavez affirmed on Sunday that the protests and revolutions currently sweeping across the Arab world are of the same character of what already took place in Caracas in 1989.

“Yesterday there were more large protests in Cairo and in many other countries. Right now there are gigantic popular pro-tests against an economic model that still causes more poverty”, he asserted.

“A little while ago I was watch-ing an analyst who was saying that what happened in Egypt is about to happen here. How igno-rant this man is. He doesn’t realize that what happened in Egypt is what happened here 22 years ago. This already happened in Venezu-ela”, the President argued.

With respect to the country’s conservative opposition, Chavez linked their political origins to the repression of previous govern-ments and is confident that he will emerge victorious in the nation’s presidential elections next year.

“[The opposition] will not re-turn [to power], not by elections and not by any other way that they invent or that their masters in the Pentagon and the Southern Command of the US imperialist Army invent”, the head of state assured.

“In 2012, the country will decide if it is to continue on the path of liberation or if it is to return to the years of massacres. In December 2012, I’m sure that the people will elect me again as president of Ven-ezuela”, he said.

T/ Edward EllisP/ Presidential Press

The artillery of ideas No 54 • Friday, March 4, 2011 International | 3 |

Venezuela’s Chavez Proposes International Peace Mission for Libya

This week, Venezuela’s Presi-dent Hugo Chávez proposed

an International Peace Commis-sion for Libya, with the participa-tion of all countries that desire a peaceful solution to the political conflict there.

In order to advocate a solution to the situation in Libya “with-out using weapons or invading”, Chavez said it was better to seek “a political solution. Instead of sending weapons against the Lib-yan people, why don’t we send a mission that pleads for a peaceful solution to the conflict?”.

President Chavez emphasized that there is a lot of misinforma-tion about the political situation in Libya, as well as elements that reflect a pre-war scenario, fu-eled by the invasion plans that are woven from the US govern-ment. Chavez said a “network of lies” has been set up by various international information compa-nies, the danger of which lies not only in a civil war but in an inva-sion by the United States, which would be a catastrophe”.

“I’m sure the US is exaggerat-ing and distorting things to jus-

tify an invasion in Libya (...) They said today that they are ready to support the opposition and they aren’t ruling out military opera-tions. They are mad about Libyan oil”, he said.

President Chavez noted that his government was also the sub-ject of these “international tall stories”. He stated that he is not trying to interfere in the internal situation of Libya, and called for

“a peaceful solution and for peace throughout the Arab world”.

The Venezuelan head of state reiterated his rejection of the dou-ble-standard policy held by the US government on the issue: on

one hand they condemn violence, “and on the other, they rub their hands together over the oil”.

“The US has already said it is ready to invade Libya and most of Europe is condemning Libya (...) They are rubbing their hands over the oil (...) I wonder why don’t they condemn Israel, which has caused so many deaths to the Palestinian people? Who con-demns the US for one million deaths in Iran, Afghanistan and Iraq?” he asked.

In this regard, he said the Ven-ezuelan government has tried to stay “within the bounds of pru-dence” and reiterated that as a democratic president he urges the international community to “act politically, with all respect and not resort to the drums of war”.

President Chavez also empha-sized that his goal is “to plead for peace without weapons, ex-plosions, or protest”. This will be a sign of preparation for “real peace” not only in Libya but throughout the Middle East.

T/ AVNP/ Presidential Press

Venezuelan Government Rejects Foreign Intervention in LibyaFollowing the announce-

ment of sanctions on Libya’s leader Muammar al-Gaddafi by the United Nations (UN) Secu-rity Council, Venezuelan Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro warned against any possible military in-tervention in the country. Presi-dent Chavez, commemorating Venezuela’s “Caracazo” massa-cre on Sunday, also condemned violence and called for peace in Libya.

Maduro, commenting on the UN deliberations and the an-nounced sanctions, said, “We would be against any military intervention against the Arabic people of Libya and I’m sure that all peoples of the world would support a struggle against any in-terventionism that some power-ful countries could execute”.

Given what the Security Coun-cil described as “mass deaths” committed by the Libyan govern-ment, arms sanctions were ap-

plied over the weekend and Gad-dafi’s family’s assets were frozen in the US and Europe. The Coun-cil also ordered a crimes against humanity investigation into the situation.

Maduro said Venezuela’s hope is that the “Arabic people who are in a process of rebellion, seeking a better destiny, find their way to peace”.

“Our people [in Venezuela] have already lived through some very difficult times and, actually, today we are remembering one of the worst [the Caracazo]. But we’ve gone about finding our ways to independence, democ-racy, and freedom, which in our case has been the construction of socialism”.

AGAINST INTERFERENCEOn February 27, 1989 Venezue-

la’s Armed Forces repressed pro-tests in Caracas, killing between 400 and 1,000 people in what

has become known as the “Cara-cazo”. On Sunday, Venezuelans marched in honor of the victims.

“We hope the people of Libya are able to find the way to nation-al re-unification”, Maduro said, suggesting dialogue was the best way towards resolving the con-flict in Libya.

“There shouldn’t be anything that justifies military interven-tionism against the Arabic peo-ple. Just as we were against the invasion of Iraq and the massa-cre of the Palestinian people in Gaza, we would be against any military invasion of Libya”, Ma-duro concluded.

President Chavez, speaking on national television on Friday, also repeated his rejection of any pos-sible intervention in Libya.

He drew parallels with the me-dia coverage of the coup against himself in 2002 with current treat-ment of information about Libya, saying that just as the media is

accusing Gaddafi now, in 2002 he too was called a “murderer” of his people.

“I can’t say that I support, or that I’m in favor of a decision taken by any friend of mine in any part of the world, because we are far away, but yes we support the government of Libya and the independence of Libya, we want peace for this country and for the peoples of the world”, Chavez said.

He also made similar comments to Maduro regarding the invasion of Iraq, “Those who immediately condemn Libya don’t talk about the bombing by the state of Israel on Fallujah, and the thousands and thousands of deaths includ-ing children, women, and whole families. They are quiet about the bombing and massacres in Iraq, in Afghanistan, so they don’t have the right to condemn anyone”.

“We condemn violence, impe-rialism, and interventionism”,

Chavez proclaimed. “Everyone knows our position in favor of life...for peace...how we love all people, how we love the Arabic people, and how those people love us”.

Chavez explained that since the popular rebellions began in North Africa and the Middle East, his government has preferred to maintain “prudent silence... be-cause in the first place, there is a lot of misinformation, not just in the case of Libya but in the case of Egypt we were very prudent...because we’re used to the world media scene”.

He also highlighted the role of Venezuelan initiated Latin Amer-ican television station, TeleSUR in Libya, which has reporters both in Tripoli and in the east of the country where the opposition has control.

T/ Tamara Pearsonwww.venezuelanalysis.com

The artillery of ideas| 4 | Politics No 54 • Friday, February 4, 2011

Venezuela: National Government and Regions Collaborate to Combat Crime

Strengthening police presence and combating violent crime at both the regional and national level were the central topics of discussions taking place last Saturday during an extraordinary session of the Venezuelan government’s Federal Council in the capital city of Caracas

The Council, chaired by Vice President of the Republic

Elias Jaua, was convened specifi-cally to address crime prevention and brought together members of the Executive cabinet as well as state governors and local mayors to strategize solutions to the prob-lem of insecurity in the country.

According to Jaua, the meeting of the Federal Council was made in response to the call of Venezu-elan President Hugo Chavez to “convene all levels of govern-ment in order to address the topic of security”.

During the extraordinary ses-sion, 148 million bolivars ($34.4 million) were approved by the federal government to advance local policing initiatives, fulfill-ing all budget requests presented by the country’s governors and mayors.

“We want the country to know that there is a co-responsibility with respect to security measures that needs to come from the gov-ernors and mayors. It’s not just a problem of the national govern-ment”, Jaua said.

Also approved was an addition-al 15 million bolivars ($3.4 mil-lion) for training and the restruc-turing of the country’s 134 police forces as well as a standardization of practices and equipment.

INTEGRAL SOLUTIONSVenezuela, like many Latin

American countries, has been grappling with high crime rates, especially homicides, for de-cades.

Getting to the root of the prob-lem has been a major concern of the national government, which at-tributes the high indexes of delin-quency to a multiplicity of factors.

“[The government] has always understood that the fight against crime is not an issue exclusively about police. Violence needs to be addressed in an integral way”, Jaua said on Saturday.

As part of this integral ap-proach to crime reduction, the federal government launched a new initiative in 2010 known as the National Bolivarian Police (PNB).

By working with community members and helping to form participatory relations between

residents and officers, the PNB has achieved high levels of crime reduction in the limited areas of Caracas where it has been active.

Given the success of the PNB, the government has been eager to multiply its presence in other re-gions of the country and replace what Justice Minister Tarek El Aissami referred to on Saturday as the nation’s older police forces that were “infiltrated by mafias”.

As such, a new plan was un-veiled to form citizen committees across the country designed to oversee security operations and ensure the continued participa-tion of community members in the policing of their neighbor-hoods.

“We have said that it’s neces-sary to have the political will, the financial will and the public will on a general level…But the most important is to have the people’s support to have a healthy police force”, explained Soraya El Ach-kar, Dean of the nation’s Security University responsible for the training of PNB officers.

Achkar informed that twenty-four committees would be formed in 2011 that will be linked to 34 different state and municipal po-lice forces.

Such measures, officials assert, are part of the government’s new security policy which values re-spect and human rights over re-pression and exclusion in order to, as Vice President Jaua noted, “val-ue life and build a country where everyone lives with equal rights”.

OPPOSITION DIALOGUEJaua also applauded the par-

ticipation of Venezuela’s conser-vative opposition in the Federal Council on Saturday and the will-ingness of government critics to find common ground on security matters.

“Beyond the many political and ideological differences that we have and that are natural in a democracy…this debate allows us to solidify policies that benefit the Venezuelan people”, he af-firmed.

T/ Edward EllisP/ Agencies

Venezuela Protests Interpol’s Decision to “Protect” FraudstersA commission from the Ven-

ezuelan government will review the recent decision made by the International Criminal Po-lice Organization (INTERPOL) to eliminate the international Red Alerts for a group of bankers and housing fraudsters who escaped from Venezuela, fleeing from ar-rest warrants.

Wilmer Flores Trosel, Direc-tor of the Scientific, Penal, and Criminal Investigations Agency (CICPC, Spanish acronym) said on Monday that a team from his agency and the attorney general’s office will travel to Lyon, head-quarters of INTERPOL in France,

to present evidence that justifies the Red Alerts.

A communiqué was sent to INTERPOL last Friday explain-ing each one of the cases, added Flores.

International arrest warrants for the bankers and housing fraudsters were originally issued to all 188 member countries of the organization. However, the Red Alerts, which call for immediate arrest worldwide, were eliminat-ed by INTERPOL without notify-ing the Venezuelan government.

INTERPOL canceled the arrest warrants after a group of attor-neys representing the Venezuelan

fugitives alleged they were being “politically persecuted”.

CORRUPT FUGITIVESNelson Mezerhane and Eligio

Cedeño are among those wanted by Venezuelan justice.

The entrepreneur Mezerhane is responsible for stealing mil-lions of dollars from thousands of Venezuelans after his bank, Banco Federal, went bankrupt. He fled to Miami right after a Federal Prosecutor issued an arrest war-rant based on alleged crimes of conspiracy, illicit enrichment, ap-propriation of financial resources, spreading false financial informa-

tion and hiding institutional tax declaration information.

Cedeño was being prosecuted in a Venezuelan court for alleged embezzlement and contraband of US$27 million. He remained in prision without bail from Febru-ary 2007 until December 10, 2009 when he was illegally released by a corrupt judge who facilitated his escape to Miami. In an open letter to INTERPOL’s Secretary General, Venezuelan Attorney General Luisa Ortega Diaz demanded an explana-tion for the elimination of the Red Alerts and said the decision by IN-TERPOL amounted to “meddling in the internal affairs” of Venezuela.

“I don’t understand what crite-ria you have to say these are po-litical persecutions”, she wrote.

“What you’re saying is that in this country [Venezuela] there are sectors [of the population] that can commit crimes and if the law is ap-plied, it will only be applied against the poor, because otherwise they [the criminals] will be considered politically persecuted”.

“You don’t have to be very bright to understand that there are attacks against the Venezu-elan state and its decisions”, she concluded.

T/ AVN

The artillery of ideas No 54 • Friday, March 4, 2011 Economy | 5 |

Venezuela Emerges from Recession with 0.6% Fourth Quarter Growth

The Venezuelan Central Bank (BCV) reported 0.6% GDP growth in the fourth quarter of 2010, a sign the oil-exporting nation is emerging from a six-quarter recession. Meanwhile, the government announced a package of infrastructure and housing investments and predicted 2% growth for 2011

A greater supply of govern-ment-issued dollars to im-

porters, the recuperation of inter-nal demand, and the resolution of a drought-induced electricity crisis contributed to the fourth quarter growth, according to the BCV.

The public sector grew by 2.6%, spurred by growth in commu-nications, financial services, oil, transportation, and government spending on education, health care, and the military; the private sector shrank by 0.9%, with no-table declines in manufacturing, construction, and mining.

The continued stagnation in na-tional production suggests that the government’s dual exchange rate, which supplied dollars at a pref-erential rate to national producers throughout 2010, did not have the

desired effect of strengthening the country’s oil-dependent economy. The government eliminated the preferential exchange rate on Jan-uary 1 this year, leaving a single exchange rate of 4.3 bolivars to the dollar. The BCV said this would simplify financial transactions and encourage investment, but oppo-nents of the measure said it would increase inflation, which was 27% last year.

BETTER DISTRIBUTION OF WEALTH

While Venezuela’s GDP

growth has lagged behind that of its South American neighbors, the OPEC nation has achieved the most equal wealth distribu-tion in Latin America, according to the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America (CEPAL).

BCV President Nelson Mer-entes told state media outlets on Saturday that Venezuela’s econo-my is entering a “new phase” and should grow by 2% in 2011.

Meanwhile, President Chavez announced a package of public works investments, including

2.5 billion bolivars (US$581.4 million) to improve potable wa-ter services in Miranda state, and 1.38 billion bolivars (US$321 mil-lion) to repair water lines and build treatment plants, pump stations, and storage tanks in and around Caracas.

“This is directed at the poorest areas of Caracas, as well as the middle class”, said Chavez, who will run for a third term as presi-dent in 2012.

HOUSING INVESTMENTAn additional 6 billion bolivars

(US$1.4 million) is slated for pub-lic housing in 2011. Venezuela suffers from a persistent hous-ing deficit, which turned into an emergency in late 2010 when heavy rains and floods drove 130,000 from their homes.

The public banking sector, which has grown through sev-enteen state interventions in law-breaking banks and now encom-passes nearly a third of national banking, is prioritizing credits for housing and food production. New laws have reined in financial speculation and placed quotas on banks for credits to the produc-tive sector.

Venezuela posted a US$3.6 bil-lion current account surplus and a US$3.6 billion capital account deficit in 2010, and maintains US$26.7 billion in reserves. The public debt increased last year as 33.5 billion bolivars (US$7.8 billion) in government bonds denominated in local currency were auctioned off, according to a presentation by Finance and Planning Minister Jorge Giordani in the National Assembly last Thursday.

Both government and private analysts have said the recent oil price hike could allow the gov-ernment to increase the supply of dollars to importers and bolster public works this year.

T/ VenezuelaAnalysisP/ Agencies

SUCRE to foster trade among ALBA countriesVenezuelan and Ecuadorian

entrepreneurs met in Quito in order to promote commercial activities between the two coun-tries by strengthening the Unified System for Regional Compensa-tion (SUCRE Spanish acronym).

This virtual currency for com-mercial exchange was fostered by the Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas (ALBA Spanish acro-nym). It provides a payment sys-tem that contributes to dynamize export activities, response time, paperwork procedures and to reduce bureaucracy. This infor-mation was announced by the Di-rector of the Regional Monetary

Council, Veronica Legarda, from Ecuador.

“The implementation of this system will contribute to com-

prehensive financial relations between ALBA countries, but specifically to create a vision of unity among member nations”, Legarda said.

The President of the Regional Monetary Council and Represen-tative of Venezuela, Eudomar To-var, emphasized that the SUCRE system allows for an increase of internal financial liquidity in member countries, and gener-ates significant income in hard currency, which can be allocated

for urgent activities.“This system strengthens the

integration process among coun-tries and enhances social cohe-

sion. It also offers opportunities to small and medium producers to perform commercial opera-tions and reinforces business ca-pacity”, Tovar explained.

Several transactions have been done in important areas such as petrochemistry, agro-feeding, tex-tiles, agriculture and mining.

Director and Representative of the SUCRE system from Cuba, Benigno Reguiera, highlighted the importance of these meetings and the need to make a greater effort for spreading information and preparing the business sector to increase operations through this new virtual currency system.

“If we really want to be inde-pendent from the policies of the more powerful and developed countries, we need to be united”, Reguiera proclaimed.

Bolivian representative, Ramiro Lizondo, stressed that this week’s meeting was an opportunity to inform about the different eco-nomic actors involved in the SUCRE system. They now have a new and faster way to do busi-ness that does not use or depend on the US dollar as the currency for transactions.

T/ AgenciesP/ Agencies

The artillery of ideas| 6 | Culture No 54 • Friday, March 4, 2011

Culture & arts for liberation and RevolutionIn a nation where prior govern-

ments divested in national arts and culture, importing foreign values and traditions, the govern-ment of Hugo Chavez has taken a bold and necessary step to rescue and dignify Venezuelan identity through the arts.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez unveiled plans last Mon-day to spend three hundred mil-lion bolivars ($69.8 million) on a new social program designed to promote the nation’s cultural her-itage and encourage the training of artists and cultural producers at the national and local levels.

The announcement came dur-ing the graduation ceremony of university students enrolled in the government’s Mission Cul-ture initiative in the capital city of Caracas.

“Our culture must be subver-sive, liberating and revolutionary because the revolution is either cultural or it’s nothing”, Chavez told the graduates of the educa-tional program Monday evening.

“Politics is a cultural thing, es-pecially when it comes to a pro-cess of cultural liberation”, he af-firmed.

The graduation ceremony was held in the Teresa Carreño Theater in Caracas and was part of simi-lar ceremonies occurring across the country where 3,215 students

in total received their Bachelor’s Degree in Education with a focus on Cultural Development.

The Venezuelan head of state encouraged the new cultural workers to engage with their com-munities to further the nation’s collectivist goal of constructing Socialism of the 21st Century.

“You all can work perfectly in the socialist economic units and in the recovered businesses. You can work in the construction of the

new model that is being born”, he said, admonishing the graduates not to “become bureaucrats”.

As part of Venezuela’s new so-cialist model, Chavez announced on Monday the creation of a Na-tional System of Popular Culture, which will work to foster collec-tive values and richen the coun-try’s popular traditions.

The System, the President in-formed, will be headed up by the Culture Ministry and will be

comprised of five principal ob-jectives.

The first objective will be to fa-cilitate greater cultural education especially for youth, while the second will include the growth of the country’s popular culture reg-istry and increased visibility for artists involved in the production of such materials.

Other areas of focus include a greater diffusion of cultural works through exhibits and

events, and the creation of a cul-tural economy that provides bet-ter employment opportunities and a livable income for artists and intellectuals.

According to the Culture Min-ister, Francisco Sesto, the new system will provide recognition and incentives for those working in the arts who have been tradi-tionally relegated to the fringes of the informal economy.

“Sometimes cultural produc-ers have difficulties. They create artwork and devote their lives to it and are never able to gather enough money to fix their humble housing. With their work, there needs to be an economy gener-ated in the communities. We can support with resources and sup-plies as well as the distribution of cultural goods”, Sesto said.

A key part of the new initiative will be the integration of public institutions with private indi-viduals, community groups and artists’ collectives that worked to-gether to provide the impetus for the newly announced System.

“If it wasn’t for these collec-tives, none of this would have any meaning. This [cultural pro-gram] is not the product of a labo-ratory”, Sesto said.

T/ Edward EllisP/ Presidential Press

Unique urban cultural center keeps on rockin’As you near the premises, the

conglomeration of grafitti-painted containers stacked like legos into untraditional struc-tures is eye-catching. “Tiuna El Fuerte”, as the urban cultural center is named, based on the neighboring military fort named “Tiuna”, is the creation of a group of young Venezuelans - artists and musicians - from the work-ing-class neighborhood of El Valle in Caracas. Having suffered years of exclusion and degrading treatment from governments pri-or, who viewed urban culture as synonomous with gangs, drugs and violence, these young artists decided it was time Venezuelan youth from poorer communities had a safe outlet to express them-selves artisticallly, and if the state wouldn’t help, they would build it themselves.

Today, Tiuna El Fuerte is an experimental space that offers

alternative education for lower income youth from the “barrios” - the poor, often dangerous vil-las that graze the mountainsides of Caracas. Their philosophy is revolutionary and critical, and their objective is to aid in the “so-cio-political formation of youth, stimulate creative capacities and

provide training in techniques of urban cultural expression”.

Last week, El Tiuna, as its called for short, celebrated its 6th an-niversary with a series of confer-ences by renowned Venezuelan intellectuals, such as award-win-ning author Luis Britto Garcia, and a free concert on Saturday

with a slew of Venezuelan bands, with genres ranging from hip hop, reggae and ska to good ‘ole fashioned rock ‘n roll.

The land El Tiuna occupies - an old parking lot - was donated by the previous mayor of metropoli-tan Caracas, a supporter of Presi-dent Chavez. But after an opposi-

tion candidate won that office in 2008, all support to El Tiuna was cut off. Since, then, the artistic col-lective has sought funding from different sources, private and public, to maintain their project and vision alive. The containers, or trailers stacked throughout the lot, serve as spaces for workshops, recording studios, video editing and offices, and they are in the process of completing an amphi-theater space for regular dance and theatrical performances.

In its 6th year, Tiuna El Fuerte continues to be one of the most innovative and unique cultural expressions of Venezuela’s Bo-livarian Revolution. For more information on this unique ur-ban cultural center, please visit: http://laboratoriodeartesurba-nas.blogspot.com/

T/ Eva GolingerP/ Tiuna El Fuerte

The artillery of ideas No 54• Friday, March 4, 2011 Analysis | 7 |

First Egypt, next Venezuela?As the wave of popular uprisings has spread across the Arab world, a flurry

of articles have appeared suggesting Vene-zuelan President Hugo Chavez could be the next “dictator” to be overthrown.

Such arguments follow a pattern in the corporate media of slandering the Chavez government and the revolutionary process it leads.

They aim to conceal the real threat that haunts imperialism: that the Arab world may follow the example of Venezuela and other countries in Latin America — and break away from Western hegemony.

Particularly cynical were the comments by British foreign secretary William Hague, who falsely alleged Libyan leader Muam-mar Gaddafi had fled to Venezuela on Feb-ruary 21. This triggered a spate of headlines tying “Venezuela” and “Libya” together — despite the fact the allegation was untrue.

A February 2 editorial by the Miami Her-ald claimed: “With dictators toppling like dominoes across the Middle East, Venezu-ela’s president-for-life, Hugo Chavez, is sig-naling worry about his own despotic rule”.

The article ignores the fact that Chavez was overwhelming elected as president in three elections supervised by numerous interna-tional observers. All up, pro-Chavez forces have won more than a dozen national elec-tions, all verified as free and fair, since 1998.

With new elections set for 2012, Chavez maintains more than 50% support — even in polls commissioned by the US-funded opposition.

Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres went further when he listed Chavez along with Iranian leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as two despots corrupted by oil that must be eliminated.

“I believe the world should get rid of oil and tyranny, both of them together are dan-gerous”, Peres said.

The reality is that as US hegemony is be-ing challenged by the popular uprisings in the Arab world, right-wing commentators and policy-makers are scrambling to spin the situation to their own advantage.

They are singling out governments out-side of US control as possible targets for en-forced “regime change” from outside.

Responding to the idea that Venezuela could be next, Chavez noted recently that what was occurring in Egypt “started here a while ago. We have been in rebellion for a while now, in a revolutionary rebellion.”

Chavez said that rebellion began in Ven-ezuela with the February 1989 popular up-rising known as the Caracazo.

As a result of International Monetary Fund-imposed hikes in fuel prices, tens of thousands of Venezuelans poured onto the streets of Caracas and other major cities to protest against the neoliberal measure.

A brutal crackdown left an estimated 4000 dead and temporarily quelled the rebellion. However, the fervour continued in Venezu-elan society, leading to Chavez’s election in 1998 on an anti-neoliberal platform.

Chavez said: “What happened in Egypt — and which has not finished — is a sud-

den awakening of people’s power. We have only seen the first waves.

“They are events that mark a new phase of history in the entire world”.

One of Chavez’s first moves by Chavez when he was elected was to strengthen Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and use it to negotiate a more just oil price for countries dependent on oil revenues.

Chavez also took back government con-trol over Venezuela’s nominally state-run oil industry. These moves have allowed his government to pour much of the oil revenue into social programs.

These wide-ranging programs eradicated illiteracy and extended free education and healthcare to the most needy. They have also been crucial to the process of expand-ing community control over the running their affairs.

The Chavez government has also used oil revenues to seek to develop other sectors of the economy to help break oil dependency.

To follow the mainstream media, you would get the impression the Chavez gov-ernment is working overtime to silence freedom of speech. The reality, however, is not one TV station or newspaper has been closed down — and the overwhelming ma-jority are virulently anti-government.

On the other hand, hundreds of new community radio stations have flourished in the impoverished barrios, extending free speech to those who have never had the op-portunity to exercise it before.

The US-backed dictators in the Arab world have consistently placed relations with Israel above the interests of the Pales-tinian people — despite the popular sym-pathy for the Palestinian cause among Arab people.

In contrast, since December, nine South American countries have formally recog-nized a sovereign Palestinian state.

Chavez’s government, and Bolivia’s radi-cal president Evo Morales, have gone fur-ther. They broke all diplomatic relations with Israel after its brutal onslaught against Gaza in 2009.

Andelfo Garcia, a former foreign minister of the most loyal US ally in the region, Co-lombia, said in the February 19 Miami Her-ald that this move is just one more sign that South American countries are no longer sim-ply adopting US foreign policy as their own.

“It’s like a wave rolling through Latin America”, he said. “The region has its own vision and wants to play a larger role”.

Venezuela has been in the forefront of moves towards greater regional integra-tion, and a shift away from traditional de-

pendence on trade with the US — as well as greater trade and dialogue with other parts of the world, such as the Middle East.

The US and Israel are terrified of the threat of something similar occurring in the Arab world — should the democratic revolutions be successful and extend to exerting demo-cratic control over oil and other resources.

It also helps explain why Chavez is hailed by so many in the Arab world as a hero.

However, as Santiago Alba Rico and Alma Allende said in a February 24 Rebe-lion article “From the Arab world to Latin America”, Venezuela and Cuba’s reluctance to clearly condemn the brutal repression be-ing carried out by the regime of Muammar Gaddafi’s against a popular revolt will have negative consequences for the anti-imperi-alist project in Latin America.

Venezuela and Cuba have called for a “peaceful resolution” to the violence in Libya and warned the West could use the bloody scenes as an excuse to intervene.

The Arab revolt represents both an “eco-nomic revolt” and a “democratic, nationalist and anti-colonial revolution”, they said, that “provides the socialist left and pan-Arabists in the region with an unexpected opportunity”.

The pioneering processes of liberation in Latin America, is a symbol of hope for the global anti-imperialist struggle. Therefore, left-wing Latin American governments should unreservedly support the peoples of the Arab world.

This would pre-empt the strategy of the Western powers, which are trying to relegit-imize themselves as champions of “human rights and democracy” and may seek to use Gaddafi’s crimes as an excuse to intervene militarily.

Ignoring the brutal reality of Gaddafi, who has been a friend in recent years of the West and its allied dictators, risks breaking ties with popular Arab movements, they pointed out.

It could also give legitimacy to the false accusations thrown at Venezuela and Cuba by imperialism.

They added: “Hopefully Gaddafi will fall — today better that tomorrow”.

One thing is clear, just as the US has sought to prop up dictatorships in the Arab world, it will continue its struggle to defeat the popular revolutionary movements in Latin America.

Eva Golinger said in Correo del Orinoco International on February 18 that US Presi-dent Barack Obama had requested US$5 million dollars from the US Congress for anti-Chavez groups in the 2012 budget.

Venezuelan parliamentarians also have condemned threats from Republican con-gressmen and the newly appointed chair of the House sub-committee on foreign affairs for the Western hemisphere, Connie Mack.

Mack has called for a “full-scale economic embargo” against Venezuela.

The real threat to Venezuelan democracy, as across Latin America and the Arab world, comes from the US Empire.

T/ Kiraz Janicke & Federico Fuentes

The artillery of ideasENGLISH EDITIONFRIDAY March 4, 2011 No. 54 Bs 1 CaraCas

A publication of the Fundacion Correo del Orinoco • Editor-in-Chief | Eva Golinger • Graphic Design | Alexander Uzcátegui, Jameson Jiménez • Press | Fundación Imprenta de la Cultura

OPINION

Army of Fake Social Media Friends to Promote Propaganda

It’s recently been revealed that the US go-vernment contracted HBGary Fede-

ral for the development of software that could create multiple fake social media profiles to manipulate and sway public opinion on controver-sial issues by promoting propagan-da. It could also be used as surveillance to find public opinions with points of view the powers-that-be didn’t like. It could then potentially have their “fake” people run smear campaig-ns against those “real” people. As disturbing as this is, it’s not really new for US intelligence or private intelligence firms to do the dirty work behind closed doors.

Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) previously warned that Big Brother wants to be your friend for social media surveillance. While the FBI Intelligence Infor-mation Report Handbook (PDF) mentioned using “covert accounts” to access protected information, other government agencies endor-sed using security exploits to ac-cess protected information.

It’s not a big surprise that the US mi-litary also wants to use social media to its benefit. Last year, Public Intelligence published the US Air Force social me-dia guide which gave ten tips for social media such as, “The enemy is engaged in this battlespace and you must engage there as well”. Number three was “DON’T LIE. Credibility is critical, without it, no one cares what you have to say...it’s also punishable by the UCMJ to give a false statement”. The Air Force used the chart included on this page to show how social media influences public opinion.

The 6th Contracting Squadron at Ma-cDill Air Force Base sought the develop-ment of Persona Management Software, which could be used for creating and ma-naging fake profiles on social media sites to distort the truth and make it appear as if there was a generally accepted agreement on controversial issues. “Personas must be able to appear to originate in nearly any part of the world and can interact through conventional online services and social me-

dia platforms”. What happened to don’t lie and the Uniform Code of Military Justice?

Everything revealed after Anonymous leaked emails from private security firm HBGary Federal is disturbing on many le-vels. However, the Daily Kos said with the Persona Management Software it would take very few people to create “an army of sockpuppets” which could distort the tru-th while appearing to be “an entire Brooks Brothers riot online”.

So again I ask, what happened to number three . . . the rule about not

lying that was also “punishable by the UCMJ to give a false state-

ment”?President and CEO of Ples-

sas Experts Network, Inc, Kir-by Plessas pointed out some of the

unethical and potentially illegal activi-ties that Aaron Barr’s leaked emails su-ggested like “Chumming and baiting”

which sounded like “entrapment of some sort”. There would be no warrant for the data collected on individuals which could then be stored for how long? “THIS is the entire reason Intelligence Oversight

was created - to avoid this sort of thing from ever happening again”.

According to Redacted News, the leaked emails showed how names can be cross-referenced across social media sites to collect information on people and then used to gain access to those social ciricles.

The emails also talked of how Facebook could be used to spread government messages.

Even the most restrictive and securi-ty conscious of persons can be exploited.

Through the targeting and information re-connaissance phase, a person’s hometown and high school will be revealed. An adver-sary can create a classmates.com account at the same high school and year and find out people you went to high school with that do not have Facebook accounts, then create the account and send a friend request.

Under the mutual friend decision, which is where most people can be exploited, an adversary can look at a target’s friend list if it is exposed and find a target’s most socially promiscuous friends, the ones that have over

300-500 friends, friend them to develop mu-tual friends before sending a friend request to the target. To that end friend’s accounts can be compromised and used to post malicious material to a targets wall. When choosing to participate in social media an individual is only as protected as his/her weakest friend.

Lots of people have multiple online aliases, Facebook or Twitter accounts for both busi-ness and private life. What most bothers me is the lying and seemingly unethical means to an end. Although the government says it doesn’t approve of censorship, etc, when its secrets come to light, it seems to be Okay with recommending underhanded tactics.

Secretary Clinton delivered a speech ca-lled, “Internet Rights and Wrongs: Choices and Challenges In A Networked World”. To help promote and support Internet freedom, the State Department intends to award $25 million in grants. While that is great news, the EFF reported, “For every strong statement about preserving liberty, freedom of expression, and privacy on the global Internet, there exists a countervai-ling example of the United States attemp-ting to undermine those same values”.

Secretary Clinton later told “This Week” anchor Christiane Amanpour that most Americans “are in favor of human rights, freedom, democracy. We know that ultima-tely the most progress that can be made on behalf of human beings anywhere is when those individuals are empowered, when they have governments that are responsive”. Clinton added, “At the same time, we recog-nize that this process can be hijacked. It can be hijacked by both outside and inside ele-ments within any country”.

So while the US government can talk a good talk, what it does and what it says often doesn’t seem to jive. Gasp, I know, it’s not a big shocker but sometimes I find that utterly frustrating. The President wanted an Internet Kill Switch, the FBI keeps pushing for back-doors on all-things-Net. What happened to a code of ethics? Does it disappear behind clo-sed doors, dirty deeds done in the dark and used against the US people who are suppo-sed to be free to express themselves?

Darlene StormGlobal Research

Global Social Media Information FlowThe online conversation is a fluid dynamic space with many factors shaping media, messages and products. This chart reflects how social media products are possibly influenced by multiple factors, both from individuals and mass media. Social media

allows for the social interaction between a messanger and receiver. Web 2.0 uses online tools like social networking sites, blogs, wikis, folksonomy and video-sharing Web sites.