Venezuela Adds Troops to Colombian Border

Venezuela is beefing up its troop strength along the Colombian border, negotiating with Russia to set up arms factories, and preparing for a possible invasion, the army commander said Friday. The army has increased its force along the Colombian border by about 6,000 men, Gen. Raul Baduel said at a news conference. He said 1,000 troops are now guarding the 1,370-mile border, which is plagued by drug trafficking, smuggling and guerrilla and paramilitary activities.

``We cannot set aside the possibility of a military invasion on our country,'' because its vast oil deposits make it a target, he said. Baduel declined to specify what country the army was preparing against for a possible invasion. President Hugo Chavez has repeatedly accused the United States of plotting an attack to unseat his government - charges U.S. officials deny.

Venezuela has used its surging oil revenues to modernize its military, signing defense deals worth an estimated $2.7 billion with countries including Russia and Spain as suppliers. Baduel said Venezuela is negotiating with Russia to set up factories to produce Kalashnikov assault rifles and ammunition within three to five years. Venezuela expects to receive a shipment of 30,000 Kalashnikov AK-103 rifles this weekend - the first of 100,000 this year, Baduel said. U.S. officials have expressed concern about Venezuela's military buildup.

Calling Chavez a destabilizing threat to the region, they have kept close watch on his ties with other leftist leaders, including Bolivian President Evo Morales and Cuba's Fidel Castro. The U.S. State Department on Friday indicated a clear preference for Guatemala over Venezuela for the Latin America-Caribbean seat on the U.N. Security Council. Venezuela also plans to send two Superpuma helicopters and a contingent of military officials to Bolivia, Defense Minister Orlando Maniglia said this week. Some Bolivian opposition groups have questioned the presence of Venezuelan military officials, including Baduel, among Chavez's delegation on a recent trip to Bolivia.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-5862594,00.html

He should be spending all that money on children who are starving in his country

The statement that poverty in Venezuela has increased under the government of President Hugo Chávez has appeared in scores of major newspapers, on major television and radio programs. Pure bunk.

During the US led coup, the poverty rate in Venezuela jumped from 39% to 55%. After the coup, "The economy then began to recover and grew very rapidly– 17.9 percent in 2004, and 9.3 percent in 2005. As a result of this recovery, the poverty rate dropped to 37.9 percent for the second half of 2005, the latest data available."
http://upsidedownworld.org/main/content/view/302/1/

Even though the poverty rate has been drastically cut, the BushCo propaganda still uses the 2002 coup 55% poverty rate and says it over and over again. Some people get brainwashed into believing that nonsence.

$2.7 billion would buy a lot of bread

as it did in 2002/3. Keeping BushCo out is the only way Chavez has been able to reduce the poverty to the level you saw it last year. Poverty has decreased since that time and is still decreasing to this day (somewhere in the low 30%).

But if BushCo comes in, all oil money will stop going to improvements and wind up in the pockets of BushCo cronies. Poverty rates would then climb right back up into the 50-60% levels.

a government the US liked was put in power in his place. It goes without saying that capitalism would make everything worse.

And it goes without saying that putting in a "pro-American" government would make poverty worse. Every government the U.S.(and Hillary lovers like you)has ever supported in Latin America has always been the enemy of the poor. Capitalist governments have to be.

It would be interesting to see.

On edit:

Don't bother. I've got a chart here some DU'ers might find interesting if they didn't see it on another Venezuela thread:

Defense spending in Latin America
Tuesday May 30, 2006

Some of the top spenders on defense in Latin America last year:

Brazil: $13.2 billion, regular defense budget.

Colombia: $6.3 billion, includes regular defense budget, other military spending, costs of police agencies and U.S. military aid.

Chile: $3.8 billion*, includes defense budget, additional military funding and costs for national police.

Mexico: $3.1 billion*, defense budget.

Argentina: $1.7 billion*, defense budget.

Venezuela: $1.4 billion, regular defense budget. Does not include other defense deals paid from outside the budget.
(snip)

http://cbs4denver.com/businesswire/Venezuela-DefenseGlan2122673522-ff/resources_news_html

Here's that thread, for general interest:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=2313861#2314163


As DU'er Posteritatis wrote:

"Venezuela's 2005 defense spending was $1.61 billion. Gah"

and

DU'er midnight armadillo wrote:

That's 0.4% of the US budget
$2 billion is 0.4% of the US $500 billion budget. Just to keep things in perspective...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Perspective is a little difficult for some.

My own feeling is that, given our rulers' behavior in Latin America, citizens of the US have no authority to question those country's defense budgets.

Until our leaders say, once and for all, "every country in the hemisphere has the right to carry our whatever social and economic policies they wish, and to do so without any fear or retribution from our military or financial sectors" Hugo and any other Latin American leader has the right to do whatever, short of torture or censorship, they feel is necessary to protect their country from US intervention".

In other words, as things stand now, it isn't our place as US citizens to say that Hugo's weapons are unnecessary. We all have too much blood and shame on our hands.

about horrendous suffering throughout Latin America and the Caribbean due to U.S. scheming, and hidden (from Americans) history, that Latin Americans just happened to develope without any perceptible reason, a very deep resentment, and in some cases, hatred of U.S. policy toward their countries.

As adults people are free to start looking for the information not acknowledged in government supported grade schools, high schools, etc. Records have been opened under the F.O.I.A., and citizens who want to know the truth are starting to find out for themselves, while right-wingdingers are deliberately trying to muddy the areas of public communication.

People only have to start reading and researching for themselves to avoid being snookered any longer, and also able to tell the baloney they are seeing pitched on message boards at Democrats from the truth.

Eventually the truth is going to triumph.

I think the US should reduce it's "defense" budget dramatically, starting now.

use our overload on schedule and keep the weapons makers in bidness, in addition to maintaining the apparent pleasure for our right-wing pResidents to do a little puffing and strutting, imagining themselves as very powerful people.

and all the money and hard work put into it's recovery by the richest country on the planet. :sarcasm:

your picture point is totally pointless.

We can assume the Bushies are planning it(and that Lieberman and Hillary, as global supporters of the rich against the poor, will support and defend it)so no one outside Venezuela has the right to criticize Hugo for what he does to defend his people against the imposition of Pinochetism by force. Especially Americans, since we have all eternally forfeited our moral authority in Latin America.

or the US. I don't know what invasion Hugo is preparing for

self-delete.

He can take it.

lastest example of how that ploy works!

Sure glad he's protecting his chance to continue changing Venezuelan life for the very large, formerly shut-out, kicked-to-the-curb, non-European-descended, poor population, just as the voters hoped he would.

Dictators always have other priorities.

Just watch and see how he'll change the constitution to remain president for the rest of his life.

"Mr Uribe, who changed the constitution so he could run for a second term ..."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/5024428.stm

If you're an enthusiast of the Colombian model, I'd guess you're trying to foretell the future by inspecting the innards of trade unionists and other social activists, spilled out on the country's sidewalks by the thugs in power ...

aleksandr boyd is a right-wing extremist. He still sees Pinochet's Chile as the model for Latin America to follow.

Sure you want to take his word as gospel on Venezuela?

as a source for a handful of visitors who spammed DU over the last few years, one of the most awkward, and obvious ones being the well-known clown, "Sandandsea."

~snip~
While we often critique the corporate media for doing the same thing, we rarely write expose's on those who support the antics of the U.S.-led empire in the alternative, Internet media. In this case, we make an exception for the second time. On January 5, 2005, I co-authored an article with Carlos Herrera, Bolivarian Activist, in which I described Boyd and quoted from some of his writing: Malicious communications and internet terrorism.

Boyd is not to be compared in size or power with the leaders of the opposition - not even close. He possesses neither the wealth nor cunning of those who are in leadership. To my knowledge, the most important job he has ever held was as a bellhop for the Sanderson Hotel in London. He lost that job in 2003. On his website he claims to have once been a law student: "In September of 2.000 I enrolled in Birkbeck College to read Geology, the idea behind it was to get a degree from the University of London and move back to Venezuela to work for PDVSA". Apparently, Boyd failed in this endeavor, but leaves the reader with the impression that he is a law student.

On a less personal level, anyone who reads Boyd's rants on VCrisis can easily see that he has no sense or concern for journalistic integrity. His work rests upon innuendo and half-truths throughout and is therefore misleading. For one example, Boyd is fond of suggesting that everyone who supports Chavez is in the pay of the government. He even tries to suggest that lobbyist Patton Boggs somehow performs illegal work, when the same kind of lobbying is completely normal in Washington. It's a throwaway, rhetorical argument, but leaves impressions of corruption and wrong-doing. It's always been interesting to me that when well-documented, logical arguments are lacking, those in support of the empire frequently accuse foreign governments of "corruption" - which then becomes one of the "talking points" of the stooges who support the U.S. global corporate empire. But before we go on with Boyd's media practices, let's take a look at his heroes among "The Opposition" in Venezuela.
(snip)

Aleksander Boyd is one of the loudest and most vitriolic mouthpieces for this set of characters. Boyd is essentially a wannabee cheerleader for these thugs, although I’ve never seen them give him any recognition as such. I have hesitated to write about Boyd in the past because I am reluctant to draw any more attention to his rants than necessary. However, as an editor of a media outlet that places great importance on the developments in Venezuela, I have finally decided to respond to this opposition hireling, since he seems to have found a permanent platform for ranting and raving which lead to misconceptions and misunderstanding of what is really happening in Venezuela.
(snip/...)

http://www.axisoflogic.com/cgi-bin/exec/view.pl?archive=94&num=16456

I]ve posted these photos here myself, by the way, many times. Are you attempting to pretend this happened because of Hugo Chavez? How stupid do you think people would have to be to believe something this horrendous could easily be swept away and replaced by apartments within a few years? The problem is VAST.



Alexsander Boyd lives in London, where he used to work as a bellhop. That was what was in my post, to which you replied.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Since you don't seem able to take time to look for information, here's a case in which the information is coming to you. This is a list of the programs ALREADY WORKING for Venezuelans, being put in place by the Chavez government:

Robinson Mission
This mission was launched on July 1, 2003, and it was used to pull millions of Venezuelans out of the shadows of ignorance.

Robinson mission is the most important civil and military operation ever launched in Venezuela’s history. This mission uses volunteers to teach reading, writhing and basic math to more than 1.5 million Venezuelans who were illiterate. Each educational district gave their support for the implementation of this mission, as well as the Venezuelan armed forces.

On October 28, 2005, Venezuela was officially declared illiteracy-free territory by the UNESCO. A total of 1,482,543 Venezuelans learned to read and write; they were helped by 128,967 teachers in 136,041 classrooms. Many other governments, heads of states, personalities and organizations praised this mission.

There are currently 11,700 Venezuelans registered for the new phase of this mission.

It is worth mentioning that the Bolivarian government had the will to eradicate illiteracy. This is the first time an effort of these characteristics is put in motion and this experience could be taken into other countries in the region.

Robinson II mission is called “I can continue” and it aims to provide ongoing basic education courses to those Venezuelans who have not completed their elementary-level education. There are currently 1,468,967 Venezuelans in this mission, helped by 104,171 teachers in 99,171 classrooms.

Ribas Mission
This mission was born on October 16, 2003, and it provides remedial high school level classes to millions of Venezuelans who were forced to dropout from high school. It iis named after independence hero José Félix Ribas. This mission is sponsored by the Oil and Energy ministry, as well as state-owned Pdvsa.

The goal is for this mission to be a continuation of Robinson II mission.

From 2003 to January, 2006, the Bolivarian government has helped 885,410 Venezuelans enter this mission. There are currently 578,668 Venezuelans studying in this mission with the help of 32,167 teachers, 5,177 coordinators at 8,306 school facilities nationwide. There are 32,291 classrooms and 173,834 students have received scholarships.


Sucre Mission
Sucre Mission was launched in September, 2003. The Ministry of Higher Education is in charge of this project and carries it out all around the country. The Bolivarian University of Venezuela (UBV, Spanish acronym) opens its doors to thousands of students who began to study in classrooms that were the luxurious offices of oil oligarchs.

This program’s goal is to boost the institutional synergy and community participation in order to guarantee and provide access to higher education to all high school students.

So far, this program has registered 472,363 high school graduates, 429,215 of which have been assisted and 318,381 have finished the University Introductory Program. A total of 330,346 high school graduates have registered in the education programs. Also, the mission has granted 96,412 scholarships ($100) to the poorest students, and it is checking other 2,968 scholarships.

Likewise, 10,212 teachers work for the education programs and 1,107 university villages are distributed all around the country. These examples are a proof of the determination and strategy of the State to cancel a social debt. Also, this program guarantees access to higher education to all Venezuelans.


Barrio Adentro Mission
Since April, 2003, the national government’s main objective is to shape a health network through providing a free service to the poor sector of the population. This is why Barrio Adentro Mission I was launched.

This mission’s general objective is to provide access to health care assistance to 60 percent of the excluded population through the construction of 8,000 Popular Medical Centers, to provide a doctor to 250 families (1,200 people), to increase the life expectancy rate of the population and to contribute to the development, growth and ageing with a good standard of life.

Barrio Adentro Mission I has made an important progress in this sense by providing 162,012,583 people with medical assistance, 14,716,325 people with dental assistance and 3,811,741 people with eye assistance, by saving 31,063 lives, by giving 375,144 glasses, and by constructing 1,012 medical centers.

Barrio Adentro Mission II was launched on June 12, 2005. This mission opened 30 Integral Diagnosis Centers and 30 Integral Rehabilitation Rooms all around the country. These centers have make possible to perform 3,936,874 lab tests, 535,631 emergency surgeries, 775,690 ultrasounds, 285,415 X-Rays, 324,936 electrocardiograms, 108 operations, 55,499 endoscopies, 1,064,339 rehabilitation traements.

Also, 200 Integral Diagnosis Centers (CDI, Spanish acronym) and Integral Rehabilitation Rooms (SRI, Spanish acronym) have been opened during these last months. 103 are already finished and they are in the endowment phase. 704 are still under construction.

Likewise, Barrio Adentro III Mission is already working. This mission has to do with the strengthening of the hospital networks all around the country in order to meet the demand of Barrio Adentro II (CDI and SRI). This project is known as People’s Hospitals since it implies the modernization of hospital centers with medical and electromechanical equipment.

Barrio Adentro Mission (Sports)
This program began in February 2004 and its goal is assisting the sport skills of students, senior citizens, pregnant women, people with disabilities and all people wishing to improve their standard of life and health.

So far, 150,504,060 people (including all sports programs) have registered in this program. 43,976,715 people belong to sports, 25,259,343 people to physical activities at school, 980,574 people are training, 480,593 consultations and 40,417,071 recreation activities have taken place, 31,663,978 sport programs have been carried out and 7,726,786 people are registered in therapeutic sports.

The goal of this mission is to take care of national sports through sport assistance centers located in each municipality and through the Training Schools for Sport Talents (one per state), specifically for high performance sport.

Vuelvan Caras Mission
Vuelvan Caras Mission’s goal is to provide vocational training for work. People graduating from different missions must gradually incorporate into the country’s economic production process and this is fulfilled through Vuelvan Caras Mission. This program represents the claiming for our knowledge and our creating potential and it serves the transformation of the socioeconomic model proposed by the government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.

Since January, 2004, 6,814 cooperatives have been shaped, 130 Endogenous Development Centers are working, and there are 5,627 financed cooperatives and 264,720 graduates. The funds for these cooperatives amount to $ 423,914.

Mercal Mission
This program was created to trade and sell food and other essential products like medicines at affordable prices. It is worth mentioning that the Ministry of Food’s goal for 2005 was to set up 6,000 sale points; this represents 14,539,300 people benefiting from this program.

Also, 6,004 Soup Kitchens are working; these benefits 900,600 people by giving them free meals. These meals are given to the poorest sectors of the population. Regarding nutrition and protection, 1,374,312 people living in extreme poverty have benefited from this proram.

Thanks to the products of the Corporation for Agrofood Supply and services (CASA, Spanish Acronym) and Mercal (markets), people can save up to 34 percent in comparison with the prices regulated by the State and 37 percent in comparison with the market prices.

Guaicaipuro Mission
This mission’s goal is to restore human rights to numerous indigenous communities. This program was launched in August 2004 and it has handed over 21 communal land titles to an indigenous population of 6,769 people.

The government has carried out a total of 61 projects, which represents an amount of more than 2 million dollars. The national government has financed 32 projects for a total of 600,000 dollars. Guaicaipuro Mission represents the restoration of constitutional rights to indigenous people, as well as economic development, land demarcation, strengthening of their identity, language, education, habitat and health.


Zamora Mission
Mission Zamora’s main goal is to hand over land titles to farmers in order to guarantee the food offer for the have-nots and to bet for social economy and endogenous development. This mission is linked with Mercal.

Since January, 2005, the government has granted 68,528 future land titles. This represents an area of 7,222,880 acres, apart from the 80 awarded titles that represent an area of 87,739 acres. There are 48 Zamora Ranches, representing a total of 56,994 acres.

Culture Mission
Culture Mission has worked since July, 2005 and it is a new kind of university system; that is, people graduate as Teachers in Culture. The student fee is about $230 per year. This mission has 70 tutors, 328 university teachers.

Negra Hipólita Mission
This mission is one of the newest created by the national government. It was launched on January 14, 2006, in order to fight poverty, misery and social exclusion; thus, the government begins a new stage in the fight against these calamities.

Currently, Negra Hipólita Mission is a fact that represents the commitment to set Venezuela free from misery. Also, it is a very important effort aimed to defeat the worse kind of exclusion: poverty. The assistance is aimed at children, adolescents, adults and the elderly living in the streets, in extreme poverty, and drug-addicted individuals.
(snip/)

http://www.venezuelasolidarity.org.uk/ven/web/2006/missions/social_missions.html

I have relatives in Venezuela and I know that your bogus Chavez fetish cannot be real if you ever visited Venezuela.

"How much is Chavez paying you"? Oh puhleeze.

Look, Hugo is the only leader in Venezuelan history who hasn't been a total tool of the rich and the Yanqui.
Who the hell do you think should be running the place?

Did you ever criticize the military spending of any RIGHT WING Latin American government?

My Ass.

Everything I've read from reputable sources indicates he is spreading the wealth of the nation with the citizens - all of them. The major initiatives right now include feeding everyone and making sure all children are educated. He may be just a little paranoid of the US, but we've shot our mouths off about Venezuela, so I don't think it's outrageous to try and protect your country from a potential operation led by US covert ops in Colombia. We've been screwing around in Latin America for decades, often to the detriment of the population. We are not in it for altruistic reasons. If that's what you believe, you have some reading to do.

. . . and check your sources. Hugo took complete control of the Venezuelan media.

It would be the FIRST TIME someone has posted something which would lead anyone to that conclusion.

We'll be interested in seeing your evidence.

In the meantime:

lookout | posted February 13, 2003 (March 3, 2003 issue)
Venezuela's Media Coup
Naomi Klein

Poor Endy Chávez, outfielder for the Navegantes del Magallanes, one of Venezuela's big baseball teams. Every time he comes up to bat, the local TV sportscasters start in with the jokes. "Here comes Chávez. No, not the pro-Cuban dictator Chávez, the other Chávez." Or "This Chávez hits baseballs, not the Venezuelan people."

In Venezuela, even color commentators are enlisted in the commercial media's open bid to oust the democratically elected government of Hugo Chávez. Andrés Izarra, a Venezuelan television journalist, says that the campaign has done so much violence to truthful information on the national airwaves that the four private TV stations have effectively forfeited their right to broadcast. "I think their licenses should be revoked," he says.

It's the sort of extreme pronouncement one has come to expect from Chávez, known for nicknaming the stations "the four horsemen of the apocalypse." Izarra, however, is harder to dismiss. A squeaky clean made-for-TV type, he worked as assignment editor in charge of Latin America at CNN en Español until he was hired as news production manager for Venezuela's highest-rated newscast, El Observador on RCTV.

On April 13, 2002, the day after business leader Pedro Carmona briefly seized power, Izarra quit that job under what he describes as "extreme emotional stress." Ever since, he has been sounding the alarm about the threat posed to democracy when the media decide to abandon journalism and pour all their persuasive powers into winning a war being waged over oil.

Venezuela's private television stations are owned by wealthy families with serious financial stakes in defeating Chávez. Venevisión, the most-watched network, is owned by Gustavo Cisneros, a mogul dubbed "the joint venture king" by the New York Post. The Cisneros Group has partnered with many top US brands--from AOL and Coca-Cola to Pizza Hut and Playboy--becoming a gatekeeper to the Latin American market.
(snip)

....Venezuela isn't the only country where a war is being waged over oil, where media owners have become inseparable from the forces clamoring for "regime change" and where the opposition finds itself routinely erased by the nightly news. But in the United States, unlike in Venezuela, the media and the government are on the same side.
(snip/)

http://www.thenation.com/doc/20030303/klein

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Please don't forget to post your evidence. We'll be waiting.

:spray: :rofl:

Defense Spending in Latin America
http://www.iiss.org/whats-new/iiss-in-the-press/may-2006/defense-spending-in-latin-america-


Mayday Colombia

Colombia is the most dangerous country in the world to be a trade unionist. In the last 15 years over 3,000 people have been killed as a result of their involvement in trade union activity - more than in the rest of world combined.

Not only does this severely undermine democracy but it also means thousands of workers are forced to live in poverty. Colombia is one of the most unequal societies on earth with 3% of the population owning 70% of the land ...

http://www.waronwant.org/?lid=112

of what you're attempting to discuss.

Apparently you imagine Venezuela, unlike all other countries, should have no defense budget. That's brilliant. You should tear yourself away from message boards and start reading the history of Latin America, in order to speak from an informed position.

Concerning your idle rumination over food for the poor, you'll find it mentioned in this list of working answers to the dilemnas faced by the very poor in Venezuela:

Robinson Mission
This mission was launched on July 1, 2003, and it was used to pull millions of Venezuelans out of the shadows of ignorance.

Robinson mission is the most important civil and military operation ever launched in Venezuela’s history. This mission uses volunteers to teach reading, writhing and basic math to more than 1.5 million Venezuelans who were illiterate. Each educational district gave their support for the implementation of this mission, as well as the Venezuelan armed forces.

On October 28, 2005, Venezuela was officially declared illiteracy-free territory by the UNESCO. A total of 1,482,543 Venezuelans learned to read and write; they were helped by 128,967 teachers in 136,041 classrooms. Many other governments, heads of states, personalities and organizations praised this mission.

There are currently 11,700 Venezuelans registered for the new phase of this mission.

It is worth mentioning that the Bolivarian government had the will to eradicate illiteracy. This is the first time an effort of these characteristics is put in motion and this experience could be taken into other countries in the region.

Robinson II mission is called “I can continue” and it aims to provide ongoing basic education courses to those Venezuelans who have not completed their elementary-level education. There are currently 1,468,967 Venezuelans in this mission, helped by 104,171 teachers in 99,171 classrooms.

Ribas Mission
This mission was born on October 16, 2003, and it provides remedial high school level classes to millions of Venezuelans who were forced to dropout from high school. It iis named after independence hero José Félix Ribas. This mission is sponsored by the Oil and Energy ministry, as well as state-owned Pdvsa.

The goal is for this mission to be a continuation of Robinson II mission.

From 2003 to January, 2006, the Bolivarian government has helped 885,410 Venezuelans enter this mission. There are currently 578,668 Venezuelans studying in this mission with the help of 32,167 teachers, 5,177 coordinators at 8,306 school facilities nationwide. There are 32,291 classrooms and 173,834 students have received scholarships.


Sucre Mission
Sucre Mission was launched in September, 2003. The Ministry of Higher Education is in charge of this project and carries it out all around the country. The Bolivarian University of Venezuela (UBV, Spanish acronym) opens its doors to thousands of students who began to study in classrooms that were the luxurious offices of oil oligarchs.

This program’s goal is to boost the institutional synergy and community participation in order to guarantee and provide access to higher education to all high school students.

So far, this program has registered 472,363 high school graduates, 429,215 of which have been assisted and 318,381 have finished the University Introductory Program. A total of 330,346 high school graduates have registered in the education programs. Also, the mission has granted 96,412 scholarships ($100) to the poorest students, and it is checking other 2,968 scholarships.

Likewise, 10,212 teachers work for the education programs and 1,107 university villages are distributed all around the country. These examples are a proof of the determination and strategy of the State to cancel a social debt. Also, this program guarantees access to higher education to all Venezuelans.


Barrio Adentro Mission
Since April, 2003, the national government’s main objective is to shape a health network through providing a free service to the poor sector of the population. This is why Barrio Adentro Mission I was launched.

This mission’s general objective is to provide access to health care assistance to 60 percent of the excluded population through the construction of 8,000 Popular Medical Centers, to provide a doctor to 250 families (1,200 people), to increase the life expectancy rate of the population and to contribute to the development, growth and ageing with a good standard of life.

Barrio Adentro Mission I has made an important progress in this sense by providing 162,012,583 people with medical assistance, 14,716,325 people with dental assistance and 3,811,741 people with eye assistance, by saving 31,063 lives, by giving 375,144 glasses, and by constructing 1,012 medical centers.

Barrio Adentro Mission II was launched on June 12, 2005. This mission opened 30 Integral Diagnosis Centers and 30 Integral Rehabilitation Rooms all around the country. These centers have make possible to perform 3,936,874 lab tests, 535,631 emergency surgeries, 775,690 ultrasounds, 285,415 X-Rays, 324,936 electrocardiograms, 108 operations, 55,499 endoscopies, 1,064,339 rehabilitation traements.

Also, 200 Integral Diagnosis Centers (CDI, Spanish acronym) and Integral Rehabilitation Rooms (SRI, Spanish acronym) have been opened during these last months. 103 are already finished and they are in the endowment phase. 704 are still under construction.

Likewise, Barrio Adentro III Mission is already working. This mission has to do with the strengthening of the hospital networks all around the country in order to meet the demand of Barrio Adentro II (CDI and SRI). This project is known as People’s Hospitals since it implies the modernization of hospital centers with medical and electromechanical equipment.

Barrio Adentro Mission (Sports)
This program began in February 2004 and its goal is assisting the sport skills of students, senior citizens, pregnant women, people with disabilities and all people wishing to improve their standard of life and health.

So far, 150,504,060 people (including all sports programs) have registered in this program. 43,976,715 people belong to sports, 25,259,343 people to physical activities at school, 980,574 people are training, 480,593 consultations and 40,417,071 recreation activities have taken place, 31,663,978 sport programs have been carried out and 7,726,786 people are registered in therapeutic sports.

The goal of this mission is to take care of national sports through sport assistance centers located in each municipality and through the Training Schools for Sport Talents (one per state), specifically for high performance sport.

Vuelvan Caras Mission
Vuelvan Caras Mission’s goal is to provide vocational training for work. People graduating from different missions must gradually incorporate into the country’s economic production process and this is fulfilled through Vuelvan Caras Mission. This program represents the claiming for our knowledge and our creating potential and it serves the transformation of the socioeconomic model proposed by the government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.

Since January, 2004, 6,814 cooperatives have been shaped, 130 Endogenous Development Centers are working, and there are 5,627 financed cooperatives and 264,720 graduates. The funds for these cooperatives amount to $ 423,914.

Mercal Mission
This program was created to trade and sell food and other essential products like medicines at affordable prices. It is worth mentioning that the Ministry of Food’s goal for 2005 was to set up 6,000 sale points; this represents 14,539,300 people benefiting from this program.

Also, 6,004 Soup Kitchens are working; these benefits 900,600 people by giving them free meals. These meals are given to the poorest sectors of the population. Regarding nutrition and protection, 1,374,312 people living in extreme poverty have benefited from this program.

Thanks to the products of the Corporation for Agrofood Supply and services (CASA, Spanish Acronym) and Mercal (markets), people can save up to 34 percent in comparison with the prices regulated by the State and 37 percent in comparison with the market prices.

Guaicaipuro Mission
This mission’s goal is to restore human rights to numerous indigenous communities. This program was launched in August 2004 and it has handed over 21 communal land titles to an indigenous population of 6,769 people.

The government has carried out a total of 61 projects, which represents an amount of more than 2 million dollars. The national government has financed 32 projects for a total of 600,000 dollars. Guaicaipuro Mission represents the restoration of constitutional rights to indigenous people, as well as economic development, land demarcation, strengthening of their identity, language, education, habitat and health.


Zamora Mission
Mission Zamora’s main goal is to hand over land titles to farmers in order to guarantee the food offer for the have-nots and to bet for social economy and endogenous development. This mission is linked with Mercal.

Since January, 2005, the government has granted 68,528 future land titles. This represents an area of 7,222,880 acres, apart from the 80 awarded titles that represent an area of 87,739 acres. There are 48 Zamora Ranches, representing a total of 56,994 acres.

Culture Mission
Culture Mission has worked since July, 2005 and it is a new kind of university system; that is, people graduate as Teachers in Culture. The student fee is about $230 per year. This mission has 70 tutors, 328 university teachers.

Negra Hipólita Mission
This mission is one of the newest created by the national government. It was launched on January 14, 2006, in order to fight poverty, misery and social exclusion; thus, the government begins a new stage in the fight against these calamities.

Currently, Negra Hipólita Mission is a fact that represents the commitment to set Venezuela free from misery. Also, it is a very important effort aimed to defeat the worse kind of exclusion: poverty. The assistance is aimed at children, adolescents, adults and the elderly living in the streets, in extreme poverty, and drug-addicted individuals.
(snip/)

http://www.venezuelasolidarity.org.uk/ven/web/2006/missions/social_missions.html

You know that anyone who replaced him would be a right-wing extremist.

And a left-wing extremist is not much different than a right-wing extremist.

care. A right-wing extremist just kills them. After denying them abortions, of course.

And the thing is, nobody in Venezuela to Chavez's right ever did ANYTHING for the poor and the workers. We can assume that the poor and the workers will be eternally screwed their again if the country returns to what Bush and Lieberman and Hillary would call "democracy". We can assume that "free" trade and fiscal conservatism would only benefit the rich.

I wish that Hugo wern't forced to be so military oriented. But as American citizens, we have no right to criticize him, because our government has always been the enemy of the poor in Latin American and everywhere else in the world.

When we change that, then we'll have the right to judge Hugo. But before that change occurs, no American will have any moral authority on Western Hemisphere affairs.

in Venezuela. If the people back him up, which they obviously do, then it's nobody else's business. If the Venezuelan people get tired of him, then let them rise up.

I just don't like how he tries to bully other nations.

And historically speaking, left-wing dictators are just as murderous as right-wing dictators. I don't view the political spectrum as a straight line with the extreme left and extreme right as polar opposites.

I view the spectrum as a circle where the extreme right and extreme left actually are actually connected.

I hope you can picture it because I can't draw an example here.

And their obsession with making Latin America and all of the Third World obey. When our rulers are stopped, then we can judge the steps others take to protect themselves and their people against our rulers.

I wish, for example, that Fidel hadn't set up a dictatorship. But after what our country had done in the region, do any of us here in the US really have any reason to be surprised?

What could we expect?

The source of the problem is in Washington, not Caracas. Fight the real enemy.

I traveled to Cuba two weeks ago in an act of civil disobedience. I went from Miami to the Bahamas and to Havana. When I was returning to Miami through the Bahamas, I was confronted by Homeland Security.

I was asked if I had traveled to any other country while I was in the Bahamas. I said I had traveled to Cuba. In fact, I never left the Bahamas airport.

They lectured me that it was against the law. One of them pointed to a picture of shrub and told me he was elected by the people to set the policy. If I don't like it, to vote for somebody else next time.

I told him the shrub stole the last two elections. He didn't have a response for that, but ordered me into the back room where they searched my luggage and gave me more threats.

I may get fined, but I am part of a group that has a lawyer who will defend us pro bono. I intend to go back to Cuba soon. And I intend to do it the same way.

It's time to lift the embargo.

I agree that the real enemy is in Washington. But I don't believe the real hero is in Caracas.

I just feel that U.S. citizens, given what our rulers have done in the hemisphere, have little right to criticize those states within it that are defying U.S. domination and trying to protect their own people from exploitation and humiliation.

If I really had my way, I'd prefer a decentralized socialist model for Venezuela and the other countries. But that isn't an option here, and there's no reason to think anything good would come of Hugo being overthrown. He's not a saint, but his enemies in Venezuela are all reactionaries and lackeys of the U.S.(other than the handful of anarchists you are probably in solidarity with).

...and forced violent collectivization were to lower the number of poor so he could feed them and clothe them easier?

Like it or not, Stalin was a left-wing extremist, just like Hitler was a right wing extremist (I know, I know, the whole Hitler reference in the internet debate thing)

Can't make a blanket statement like that b/c there are bad people on both sides of the equation. Extremism on any side is bad.

But watching the debates about him here are fun though.

Why are you so focused on Venezuela anyway? when there are other countries in that region that have obvious dictators with which there is no controversy that they even might be something other than a dictator.

Dictators always have other priorities.

information posted at D.U. already about the food programs going on in Venezuela, and the food kitchens placed around the cities for the poorest in order to get warm food to them daily.

Why don't you ever bring any information to your posts? That's because there is NOTHING to support your claims!

Canadian authorities impressed with growth of Venezuela’s Food Missions

March 17th 2006

A delegation of Canadian authorities headed by the Vice Minister for Agriculture, Andrew Marsland, Canadian Ambassador in Caracas, Rene Wielgosz and a numerous group of industrial representatives visited the Venezuelan Food Ministry. Vice Minister Lt. Colonel Rafael Coronado received the Canadian delegation and views and experiences were interchanged with the aim of lending more “added value” to the Food Ministry.

At the meeting the growth of Mercal was discussed in detail. Mercal is a network of government food stores selling basic food stuffs at reasonable prices, and the “Soup Kitchens” (Mercal Maximum Protection) which cater for 900,000 Venezuelans, the most vulnerable in society, such as street dwellers, pregnant women living in poverty, abandoned children, alcoholics and drug addicts. Also on the agenda was genetic technology in order to increase meat and milk yields and an overview of the buying strategy of fruit and vegetables carried out by CASA (State Food Services Purchasing and Packing Company) from Canada.

“This week I am being accompanied by producers from the agricultural sector. We are looking for ways of increasing cooperation with Venezuela especially in the area of agricultural products. For example, Canada is a recognized world-wide as a producer of bovine genetics both for dairy products and beef production. We want to be able to work with the Venezuelan meat industry to help them increase milk and beef production”, stated Vice Minister Marsland.

After the meeting the delegation was invited to visit the Endogeneous Development Center “Fabricio Ojeda” in Gramoven in the west of Caracas, where a “Supermercal” is located. Vice Minister Marsland was very surprised by the modern characteristics and size of the Supermercal but what surprised him even more was the speed with which the Venezuelan Food Ministry had been able to set up a network of food distribution with such a wide range of products in less than three years.

Vice Minister Marsland observed, “I understand that there a more than 14 thousand points of sale throughout the country and all this has been achieved in less than three years. This is obviously a great achievement to place basic foodstuffs within the reach of the population as a whole”.

Ambassador Wielgosz remarked, “Mercal is really impressive and is a roaring success with the majority of the population. It’s been a real pleasure for me to come and see it and appreciate that it is just a marvellous as I had been told”.

CASA and Mercal are still being developed by the Food Ministry and the network will continue to spread and more “mobile Mercals” added, which transport food to places of difficult access by road and even by boat in water borne states such as Delta Amacuro on the Orinoco river delta. Mercal is now the largest distributor of basic food stuffs in Venezuela and as a consequence the private supermarket chains have lost many customers and have been forced to moderate price increases so as to be able to compete.

Currently, 17 million Venezuelans are served by the Mercal chain, out of a population of 26 million. Small producers and agricultural cooperatives sell their production to CASA and thus have a fair price and a guaranteed buyer for their labour. Many of the cooperatives have sprung up from the training and “back to work mission” “Vuelvan Caras” launched in October 2004, which aims to create cooperatives and thus protect mission graduates from the exploitation of the endemic capitalist system still dominant in modern day Venezuela.
(snip/...)

http://www.venezuelasolidarity.org.uk/ven/web/2006/articles/canada_impressed_food.html

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

VENEZUELA: Nutritious food a ‘basic human right’

Owen Richards

We’re crammed into a small kitchen, maybe three by four metres, with blue concrete walls. Lining the walls are shelves stocked with kitchen basics — string bags of potatoes, garlic cloves, carrots, pumpkins and melons. There’s a bucket of chopped onions. A giant stainless steel pot waits empty on the gas stove. Four women and a man, in matching red aprons, hand-roll fish cakes and banana balls. A tiny wall fan hums in the background.

It could be a kitchen anywhere, but it’s quite different. The members of the Caracas section of the Australia-Venezuela Solidarity Brigade are here in Guaicaipuro Casa de Alimentaciones on July 29, witnessing firsthand one of the social achievements of the Bolivarian revolution. It is here in this modest house that 150 people come daily to receive two free meals.

There are some 4000 of these kitchens now across Venezuela. They are only possible because of the revolutionary will of the Venezuelan people and the assistance provided by the government of President Hugo Chavez.

Established to guarantee access to nutritious food — particularly for pregnant women, children, the over-60s and the extreme poor — the casas are nonetheless open to all.

They will not accept any money for the food, not even a donation. In fact, they have been instructed by the government to feed everyone who visits, even if they be from rich First World countries. And that is how we came to be eating delicious fishcakes, banana balls and rice complimented by endless arepas and fruit juices. The point of feeding tourists and fact-finders, they tell us, is to show the world that their food is both tasty and nutritious.

While the casas are a grassroots phenomenon driven by the compassion and solidarity of their volunteer work force, they are assisted in every possible way by the Venezuelan government. According to one of the cooks, the government provided all of the kitchen equipment, including the fridge and the oven. The government also assists on an ongoing basis by donating 60,000 bolivars a month to help pay the bills. Recently Chavez granted the workers a small bonus in income support.
(snip/...)

http://www.greenleft.org.au/back/2005/639/639p12b.htm

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~snip~
....The unsuccessful coup gave Chavez the chance to purge disloyal military officers. It also strengthened his commitment to the poor, his base of support. Since then a literacy campaign has helped one million poor adults learn to read. Even more successful is the Barrio Adentro national health care program, which is made up of neighborhood clinics in under-serviced city slums and poor rural regions.

In December 2002 and January 2003 the opposition returned to the offensive. They shut down most of the formal economy for a couple of days. The economic disruption culminated in a strike/lockout at a bastion of opposition power, the state oil company PDVSA. The strike/lockout was a catastrophic failure. It turned many people against the opposition; it led to the dismissal of 18,000 oil workers and the opposition lost control of PDVSA.

To feed the poor during the economic disruption, the Chavez government opened government-run food stores and kitchens. Thousands of street children, homeless, retired people and pregnant mothers are now happy to get free meals from the government.

Since the start of this year Chavez has spent lavishly on social programs. After last year's nine percent drop in GDP, caused by the opposition's economic disruption, the economy has turned around. Buoyed by the high price of oil the Chavez administration is doing what no elected Venezuelan government has ever done: spend its huge oil revenues on the country's poor.
(snip/...)

http://www.counterpunch.org/engler08122004.html

Why would it invade Venezuela?

Why do you imagine these Colombian paramilitaries are hiding their faces in Venezuela?

Victory in the War on Terrorism: Venezuelan Government Detains Colombian Paramilitaries

VICTORY IN THE WAR ON TERRORISM:
VENEZUELAN GOVERNMENT DETAINS COLOMBIAN PARAMILITARIES AND PREVENTS MAJOR TERRORIST SCHEME

By: Eva Golinger

On Sunday, May 9, 2004, the Venezuelan government captured more than 70 Colombian paramilitaries, found illegally in the outskirts of Caracas on a farm owned by the extremist opposition leader, Robert Alonso. Mr. Alonso, a naturalized Venezuelan citizen of Cuban descent, has ties to the radical Cuban American community in Miami and is the founder of the “Guarimba”, a call for Venezuelans to resort to violent civil disobedience in order to force the ouster of President Hugo Chávez. The initial arrests were just the beginning of an investigation that has led to more than 100 detentions of Colombians tied to paramilitary groups in Colombia and several Venezuelan military officers charged with treason and rebellion.

Support from the Colombian Government

Colombian President Alvaro Uribe Vélez has praised the Venezuelan government’s advance in the war on terrorism and has pledged its full support and collaboration in the capture of additional parties to the terrorist plans in Venezuela. In recent days, the Colombian government’s own investigations have revealed the involvement of the ex-director of the Cúcuta Prosecutor’s office, Ana María Flórez Silva, with paramilitaries on the Colombian-Venezuelan border. Specifically, the Colombian government possesses audio-tapes of intercepted conversations that evidence how the Cúcuta Prosecutor’s office facilitated illegal activities on the Colombian-Border that may have permitted the influx of paramilitaries into Venezuela.

According to investigations by the Venezuelan government, the paramilitary scheme was orchestrated in part by three known paramilitary leaders from the Norte de Santander State, of which Cúcuta is the capital city. José Ernesto Ayala, a/k/a “Lucas”; Rafael Antonio Omaña, a/k/a “Comandante Richard”; and Jefferson Gutiérrez, a/k/a “Comandante Jefferson” are the leaders thought to have directed the paramilitary infiltration from Colombia into Venezuela. Per the Colombian government’s investigations, it appears highly probable that these individuals were able to carry out the plans against the Venezuelan government with the assistance from the Cúcuta Prosecutor’s office and other corrupt law enforcement agencies in the State that are currently under investigation. The accused ex-director of the Cúcuta office, Ana María Flórez Silva, fled to Miami as soon as the current scandal became public.

Revelations

It is widely known in Colombian that paramilitary groups in the Norte de Santander State obtain their primary financing from gasoline and that they have been fighting to acquire a monopoly on the oil business prospering on the Colombian-Venezuelan border. The Colombian newspaper, El Espectador, on May 17, 2004, reported that the paramilitary infiltration into Venezuela had three layers: at the top of the hierarchy are the paramilitary leaders named above, followed by a second-tier group of individuals with some military experience and finally, at the lower level are the subjects recruited primarily from Cúcuta, some through deceitful means, to enter into Venezuela. This last group is the focus of the recent detentions in Venezuela.
(snip/...)

http://www.embavenez-us.org/news.php?nid=158#

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Published on Monday, May 17,
by the Agence France Presse
Thousands Protest Colombian Paramilitary Presence in Venezuela
Chavez to Set up 'People's Militia'

President Hugo Chavez announced his government would establish "people's militias" to counter what he called foreign interference after an alleged coup plot by Colombian paramilitaries Caracas claims was financed by Washington.

Chavez also said he would boost the strength of Venezuela's armed forces as part of a new "anti-imperialist" phase for his government.

"Each and every Venezuelan man and woman must consider themselves a soldier," said Chavez.

"Let the organization of a popular and military orientation begin from today."

The president's announcement came a week after authorities arrested 88 people described as Colombian paramilitaries holed up on property belonging to a key opposition figure.
(snip/...)

http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/0517-04.htm

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



12.30pm update

Colombian paramilitaries arrested in Venezuela

Jeremy Lennard and agencies
Monday May 10, 2004

Venezuelan police have arrested more than 70 Colombian paramilitary fighters who were allegedly plotting to strike against the government in Caracas, according to the country's president, Hugo Chávez.
Opposition leaders, however, were quick to dismiss the president's claim, calling the raids on a farm less than 10 miles from the capital a ruse to divert attention from their efforts to oust Mr Chávez in a recall vote.

During his weekly radio and TV broadcast, Hello Mr President, Mr Chávez said that 53 paramilitary fighters were arrested at the farm early on Sunday and another 24 were picked up after fleeing into the countryside.
The country's security forces were uncovering additional clues and searching for more suspects, he said, adding that the arrests were proof of a conspiracy against his government involving Cuban and Venezuelan exiles in Florida and neighbouring Colombia.
(snip/...)

http://www.guardian.co.uk/venezuela/story/0,,1213445,00.html

Published: Thursday, July 15, 2004
Bylined to: Philip Stinard


Paramilitaries case fugitive Roberto Alonso confirmed to be in Venezuela

VENPRES’ Jorge Medina Lugo reports: State security agencies are on the trail of Roberto Alonso, owner of Daktari Ranch in El Hatillo (Miranda), where a large group of Colombian paramilitaries were captured on May 9. Alonso has been hiding from the law since that time.

Alonso, brother of Cuban singer and actress Maria Conchita Alonso, is accused of military rebellion, and there is a warrant for his arrest, since he didn’t show up at hearings at the Military Attorney’s request. It was hoped that he could shed light on this international incident, which appears to be preparation for an attack against the President and military installations in the Caracas metropolitan area.

Several private media have repeated reported that Alonso is living in Miami, but security officials don’t believe that story, and are convinced that he was not able to leave the country. The government has ordered a general mobilization to find his whereabouts.

Actor and entertainer Orlando Urdaneta, who is on vacation in Aruba or Curacao, is being cited again to appear before the Military Attorney General for his involvement with telephone calls made between conspirators in the paramilitary case. The new citation has a time limit.
(snip/)

http://www.vheadline.com/readnews.asp?id=22016




His lovely sister, the great thespian, Maria Conchita Alonso

I hate it when a beautiful woman turns out to be fascist.

(Of course, I hate fascism in anyone else, but still...)

More on the paramilitaries found on his property:

The Venezuelan elite imports soldiers
by Marta Harnecker
May 23, 2004

~snip~
A week earlier, on the 9th of May, on the outskirts of Caracas, a paramilitary force was discovered, dressed in field uniforms. Later, more were found, raising the total to 130, leaving open the possibility that there are still more in the country. The three Colombian paramilitary leaders of the group are members of the Autonomous Self-Defense Forces (AUC) in Northern Santander state in Colombia.

Some of the captured Colombian fighters have a long history as members of paramilitary forces. Others are reservists of the Colombian army and yet others were specifically recruited for the task in Venezuela and were surely tricked. Among these there are several who are minors.

A colonel of the Venezuelan air force was also detained, as well as seven officers of the National Guard. Among those implicated in the plot is a group of civilians headed by the Cuban Roberto Alonso, creator of the 'guarimbas,'<1> and Gustavo Quintero Machado, a Venezuelan, both who are currently wanted by the Venezuelan justice system.

What the real objectives were is now being discussed. One of them could have been to steal weapons so as to then attack the Miraflores presidential palace and President Chavez himself.

The government denounced the existence of an international plot in which the governments of the United States and of Colombian would be involved. U.S. Ambassador Shapiro denied that his country had any participation in the incident. And the Colombian president, for his part, solidarized himself with the Venezuelan government, affirming that he supports its actions against the members of the irregular Colombian military group, which then caused Chavez to publicly announce that he was convinced that President Alvaro Uribe did not have anything to do with the plot, even though he insisted on leveling charges against a Colombian general by the name of Carreño.

Even though the oppositional media conducted a big campaign to minimize the issue, trying to accuse the government of having organized a montage, so as to have a pretext for taking forceful measures that would impede a confrontation at the voting booth, every day more evidence surfaces that confirm the official version.

The Colombian attorney general's office has evidence that proves that paramilitary fighters were recruited and then transported to Venezuela and that extreme right-wing groups infiltrated intelligence services in the border town of Cúcuta. The proof was shown on the news program 'The Independent Network.' The program broadcast some intercepted recordings of paramilitary soldiers in Cúcuta, in which the operations they carried out in Venezuelan territory are reviewed.
(snip/...)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

<1> 'Guarimba' was the strategy of sectors of the opposition to blockade neighborhood streets and to cause general unrest via confrontations with the police.

http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?ItemID=5579

us who bother to read for keeping us informed. If those GD crazed vindictive Cuban exiles really cared about the Cuban people they would be working to lift the imbargoes against Cuba. Yhey fit right in with the Bushbots, meddling in other countries business with the help of US money. It's all about money and power. The Cuban aristocracy at work.

Chavez shows he is dilusional once again.

The people down there hate Bush as much as any other Latin American country. Their president panders to Bush because they get billions of dollars in aid.

It's all about the dollar. Nothing else.

Please recommend so that more DUers will see important informational before they fall out of view.

around in Colombia. Have seen small articles on it, as well. Found this a moment ago:

Colombia to invade Venezuela



ANNCOL 16 April reported on the statement released by various sectors of the social movement that accused Colombia of causing tensions in border areas with Venezuela, with a view to securing Venezuelan oil for the US. Colombian army and paramilitaries had been involved in several incursions and attacks in Venezuelan territory, and the 40 AMX-30 tanks that Colombia was trying to buy from Spain seem to serve no purpose other than invading Venezuela, given Colombia’s difficult terrain. Furthermore, Cuban born US Congressman Lincoln Diaz Balar, has publicly supported plans to use the Colombian army to depose President Chavez of Venezuela.
(snip/)

http://64.233.187.104/search?q=cache:UCHNYyNkik0J:www.colombiasolidarity.org.uk/index.php%3Foption%3Dcom_content%26task%3Dview%26id%3D108%26Itemid%3D45+Venezuela+Colombian+paramilitaries+arrested&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=23

There you have it. Lincoln Diaz-Balart.





Lincoln Diaz Balart with the _pResident, Cuban "exile" Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Cuban "exile" Rep. Robert Menendez, and that cute little Elián Gonzalez, who finally got to go home.

The US handed them the state of Florida with our tax dollars.

Never heard of this specimen until a moment ago:

Marcos Perez Jimenez
Sep 27th 2001
From The Economist print edition

Marcos Perez Jimenez, an old-fashioned dictator, died on September 20th, aged 87
was no shortage of money for these extravagances. Venezuela was for many years the world's largest exporter of oil. Its reserves, though now depleted, are still the largest in the western hemisphere. The United States, Venezuela's best customer for oil, has greatly valued this reliable source just across the way. The Americans overlooked the brutalities of the Perez regime, the imprisonment, torture and murder of opposition figures, the censorship of the press and the corruption, which allowed the dictator to accumulate a fortune of $250m. President Eisenhower gave him a medal, the Legion of Merit. Mr Perez—“P.J.” as American diplomats called him—must have felt secure with such a powerful friend. But the political instability that brought him to power eventually did for him too.

Dominoes and pretty girls
The idea of democratic government was slow to take hold in Venezuela. Not until 1947, two years after the second world war and the defeat of fascism, did the country elect a president on a free vote. He lasted eight months, replaced by a junta of three men, one of them Mr Perez. He was a professional soldier, having joined the army at 17, gradually rising to the rank of lieutenant-colonel, partly through luck, partly because of his mastery of army bureaucracy. The junta leader was murdered in 1950, some said on the orders of Mr Perez. From then on he was the power in Venezuela, consolidated in 1952 when he became president in an election assumed to have been fixed.

The Venezuelans were told that their new leader was a thoughtful man who liked to relax over a game of dominoes. But stories circulated that what he really liked was to organise races at beach picnics between pretty girls in swimsuits. Being of tubby build Mr Perez declined to take part in the races himself but would follow the contestants on a motor scooter. There are some Venezuelans who like to recall a kinder, if ridiculous, Perez Jimenez, rather than the tyrant. Unlike Caracas today, they say, it was safe to walk the streets at night because of Mr Perez's system of “controlled liberty”. But then there are Russians nostalgic for Stalin.

Mr Perez lasted until 1958 when he was toppled by another military junta, but one that honoured its promise to restore democracy. In Venezuela, as in most of Latin America, dictatorship has gone out of fashion. Democracy has survived at least two attempted coups and has had lapses into corruption, though few to match Mr Perez's. In his rush to get away to exile in the United States with his wife and children, he left behind a suitcase containing details of property and other assets illegally accumulated in his years in power.

The Americans were reluctant to send him back to Venezuela to face trial for corruption, but after five years of court battles he was surrendered, the first time a former ruler of a foreign country had been extradited from the United States. In 1963 a Venezuelan court sentenced Mr Perez to four years in jail. On his release he moved to Spain, but Venezuelan politics could not entirely get rid of him: his former party, the Civic Crusade, could command 10% of the vote in parliamentary elections. Mr Perez considered standing for president while in exile, but the government barred him.

However, in recent years Venezuela offered Mr Perez a pardon for his misdeeds, which he rejected saying he had done nothing to be pardoned for. The United Nations has made Venezuela's Central University, a building of fascist-style immensity, a “world heritage site”. The Humboldt hotel, which lost its lustre after Mr Perez's departure, is being restored. Dictators, say his apologists, are sadly tempted into corruption, but they claim that Perez Jimenez was a man of vision who left fine monuments. By the time of his death the “iron man of Venezuela” was, it seems, being transformed into an elder statesman.
(snip/)

http://www.economist.com/displayStory.cfm?story_id=797218

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Found him by accident. I've heard the man whose position he "inherited" was murdered, and I'm trying to find out more about him.

Since they could remember, but that was mostly due to the lousy leadership that followed. He still has fans in the right wing of course. It was Chavez who offered an olive branch in the end, but it ended rather quickly since nothing came of it after inaguration. When he died I did not even notice mostly due to "other" events that where happening.

I thought I heard it mentioned recently that Carlos Delgado Chalbaud, who presided just before this guy, had envisioned getting BACK control of the oil ownership which had been ransacked by foreign interests, and was murdered before he could get anywhere with that plan.

Thanks for the info. Did not know Chavez had made peace with Marcos Perez Jimenez's memory.

On edit:

Oh, my God! I just discovered this information on Marcos Perez Jimenez. This is VERY odd!

~snip~
Electoral boards were appointed to register and poll the voters. The public was, however, indifferent. Finally, after dire government threats of punishment for those who did not register and vote, an election was scheduled for 1952. When early returns showed that the opponents of the junta were clearly in the lead, the military government suspended the election and installed Pérez Jiménez as president. In 1953 the constituent assembly confirmed him for a five-year term. Presidency of Pérez Jiménez. The enormous oil revenues allowed the government to undertake construction of roads, bridges, railroads, and public buildings. One of the larger projects undertaken was the rebuilding of the center of Caracas and military installations and no efforts were made to improve agriculture. Vast sums of money were embezzled by the administration, with Pérez Jiménez himself accumulating an enormous fortune. Jiménez ruthlessly suppressed all criticism of his regime. Liberals were driven underground or into exile, and the secret police carried on mass jailings and tortured political prisoners. Until late 1957, however, the administration appeared stable. As the time for the national election approached, Pérez Jiménez jailed all known oppositionists, including Rafael Caldera, leader of the Social Christian Party. The election of December 1957 was a plebiscite, with Pérez Jiménez the only candidate. The people, already resentful at the dictator's course, felt the directed election to be a cynical insult to the nation's honor and intelligence. By late January 1958 the students and populace were rioting in the streets of Caracas. The situation culminated in two days and nights of terror during which some 300 were slaughtered by the police. A group of military officers led by Admiral Wolfgang Larrazábal, chief of the navy, took charge, and Pérez Jiménez fled to the United States.
(snip/...)

http://orbita.starmedia.com/~venezuela10/venezueladat.html

on military arms. Is it possible to eat bullets? Build houses with RPGs?

Or better yet ask the Iraqis who are finding it hard to put 'food on their families'?

new Iraqi government to give the wealthiest Iraqis some of those dandy TAX BREAKS!

Everyone else there gets a steaming plate of white phospherous, or a running start across a field before they set the dogs loose.

Mercal Mission
This program was created to trade and sell food and other essential products like medicines at affordable prices. It is worth mentioning that the Ministry of Food’s goal for 2005 was to set up 6,000 sale points; this represents 14,539,300 people benefiting from this program.

Also, 6,004 Soup Kitchens are working; these benefits 900,600 people by giving them free meals. These meals are given to the poorest sectors of the population. Regarding nutrition and protection, 1,374,312 people living in extreme poverty have benefited from this proram.

Thanks to the products of the Corporation for Agrofood Supply and services (CASA, Spanish Acronym) and Mercal (markets), people can save up to 34 percent in comparison with the prices regulated by the State and 37 percent in comparison with the market prices.

http://www.venezuelasolidarity.org.uk/ven/web/2006/missions/social_missions.html

You'll find the rest of the list of programs addressing a multitude of problems faced by the poor everywhere, and still left unaddressed in vast numbers in THIS country in that link. Take time to read it to avoid repeating yourself endlessly.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Defense spending in Latin America
Tuesday May 30, 2006

Some of the top spenders on defense in Latin America last year:

Brazil: $13.2 billion, regular defense budget.

Colombia: $6.3 billion, includes regular defense budget, other military spending, costs of police agencies and U.S. military aid.

Chile: $3.8 billion*, includes defense budget, additional military funding and costs for national police.

Mexico: $3.1 billion*, defense budget.

Argentina: $1.7 billion*, defense budget.

Venezuela: $1.4 billion, regular defense budget. Does not include other defense deals paid from outside the budget.
(snip)

http://cbs4denver.com/businesswire/Venezuela-DefenseGlan2122673522-ff/resources_news_html

Comments from DU'ers in another thread:

midnight armadillo (1000+ posts) Wed May-31-06 04:01 PM
Response to Original message
27. That's 0.4% of the US budget
$2 billion is 0.4% of the US $500 billion budget. Just to keep things in perspective...

"But all in all, it's been a fabulous year for Laura and me." - GWB, 12/10/2001

Jack113 (18 posts) Wed May-31-06 09:12 PM
Response to Original message
29. Good move by Chavez
This is good news for his people. Chavez is heaven sent in times when the Bush & Cheney mob have tried to murder this leader that refuses to deal with our criminal elements who want nothing but the oil this country has. Chavez puts the countries wealth into his people not his pocket like the Bush crime lords.
Their is no such thing as a conservative politician!
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rucky (1000+ posts) Wed May-31-06 09:22 PM
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30. 2 Billion?! The Pentagon sneezes 2 billion. n/t

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Earth_First (1000+ posts) Wed May-31-06 09:26 PM
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31. B.F.D.
As in Big Fuc*kin' Deal.

As it was pointed out already, this accounts for a mere four tenths of one percent of the U.S. annual defense budget.

B.F.D.
Think globally. Act locally
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Posteritatis (326 posts) Wed May-31-06 09:31 PM
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32. Venezuela's 2005 defense spending was $1.61 billion. Gah. (n/t)
In Nomine Posteritatis

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=2313861#2314163

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

You are certainly Not making a good case for yourself - in fact the opposite. You sound ill informed and on a mission.

Judi Lynn, thanks for all your info/work.
Just thought I'd give you a handshake of appreciation.

This is an area which has had a blackout on it, wouldn't you say? I think we're all in this together, having to educate ourselves personally, as we sure haven't had any help from the corporate media all these years of Republican meddling in Latin America and the Caribbean.

and it's possible to rescue landslide victims too.

It's also possible to defend against fascist threats from abroad so that you can protect the society your building that represents the interests of the people.

too

Indigenous Group Along Colombia-Venezuelan Border Threatened by Tensions, Smuggling
Jim Lobe
OneWorld US
Fri., Jun. 18, 2004
WASHINGTON, D.C., Jun 18 (OneWorld) - Growing tensions between the governments of Colombia and Venezuela, as well as the persistence of fighting between left-wing insurgents and Army-backed paramilitary groups within Colombia, are threatening the welfare of a hundreds of members of the Wayuu indigenous group, descendants of the Arawaks who dominated the southern Caribbean before the European conquest of the Americas.

A massacre allegedly committed by right-wing paramilitaries in the Caribbean border town of Bahia Portete two months ago reportedly killed at least 12 Indians, although 30 more, including 20 children, remain unaccounted for, according to Massachusetts-based Cultural Survival.

It also sent hundreds of residents fleeing across the border into Venezuela where UN agencies and the government of President Hugo Sanchez are supplying them with food, shelter, and medicine.

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), which carried out an assessment of the situation last month, said security conditions back in Bahia Portete remained precarious and advised the refugees to stay in Venezuela for now.

The plight of the Wayuu refugees highlights the complexity of the situation along the border between two countries that have a long history of uneasy relations.

That tension has grown over the past year amid charges by the U.S.-backed government of Colombian President Alvaro Uribe that Venezuela is providing safe haven and other support to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). Chavez, in turn, has accused the Colombians of working with Washington to destabilize his own increasingly beleaguered government.

Last month, Chavez arrested some 130 Colombian "mercenaries" who he claimed were part of an invasion force hired by his domestic opposition with links to Bogota and Washington. Colombia strongly rejected the charge, insisting that Chavez was using the incident as a pretext for cracking down against opposition forces and buying new weapons, including tanks and missiles, from European suppliers.
...

http://us.oneworld.net/article/view/88496/1/

that's one thing. To criticize Country A for military spending just so you can make a cheap shot is another thing entirely.

if Colombia is percieved as a threat to Venezuela.