The artillery of ideasENGLISH EDITIONFRIDAY August 6, 2010 No. 23 Bs. 1 CaraCas

A famous handshake between Presidents Chavez and Obama raised hopes the new administration in Washington would lighten the aggressive stance against Venezuela assumed in Washington during the Bush administration.

During their brief exchange last year, Obama told Chavez his government wouldn’t “interfere” in Venezuela, and he assured leaders throughout the region that Washington would engage in “respectful” relations with its neighbors. But an increase in US military power in the region combined with millions poured in to opposition

groups in Venezuela and nations such as Bolivia and Ecuador, shows those promises have been broken.

InternationalChina and Venezuela Strengthen Ties

Social JusticeTelesur reaches five continentsOn its five-year anniversary, the Television of the South is making its voice heard around the world.

Colombia’s Civil WarCoverage in mass media of the Colombian government’s latest accusation against Venezuela for allegedly harboring “guerrilla camps” has largely ignored the roots and causes of Colombia’s 60-year old civil war. Left-wing groups and right-wing paramilitary death squads connected to the political elite have ravaged the South American nation and left tens of thousands displaced, and thousands murdered, tortured and persecuted.

The two nations solidified 19 joint agreements in energy, agriculture, science and technology.

Venezuela in the Market of the SouthMercosur met this week in Argentina, Venezuela will soon be a full member.

Obama’s broken promisesHope for a change in US policy towards Venezuela has faded

Pg. 8 | Opinion Noam Chomsky on the crude reality of the US war in Afghanistan

Pg. 7 | Interview A delegation of US educators found inspiration in Venezuela’s inclusive, participatory education model

Venezuela’s successful struggle against hunger and malnutrition

has merited the recognition of interna-tional organizations, which have ap-plauded the South American nation’s efforts to guarantee food sovereignty.

“The right to food is a sacred, fun-damental human right”, declared Venezuelan Vice President Elias Jaua during the inauguration of a state subsidized food distribution center this week.

Over the past few years, the Vene-zuelan government has created two nationwide food distribution markets,

Venezuela at the forefront in the struggle against hunger Mercal and PDVAL, and two super-market chains, Bicentennial Super-markets and Bicentennial Shops. Jaua remarked that these state subsidized food distribution networks have provi-ded access to high quality food at low prices for people across Venezuela.

“The idea is to continue improving nutrition levels of Venezuelans, and extend these successful programs to other areas that are essencial for quali-ty of life”, emphasized Jaua.

In recent years, private supermar-kets have hiked up prices of food items, making many basic products

unaccessible to Venezuelans. In some cases, as a form of protest against the government, shop owners and private distributors illegally hoard products in order to increase demand and for-ce inflation. The new state subsidized markets are alleviating this situation by offering the same products, in abundance and at affordable prices.

The new distribution center for PD-VAL, inaugurated this week, provides 10 tons of food per day and offers more than 100 products. It forms part of 100 centers of the PDVAL network nationwide.

Brazilian president Luis Ig-nacio “Lula” da Silva vis-

ited Venezuela this Friday, as part of the trimestral meetings held between the two nations.

In addition to overseeing the ongoing implementation of multiple economic, techno-logical, agricultural and en-ergy agreements between both countries, Lula came with an agenda for peace.

“President Lula is going to reiterate his readiness to facili-tate a resumption of dialogue between Colombia and Venezu-ela and to rebuild ties between their two governments”, Lula’s spokesman Marcelo Baumbach told reporters on Thursday.

“The President believes this is important for the transforma-tion of a South American area free of tensions and conflicts”.

Nestor Kirchner, Secretary General of the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR), also was present in Venezuela this Thursday and Friday to ad-vance dialogue on peace negoti-ations with Colombia. Kirchner met with President Chavez pri-vately on Thursday to solidify a regional agenda for peace. For-eign Ministers from UNASUR met last Thursday in Ecuador on the Colombia-Venezuela conflict to initiate a continental peace plan, presented by Venezuela.

President Lula is expected to attend the presidential inaugu-ration of Juan Manuel Santos in Colombia on Saturday, as well as a farewell dinner for outgo-ing Colombian President Alva-ro Uribe on Friday evening.

Lula’s In Town

|2| No 23 • Friday, August 6, 2010 The artillery of ideasIMPACT

Foreign intervention is not only executed through military

force. The funding of “civil so-ciety” groups and media outlets to promote political agendas and influence the “hearts and minds” of the people is one of the more widely used mechanisms by the US government to achieve its strategic objetives.

In Venezuela, the US has been supporting anti-Chavez groups for over 8 years, including those that executed the coup d’etat against President Chavez in April 2002. Since then, the funding has increased substantially. A May 2010 report evaluating foreign assistance to political groups in Venezuela, commissioned by the National Endowment for Democ-racy, revealed that more than $40 million USD annually is chan-neled to anti-Chavez groups, the majority from US agencies.

The National Endowment for Democracy (NED) was created by congressional legislation on No-vember 6, 1982. It’s mandate was anti-communist and anti-socialist and its first mission, ordered by President Ronald Reagan, was to support anti-Sandinista groups in Nicaragua in order to remove that government from power. NED reached its goal after 7 years and more than $1 billion in funding to build an anti-Sandinista political coalition that achieved power.

Today, NED’s annual budget, al-located under the Department of State, exceeds $132 million. NED operates in over 70 countries world-wide. Allen Weinstein, one of NED’s original founders, revealed once to the Washington Post, “What we do today was done clandestinely 25 years ago by the CIA…”

VENEZUELAVenezuela stands out as the

Broken promises

US Interference in Venezuela keeps growingDespite President Obama’s promise to President Chavez that his administration wouldn’t interfere in Venezuela’s internal affairs, the US-funded National Endowment for Democracy (NED) is channeling millions into anti-Chavez groups

Latin American nation where NED has most invested funding in opposition groups during 2009, with $1,818,473 USD, more than double from the year before.

In a sinister attempt to censure the destination of funds in Ven-ezuela, NED excluded a majority of names of Venezuelan groups receiving funding from its annual report. Nonetheless, other official documents, such as NED’s tax declarations and internal memos obtained under the Freedom of In-formation Act, have disclosed the names of those receiving its mil-lion dollar funding in Venezuela.

Of the more than $2.6 million USD given by NED to Venezu-elan groups during 2008-2009, a majority of funds have gone to organizations relatively un-known in Venezuela. With the exception of some more known groups, such as CEDICE, Su-mate, Consorcio Justicia and CE-SAP, the organizations receiving more than $2 million in funding appear to be mere façades and channels to distribute these mil-lions to anti-Chavez groups.

Unknown entities such as the Center for Leadership Formation for Peace and Social Develop-ment received $39.954 (2008) and $39.955 (2009) to “strengthen the capacity of community leaders to participate in local democratic processes”.

For several years, the Civil Association Kapé Kapé, which no one knows in Venezuela, has received grants ranging from $45,000 (2008) to $56,875 (2009) to “empower indigenous communi-ties and strengthen their knowl-edge of human rights, democracy and the international organiza-tions and mechanisms available to protect them”. In a clear ex-ample of foreign interference, NED funds were used to “create a document detailing the human rights violations perpetrated against them and denounce them before international organiza-tions”. In other words, the US funded efforts inside Venezuela to aid Venezuelans in denouncing their government before interna-tional entities.

FUNDING STUDENT MOVEMENTSA large part of NED funds in

Venezuela have been invested in “forming student movements” and “building democratic lead-ership amongst youth”, from a US perspective and with US val-ues. This includes programs that “strengthen the leadership capa-bilities of students and youth and enhance their ability to interact effectively in their communities and promote democratic values”. Two jesuit organizations have been the channels for this fund-ing, Huellas ($49,950 2008 and

$50,000 2009) and the Gumilla Center Foundation ($63,000).

Others, such as the ‘Miguel Ot-ero Silva’ Cultural Foundation ($51,500 2008 and $60.900 2009) and the unknown Judicial Pro-posal Association ($30,300 2008), have used NED funds to “conduct communications campaigns via local newspapers, radio stations, text messaging, and Internet, and distribute posters and flyers”.

In the last three years, an oppo-sition student/youth movement has been created with funding from various US and Europe-an agencies. More than 32% of USAID funding, for example, has gone to “training youth and students in the use of innovative media technologies to spread po-litical messages and campaigns”, such as on Twitter and Facebook.

FUNDING MEDIA AND JOURNALISTS

NED has also funded several media organizations in Venezu-ela, to aid in training journalists and designing political mes-sages against the Venezuelan government. Two of those are the Institute for Press and Soci-ety (IPyS) and Espacio Publico (Public Space), which have got-ten multimillion dollar funding from NED, USAID, and the De-partment of State during the past three years to “foster media free-dom” in Venezuela.

What these organizations re-ally do is promote anti-Chavez messages on television and in international press, as well as distort and manipulate facts and events in the country in order to negatively portray the Chavez administration.

The Washington Post recently published an article on USAID funding of media and journalists in Afghanistan (Post, Tuesday, August 3, 2010), an echo of what US agencies are doing in Venezu-ela. Yet such funding is clearly il-legal and a violation of journalist ethics. Foreign government fund-ing of “independent” journalists or media outlets is an act of mass deception, propaganda and a vio-lation of sovereignty.

US funding of opposition groups and media inside Venezu-ela not only violates Venezuelan law, but also is an effort to feed an internal conflict and prop up

political parties that long ago lost credibility. This type of subver-sion has become a business and source of primary income for po-litical actors promoting US agen-da abroad.

T/ Eva Golinger

Bad Diplomacy

On Tuesday, statements made by designated US

Ambassador to Venezuela, Larry Palmer, on Venezuelan affairs were leaked to the press. Palmer, not yet con-firmed by the Senate, showed low signs of diplomacy by claiming democracy in Vene-zuela was “under threat” and that Venezuela’s armed forces had “low morale”, implying a lack of loyalty to the Chavez administration.

Palmer additionally stated he had “deep concerns” about “freedom of the press” and “freedom of expression” in Ven-ezuela and mentioned the legal cases of several corrupt busi-nessmen and a judge, which Palmer claimed were signs of “political persecution”.

Palmer questioned the cred-ibility of Venezuela’s electoral system, leading up to Septem-ber’s legislative elections, and said he would “closely moni-tor threats to human rights and fundamental freedoms”. He also stated the unfounded and unsubstantiated claims made by Colombia of “terror-ist training camps” in Venezu-ela was a “serious” and real fact obligating Venezuela to respond.

Palmer affirmed he would “work closely to support civil society” groups in Venezuela, indicating an intention to con-tinue US funding of the op-position, which the US consis-tently has referred to as “civil society”.

These statements are a clear example of interference in internal affairs in Venezu-ela and an obvious showing that Obama has no intention of following through on his promises.

No 23 • Friday, August 6, 2010 |3|The artillery of ideas analysis

Colombian governments have all had US support - moral,

military and monetary – for policies and strategies that have ensured the country’s civil war continues and illegal armed groups persist.

Last week FARC leader Alfonso Cano announced to his country’s next president, Juan Manuel San-tos, that his organization would seek a negotiated political solu-tion to the decades-old conflict.

For over 60 years, there have been ways to achieve a political solution to the conflict, but Co-lombian ruling elites and the US government have prefered civil war to social justice.

1948-1964 LA VIOLENCIA, DICATORSHIP AND THE FARC

The current conflict began just over 62 years ago as a conse-quence of the long-standing, bit-ter rivalry between the two main parties of the time, the Liberals and the Conservatives.

On April 9, 1948, Liberal candi-date for the 1950 presidential elec-tion, Jorge Eliecer Gaitan, was mur-dered in Bogota. He was expected to win the election and was popular with the poor and working classes. The people of Bogota erupted in reaction to his assassination. They blamed the Conservatives for his murder and the tensions between the two parties exploded.

Former FARC leader Manuel Marulanda, who died in 2008, was one of many rural workers who formed armed groups linked to the Liberal Party to defend them-selves against forced displace-ment from Conservative Party mi-litias that took power. These were

Colombia’s civil war: The making of a paramilitary state Mainstream media’s distorted coverage of hypocritical attempts by Colombian President Alvaro Uribe –backed by the US government– to put pressure on Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez for the alleged presence of Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) camps in Venezuelan territory is an injustice to the Colombian and Venezuelan people

the forerunners to the present-day left-wing guerrillas and right-wing paramilitary groups.

In 1958, a deal between the lead-ership of the two parties, termed the “National Front”, supported by the US government of the time, brought an end to the fighting be-tween the Liberals and Conserva-tives. The parties had agreed to alternate power in the country.

A corrupt, repressive political dictatorship was installed, lasting up until the 1980s. Both parties had similar policies – the coun-try’s resources, land, oil, minerals and coffee, would remain in the hands of the elites and multina-tional corporations.

There was no local democracy and all other political parties were banned from taking part in elec-tions. The majority of Colombians were forced to remain impover-ished and politically powerless.

These conditions led Maru-landa and his fellow workers and farmers to form the FARC in 1966, in order to fight against the oli-garchy and the imposition of im-perialism, and struggle to achieve democracy and social justice.

The FARC and its progres-sive demands became popular in rural areas and by the 1980s, the group had infiltrated urban centers. Certain sectors of the po-litical elite were beginning to feel they had to make a deal with the left-wing organization.

1980S: THE EXTERMINATION OF THE PATRIOTIC UNION

In 1982, new Colombian Presi-dent Belisario Betancur made it clear he sought a political settle-

ment in the face of growing in-surgency. The FARC and the ELN (National Liberation Army), a smaller guerrilla organization, engaged in peace talks with the government. A ceasefire was achieved at the end of 1984.

Electoral reform enabled - as a result of the peace talks – the for-mation of a new political party, the Patriotic Union (UP). The UP was a broad a party of the left and the bulk of its members came from commu-nities, social movements and labor unions. The party was also a vehicle for FARC soldiers to put down their arms and enter the political arena.

But the leadership of the Colom-bian army and many in the ruling elite were completely opposed to the peace process. They planned a murderous response using the army and the right-wing paramili-tary organizations against all who joined the Patriotic Union.

By the end of the 1980s, 4,000 members of the Patriotic Union and thousands of trade unionists had been murdered and many thousands of victims’ family members had been left emotion-ally scarred.

A large section of Colombian elites demonstrated they were opposed to conceding any demo-cratic political space to left-wing parties or ideas.

In 1987, the FARC pulled its members out of the UP and with-drew from the peace accord.

1990S: FARC & PARAMILITARY EXPANSION

In 1998, Andres Pastrana was elected president and brought hopes for an end to the conflict

after commencing a peace pro-cess with the FARC. However, he also signed the disastrous Plan Colombia military-aid package with the US government.

The FARC and the paramilitar-ies grew in strength and power due to involvement in the cocaine industry. The FARC began to use conventional tactics, confronting the army head on. In 1998, only a week before the Pastrana peace talks began, they mounted a three-day siege in the city of Mitu, leaving 61 police, 24 soldiers and 10 civilians dead. Sixty-one uni-formed men were kidnapped.

Paramilitary violence was much worse. According to Unit-ed Nations High Commission for Refugees, as a consequence of paramilitary violence against ci-vilians, Colombia was second in the world for people being force-ably displaced.

PARAMILITARY STATEIn 1994, the government set up

civil-defense groups that legal-ized paramilitary organizations and incorporated them into the state system. At this time, Alvaro Uribe was governor of Antioquia and he was an enthusiastic sup-porter of the program.

The paramilitaries were also protecting foreign companies op-erating in Colombia from FARC attacks and from the demands of workers and local communities where they were located.

Paramilitaries murdered 4,000 trade unionists between 1986 and 2000 and maimed, tortured and dis-placed untold numbers of activists.

US fruit company Chiquita

paid nearly $2 million USD to paramilitaries for “protection”. Later, Chiquita was fined by a US court after admitting links to the paramilitaries.

In 1997, the paramilitary groups formed the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC), to cen-tralize operations across Colombia.

The peace talks with the FARC collapsed without a deal in 2002.

THE URIBE YEARSUribe was elected President

of Colombia in 2002, just in time to take charge of Plan Colombia funds and use them for all-out war – backed by Bush - against the FARC. Interestingly, he took a different approach to the para-militaries.

In 2005, Uribe introduced the Orwellian Law for Justice and Peace, which he argued would help bring peace to Colombia by demobilizing paramilitary forces.

The law allowed for paramili-tary crimes to be characterized as political, which meant extradition could be avoided under Colombi-an law. Under the law, paramili-taries could confess to heinous crimes and be given an amnesty or a light prison sentence.

So far over 30,000 paramilitar-ies have allegedly demobilized, but several domestic and inter-national human rights organi-zations have said the majority of them have rejoined different groups and the law just forced a restructuring of the death squads rather than end them.

The so-called “para-politics” scandal in Colombia in 2006 un-veiled links of paramilitaries with the highest levels of government. The seizure of a laptop from para-military leader Rodrigo Tovar Pupo, provided evidence of con-gressional and executive branch links to paramilitaries. As a result of the evidence, 140 members of the armed forces, 209 politicians –including 120 mayors and 28 senators– were arrested, includ-ing a cousin of Uribe.

The US has given almost $10 bil-lion USD to Colombia in military and security aid since 2000, there-fore contributing to the consolida-tion of a “paramilitary state”.

Last year, the US signed a con-tract with Uribe for its armed forces to use seven military bases across Colombia.

T/ Steven Mather

|4| No 23 • Friday, August 6, 2010 The artillery of ideasinternational

The $4 billion dollar financing that Venezuela has secured

from China is the first allocation of a $20 billion credit line agreed upon by the two nations last April.

Nineteen initial projects will be carried out with the first disburse-ment of funds, explained Venezu-elan Vice President, Elias Jaua.

Jaua spoke about how Venezu-ela’s relationship with countries such as China is providing an al-ternative to international financial institutions dominated by US inter-ests, such as the International Mon-etary Fund and the World Bank. “We are not accepting loan condi-tions anymore like those that past Venezuelan governments signed with the International Monetary Fund. Rather, we are obtaining fi-nancing sources that are durable and trustworthy, based on respect for our sovereignty”.

MULTIPOLAR WORLDJaua said the credit line, the larg-

est granted by China to any nation in the last 50 years, represents the

Venezuela and China further strengthen relationsThe two countries solidified funding for new Venezuelan development projects in the areas of energy, agriculture, and oil

fruits of the Venezuelan govern-ment’s multi-polar foreign policy.

“The benefit of international pol-icies carried out by the government of Venezuela, based on conditions of respect, sovereignty, and institu-tionality is clear”, he stated.

Of the 19 projects to be realized with the funds, 4 are related to the strengthening of Venezuela’s energy sector. Over the past year, the country has suffered frequent

blackouts as the result of an elec-tricity crisis caused by drought, heightened demand and outdated infrastructure. According to Jaua, the energy projects will be focused on revitalizing the electric system and consolidating generation and distribution in order to overcome the crisis.

GROWING RELATIONSThe Chavez administration has

made bolstering its cooperation with China one of its foremost for-eign policy priorities.

Trade between China and Ven-ezuela has increased exponentially over recent years, from less than half a billion dollars in 2003 to ap-proximately $5 billion in 2008.

In 2008, China assisted Ven-ezuela with the construction and launching of its first telecommuni-cations satellite and more recently,

it has provided technical assistance and training for hydroelectric and thermoelectric infrastructure im-provements.

The relationship between the two nations has been based pri-marily on Venezuela’s export of oil and China’s cooperation in agricul-tural and industrial development in Venezuela. Venezuela currently exports nearly half a million barrels of oil to China daily and President Chavez said the goal is to reach 1 million barrels by 2013.

The two governments have formed a joint petroleum company to exploit oil reserves in Venezu-ela’s Orinoco Belt, a region that has the largest untapped oil reserves in the world. Ten of the 19 new proj-ects to be undertaken as a result of the new credit line being provided by China will focus on agricultural development in Venezuela.

This includes advancing rice and corn cultivation in the states of Apure, Barinas, the Amacuro Del-ta, and Guarico as well as projects related to agro-industrial develop-ment such as the elaboration of ir-rigation systems.

Mining and basic industries will also see further investment as will the manufacture of computer and cellular phone components.

T/ Edward Ellis

Economic warfare against North KoreaMuch has been written about

the sinking of the South Kore-an ship Cheonan, and the evidence is widely regarded as clearly point-ing to North Korean culpability. In the Western press, the case has generally been presented as solid and irrefutable. Yet, doubts persist. Recently two Korean-American physicists conducted several ex-periments to verify the South Ko-rean government’s chemical analy-sis. What they found were results quite at variance with the reported conclusions.

A team of Russian naval mili-tary experts visited South Korea to examine the evidence. There was good cooperation during the visit, and then the Russians returned home where they spent several weeks in analyzing the data.

Russia informed North Korean officials that it did not trust the results of the South Korean inves-tigation. “The Russian delegation

said if the truth is revealed, then South Korea and the US could be caught in an awkward position”.

In an explosive recent develop-ment, the South Korean newspa-per Hankyoreh obtained a copy of a Russian document summarizing their investigators’ findings. The Russians agreed with the South Koreans that the Cheonan sank as a result of a non-contact external ex-plosion. No definitive determina-tion could be made as to the cause of the explosion, but the Russians felt that the most likely explanation was that after the Cheonan dam-aged its propeller by sailing too close to shore, it struggled to ma-neuver into deeper waters, where it struck a non-contact sea mine. “The area of the ship’s accident is at risk of ocean mines, which is indirectly proven by the fact that the docking locations and voyage paths are re-stricted to the west seacoast of the Korean Peninsula”.

As for the recovered torpedo components, the Russian investi-gators reported, “It may be possi-ble that the presented torpedo part was made in North Korea, but the ink mark is inconsistent with the normal standards of marking. Vi-sual examination of the torpedo part indicates that the torpedo had been in the water for more than six months”. In other words, long before the Cheonan sank. “We do not conclude that this particular torpedo was launched to and im-pacted on the Cheonan ship”.

North Korea may well be cor-rect when it claims that it had nothing to do with the Cheonan’s fate. But who needs an ironclad case when there are geopolitical goals to be achieved? The State Department and Department of Treasury plan to expand the list of businesses and organizations subject to sanctions, freeze bank accounts, work with various for-

eign governments to stop North Korean trading companies from doing business, impose travel re-strictions, and implement a host of other measures.

As a consequence of blacklisting North Korean organizations and in-dividuals, a diplomatic source says the US will suspend ties with any banks dealing with them. “Think of Citibank or Bank of America sus-pending business ties with Bank of China or Bank of Shanghai. That will be a great burden to China”.

Already existing sanctions have caused a shortage of raw materi-als, says Korean economic analyst Cho Boo Hyung, which has led to reduced output. And a decrease in food production will trigger negative economic growth. Cho feels that additional sanctions could produce another famine in North Korea, comparable to that of the 1990s.

President Lee Myung-bak of

South Korea has also seized the op-portunity presented by Cheonan’s sinking to further his goals. As a long-time opponent of the Sunshine Policy of his two predecessors, Lee never hid his ambition to dismantle all of the progress that had been made in recent years with relations between the two Koreas. No sooner had Lee taken office than he can-celled and froze several agreements signed with North Korea by former President Roh Moo-hyun.

A broad-based international in-vestigation needs to take place, and its results made fully public. The 46 sailors who lost their lives when the Cheonan sank deserve the truth, whatever it may be. As do the peoples of both Koreas, whose future is intertwined in so many ways. But geopolitical con-siderations guarantee that no such international probe will take place.

T/ Gregory Elich

No 23 • Friday, August 6, 2010 |5|The artillery of ideas international

Venezuela: On the path to full membership in Mercosur Venezuelan Foreign Minister

Nicolas Maduro affirmed that his country already “feels like a full member of Mercosur” during the 39th Meeting of the Common Market of the South in San Juan, Argentina this week.

“We are already part of the structures of Mercosur which have been growing and diver-sifying. We are in an advanced integration process at all levels”, explained Maduro.

Mercosur was founded in 1991 as a regional trade body between Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay. Venezuela became an associate member of the group in 2005 and since 2006 has been in the process of being admitted to the trade block as a full member.

Maduro pointed out that before his country joined the organiza-tion, Venezuela had “practically no important commercial activity with Mercosur nations, as all our activities were with the north”.

Over the past 4 years, trade be-tween Venezuela and Mercosur countries has increased to $28 bil-lion USD and joint investments have reached more than $100 bil-lion USD, the Foreign Minister informed.

ONLY PARAGUAY REMAINSFor Venezuela and other associ-

ate countries such as Chile, Ecua-dor, and Bolivia to join Mercosur as full member states, the con-gress of each full member country must approve its admission.

Paraguay is the only remaining country that has not yet approved Venezuela’s inclusion.

Maduro called on the Para-guayan congress to ratify Ven-ezuela’s full membership, exhort-ing lawmakers to take a closer look at the social and economic strides Venezuela has made over the years.

“We are making a fraternal and sincere call to all [Paraguayan] political and business sectors that they open their hearts and minds and see the Venezuela of today”, he exclaimed.

In August and September, Ven-ezuela will hold meetings with Paraguayan business leaders “to advance towards an economic plan of cooperation”.

PEACEFUL RESOLUTION WITH COLOMBIA

The current crisis in relations between Colombia and Venezu-ela was also discussed during the meetings.

Paraguayan President Fernando Lugo called for a peaceful resolu-tion of the heightened tensions be-tween the two neighboring states.

“No reasons exist in the South America of 2010 that warrant any other path than the path of peace and respect for international law. We share an irrevocable desire for unity, solidarity, and sovereign development”, Lugo said.

“We are sure that there will be a peaceful, complete, and lasting so-lution to the controversies between these two brother governments. It’s only a question of time”, added the Paraguayan President.

For his part, Foreign Minister Maduro concurred with the Para-guayan head of state.

“We deeply want to construct peace – a just peace in South America. We want to overcome all armed conflicts and wars which might exist in South America”.

During the Foreign Ministers’ meeting held on Monday, Maduro expressed hope over the progress being made on a peaceful resolu-tion with Colombia.

“We’re optimistic about the declarations that have been made from some insurgent groups, functionaries of the new [Colombian] government, and spokespeople from orga-nizations such as the Catholic Church and some political par-ties… We insist on the need for peace. The only war that persists in South America is the internal war in Colombia which directly affects us as a neighbor”, indi-cated Maduro.

OTHER OUTCOMESAs an economic outcome of

the meetings, member countries eliminated the double charging of tariffs on non-Mercosur goods and created a mechanism to re-distribute customs revenues.

The measure pushes the trade block closer to the customs union it was founded to be and compen-sates poorer countries, such as landlocked Paraguay, who would otherwise lose revenue from the inability to charge tariffs on cer-tain goods.

T/ EE

Venezuela secures borders, wary of Colombian intentionsIn response to the detection of

increased Colombian military aircraft near the border with Ven-ezuela, Venezuela created ten special military zones along its border to defend against any po-tential armed aggression.

“It is with much concern that we have detected a substantial increase in aircraft flying near our border with Colombia”, President Chavez revealed last Friday.

The flights were detected on the Colombian side of the bor-der in the zones of La Guajira, La Fria, and Alto Apure, as well as in areas near Aruba, Curaçao, and Bonaire in the Caribbean. The flight patterns indicated the air-craft were possibly carrying out spy missions rather than follow-ing direct routes, said Chavez.

In response, Venezuela will de-ploy troops in military “districts” that operate together to form “inte-gral defense zones” along its 1,400 mile (2,250 km) border with Colom-bia. The Venezuelan military have been on alert since July 22nd when Colombia brought accusations be-fore the Organization of American States (OAS) that Venezuela toler-ates the presence of Colombian guerrillas in its territory. Venezue-lan President Hugo Chavez severed diplomatic relations with Colombia, saying the accusations were aimed at setting the basis for a future mili-tary intervention by Colombian forces, with the support of the bil-lions of dollars in military aid that the US government provides to its primary South American ally.

Chavez reiterated this interpreta-

tion of events on Friday. “The strat-egy of the US for which Colombia serves as a player, is for the war [in Colombia] to be international-ized, in order to have the excuse to intervene in Venezuela”, he said, referring to the civil war between the Colombian government and guerrilla insurgents that has raged since the 1960s. As a result of Co-lombia’s war, Venezuela has been a victim of the presence of paramil-itary squads linked to the Colom-bian government, increased drug trafficking carried out by the para-militaries and insurgents, and the influx of an estimated 4.5 million Colombians fleeing the violence. In official statements, Colombia denied plans to attack Venezuela and said its aircraft have remained in Colombian territory.

“Colombia has never thought of attacking the fraternal people of the Bolivarian Republic of Ven-ezuela”, a press release from the Colombian Office of the President stated. A Foreign Relations Minis-try statement, released separately, said, “Based on precise informa-tion provided by the Ministry for National Defense, no Colombian military helicopter or aircraft has flown over Venezuelan air space”.

Last October, Colombia signed a military deal with the US to al-low an increase in US troop pres-ence on seven Colombian bases and to step up espionage and mil-itary operations across the South American continent, according to official US Air Force documents.

Just days ago, the Colombian military installed a new air base

in the Casanare province. The base will host aircraft that will carry out transport, intelligence, and combat missions in Casanare as well as Arauca province, which borders Venezuela’s Apure state, according to an official statement of the Colombian Armed Forces.

In 2009, Colombia increased military expenditure by 11% and its military spending as a per-centage of GDP was the greatest in the region. Venezuela reduced its military spending by 25% last year, and occupied fifth place in the region in military spending as a percentage of GDP, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.

T/ James Suggettwww.venezuelanalysis.com

|6| No 23• Friday, August 6, 2010 The artillery of ideassocial justice

A worker-run energy plan in Venezuela More than 140,000 Caracas residents will benefit from the worker-led recovery of an abandoned power plant on the outskirts of Caracas

During an inspection of the pow-er plant La Mariposa, Venezu-

elan Energy Minister Ali Rodriguez reported that the facility would soon have the capacity to produce 45 megawatts (MW) of electricity, enough to supply the residents of the neighborhood of Altos Mirandi-nos and southeast Caracas.

The plant was taken over by Venezuelan workers in March in response to the electricity crisis that had been affecting the coun-try over the past year.

“In addition to reestablishing the machinery that was inactive, we are installing a new generation capacity to satisfy the demand that we foresee due to population growth, industrial development and an improving living standard for residents of the country”, ex-plained Vice President Elias Jaua last Thursday.

Cuban workers from their coun-try’s Electric Union have assisted the Venezuelans in the rehabilita-tion of the plant, which had been neglected for more than 20 years.

“This is an example of the po-litical decision that President

Hugo Chavez has taken to involve workers of the [electric] sector in the solution to the national electric emergency. Together, with the sup-port of Cuban workers, the job has been completed of rehabilitating facilities that were totally aban-doned and discarded by former governments as a way to advance the privatization of the electric sector”, Jaua said.

DEPENDENCE ON HYDROELEC-TRIC POWER

Seventy percent of electricity in

Venezuela is hydroelectric, gener-ated by the Guri Dam in the state of Bolivar.

When a prolonged drought sig-nificantly reduced the dam’s water level earlier this year, the supply of electricity in the nation could not meet rising demand, resulting in frequent power outages across the country.

Claiming they had the skills and knowledge to help pull the coun-try out of the crisis, workers from the state-run national electricity corporation Corpoelec took to the

streets last September to demand greater participation in the man-agement of the company.

According to the workers, many of the problems associated with the crisis were the product of ex-cessive bureaucracy in Corpoelec.

Last December, the government signed an historic, industry-wide collective contract with workers, establishing the parameters for greater worker involvement in the management and decision-mak-ing processes of the company.

The worker-led revitalization

of the power plant La Mariposa represents part of an overall gov-ernment strategy to improve and diversify the electric sector of the country.

“We will be installing at least 15,000 additional megawatts un-til the year 2015”, affirmed Vice President Jaua.

According to Jaua, the govern-ment has been able to achieve the addition of 1,087 MW to the Na-tional Electric System in the past six months.

ENERGY PLANElectricity Minister, Ali Rodri-

guez, spoke during the inspection about steps that need to be taken to avoid problems in the future.

“We are honest about the fact that there are problems that still need to be resolved, problems in which we have involved workers to advance the transmission sys-tems and in some cases distribu-tion. We are renovating the entire Venezuelan electric system”.

Part of the renovation includes an energy plan in the western state of Zulia, which according to the government, will add 3,000 MW and cover the total demand of the state.

In the Andean region of the country, a new dam and generat-ing plant are under construction to add another 500 MW.

T/ Edward Ellis

Telesur expands to Europe, Middle East and Africa An agreement signed by the

multi-state television chan-nel Telesur to incorporate its sig-nal into the Hotbird 8 satellite will allow Latin America’s voice to reach more than 123 countries in Europe, the Middle East and North Africa.

Telesur President Andres Izarra explained the station would es-tablish correspondents in Madrid, Spain, and in Africa, and already has one bureau in Syria covering Middle Eastern affairs.

Izarra also announced that as of this week, Telesur is available in digital format throughout Argen-tine. However, the station is not available for most Argentines due to obstacles imposed by media monopolies in the South American nation. The current government of Cristina Fernandez in Argentina is pursuing efforts to democratize

the media and provide for more open access for citizens.

Telesur was created on 2005 as a joint venture between Argentina, Bolivia, Cuba, Ecuador, Nicaragua and Venezuela. Its mission is to offer a different view of events that occur in Latin America, with reports by journalists and regular people who provide a real perspective from the eyes and voices of Latin Americans. Already, Telesur is transforming the way important events are por-trayed worldwide.

The station was the only net-work on the ground in Hondu-ras during last year’s coup d’etat against President Manuel Zelaya. It’s also covered hostage releases in Colombia, the discovery of mass graves with thousands of bodies that were assassinated at the hands of Colombia’s armed forces, and the tragic Haitian

earthquake – all from and in depth and humanistic perspective.

OBSTACLESMedia monopolies that control

the distribution of television sta-tions in Argentina, Mexico, and the United States, have been hin-

dered the transmission of Telesur in these countries.

Izarra said the station’s board of directors is planning strategies to thwart the effects of this situation and to seek access to the audiences in these nations.

“In Mexico, it’s been very hard

to broadcast because of the media company Televisa, which controls the entire industry. A similar situ-ation is happening in Argentina, where we are fighting for a space on the networks. But with the ac-tual process of democratization of media being carried out by the Ar-gentinian government, we can now expect to move forward”, he said.

Izarra explained that in the Unit-ed States, the transmission of Tele-sur is available through satellite, but companies that control satellite television, such as Direct TV, have refused to include the station.

“The companies who control Direct TV won’t include Telesur in their transmission packages, but they do include Globovision (an anti-Chavez channel in Venezu-ela). It’s a political decision”.

T/ Bolivarian News Agency

No 23 • Friday, August 6, 2010 |7|The artillery of ideas interview

What did you find most in-teresting in Venezuela?

The methodology of formal learning impressed all of us. At all educational levels, and espe-cially within the missions dedi-cated to education, the method of inclusion impressed us. There is an inclusion of formerly ex-cluded sectors of society. The poor, low-income workers, Afro-Venezuelans and the Indigenous communities have actively and massively integrated into formal learning structures. And within the schools and missions students are integrated into the learning process at all levels. They par-ticipate in curriculum decisions, teaching, and in administration of the educational institution.

Also, the content of the cur-riculum at all levels aims at as-sisting the individual in becom-ing a well-rounded, conscious and participatory citizen; one that engages life from his/her nobler self, capable of sympa-thy, social affection and solidar-ity. The educational process thus permits group development, neighborhood development and the development of a nation of citizens who participate in their own lives and in guiding or di-recting their government toward more inclusion, peace and even a stronger democracy.

In the US, most media portray President Chavez as a dictator, did you find Venezuela to be a dictatorship?

No. When defining dictator-ship we think one of the primary

“Venezuela has a free and dynamic exchange of ideas” Last week a delegation of US educators from the Mayor’s Office in Oakland, California, visited Venezuela to exchange ideas and experiences with public education institutions and to gain a better understanding of the various levels and forms of public education in Venezuela. We spoke with delegation leader Roy Wilson from the Martin Luther King Jr. Freedom Center in Oakland

characteristics is the suppression of ideas, especially ideas contrary to those of the government. This definition includes censorship and the banning of newspapers or magazines and other forms of expression. We can see clearly that a free and dynamic exchange of ideas and ideologies is present among the people, in the schools and within other social entities such as unions and faith based organizations. We even saw bill-boards along the highways ex-pressing what we would call “at-tacks” against the government.

What most impacted you in the communities and schools you visited?

We are very impressed at the community spirit and happiness of the people. Much of the work in the missions, for example, takes place in the evenings after work. Many of the instructors and most of the students work regular jobs during the day. That is, most of the instructors are volunteers. Among the students and instructors exists a very high level of community spirit, cooperation and mutual respect. This attitude brings ev-eryone together. It draws together in the same class room those who are excelling and those still getting their bearings in the learning pro-cess creating a moving and inspir-

ing aura of community cohesion and fraternity.

Do you think what’s happen-ing in Venezuela could inspire people in the US to make politi-cal changes?

We think that many aspects of Venezuela’s revolutionary pro-cess hold the potential to inspire us in the United States. Realisti-cally, the process of connecting to those aspects is difficult from a pragmatic sense. First, it is dif-ficult to visualize Venezuela ac-curately because, in the US, the picture of Venezuela put forth by all the major media, the govern-ment and many universities and colleges portrays Venezuela as an oppressive, brutal dictatorship. These are lies. So we, citizens of the United States have the hard task of providing an honest and accurate photo of the government

and people of Venezuela. We think that is a practical task that will take hard work, sacrifice and what Dr. King calls, the develop-ment of “otherinterestedness”.

Secondly, many of the major changes in Venezuela society, such as those dramatic changes of inclusion and democracy within the educational system, requires great changes in both the conduct and consciousness of many US citizens and organizations.

In other words, Venezuela of-fers much to learn and inspires us immensely, and this learning and inspiration helps visualize changes in our society that re-quire dedicated individuals ca-pable of sustained, disciplined work to organize and educate tens of thousands.

The governments of the US and Venezuelan are not on very good terms. Right now, Venezu-ela perceives US military build-up in the region and certain statements coming out of the White House and State Dept as threatening. Do you think that the people of the US can change this, if so, how?

Yes. As we suggested, this will require education, organization and mobilization. It is obvious that the people of the United States have not successfully orga-

nized to end our nation’s current aggression toward many coun-tries (Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran, North Korea, for example). There is, perhaps, a difference with the aggression against Venezuela.

For one thing, a great and growing force of democracy and solidarity exists between key governments in Latin America and among the people of all of Latin America. Secondly, the po-litical power and role of the La-tino community in the United States is growing rapidly. Some even suggest that the Latino com-munity might be the base of a reconstructed Civil and Human Rights movement in the United States, and the Latin community is already much more aware and organized about the rights of La-tinos, about immigration rights and the right to sovereignty.

There is no guarantee about much in today’s complex world, but it seems like a good pos-sibility that the people of the United States, who are gaining consciousness due to increased expectations from ourselves and our government regarding jobs, justice and environmental sus-tainability, can impact US aggres-sion against Venezuela.

T/ Eva GolingerP/ City of Oakland Delegation

“...In the US, the picture of Venezuela put forth by all the major media,

the government and many universities

and colleges portrays Venezuela as an oppressive,

brutal dictatorship”

The artillery of ideasENGLISH EDITIONFRIDAY August 6, 2010 No. 23 Bs. 1 CaraCas

A publication of the Fundacion Correo del OrinocoEditor-in-Chief | Eva Golinger • Graphic Design | Arturo Cazal, Pablo Valduciel L., Alexander Uzcátegui, Jameson Jiménez • Press | Fundación Imprenta de la Cultura

OpiniOn

The war in Afghanistan: echoes of Vietnam The War Logs--a six-year archive of classi-

fied military documents about the war in Afghanistan, released on the Internet by the organization WikiLeaks--documents a grim struggle becoming grimmer, from the US perspective. And for the Afghans, a moun-ting horror.

The War Logs, however valuable, may contribute to the unfortunate and prevai-ling doctrine that wars are wrong only if they aren’t successful--rather like the Nazis felt after Stalingrad.

Last month came the fiasco of Gen. Stan-ley A. McChrystal, forced to retire as com-mander of US forces in Afghanistan and replaced by his superior, Gen. David H. Petraeus.

A plausible consequence is a relaxation of the rules of engagement so that it beco-mes easier to kill civilians, and an extension of the war well into the future as Petraeus uses his clout in Congress to achieve this result.

Afghanistan is President Obama’s prin-cipal current war. The official goal is to protect ourselves from al-Qaida, a virtual organization, with no specific base -- a “network of networks” and “leaderless resistance”, as it’s been called in the pro-fessional literature. Now, even more so than before, al-Qaida consists of relatively independent factions, loosely associated throughout the world.

The CIA estimates that 50 to 100 al-Qaeda activists may now be in Afghanistan, and there is no indication that the Taliban want to repeat the mistake of offering sanctuary to al-Qaeda.

By contrast, the Taliban appear to be well-established in their vast forbidding landscape, a large part of the Pashtun te-rritories.

In February, in the first exercise of Obama’s new strategy, US Marines con-quered Marja, a minor district in Hel-mand province, the main center of the insurgency.

There, reported The New York Times’ Richard A. Oppel Jr., “The Marines have collided with a Taliban identity so domi-nant that the movement appears more akin to the only political organization in a one-party town, with an influence that touches everyone”.

“’We’ve got to re-evaluate our definition of the word `enemy’, said Brig. Gen. Larry Nicholson, commander of the Marine ex-peditionary brigade in Helmand Provin-

ce. `Most people here identify themselves as Taliban. We have to readjust our thinking so we’re not trying to chase the Taliban out of Marja, we’re trying to chase the enemy out’”.

The Marines are facing a problem that has always bedeviled conquerors, one that is very familiar to the U.S. from Vietnam. In 1969, Douglas Pike, the leading U.S. gover-nment scholar on Vietnam, lamented that the enemy--the National Liberation Front--was the only “truly mass-based political party in South Vietnam”.

Any effort to compete with that enemy

politically would be like a conflict bet-ween a minnow and a whale, Pike recog-nized. We therefore had to overcome the NLF’s political force by using our com-parative advantage,

violence--with horrifying results.Others have faced similar problems: for

example, the Russians in Afghanistan du-ring the 1980s, where they won every battle but lost the war.

Writing of another US invasion--the Phi-lippines in 1898--Bruce Cumings, an Asia historian at the University of Chicago, made an observation that applies all too

aptly to Afghanistan today: “When a sailor sees that his heading is disastrous he chan-ges course, but imperial armies sink their boots in quicksand and keep marching, if only in a circle, while the politicians plum the phrase book of American ideals”.

After the Marja triumph, the US-led forces were expected to assault the major city of Kandahar, where, according to a US Army poll in April, the military operation is opposed by 95 percent of the popula-tion, and 5 out of 6 regard the Taliban as “our Afghan brothers”--again, echoes of earlier conquests. The Kandahar plans were delayed, part of the background for McChrystal’s leavetaking.

Under these circumstances, it is not sur-prising that US authorities are concerned that public support for the war in Afgha-nistan may erode even further.

In May, WikiLeaks released a March CIA memorandum about how to sustain Western Europe’s support for the war. The memorandum’s subtitle: “Why Counting on Apathy Might Not Be Enough”.

“The Afghanistan mission’s low public salience has allowed French and German leaders to disregard popular opposition and steadily increase their troop contribu-tions to the International Security Assistan-ce Force”, the memorandum states.

“Berlin and Paris currently maintain the third and fourth highest ISAF troop levels, despite the opposition of 80 percent of Ger-man and French respondents to increased ISAF deployments”. It is therefore neces-sary to “tailor messaging” to “forestall or at least contain backlash”.

The CIA memorandum should remind us that states have an internal enemy: their own population, which must be controlled when state policy is opposed by the public.

Democratic societies rely not on force but on propaganda, engineering consent by “necessary illusion” and “emotionally po-tent oversimplication”, to quote Obama’s favorite philosopher, Reinhold Niebuhr.

The battle to control the internal enemy, then, remains highly pertinent--indeed, the future of the war in Afghanistan may hinge on it.

Noam ChomskyNoam Chomsky is Institute Professor & Pro-fessor of Linguistics (Emeritus) at the Massa-chusetts Institute of Technology, and the author of dozens of books on U.S. foreign policy. This article is from his monthly column for The New York Times News Service/Syndicate.

Under these circumstances, it is not surprising that US

authorities are concerned that public support for the war in

Afghanistan may erode even further