ENGLISH EDITION/The artillery of ideas INTERNATIONAL Friday, August 1, 2014 | N 208 | Caracas | www.correodelorinoco.gob.

ve
Mercosur held its 46th Presidential Summit in Caracas this week, emphasizing South
America's leadership in transforming the world's economic structures. During this spe-
cial session, Mercosur pledged to establish new economic relations in the region through
an alliance between Mercosur, ALBA and Petrocaribe. The Common Market of the
South (Mercosur) is a customs and trade alliance founded in 1991. Argentina, Brazil,
Paraguay, Uruguay and Venezuela are full members, with the grouping comprising 275
million inhabitants and 83% of South Americas GDP. Page. 2
Families relocated
from tower
T/ Paul Dobson
T
he Minister for the
Transformation of Cara-
cas, Ernesto Villegas, led
the initiation of the vacat-
ing of the worlds highest
squatter block this week as
families from the Conan-
zas Tower in Caracas began
to voluntarily leave the 45-
oor high skyscraper and
occupy their new homes,
built by the government.
Its not about vacating,
its about a coordinated op-
eration in harmony with
the community of the Con-
anzas Tower which in-
volves moving the families
from here to other urban-
izations of the (housing
program) Mission Vivien-
da explained Villegas.
He emphasized the
peaceful and harmonious
manner in which the relo-
cation took place, involv-
ing months of negotiation,
meetings, and consulta-
tion with the residents.
Everyone said that it
must be done by force, but
we have shown that we can
construct a solution hand
in hand with the people.
The residents, who come
from the poorest sectors of
the city, are largely being
relocated to Zamora City,
one of numerous new so-
cialist cities being built by
the Housing Mission Vi-
vienda on the outskirts of
Caracas.
The new, modern city,
has all basic necessities
and facilities close by,
such as hospitals, schools,
shops, bus routes, and com-
mercial outlets. The apart-
ments are given to the
poorest families or sold at
subsidized prices with zero
interest, xed price loans.
All are given in with title
deeds of ownership.
The Tower of David, as it
is colloquially known, was
abandoned after 9 years of
construction in 1994 fol-
lowing the nancial crisis
of the time. It is the 8th
highest skyscraper in Lat-
in America.
TeleSUR English
Launched
T/ Agencies
T
he Spanish-language televi-
sion network started by Ven-
ezuelan President Hugo Chavez
together with other nations in the
region to provide news for and
from Latin America will now reach
audiences in English.
Under the motto "Don't resign
yourself to having just one side
of the story", Telesur unveiled a
news website that will serve as a
hub for hours of daily multimedia
programming in English from cor-
respondents and pundits around
the world. The website went live
last Thursday, coinciding with
the 9th anniversary of Telesur's
launch and the celebration of
South American independence
hero Simon Bolivar's birthday.
While the main goal of the net-
work will be to reshape views
about Latin America with dis-
patches from correspondents
around the region, it will also
offer an alternative take to main-
stream media coverage of the
day's major events. That includes
from places like the Gaza Strip,
where Telesur has two journal-
ists, one in English and one in
Spanish, reporting on ghting
between Israeli security forces
and Hamas insurgents.
Opinion
US
Administration
split on
Venezuela Page. 4
Mercosur advances nancial
sovereignty, regional alliances
Venezuelas
socialists
renew party
The III Congress of
the largest party in
Venezuelan politics
got under way this
week, as the ruling
Socialist Unied
Party (PSUV) held 5
days of activities in
Caracas. The Congress,
which ended July 31st,
opened and closed
with plenary sessions,
and involved
3 workshops covering
the denition
of Chavismo,
international affairs,
and the remodeling
of the party. Page. 3
Politics
Venezuelan
Consul released
Aruba freed Consul
Hugo Carvajal after
illegally detaining
him upon from
Washington. Page. 3
The artillery of ideas
2 Impact | Friday, August 1, 2014
T/ Ewan Robertson
P/ Presidential Press
V
enezuela handed over the
pro tempore presidency
of the Mercosur com-
mercial bloc to Argentina on
Tuesday during the 46th pres-
idential Mercosur summit in
Caracas.
The Common Market of the
South (Mercosur) is a customs
and trade alliance founded in
1991. Argentina, Brazil, Para-
guay, Uruguay and Venezu-
ela are full members, with the
grouping comprising 275 mil-
lion inhabitants and 83% of
South Americas GDP.
A key task for the bloc during
the presidential summit this
week was to extend relation-
ships with other regional orga-
nizations and potential mem-
bers, with the hope of creating a
complimentary economic zone
across Latin America and the
Caribbean.
In particular, Mercosur
would like to construct more
formal links with the ALBA,
Petrocaribe, Pacic Alliance
and Caribbean Community
(Caricom) groups. Several coun-
tries in the region are Mercosur
associate states, while Mexico
and New Zealand are signed up
as observers.
Venezuela highlights Mercosur blocs
advancement before summit in Caracas
ANNUAL REPORT
On Monday during a meeting
of Mercosur foreign ministers,
Venezuelan foreign minister
Elias Jaua reafrmed the im-
portance of Mercosur for his
nation. Venezuela became a full
member in 2012.
For Venezuela Mercosur
continues being the most con-
solidated bloc in our region
from the commercial point of
view, which has the greatest
potential to keep advancing in
the creation of a great economic
zone in our Latin America and
the Caribbean, he said.
Jaua also highlighted Merco-
surs key role in the South Amer-
ican OPEC nations attempt to
diversify its economy and reduce
dependence on oil exports.
Mercosur continues being the
natural space for the promotion
of a productive [economic] policy
in Venezuela, a policy of exporta-
tion to which we will dedicate all
our effort from this moment with
the help of each member coun-
try, the foreign minister stated.
Of behalf of the Venezuelan
foreign ministry, Jaua gave a
report on Mercosurs progress
during the past year. This in-
cluded 220 meetings on social,
political, economic and institu-
tional issues, with new agree-
ments and rules being created.
Signicant joint statements
by Mercosur countries were
also issued during the past
year, such as: the proposal to
construct a complementary
economic zone with other re-
gional groupings; the condem-
nation of US espionage of the
regions governments; nego-
tiations between Mercosur and
the European Union; support
for the Venezuelan government
during opposition destabiliza-
tion earlier this year; and a spe-
cial declaration supporting Ar-
gentina in its dispute with US
based speculative hedge funds.
Other Mercosur foreign min-
isters likewise mentioned their
support for the performance
and potential of the bloc.
Paraguayan foreign minis-
ter Eladio Loizaga expressed
his countrys satisfaction at
being able to participate in
Mercosur once again, fol-
lowing the election of a new
government in Paraguay and
its acceptance of Venezuelas
membership of the bloc. Par-
aguay was suspended from
Mercosur in June 2012 after
liberal and conservative forc-
es launched an institutional
coup against then leftist
president Fernando Lugo.
BUSINESS MEETING
As a precursor to Tuesdays
presidential summit meeting,
on Sunday almost 250 business
gures from Venezuela and
the wider region met to discuss
strategies for further economic
integration.
According to Venezuelan
state media agency AVN, pro-
posals were made on training,
social responsibility and the
need for a new regional nan-
cial architecture.
Today more than ever, the
political, social and economic
consciousness of Latin Ameri-
can and Caribbean business
has awoken. We can say that we
support our presidents, their
political decisions and that we
are for regional integration and
are with the development of the
productive and technological
capabilities of Venezuela, said
the president of the Venezu-
elan Federation of Small, Me-
dium and Artisanal Industries,
Miguel Perez Abad.
T/ Telesur
P/ Presidential Press
M
ercosur held its 46th Presi-
dential Summit in Caracas
this week, emphasizing South
Americas leadership in trans-
forming the worlds economic
structures. During this spe-
cial session, Mercosur pledged
to establish new economic re-
lations in the region through
an alliance between Merco-
sur, ALBA and Petrocaribe.
Mercosur member Presi-
dents of Argentina, , Brazil,
Paraguay, Uruguay and Ven-
ezuela were accompanied by
the President of Bolivia, Evo
Morales, Prime Minister of
San Vicente and the Grena-
dines Ralph Gonsalves, Sal-
vadorean President Salvador
Sanchez Ceren and Prime
Mercosur to create new
international nancial architecture
Minister of Antigua and Bar-
bua Gastn Brown. Nicaraguan
Vice President Omar Halleslev-
ens, Surinamese Minister of
Foreign Affairs and ofcial del-
egations from Chile and Peru
were also on hand.
EMERGING ECONOMIC MODELS
FROM THE SOUTH
In his opening words at the
summit, Maduro stressed that,
This is an exceptional moment
in history...we are creating a
new international nancial ar-
chitecture. He announced the
regions plans to accelerate the
process to activate the Bank of
the South as part of efforts be-
ing made to unify the region
and establish a greater zone
of economic integration. Ma-
duro explained that the vision
of Mercosur and other regional
blocs is to move beyond free
trade and to create economic
alternatives based on sustain-
ability and cooperation.
Uruguayan President Jose
Pepe Mujica underscored that,
never has Latin America been
as free. Each [country] has its
own independence. We are not
under the control of Uncle Sam
nor any religious cause...Uncle
Sam is not the challenge, Uncle
Sam is sick.
Bolivian President Evo Mo-
rales explained, If there is not
an economic liberation, there
will not be a political or social
liberation. Thanks to the con-
sciousness and struggle of the
Bolivian people, we have begun
to change in Bolivia...Bolivia
believes in integration. We will
improve our social situation.
We will end extreme poverty.
Argentinas President Cris-
tina Fernandez celebrated
the presence of Paraguayan
President Horacio Cortes and
Paraguays return to Merco-
sur following the 2012 parlia-
mentary coup dtat against
former President Fernando
Lugo. She also remarked on
the physical absence of former
Venezuelan President Hugo
Chavez in light of the leaders
60th birthday on Monday.
Chavez along with former
Argentine President Nestor
Kirchner were named illustri-
ous citizens of Mercosur.
MERCOSUR STANDS
WITH ARGENTINA, PALESTINE
Mercosur leaders also ex-
pressed support for Argentina in
its ght against vulture fund
creditors. The ruling by New
York district judge Thom-
as Griesas decision in favor of
the vulture funds threatens to
plunge Argentinas economy to
a second default in 13 years.
President Cristina Fernandez
insisted that Mercosur leaders
must review the constitutions
of the International Monetary
Fund, Organization of Ameri-
can States and the United Na-
tions in order to protect the
right and obligations of Latin
American nations. She also
emphasized that the Right
Upon Future Offers (RUFO)
clause that allows for the re-
structuring of these bonds
has been ignored by the Paris
Club.
Mercosur also issued a com-
munique denouncing the vio-
lence in Gaza and expressing
solidarity with the Palestin-
ian people.
Presidents Mujica and Mo-
rales shared similar senti-
ments stressing that ofcial
documents such as the com-
munique soliciting a ceasre
in Palestine must take con-
crete actions. Our manifesto
cannot be only a document...
it is important that we have
unity among our peoples,
in South America, in Latin
America in order to challenge
any provocation, stressed
Morales.
The artillery of ideas
Friday, August 1, 2014 | Politics 3
P/ Paul Dobson
P/ Presidential Press
T
he III Congress of the larg-
est party in Venezuelan
politics got under way this
week, as the ruling Socialist
Unied Party (PSUV) held 5
days of activities in Caracas.
The 537 elected and 448 ap-
pointed delegates undertook
the monumental task of order-
ing, perfecting, and amplifying
the policies of the party founded
by ex-President Hugo Chavez
in 2006. PSUV claims to have 7
million members, despite only
1.4 million votes being cast in
delegate elections.
President Maduro called
it a lively Congress, which
has looked for a debate as the
boxer looks for a ght, which
doesnt run from criticism nor
public opinion. The Congress
comes as major PSUV allies,
the Communist Party, also n-
ish preparations for their XIII
National Conference in Au-
gust, and the opposition MUD
alliance held crisis talks to de-
cide on their survival.
The Congress, which ended
July 31st, opened and closed
with plenary sessions, and in-
volved 3 workshops covering
the denition of Chavismo, in-
ternational affairs, and the re-
modeling of the party.
MADURO ELECTED AS PRESIDENT
The rst decision taken by
the delegates was to elect by
unanimity President Maduro
as PSUV President after the
position was left vacant by
Venezuela: PSUV congress
to give socialist party a boost
the death of Hugo Chavez 15
months ago.
The decision, declared 1st
PSUV Vice-President, Diosda-
do Cabello, was taken consid-
ering his strength in the face of
difculties, his political capac-
ity, loyalty to the people, and
love of the nation.
Members of the PSUV sub-
mitted 25,000 proposals to be
discussed at Congress, which
were accompanied by numer-
ous documents prepared by the
leadership.
President Maduro presented
his own proposals which includ-
ed the admission of Chavezs
philosophical thinking as 4th
root in the 3-root ideology of
the PSUV. If we talk of a tree
with 3 roots which founded
this historic project, we must
refer to a 4th root called Hugo
Chavez.
Maduro also unveiled a series
of tasks and focal points around
which the PSUV must work, us-
ing the Chinese 1+5+8 system.
The 1 he dened as the Plan
of the Patria, the last political
agenda written by Chavez be-
fore his death, and now part of
his administration.
The 5 refer to ve essential
focal points around which the
PSUV must develop its mili-
tancy and policies. They are,
he explained: 1- without so-
cialism, independence and
sovereignty in Venezuela is
not sustainable; 2- the sus-
tainability of the Revolution
depends on the development
of constructing a productive
economy through a transition
to socialism; 3- the consoli-
dation of the democratic proj-
ect with the people exercis-
ing political power, with the
construction of a new state,
a new type of government;
4- the spiritual revolution,
the revolution of love; and 5-
the struggle for a balance in
a multi-central and multipo-
lar world, for a Latin Ameri-
ca and Caribbean which con-
solidates its union and new
independence.
Finally, the 8 refers to the
members of the PSUV who
should: 1- recognize Hugo
Chavez as eternal leader and
founding president of the
PSUV; 2- assume the trans-
formation of the bourgeois
state and the party-govern-
ment relation to materialize a
democratic, social state based
on rights and justice; 3- the
denitive development of a
system of socialist training of
the militancy, leadership, and
Venezuelan people; 4- the
immediate modication of the
party statutes to perfect the
organizational structure, to
work for the people and incor-
porate new base structures;
5- approve the proposed chro-
nogram to reorganize, reno-
vate, and legitimize the organs
of the PSUV within 6 months;
6- assume the civic-military
character of the Revolution
through revolutionary prac-
tice; 7- reafrm our anti-
capitalist character; 8- re-
afrm our anti-imperialist
commitment against all types
of interventionism.
T/ Paul Dobson
P/ Presidential Press
V
enezuela celebrated a
signicant victory in in-
ternational relations this
week, after the Major General
Hugo Carvajal, Venezuelan
Consul in the Dutch island of
Aruba, was released and his
detention declared illegal.
Carvajal was safely returned
to Venezuela, receiving a he-
ros welcome at the Socialist
Partys Congress in Caracas.
This is a new victory for
the dignity of the nation and
the respect which the world
has for Venezuela, declared
Venezuelan Foreign Minister
Elias Jaua. President Maduro
congratulated the Nether-
lands for a brave decision in
the face of US pressure on the
Dutch tiny colony, and classed
it as a great moral, diplomatic,
and political victory for peace
in our continent against a
kidnapping committed by
the hawks of Miami.
They recognized that there
had been a violation of inter-
national law, explained Ma-
duro at the Congress.
Carvajal was arrested on
July 23rd by Aruban Attor-
ney General, Peter Blanken,
for alleged association to drug
trafcking and nancing the
Colombian left wing group
FARC. The arrest was, in the
words of Blanken, carried
out following a direct request
from the White House, which
requested his detention and
extradition to the US.
Following his arrest, Ven-
ezuelan authorities bypassed
the Aruban Attorney General
and requested that the King-
dom of the Netherlands, to
which Aruba belongs, respect
international law and diplo-
matic immunity as stipulated
in the Vienna Convention of
1963. Blanken argued that the
Venezuelan Consul released,
US plan defeated
Netherlands had never ac-
cepted the credentials of Car-
vajal as Venezuelan consul
to the Caribbean island, and
hence he did not enjoy diplo-
matic immunity.
Nonetheless, Carvajal was
released following a direct or-
der from Amsterdam on July
27th, in which it was explained
that the consular chief can
be provisionally admitted to
exercise his functions this
means that the detention of
July 23rd was a violation of
his immunity.
Carvajal is better known
in Venezuela for his time as
the Director of Military In-
telligence under President
Chavez, leading many to sus-
pect that the motive behind
his US-instigated arrest was
political.
Carlos Aquino from the
Venezuelan Communist
Party emphasized that this
is more than an aggression
against an individual what
it represents is part of a phase
of international pressure
against the national political
process. He went on to warn
against such further attacks
from the US government, ex-
plaining that in light of his
release, the US Government
doesnt do anything for free.
Carvajal himself, on his re-
turn to Caracas, accused the
Aruban Attorney General
and judge who issued his ar-
rest warrant of being corrupt.
I suspect that they received
money to do what they did to
me. The White House stated
that it was deeply disappoint-
ed at the Dutch decision.
On Wednesday, as reprisal
for the release of Carvajal,
Washington imposed sanc-
tions on Venezuela and re-
voked the visas of several
Venezuelan ofcials. Caracas
called the decision a sign of
desperation.
A p0b||cat|oo oI the F0odac|oo 0orreo de| 0r|ooco Editor-in-Chief va 6o||oger Graphic Design Pablo Valduciel L. - Aimara Aguilera - Audra Ramones
INTERNATIONAL
Friday, August 1, 2014 | N 208| Caracas | www.correodelorinoco.gob.ve
Opinion
Underlying motives
US Administration split on Venezuela
T/ Mark Weisbrot
I
f all the crises in Gaza,
Ukraine, Iraq, Syria, and Af-
ghanistan werent enough,
the Obama administration
last week embarked on a path
to break diplomatic relations
with Venezuela. But the drama
was cut short Sunday night
when the Dutch government
announced that it would not
allow the extradition of Hugo
Carvajal, a Venezuelan retired
general and military ofcer
whom Washington wanted
to bring to trial in US courts.
This story is worth a post-
mortem because it reveals an
important split within the ad-
ministration on policy toward
Latin America similar to the
one that has been evident in
the case of Argentina vs. the
vulture funds.
On Wednesday, July 23 Car-
vajal was detained by authori-
ties in Aruba, despite the fact
that he was admitted to the is-
land on a diplomatic passport
and was named consul general
to Aruba by Venezuela. Aruba
is a small island of 100,000 resi-
dents just 17 miles from the
north coast of Venezuela that
is part of the Kingdom of the
Netherlands.
The US government claims
that Carvajal was involved
in drug trafcking, and he
was put on a US blacklist list
in 2008. But whether there is
any substance to the charges
is beside the point in this case.
An extradition of this sort,
were it to happen to almost
any country in Latin America,
would be a serious offense that
could cause that government
to break diplomatic relations
with the US.
First, there is the violation of
the basic principle of diplomatic
immunity, which is one of the
most fundamental international
agreements that allows govern-
ments to negotiate even during
wars.
On Friday a judge in Aruba
upheld the detention, but then
Sunday night the Foreign Min-
istry of the Netherlands cut the
legal process short by announc-
ing that Carvajal did, in fact en-
joy diplomatic immunity. Carva-
jal was released and ordered to
leave, and immediately headed
home to Venezuela.
Washington under President
Obama has long been divided on
how to deal with Venezuela, even
as it pursues a general strategy
oriented toward regime change.
Most of the foreign service pro-
fessionals generally prefer to
have diplomatic relations, in-
cluding ambassadors, with Ven-
ezuela as with other countries
in the region. But within the
executive branch and of course
in Congress there are others
who fear that this could lead to a
normalizing of relations. In late
May, the House passed legisla-
tion placing economic sanctions
on selected Venezuelan govern-
ment ofcials.
There is no need to comment on
the alleged rationale for the leg-
islation, which was supposedly
to punish human rights viola-
tions. The Egyptian govern-
ment has killed more than one
thousand people since the mili-
tary coup in July 2013, and sen-
tenced 700 to death. The Israelis
have also killed more than one
thousand people in Gaza in just
the past three weeks most of
them civilians, including more
than 200 children. Not only
is there no talk of sanctions
against Israel or Egypt, there
is not even talk of reducing or
even conditioning the billions
of US taxpayer dollars, includ-
ing military aid, that ow an-
nually to these two countries.
By comparison, 43 Venezuelans
died in more than two months
of violent protests seeking to
topple a democratically-elected
government, about half of them
at the hands of the protesters
themselves.
The sanctions legislation
was a transparent attempt to
blow up diplomatic relations
with Venezuela, indifferent
to the collateral damage that
it would do to relations with
the rest of the region. But it
was blocked in the Senate,
because President Obama did
not want to break diplomatic
relations with Venezuela, and
he wasnt about to put himself
in the position of having to
veto the bill.
In February the Venezu-
elan government offered to ex-
change ambassadors with the
US, but Washington would not
accept. A few weeks ago the
US and Venezuela exchanged
chargs daffaires, one step
below ambassador. In US dip-
lomatic history for at least the
past 50 years, there are almost
no known cases of Washing-
ton refusing to exchange am-
bassadors with a country with
which it has diplomatic rela-
tions. So, an exchange of am-
bassadors could be delayed,
but probably not denied. The
move to extradite Carvajal
was another attempt by the
hard right to blow up diplo-
matic relations with Venezu-
ela and thereby further isolate
the US regionally.
There is little doubt that if
President Obama really want-
ed the extradition, the govern-
ment of the Netherlands would
have cooperated. Just look at
all the European governments
who collaborated with Wash-
ington in forcing down Boliv-
ian President Evo Morales
plane in Europe last summer,
even though they had to apolo-
gize for it afterward. It was a
gross violation of the Vienna
Convention, based on the false
pretext that Edward Snowden
was on the plane.
So once again President
Obama has managed to block
a right-wing attempt to break
diplomatic relations with Ven-
ezuela, without even having to
say a word about it. To avoid
further drama of this sort, he
should just exchange ambas-
sadors with Venezuela, and
announce that the US govern-
ment intends to normalize
relations with Latin America
in general. This would send a
message to the extremists both
inside and outside of govern-
ment that it is not so easy to
sabotage diplomatic relations
in the hemisphere.
Weisbrot is co-director of
the Center for Economic and
Policy Research, in Washing-
ton, D.C. (www.cepr.net ). He
is also president of Just For-
eign Policy ( www.justforeign-
policy.org )