Chavez Opens Cominac 7, Malaysia Wants Digitial Divide Narrowed

In a typical display of oratory and communication skills, President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela spoke off-the-cuff for three hours, spelling out the ills besetting the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) as well as its future prospects, when opening the seventh meeting of information ministers of NAM. At certain junctures and in thinly-veiled remarks often punctuated by his brand of humour, Chavez reflected, among other things, that hostilities towards NAM member states not only came from powerful nations of the North but also from within NAM members themselves. Chavez assured delegates to the meeting that Venezuela was fully supportive of efforts towards decolonisation of information and communication as well as countering biased profiling of NAM member states. The floor accorded Chavez a standing ovation upon delivery of his address. At this seventh Conference of Ministers of Information of Non-Aligned Countries (Cominac), Chavez witnessed Malaysia´s Information Minister Ahmad Shabery Cheek handing over the Cominac chairmanship to his Venezuelan counterpart, Andres Izzara.