VHeadline News Editor Patrick J. O'Donoghue reports:
Street children: Amplifying a first report on the situation of street children in Venezuela as mentioned by President Chavez in his State of the Nation address this week, I would like to clarify that President Chavez has admitted that the phenomenon has not been entirely solved. Mistakes have been made, he recognizes, and the first attempt at dealing with the problem ended in failure. During his address at the National Assembly, Chavez declared that there are still street children in Venezuela but insists that they are not abandoned and can attend half-way centers where they will monitored after leaving by specially trained "street educators."
The old Institute of Minors (INAM) has been transformed, Chavez maintains, and around 278 children are interned in centers receiving integral attention. The government has introduced a scheme of substitute families to help children with problems as the first step in an adoption program. In 2008, 100 children in difficult circumstances were returned to their original families and 193 families have been assessed as possible adoption families for children in institutions.
Somewhat belatedly the Venezuelan press has published a denial by US embassy official, John Caulfield that he visited Puerto Rico to hold a meeting with Venezuelan opposition politicians and a major media owner. Caufield admits that he indeed was on the island but was there to attend a wedding of friends that had been planned since October. The diplomat says he informed Venezuela's Foreign Minister of the visit. Since relations are tense between persons and countries, Caufield muses, perhaps confusion arose and there is a "tendency to imagine the worst hypotheses in any event."
Just before breaking off relations with Israel, Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro brushed aside a report in the Jewish News Agency that the government was seeking to re-establish diplomatic links with Israel. Maduro stated that the agency, which is the official news agency of Israel, was trying to manipulate and create a campaign of intrigue to lower the moral and political impact of the Venezuelan government's decision to expel seven diplomats from the Israeli embassy including the Ambassador. The Minister reports that humanitarian aid sent by Venezuela will shortly reach Palestinians suffering military onslaught in the Gaza Strip.
President Chavez has announced that the government will invest around $12.5 billion in 88 oil projects between 2009-2030. In 2008, crude production increased 137,000 barrels per day until October when the government applied oil production cuts agreed by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), which meant that in December the average output was 3.18 million barrels per day. In the 2007-2015 investment plan for the Orinoco Oil Belt the government maintains that $45 billion will be spent on projects, of which $21.8 billion will go towards building the Cabruto refinery and two processing plants for extra heavy crude.
The president of the Florentino Socialist Technical-Productive Center in Barinas, Freddy Escalona says the center will increase the production of milk and improve herd quality after receiving Siboney cattle from Cuba. The main object of the purchase, Escalona points out, is to improve milk production from 15 to 25 liters a day. Cuba has also provided insemination techniques for the herd. 300 milking Cebu cows will be arriving from Brazil at the end of February to be crossbred with the Carora breed to create the Florentino strain.
According to the National Assembly (AN) finance committee member, Ricardo Sanguino, the government is studying the elimination of value added tax (VAT) on certain products. The finance committee is currently waiting for the national executive to send a request for a new tax unit for the year 2009 before February 15. The deputy states that the economy is growing in the sense of creating more social inclusion and improving job opportunities for the population, as well as through an increase in agricultural and industrial production.
The National Assembly (AN) has finally passed the second reading of the constitutional amendment proposal and modified the referendum question which runs in the following manner: do you approve the amendment of articles 160, 162, 174, 192 and 230 of the Constitution of the Republic as dealt with by the National Assembly that increases the political rights of the people to allow that any citizen exercising a post of popular election to postulate as a candidate for the same post for a period established constitutionally whereby his or her possible election depends exclusively on the popular vote? The amendment proposal will be presented on Friday to the National Electoral Council (CNE) for the organ to convoke a consultative referendum.
The opposition Sumate election group complains that there will be no electoral transparency during the upcoming referendum on February 15. The group's executive coordinator, Ricardo Estevez argues that there is not enough time to defend the Constitution and the important thing is to defend the votes. Sumate is of the opinion that the convocation of a referendum for February 15 restricts the possibility of any guarantee of transparency and is violating electoral norms, starting with the law that referendums should be programmed 30 days following the formal reception of a request. Sumate's main leader, Maria Corina Machado reports that her organization has already started holding meetings and assemblies throughout Venezuela rejecting the constitutional amendment, calling for what she calls "indefinite" and the government "continuous" re-election. Sumate, Machado insists, is engaged firstly on a campaign of awareness telling people about the damages and dangers of approving the amendment which will concentrate power in one person, and secondly, on defending people's votes and ensuring witnesses in the polling centers.
National Elections Council (CNE) deputy president, Yaneth Hernandez has called on Sumate to formally register as a political party. The declaration is seen as an answer to a press conference organized by Sumate in which its leaders accused the CNE of violating electoral norms in pushing through a constitutional amendment proposal.
Lara State has celebrated the annual massive religious procession of Our Lady, the Divina Pastora in its capital, Barquisimeto. Around 2 million people are said to have taken part in the day-long procession from Santo Rosa where the image is kept to the Cathedral in the center of the city.
Patrick J. O'Donoghue
patrick.vheadline@gmail.com
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Venezuela is facing the most difficult period of its history with honest reporters crippled by sectarianism on top of rampant corruption within the administration and beyond, aided and abetted by criminal forces in the US and Spanish governments which cannot accept the sovereignty of the Venezuelan people to decide over their own future.
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