As a sign of the times, Agriculture & Lands (MAT) Minister, Elias Jaua has called on people in the countryside not to be taken in or taken over by mafias that organize squatting only to hoodwink them afterwards. The Minister argues that the only authority that can intervene in landed properties is the National Lands Institute (INTI). The government's intention, Jaua insists, is that peasants who require land will have it but not through means or mechanisms that are illegal, such as invading productive farms. The MAT Minister has met representatives of the different farmer's movements and pleasant organizations in Venezuela. According to Jaua, the meeting was to explain government measures in the agricultural sector, such as the zero debt plan, the debt help plan, the coffee sector help program and access to agricultural subsidies. Small producers of maize, rice and coffee will benefit from the zero debt plan from July when they will receive a certificate of non-debtors. The current debt in the sector is around 246 million bolivares and is expected to benefit 25,000 producers. The debt help plan will include the collaboration of private and public banks and the draft law on the matter is being drawn up for public discussion before final approval. The subsidies plan is already in force since 2007 but a mechanism called "secure harvest" will allow an increase in the amount of subsidies to correspond with increase in costs, especially regarding cereals. The Minister says requisites for small producers working on less than 50 hectares is to be on the register, produce their ID card number and a confirmation from public or private storage centers. As regards the recent elimination of financial transaction tax, the Minister claims that it will not cause a drop in the price of meat but in the costs of production and he hopes that with the reduction in the price of supplies there will be a chain effect and support from the business sector.
Jaua has ruled out any increase in coffee prices this year and admits that when the new harvest takes place, the government will adjust prices according to costs.
Commenting on a meeting with President Chavez in Miraflores, Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos says it was positive. Moratinos has told reporters that it was necessary to start a new stage in relations between Venezuela and Spain. "We have turned the page from a state where nobody wanted anything ... to one where the two countries are committed to advance jointly ... with an agenda of progress, commitment, and solidarity in the region." The visitor adds that there will be a more intense agenda of contact on all levels and joint work in different international forums, starting with an assessment of UN millennium objectives, which will be discussed in a summit next September. Moratinos warded off questions regarding what one Venezuelan journalist called a campaign of racism in Spain against Venezuelans on the part of Spanish media. Each media is responsible for its own acts, Moratinos maintains, and "what we ask for is respect for institutions and its leaders."
Interior & Justice (MIJ) Minister, Ramon Rodriguez Chacin says that Caracas is no longer among the top most violent states in the country. "With crimes occurring for each 100,000 inhabitants Caracas is now situated at number 15 or 16." The Minister reports that last week the number of homicides in Caracas dropped to 23, adding that the average weekly number of homicides is 40. The Secure Caracas 2008 Plan, Rodriguez Chacin announces, will be implemented in six more barrios. The national official average of homicides a week stands at 152, the Minister concludes, and last week the figure stood at 132, whereas a week before it was 130.
Patrick J. O'Donoghue
patrick.vheadline@gmail.com
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