During a joint press conference with the Minister of People’s Power for Planning and Finances, Jorge Giordani, Merentes stated that about 46 percent of the gold reserves were taken out of the country from 1980 to 1992.

“The gold taken out in the 80s will be brought back and the other assets will be transferred to countries with more solid economies (…) to protect the Venezuelan economy,” he said.

Additionally, he said that thanks to the previsions of the BCV “Venezuela hasn’t lost not even one dollar of its reserves during the 2008-2009 U.S. economic crisis.”

Correo del Orinoco / Press Office – Venezuelan Embassy to the U.S. / August 17, 2011

The achievements of the Venezuelan revolution over the last 12 years depend more on the organization and social consciousness of the Venezuelan people than in the coming 2012 presidential elections, said the Venezuelan president.

“The [2012 presidential] elections will be another event, but I don’t think they will determine the destiny of the Bolivarian Revolution,” said the Venezuelan head of state.

Strategic Moves of the Bolivarian Revolution

During the interview, President Hugo Chávez highlighted that the three most important strategic moves of the Venezuelan revolution have been the 1999 Constituent National Assembly, which paved the way for the creation of the new Bolivarian Constitution; the nationalization of the state-owned oil company Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA), which recovered the country’s full oil sovereignty; and the social missions, which strengthened socialism to benefit the Venezuelan population.

“Undoubtedly, these have been the main strategic moves. Socialism, a social state of law and justice, a fair and equal society,” he said.

Chávez highlighted that the first years of revolutionary government were a transition to socialism, where human and political mistakes were made as part of a change of ideology and social model. “There were natural mistakes, part of a transition phase; mistakes were teaching us. We must be always correcting, increasing efficiency and creating higher capacities,” he said.

Read here more on the Bolivarian Revolution here.

AVN / Prensa – Embajada venezolana en EEUU/ 8 agosto 2011

The meeting took place last week, after Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos had proposed mediation by Caracas and Bogotá to start negotiations allowing the return of Zelaya to his country after the June 2009 coup d’état.

“As I told Santos, when the possibility to mediate for reconciliation in Honduras emerged, I had to consult it with Manuel Zelaya first, and that’s why he is here today. He has approved to move forward, with his points of views and conditions,” explained Chávez.

The Venezuelan leader said that the current Honduran President Porfirio Lobo is willing to dialogue, by which the only remaining step to complete the process is to endorse a document of commitment.

Lobo was elected president of Honduras in November 2009 in an internationally criticized election organized by the regime installed after the coup.

“President Porfirio Lobo has also showed that he is willing. Now, to shape the initiative, it has to be drawn up in a document,” explained Chávez.

For his part, Zelaya, the former Honduran president and main leader of the National Front of Popular Resistance (FNRP), said that four aspects to normalize the situation in Honduras were presented during the meeting, including the return of all exiles who left Honduras after the country’s democratic order was broken in 2009.

The rest of the topics presented during the meeting were to install a Constituent Assembly in Honduras to restore the democratic order, to recognize the FNRP as a political force and to guarantee the respect of human rights.

Additionally, Zelaya informed that the coup d’état against him produced a tremendous harm to the Honduran people and regional democratic unity. He said that his overthrow “divided Latin America and, besides, caused a tremendous harm to the Honduran people and regional democratic unity.”

“The right-wing movements were wrong about Central America and Honduras by trying to stop a peaceful, social and political democratic movement that seeks freedom for our societies. Time has shown it,” he said.

The former president denounced that the destabilizing movements against his government were “supported from the U.S., and I think there were also planed from there.”

Juan Barahon, leader of Honduras’ FNRP, said that the meeting of president Chávez and Zelaya was positive, and added that this initiative will help to restore constitutional order in the Central American nation.

“We fully trust in the mediation of Commander Hugo Chávez in this conflict, we trust that that it will allow Honduras to restore the constitutional order through a constituent national assembly allowing José Manuel Zelaya and the rest of the political exiled people as part of the coup d’état to return,” he said.

Additionally, Zelaya demanded the current Honduran government a commitment to respect human rights.

“After the coup d’état we just have had repression and death for the dictatorship we live today,” Zelaya said.

AVN / Press Office – Venezuelan Embassy to the U.S. / April 17, 2011

Menéndez said that the Venezuelan government has democratized access to new technologies and that access to indispensable services, including land- and mobile-lines and Internet have been extended to far-away areas.

As an example, the minister mentioned that Internet access in Venezuela has increased to 33 percent of the population, while in previous governments only three percent of Venezuelans had access to the service.

Menéndez highlighted that Venezuela launched Simón Bolívar satellite, an initiative to strengthen technological services and boost access to communication and tele-medicine services throughout the country.

Canaima Program

A technological achievement that has had a great impact in education is the Canaima Plan, a program that offers laptops for children of public elementary schools to strengthen their science and technology curricula.

“In Venezuela there are over 670,000 Canaima laptops distributed among first- and second-grade children,” said Menéndez.

Expanding Telecommunications

The Venezuelan minister highlighted that when the national telephone company, CANTV, was privatized in the 1990s, there were only 3,335,000 landlines, while currently there are 6,045,391.

“That number represents landlines installed in excluded areas, in barrios. Almost 62 percent of the landline penetration comes from populous areas,” he said.

In 2010, the state-run telephone company CANTV produced dividends worth $348.8 million, which were allocated to social investment.

Agricultural Production Increased by 64 Percent

For his part, the Minister of Agriculture and Lands, Juan Carlos Loyo, said during his speech that in 12 years of Venezuelan revolution the agricultural production reached 24.6 million tons of food, a 44 percent increase.

Loyo highlighted that the milk production has reported a 68 percent increase throughout the country.

Additionally, he said that Venezuelan government policies have led to an increase in annual caloric consumption.

“Before our government, food consumption per person was 1,800 kilocalories per year, far below FAO’s standards of 2,700 kilocalories. Today, in this Bolivarian Venezuela, each Venezuelan consumes an average of 2,783 kilocalories,” informed the minister.

The appearances before the National Assembly are part of a proposal made by President Hugo Chávez on January 15 during his state-of-the-nation speech.

Since last February 8, ministers of the executive cabinet started to report before the parliament the state of their respective ministries. Unlike other appearances, deputies are allowed to as questions to the ministers.

AVN / Press Office – Venezuelan Embassy to the U.S. / February 23, 2011

Read our special section with news and relevant information about Venezuela’s National Assembly

Sends a Message of Friendship to the U.S.

During his annual state of the nation speech to Venezuela’s National Assembly last Saturday, President Hugo Chávez announced that he will cut short the 18-month period of the Enabling Law, which had been granted to him by the National Assembly last December.

The Enabling Law, as it is known in Venezuela, was granted so President Chavez could deal more quickly and efficiently with the emergencies caused by the historic heavy rains throughout the country that left over 130,000 Venezuelans without homes. But despite the need and constitutionality of the law, President Chavez stated in his speech to the National Assembly that he will do away with it on May 2011 – more than a year ahead of its expiration date.

On Tuesday Vice President Elías Jaua stated in a TV Interview that with this decision the president sought to dissipate political doubts about the objectives of the Enabling Law.

Bloomberg quoted Chávez saying, “I’ll return the Enabling Law. I’ll give it back. I don’t have any problem. I’ll work harder and faster.” Chávez added: “In five months, we can carry out all the laws that we need to confront the emergency.”

Sends a Message of Friendship to the U.S.

Chávez also expressed his regret over the absence of some foreign ambassadors, including the U.S. diplomatic envoy. “We would like to have a U.S. ambassador here, and from all over the world,” he said.

Venezuela’s president said that when he met the U.S. Secretary of State in Brazil on January 1^st of this year, she asked, “Would you allow me to directly address the issue of our ambassador?” Chávez said he replied in the affirmative.

Reuters reported the statement noting that President Chávez sent a message of friendship to President Barack Obama, recounting to the Assembly his recent handshake and chat with Secretary Clinton. According to the News Agency, Chávez said, “I said to her, ‘Tell Obama that this hand I am giving you now, I offer to him too.”

Reaches Out to Opposition

President Chávez also used his speech to reach out to new opposition members in the National Assembly, including shaking hands with opposition leader Maria Corina Machado. During the speech, Chávez said to opposition members, “I’m happy to see you here.” CNN reported that he also urged the opposition to “sow seeds of harmony and dialogue.”

After the 2010 parliamentary elections, the Venezuelan political opposition has around 40 percent of the seats in the National Assembly. During the period of 2006-2010 they had little representation in the legislative due to their decision to boycott the 2005 legislative elections despite calls from the Organization of American State and the Carter Center.

Addressed Pressing Issues

President Chávez also addressed the economy, acknowledging the obstacles in the recovery of the country after the global financial crisis, such as the fall of oil prices, the severe drought that caused electricity shortages and serious cases of financial fraud. Theses crises were properly handled by the government, he stated.

According to the news website Venezuelanalysis, the president remembered that the bank fraud “obliged” the state to intervene in four private banks and led to the creation by the state of the Bicentenary bank. Chávez also remembered that the priority of the government has been paying back funds lost by Venezuelan account holders. As an example, he said that 98% of the account holders of Banco Federal had been already paid. Banco Federal was owned by the Venezuelan citizen Nelson Mezerhane, who fled from the country after the fraud.

The president stated that the Venezuelan government expects that the economy will grow two percent in 2011. He also noted that the country’s external debt was reduced, and now stands at 20 percent of GDP, a substantial drop from the 80 percent it reached in 1988.

He also spoke of two pressing issues for all Venezuelans – crime and housing. Regarding crime, the president explained the efforts that are being made to address this complex problem. He highlighted that some of these efforts are already showing results. For example, the National Bolivarian Police have managed a reduction of 44 percent of murders in the districts where it is starting to work. “The Bolivarian National Police is a new, serious and human policing model”, he added.

On the issue of housing, he said “I accept that we’ve been held back by the historical problem of housing in Venezuela, so we’re going to take measures, because housing isn’t merchandise but rather a right of all Venezuelans,” said Chávez. “We’re far from the goal but we’re heading towards it… in Fuerte Tiuna we’re going to create a big city with at least 40,000 apartments, and in the centre of Caracas we’re constructing another 20,000 apartments.”

Chávez also announced a food plan to increase national production. He cited successes in increasing Internet access for all Venezuelans – from three percent before he was elected to 33 percent of the population in 2010.

Photo by: Venezuelan News Agency (AVN)

Press Office –Venezuelan Embassy to the U.S. /January 19, 2011

“When I first came to Venezuela in the 1980s I witnessed a very difficult situation in terms of social development. I remember that young people had no access to health care…Now I see high-interest initiatives such as Mission Barrio Adentro a project I have never seen before in undeveloped countries, which offers health care access to all the population,” Cavalli said.

Cavalli said that in Switzerland the private health care and education systems are not that important since the state-owned network has been strengthened. “We are convinced than Venezuela is going in the right direction, because the future of the education and health care system, even in the developed world, is not in the private system.”

The former member of the Parliament added that the right to life, to health care and education are fundamental human rights; therefore, the developments achieved by Venezuela are very important.

Furthermore, Cavalli assured that the growth of democracy in Venezuela has moved forward since pro-opposition activists have the possibility to freely express themselves on all TV stations and in all newspapers.

“Venezuela is more democratic than any other nation in Latin America, Asia and even Europe, more specifically in Italy, where the prime minister controls all the media,” said Cavalli.

Cavalli added that freedom of speech in Venezuela is absolute. “I know, for instance, the Colombian reality, and I can say that pro-opposition supporters are very afraid to express themselves against the government in any medium, something that doesn’t happen here,”

Regarding private property in Venezuela, the former member of the Parliament remarked that it is not a divine law and that it can be limited when excesses are considered.

“Nevertheless, I consider this is an affair concerning the Venezuelan people,” said Cavalli.

The members of the Swiss delegation are returning to their country on Wednesday 10th of February, but they said that after this visit they wish to promote economic cooperation between Switzerland and Venezuela.

“We already have important investments, but we think that it can be increased, especially cooperation in fields such as education and medicine, in which we have had more advances than any other European country,” said Cavalli.

Bolivarian News Agency / Embassy of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela to the U.S. Press and Communications Office / February 9, 2010

More than 58 percent of the Venezuelan population supports President Hugo Chávez’s performance, according to the report issued by the Venezuelan Institute of Data Analysis (IVAD). The report also says that if there were presidential elections in the near future, the Venezuelan president would be elected with a majority.

The survey, carried out around the country between January 16-28, shows that 58.3 percent of Venezuelans consider that President Chávez has had a good performance, while 38.9 percent considers that he does not, reports Telesur’s web site.

The poll has a margin of error between 1.03 and 2.37 percent.

According to the report, the three most supported political parties are the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV), headed by President Chávez, (33.8 percent) followed by the National Labor Union (6.1 percent) and Acción Democrática (5.4 percent).

Forty-nine percent of the survey participants, when asked about whether Venezuelan opposition parties should win the majority of the seats in the National Assembly, said that opposition candidates should not control the National Assembly, while 41.5 percent said the opposite.

Regarding the people’s opinion about the measures taken by the Venezuelan administration to improve the energy problems in the country, 51.7 percent said that they agree, while 40.8 percent disagree.

When asked about whether they think that the Venezuelan administration will be able to solve drought problems in the country, 47.2 percent of the survey participants said it would be able to, while 45.2 percent said that it would not.

In this sense, 32.2 percent considered that the problem is due to a natural phenomenon, since it has not rained enough; 24.6 percent said that it is the government’s responsibility and 18.5 percent said it is due to the lack of people’s consciousness.

Embassy of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela to the Unites States Press and Communications Office / Bolivarian News Agency / January 7, 2010

According to the communications company, the provision issued by CONATEL, which sets up RCTV as a national producer and hence requires that it obey specific laws, violates one characteristic element of the law. Nevertheless, this argument was strongly rejected by Escarrá.

During an interview broadcasted by National Radio of Venezuela, the member of the National Assembly explained, “It’s about applying a current law to a fact carried out in the past. The facts that paved the way for CONATEL’s decision were developed during all this period of time. The signal was suspended on January 22, when the technical norms had come into effect already.”

Escarrá affirmed that international allegations against the decision taken by the Venezuelan government demanding observance of the law are baseless, since RCTV is the only station that has refused to obey the norms.

“Firstly, they never obeyed [the law]. Secondly, they had time in which to hand in the papers, the programming, the requirements, but they never wanted to do it,” emphasized Escarrá.
These failures paved the way for the government’s verification of relevant technical norms, which –as Escarrá explained—“came from the Supreme Court of Justice.”

Venezuelan cable and satellite operators suspended RCTV’s (also known as “RCTV International”) signal for irregularities and for not submitting paperwork and documentation required by CONATEL. Nevertheless, the station is still broadcasting in countries such as Aruba.

RCTV is the only station in Venezuela that has not handed in the required papers; therefore, it has been excluded from programming carried by cable and satellite operators in Venezuela.

Bolivarian News Agency (ABN), Embassy of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela to the Unites States Press and Communications Office / February 6, 2010

The projects, to be developed in the states of Monagas and Anzoátegui in northeastern Venezuela, include an investment of about US $175 million. Furthermore, the projects will contribute to the construction of an important pipeline network that will allow oil extracted from the Orinoco Oil Belt to be transported to storage areas in Venezuela’s southeast.

Among the main works to be developed is the construction of a 99-mile-long 42-inch pipeline from the tank farm Patio de Tanques Oficina (PTO), in the northeastern city of El Tigre, to the José Boarding Terminal, in Puerto La Cruz on Venezuela’s northeastern coast.  The construction is 32 percent complete and will be finished this year.

Ninety-three miles of a 42-inch pipeline will also be built from Morichal (northeast) to Patio de Tanques Oficina (PTO), in El Tigre. The project is 29 percent complete, and includes a new pump station in Morichal, seven valve stations, an energy substation and a control room.

Furthermore, a 23-mile-long 30-inch pipeline will be constructed, as well as a new pump station and an energy substation. Infrastructure for the transfer of thinner from the tank farm in Patio de Tanques Jusepín to Veladero will also be developed, allowing oil transportation to the Morichal District.

These projects are complemented by the storage capacity increase in Patio de Tanques Oficina (PTO), based on the construction of four tanks of 250,000 barrels each, a pump system with four pumps of 240 MBD and its respective connection to the fill-up and drain systems.

With this aggressive plan of infrastructure investments for exploration and production, PDVSA is getting ready to increase its level of production and improve high-quality standards in heavy oil management.

PDVSA / Embassy of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela to the U.S. / February 4, 2010

The Executive President of ENI, Paolo Scaroni, and the President of the Venezuelan Oil Corporation (CVP) and Vice President of Exploration and Production of PDVSA, Eulogio del Pino, signed the deal.

The Joint Venture of the Junín 5 Block will develop primary activities. The objective is to reach a production of 240,000 barrels of 8.5 API extra heavy oil per day.

ENI will pay Venezuela an amount of $646 million for its participation.

The basic engineering of the project will start in 2010, while search and construction are expected to be initiated in 2012. Operations will start in 2017, with an estimated investment of 12 billion dollars.

PDVSA and ENI also signed a memorandum of understanding for the development of a thermoelectric plant in the Gran Mariscal de Ayacucho Industrial Complex, located in Güiria, Sucre state (northeast). The plant will have a capacity of 1000 MW.

Finally, a memorandum of understanding on technological cooperation was signed by PDVSA and ENI for the development of different technological projects.

Bolivarian News Agency, Embassy of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela in the U.S. Press and Communications Office / January 26, 2010