The figure is based on 2011 data and represents considerable growth since 1998, when 20 percent of Venezuelans over age 18 were not registered to vote.

The vice president of the National Electoral Council (CNE), Sandra Oblitas, confirmed Tuesday: “Over 96% are now enrolled in the Electoral Registry.”

In a televised interview, Oblitas said that 617,766 people registered to vote last year, adding that in 2004 there were about 14 to 15 million people registered.

She noted that there are currently 1,300 voter registration stations have been established across the country.

Oblitas recalled that voter registration for this year’s presidential elections on October 7 and gubernatorial elections on December 16 will close on April 15.

The CNE has also increased the number of polling stations in Venezuela by about 6,000, up from 8,315 stations in 1998 to a current total of 14,055.

The CNE representative added that this week, 190 agents will be sent out door-to-door to enroll people with disabilities or seniors who cannot reach the voter registration stations.

New voting machines

The CNE will incorporate 12,000 new voting machines for the presidential election, Oblitas announced. To prepare for voting, the CNE is making use of new technologies such as electronic ballot-boxes and other tools.

She said the possibility of fraud has been ruled out by the system of digital finger-printing.

“Without a finger print and a national identity card, one cannot vote,” Oblitas said.

Recognition of the Opposition

The CNE’s strength in officiating elections has been recognized by opposition parties, said Oblitas, referring to the coalition of opposition candidates who requested that the agency run its primary elections this Sunday in order to select the candidate to run against President Hugo Chávez on October 7.

Oblitas said the Venezuelan people have demonstrated that democracy is the best way to settle differences, “and thus when someone discredits the CNE, they are really attacking the democratic participation of people,” she said.

AVN / Press Office – Venezuelan Embassy to the U.S. / February 7, 2012

The president of National Institute of Statistics of Venezuela (INE), Elias Eljuri, addressed the Economic and Social Council of the UN, which held its 50^th session last weekend in New York, announcing that Venezuela is on track to achieve the UN Millennium Development Goals before 2015. Goals related to reducing extreme poverty and hunger, gender equality, access to drinking water, and others have already been met by the South American country.

Eljuri highlighted that the Venezuelan model is based on social investment and deep structural transformations to favor citizens that were previously excluded, and he said this has paved the way for developing a society characterized by justice, equality, solidarity and full respect for human rights and civil liberties.

From 1999 to 2012, total social spending reached $468.6 million, an amount equivalent to 61 percent of national revenues during that period. In contrast, from 1986 to 1998 social investment was only 36.2 percent, which means that the Bolivarian government has increased social investment by 25 percentage points.

The social policy is aimed at repaying the historical social debt and achieving massive and accelerated social inclusion through the social missions. These include programs created to benefit those living in extreme poverty by providing assistance in areas such as health, food, education, housing, social security, labor, social development, culture, communications, science and technology.

Household poverty in Venezuela was reduced from 43.9 percent in 1998 to 26.7 percent in 2011, while extreme poverty dropped from 17.1 to 7 percent, Eljuri said.

Another important figure is the reduction in infant malnutrition, which fell to 2.9 percent in 2011, lower than required under the UN development goals.

Eljuri also highlighted the increase in primary school enrollment, which is at 93 percent. He said that university education enrollment is up as well, with over 2.3 million people currently studying, making Venezuela second only to Cuba in university enrollment rates.

Venezuela’s economic and social policies have helped boost the labor market, with 3.5 million jobs created from 1999 to 2011. Eljuri said that by late 2011 the unemployment rate reached 6.5 percent, less than half of what it was under previous administrations.

Eljuri said that Venezuela is targeting extreme poverty this year through the implementation of new social missions such as “Sons of Venezuela,” a program to help families that earn less than minimum wage that have children under 18 years or family members with disabilities. Another new program, “Higher Love,” is providing pensions to elderly citizens that lacked those benefits.

Permanent Mission of Venezuela to the UN / Press Office – Venezuelan Embassy to the U.S. / February 6, 2012

Vice Minister of Prevention and Citizen Safety Néstor Reverol said a meeting took place Tuesday with officials from the Anti-Extortion and Kidnapping Command of the Bolivarian National Guard to move forward in the creation of the Anti-Extortion and Kidnapping National Command.

The Bolivarian National Guard (GNB) has created commands to investigate crimes related to kidnapping and extortion in each state of the country, Reverol said, with over 1,000 women and men trained nationally and internationally.

The meetings will pave the way for proposals to structure a great Anti-Extortion and Kidnapping National Command of the Bolivarian National Guard led by a general officer and a general staff.

Vice Minister Reverol stressed that the Ministry of the Interior and Justice will support the efforts by providing the necessary equipment.

He added that there were 610 victims of kidnapping in 2011, a reduction of 71 percent over last year, when 737 cases of kidnapping were reported.

Campaign for Peace

Next Monday marks the beginning of a campaign to raise public awareness about firearms safety, which will be broadcast in the media to promote peace and help achieve coexistence without violence and guns.

The initiative will be launched through government media as well as private media outlets, and in digital media such as social networks, according to Interior Minister Tareck El Aissami.

“I invite all of the media to join this campaign, which means joining the cause of peace. This is an issue that concerns not only the federal government and democratic institutions of the Venezuelan state: it is a shared responsibility,” El Aissami said.

During a meeting of the Presidential Commission for Arms and Munitions Control and Disarmament held in Caracas, Minister El Aissami said the media play an important role in disarmament and undoing myths related to the use of firearms.

Other Initiatives

This week, Venezuela’s National Assembly approved in a second round of debates a reform to the Law on Organized Crime and Terrorism Financing, which gained key support from socialist lawmakers.

The National Assembly is currently discussing a draft law on arms control and disarmament, which contains 78 articles drafted by a mixed parliamentary commission.

For more news and information about the work of the National Assembly, please see our special section.

AVN / Press Office – Venezuelan Embassy to the U.S. / February 2, 2012

Barroso said the measure will be ready in the coming months, and “we will soon publish a new resolution with all the priorities and guidelines to approve currencies for this sector so people do not have false expectations.”

The Venezuelan official added that the educational policies and guidelines, as well as those related to other sectors, are established by the Venezuelan government through the different ministries, while CADIVI is responsible for administering currencies.

“According to the Development Plan of the Nation, the ministries of university education and education are the agencies that determine [guidelines] for students abroad… It is not a priority – and it shouldn’t be – for the Venezuelan state to give currencies so our children can study in elementary and primary school abroad,” Barroso highlighted.

In this sense, CADIVI has been ordered not to process currency requests for primary for secondary education students, with some exceptions, including cases of divorced parents where one parent lives abroad.

Currency requests for Venezuelan students abroad are currently guided by the July 2004 resolution number 55.

Since 2003, Venezuela has used exchange controls to avoid excess capital flow, boost development and strengthen national sovereignty. CADIVI is the state-run agency responsible for administering, coordinating and controlling national currency exchange policies. This agency grants the currencies needed for imports, exports, family remittances, and other transactions.

CADIVI / Press Office – Venezuelan Embassy to the U.S. / February 1, 2012   

In a televised interview, the lawmaker said President Hugo Chávez recently requested the creation of a social mission promoting safety. Bernal said several meetings have been held with Venezuelan Vice President Elias Jaua, and “there are a number of plans” already underway.

“We have to tell the people that the problem of violence and criminality is not only limited to police measures … but also implies prevention, family values, love for work, effort, solidarity with abandoned children. The government has had a consistent policy on this and we keep moving forward,” Bernal said.

The Venezuelan government is currently developing initiatives to fight violence and crime, a complex problem in the country, including through international seminars, the creation of a Presidential Commission for Weapons Control and Disarmament, a National University for Safety which uses a new approach to training police officers, and the Law Against Organized Crime, which is currently under discussion in the National Assembly.

Correo del Orinoco / Press Office – Venezuelan Embassy to the U.S / January 31, 2012

“There are several disarmament commissions in different countries in the region, but none of them have the human and economic investment as Venezuela’s,” Godnik said during a televised interview last week.

Godnik highlighted the work being done by Venezuelan attorneys and other professionals to achieve arms control and citizen security.

The UN representative visited the Venezuelan capital city of Caracas to participate in the International Seminar on Arms and Munitions Control and Disarmament, held last Thursday and Friday. The event allowed for an exchange of international experiences regarding disarmament policy to help strengthen Venezuela’s Presidential Commission for Weapons Control and Disarmament.

“The Venezuelan government has made an impressive investment in this issue, which is proportionate to its needs,” Godnik said.

A Law on Disarmament and the Control of Weapons and Munitions is currently being discussed by lawmakers in the National Assembly.

President Chávez Urges to Reduce Number of Weapons Hold by Civilian Population

“The number of weapons in the hands of the civilian population must be reduced to the minimum needed,” said President Hugo Chávez on Sunday, speaking about his administration’s efforts to reduce violence.

“I invite the population: let’s disarm ourselves. A lot of people have a firearm and don’t even have any training. The less firearms we have, the better. Now, the state will work to disarm those who are criminals,” Chávez said during his weekly program, Aló Presidente.

“Out of the 638 million weapons that circulate in 110 countries, 74 percent are held by the civilian population. Just 3 percent are held by police officers and 23 percent by the armed forces,” he informed.

“We have to stress preventive action as well as punitive action when necessary. We have to continue purging and strengthening the police departments because they were infiltrated by delinquency during that disastrous decentralization strategy,” the Venezuelan leader said.

For his part, Minister of the Interior and Justice Tareck El Aissami said: “in Venezuela, 78 percent of homicides are linked to the use of firearms. That’s why we decided to creat the Presidential Commission for Weapons and Munitions Control and Disarmament.”

Presidential Press Office / Press Office – Venezuelan Embassy to the U.S. / January 29, 2012       

The activity was aimed at promoting a resolution on human rights for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered people through the Ministry of People’s Power for the Interior and Justice.

The coordinator of the Affirmative Civil Union Association, José Merentes, said that this is the first event of its kind to take place in Venezuela with the support of the British Embassy, and announced that another workshop would soon be held in the western state of Táchira.

“Homosexuals and transgendered people are citizens and have the same rights as the rest of the population, and for that reason they should not be discriminated against by anyone, much less by the police forces,” Merentes said.

Meanwhile, the chief of police for the British Embassy in Venezuela, Mathew Ebel, said that the Venezuelan constitution is very strong regarding respect for human rights, and that these kinds of activities could serve to raise awareness about the issue.

Ebel added that the workshop seeks to protect the homosexual and transgender population from mistreatment or discrimination, saying that “the police play an essential role in this task.”

The chief of police for the state of Guárico, Jorge Arzola, explained that 20 police officials participated in the workshop, and that they will help train their colleagues in each of the police zones.

“This allows our men and women to increase their level of professionalism, particularly in regard to cases involving gays or transgendered people,” Arzola said.

YVKE Mundial / Press Office – Venezuelan Embassy to the U.S. / January 27, 2012

Lucena affirmed that “2012 is a year of great challenges for the electoral power due to the big electoral races coming up, at both national and regional levels, but we are ready and prepared to face this situation successfully and achieve another resounding victory for the Venezuelan people.”

An important aspect of Lucena’s review of 2011 dealt with the CNE’s policies to promote social inclusion, particularly through the modernization of facilities, such as the renovation of 14,055 voting centers, the acquisition of 12,000 voting machines, the implementation of the new electronic ballots, and new technology involving fingerprinting to prevent fraud.

“One point we have focused on is the development of technologies that allow for the inclusion of the handicapped, and we are working on a new technology that will guarantee their rights with the most possible comfort,” she said.

The CNE president highlighted that, to date, after an intensive voter registration campaign, the number of Venezuelans registered to vote is now at 18,338,913.

Lucena presented a preliminary timeline of activities planned for 2012. The cut-off date for registering to vote is planned for April 15, and July 1 is a possible date for the start of campaigning in the presidential elections that will take place on October 7 (campaigning would end on October 4).

Opposition Primaries

Lucena also spoke about the attacks against the CNE launched by some of the pre-candidates in and spokespersons aligned with the opposition.

She lamented the attacks, saying “in reality they’re not attacks against the CNE, but devious attacks on Venezuelan democracy. In this country, the people exercise suffrage through the civil mechanism we call voting.”

She said the CNE is monitoring the aggressions, which she said are “political strategies adopted by some – not all – of the opposition pre-candidates.”

Despite this, Lucena reaffirmed that the CNE will provide support and logistical and technical oversight for the primary elections by the opposition on February 12.

“The CNE has undertaken more than 20 activities to guarantee the vote to those who wish to take part in the opposition primaries,” she added.

AVN / Press Office – Embassy of Venezuela to the U.S. / January 26, 2012

The minister said that a total of 329 families in the Yukpa community registered with the government-funded social mission known as “Sons of Venezuela,” which is designed to help pregnant women and teenagers, children and adolescents, and disabled people of all ages living in extreme poverty.

The Yukpa families each received bank card through which they will access their monthly benefits. Maldonado recalled that indigenous peoples were exterminated and excluded by prior governments, their lands taken and they were forcibly moved to other areas.

The minister pointed out that indigenous peoples have regained their dignity through their inclusion in this and other social programs promoted by the revolution, such as the Great Housing Mission, Mission Higher Love (which provides pension benefits to the elderly), and the educational missions.

YVKE Mundial / Press Office – Embassy of Venezuela to the U.S. / January 25, 2012

The minister said the plan will take place in 34 prisons, including the General Penitentiary of Venezuela, located in Guarico state (in the central plains); the Yare I Metropolitan Penitentiary Center in Miranda state (in northern Venezuela); the National Prison of Maracaibo in Zulia state (in the west); the judicial centers of Carupano in Sucre state (northwest); La Pica Penitentiary in Monagas state (northeast); the penitentiary of San Felipe in Yaracuy state (west); and the Los Llanos Penitentiary Center in Portuguesa state (west).

During a televised interview, the minister said inmates will decide on the areas that deserve priority restorations, and added that the objective is to improve conditions in each center.

“It will be a way to reduce idleness, since the labor will come from the inmates, who will be properly remunerated with the respective benefits under the law,” Varela said.

Engineers and officials from the ministry will coordinate the work, while the prison’s regional directors will be responsible for accomplishing the plan in each center.

Varela, who was appointed to lead this new ministry in July 2011, also launched Operación Cayapa, an initiative to fight judicial delays that can keep inmates in the system too long.

The Venezuelan government has developed a plan to humanize its prisons to make them “open centers where prisoners live decently,” as President Hugo Chávez recently stated, lamenting that “they are still overcrowded spaces run by mafias.”

Since the creation of the Ministry of Penitentiary Services, a number of actions have been intensified, including assemblies with inmates to identify their needs, reconstruction projects and efforts to disarm the incarcerated.

AVN / Press Office – Venezuelan Embassy to the U.S. / January 24, 2012