AUGUST 2004

Venezuela and its North American partners will read from the same page of the economic hymn book if Chavez wins the referendum ... a solid, decisive win for Chavez would imply that he will finish his term, meaning relative stability at last for the time being. That could lead to more deals like ChevronTexaco’s US$6 billion project proposed last week for the upgrading of extra heavy oil from the Orinoco Faja region into lighter product, eventually producing between 200,000 and 400,000 barrels per day. Orinoco oil is too heavy for normal processing and has to be upgraded into synthetic crude or blender with lighter crude product before processing.

As would likely be the case with future deals, Venezuela and ChevronTexaco both stand to gain here. Venezuela would benefit since it gets most of its foreign currency through oil exports and since authorities here want to reach 5 million bpd by 2009. ChevronTexaco is clearly on a deal-making binge, since it also has discussions underway in Libya and elsewhere along with established ventures in Norway etc. The company’s record quarterly net income of $US4.1 billion or $3.88 per share compared with net income of $1.6 billion, or $1.50 per share in the same period last year, means that it has the bank account stamina to finance whatever deals have a bottom line appeal.

Rising oil prices worldwide make these investments attractive and notwithstanding Venezuela’s current volatility, new foreign investments here would likely appear safer to the denizens of oil company boardrooms than in the Middle East and Nigeria. The comfort factor becomes even more important in light of the financial tumult at the Yukos Oil Company, a Russian oil major responsible for approximately 2% of the world’s oil supply. These factors could assume greater or lesser importance pending decisions at the next meeting of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) scheduled for September 14 in Vienna (Austria).

A decisive win for Chavez could therefore telegraph stability to decision-makers

VHeadline.com Venezuelais a wholly independent e-publication promoting democracy in its fullest expression and the inalienable right of all Venezuelans to self-determination and the pursuit of sovereign independence without interference. We seek to shed light on nefarious practices and the corruption which for decades has strangled this South American nation's development and progress. Our declared editorial bias is most definitely pro-Constitutional, pro-Democracy and pro-VENEZUELA.
-- Roy S. Carson, Editor/Publisher Editor@VHeadline.com

Gustavo Pereira: Why doesn't President Hugo Chavez Frias just leave?

Radio Nacional de Venezuela (RNV) Gustavo Pereira writes: For the following reasons, Chavez has been the only president, against which, since the first day of his government (and way before that) the most ferocious opposition has been unleashed.              

Lies, slander, diatribes, lockouts, general strikes, coup d' etats, oil sabotages, media totalitarianism, efforts to damage our economy, campaigns to discredit the government abroad, guarimbas, being despised upon, racism and class hatred. All of this has cost the country thousands of millions of dollars, damaged the economic apparatus, produced the closing of thousands of hundreds of thousands of small companies, and managed to have caused thousands of workers to be thrown on the street.

However, look at what has been achieved:

In the Education sector

 · The Chavez administration prohibited the payment of school enrollment fees, which allowed all of the poor fathers and mothers to enroll their kids in school. Over half a million of excluded Venezuelan kids came back to the classrooms.

· It created the single shift Bolivarian Schools, where kids can have breakfast, lunch, and snacks, receive medical attention and have access to culture, computers and sports. There are over three thousand and five hundred Bolivarian Schools and many more are on the way to becoming one.

· It created Mission Robison, which alphabetized over a million Venezuelans a year. · It created Mission Ribas, which incorporated high school studies to those who could not study, including an assistance scholarship. Mission Ribas has already incorporated over 500,000 students and over one hundred thousand scholarships have been awarded.

· It created Mission Sucre, which incorporated high school graduates who could not get a spot for university studies into university programs. Many of them were awarded scholarships.

· It doubled the salaries of teachers and professors

· It created the Bolivarian University, where over fifteen thousand youngsters, many of them whom received scholarships from the government, study new careers with advanced methodologies and content. There are already two campuses in Caracas, and others in Aragua state, Carabobo state, Zulia state, Falcon state and soon, it will have campuses all over the country.

· It reopened and equipped technical schools.

· It doubled the education budget from 3% to 7% of the GDP · It created and repaired in just four years, more schools than those that were repaired in the previous twenty.

· It created the Simoncito project, which offers orientation to mothers during pregnancy and after giving birth; it provides medical care to babies until four years of age, when they entered an integral kindergarten.

· It created the Infocenters, where the people have free Internet access and it established agreements with IBM and Cysco System in order to propel Venezuela to be the most advanced Latin American country in information technology.

· It outlawed the privatization of high school education, just as the rulers of the IV republic governments from the past had planned, a proposal that prohibited the entrance or remainder of low-income students to universities.

Thinking about the young

· In the Chavez administration, the draft was eliminated and the new constitution established a norm, which prohibits the draft. The military service is not a threat. Young people that serve in the army receive a salary and an education, and if they wish, they can continue with their military career.

· In the Chavez administration, young high school graduates have greater opportunities of getting access to technical and university studies, free of charge, with the option of receiving scholarships from Missions Sucre and Ribas.

· In the Chavez administration, sports have been a great priority and its quality has increased, which explains the fact that Venezuela occupies the first places in Latin American games, in several disciplines. Proof of this, is the support of the Bolivarian Revolution to the best sportspeople of Venezuela (Alfonso Chico Carrasquel, Pompeyo Davalillo, Francisco Morochito Rodríguez, Antonio Gómez, Yubirí González, Antonio Esparragoza, Gisela Vidal, María de Lourdes Peche, Kanko Brea, Camaleón García, Morocho Hernández, Oscar Azócar, Pedro Gómez, Rafael Romero, Héctor Thomas, Julio Tapia, Mauricio Johnson, Ernesto España, Remigio Hermoso, Gabriel Estaba and so many others).

· In the Chavez administration, the young now have free access to the culture. The renowned theaters, stages and cultural spaces are open to the average person. · In the Chavez administration, millions of books of open distribution are being published in order to encourage reading. · At the Infocenters, the young can obtain free Internet access.

· At Mission Vuelvan Caras, millions of youngsters have obtained jobs; they have formed cooperatives and have benefited from the instruction programs.

In the Health sector

· The Chavez administration, through the agreement with Cuba, created Mission Barrio Adentro (Inside the Neighborhood), which the whole country knows of and is thankful for. Barrio Adentro offers medical and dental assistance with a fraternal and human side for those who cannot afford the higher costs of privatized medicine of the IV Republic. Now, this mission has also incorporated Venezuelan doctors, increasing their numbers daily.

· The Chavez administration started a massive vaccination drive in order to prevent diseases and epidemics. Venezuelan doctors and nurses are in charge of this effort.

· The Chavez administration, despite a destabilizing campaign from public officials and opposition governors and the crisis generated by the coup and the oil sabotage which caused the nation a great share of its budget (dozens of thousands of millions of dollars), it has refurbished and equipped hospitals and ambulatories.

· In the Chavez administration, water pipes and water treatment plants which bring drinking water have been built for the first time for over half a million Venezuelans who had never had it

· In the Chavez administration, the cleaning process of our beaches, rivers and lakes has commenced. · During the Chavez administration, the health budget has been increased in order to reach the goal which provides health for all

· In the Chavez administration, popular pharmacies has been created where people can acquire government subsidized medicines

· In the Chavez administration, the Armed Forces, through the Bolivar 2000 plan, a campaign of integral service to the population, occurred. In it, free medical assistance (including surgical interventions) was given to millions of Venezuelans.

· In the Chavez administration, thousands of Venezuelans has been able to travel to Cuba, in order to obtain free treatment for serious illnesses.

· In the Chavez administration, thousands of filthy slums were exchanged by decent housing facilities and millions of individuals has been treated by Mission Barrio Adentro the Bolivar Plan 2000

· In the Chavez administration, the privatization of the Social Security was avoided, in order for the most needy to have access to free hospital and quality medical services.

Improving the lives of all

· The Chavez administration, in just three years (1999-2002) built over ninety thousand decent housing facilities (not mouse holes) for the people, at a 12% fixed interest rate during 20 years. This constitutes almost double of housing facilities that the IV republic built in 10 years.

· For the first time in our history after the death of The Liberator, Simon Bolivar, the rights of the indigenous, including their native languages, territories and ancestral traditions, are recognized by the State.

· The Chavez administration is currently building 4 subway systems (in the cities of Maracaibo, Valencia, Los Teques, and the 4th line of the Caracas Subway) simultaneously, as well as the Merida TrolleyBus.

· The Chavez administration has begun the national railway plan that will connect all of the country by train. For 2005, the Valles del Tuy section, which will connect this region with the Caracas subway, will be concluded. Plus, the construction of the Central section (Pto Cabello-Barquisimeto- La Encrucijada) is already on its way.

· The Chavez administration is finishing the second bridge over the Orinoco river, which will link Guayana (and Northeastern Brazil) with the Eastern side of the country. Furthermore, projects are already underway on the third bridge through Guarico state.

· The Chavez administration is about to conclude the José Antonio Páez highway, which links the center of the country with the western plains.

· The Chavez administration actively works in the conclusion of the Antonio Jose de Sucre highway, which connects Caracas with Anzoategui and Sucre states, and on the first trimester of next year, it will be opening the toughest, most expensive of its section, the Guarenas-Caucagua section.

· The Chavez administration has stopped the proliferation and privatization of highway tolls and prevented the increase of toll fees.

· The Chavez administration builds dignified schools, equipped with all of the pedagogical resources, kitchens, libraries, sports arenas and in some cases, room and board for teachers.

· The Chavez administration has implemented MERCAL, a supermarket and small food stores chain where people can acquire basic food items with subsidized prices.

· In the Chavez administration, the mega-markets offer inexpensive food items to the populace at large, at the same time, the historical debt concerning its health and the speedy issuing of official identification documents and others, is being accomplished

· The Chavez administration, with the creation of the People's bank, the Woman's bank and other financial institutions (Fondapfa, Foncrei, Fondemi, Industrial bank, Development bank, etc) has democratized credit and the micro-credit to those who could never access it.

· The Chavez administration encouraged the creation of production and services cooperatives in order to create job sources and improve the quality of life. Currently, over a dozen thousand of every kind of cooperatives has been formed across the wide spectrum of Venezuela

· The Chavez administration has encouraged the "Buy Venezuelan" initiative, in order to contribute to improvement of our national industry.

· The Chavez administration attended and is rebuilding, in a timely fashion, the Litoral Central, which suffered the greatest natural tragedy in Venezuela, with over fifteen thousand victims and total destruction of roads, water pipes, electrical services, schools, health centers and thousands of buried houses.

· The Chavez administration approved the fishing bill, which impeded the arbitrary extermination of our maritime sources with near coast fishing, and allowed the funding of small sea fishermen, increasing their number.

· The Chavez administration approved the land reform bill, which gave productive lands, credits and technical assistance to farmers and cooperatives of our deserted country fields.

For the dignity of all

· Chávez, as he had promised in his first campaign, called all Venezuelans to a Constitution Assembly, which, with ample collective participation, approved the most democratic constitution of our continent, a constitution that was submitted to referendum by the people in a process never before seen in the history of Venezuela.

· Chávez proposed, for the first time in our history, the figure of the recall referendum, which allows for the Venezuelan people to express their will freely after half of the constitutional presidential period has passed.

· Chávez encouraged a sovereign policy of strengthening OPEC to maintain oil prices

· In the Chavez administration, oil revenues have been invested in education, healthcare and sovereign development for the first time in history. This is truly "harvesting oil". PDVSA will no longer be able to be privatized as they had planned in the IV Republic, and now, it devotes its profits to improve the quality of life of all Venezuelans. PDVSA funds the missions Robinson and Ribas, and it now belongs to all of us.

· The Chavez administration has made emphasis on the thoughts of the founding fathers, especially on Simon Bolivar's. That is why Venezuela is now a truly independent, sovereign country, which does not ask permission from anyone to decide its policies.

· The Chavez administration has managed to reduce inflation and interest rates when the reactionary opposition devised and executed their macabre plan against the country: the general strike of December of 2001, the coup of April 2002 and the oil sabotage in December of that same year. The average yearly inflation rate had decreased from 50% in 1998, to almost 23% in 2002. And the interest rates for loans, mortgages and credit cards, went down from 60% to less than 30%. After having violently increased after the coup, these rates have decreased, and they will continue decreasing.

· The Chavez administration is dignifying wages and salaries. Not only are the teachers, professionals, technicians and working-class making more money. The retired have seen their pensions improve, as well. In 1999, the minimum wage was at about Bs. 75,000. In September of 2002, despite the coup, it was at around Bs. 190,000.

· The Chavez administration has respected freedom of expression to such a great extent, that even some other democratic countries would not tolerate. The President and his family have received the vilest insults (including racial). No media has been closed or censored (except for channel 8, by the coup-plotters of April 11th) and nobody has been arrested by orders or will of the President

· In the Chavez administration, there are no political prisoners, nor tortured, nor missing. The few that claim they have been arrested for political reasons, have been detained for criminal offenses determined by the autonomous powers of ordinary justice, as anyone who wants to confirm it can read so on the respective judicial files. These same members of the opposition who have been arrested, have also acknowledged that their constitutional rights have been respected. The 1999 Constitution that they mocked, ridiculed and attacked, is not useful for them to try to achieve impunity.

· The Chavez administration has elevated the dignity of our people. For the first time, great masses of poor people have been aware of their rights and their duties, and they have participated with heart and soul in the reconstruction of the country. · Chavez has been the only president that has assumed, from day one, all the demands that he received from his electors. His nationalism is, as Bolivar wanted, a force of integration to build the great Latin American homeland.

· During the Chavez administration, Venezuelan culture, and our people's traditions have been exalted,. Now, our music, our lyrics, our arts, and our cuisine have acquired a new dimension and value. They are no longer left aside, but are now on the main spotlight.

· Chavez informs his people about what he has done, and what he plans to do. He doesn't have hidden agendas and he talks straight.

How am I going to want Chavez to leave?
Gustavo Pereira
National Award of Literature

Translated by Vanessa Carolina del Valle Marcano