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Jamaica: A Reggae Nation

Miguel Lozano

Expression of the root of music in Jamaica, former Prime Minister Percival Patterson was the one in charge to receive the prize granted in 2012 by the Association of the Reggae Industry to The Skatalites, a mythical band of which he was the manager.   

The group, created in 1964, is considered a creator of ska, a precursor of reggae and other slopes of present Jamaican music, cultural reference of the Caribbean country anywhere in the world.  

Between the 22 awarded artists, it was including posthumously Peter Tosh - a pioneer of reggae -, whose son Andrew Tosh performed in the tribute during which Morgan Virgo was presented as the Artist of the Year and the song One By One by Laza Morgan, as the Song of the Year.

The awarding ceremony is included into to a bulky calendar of festive activities made every February since 2008 with the official endorsement called "Month of Reggae" as part of the actions for the defense of Jamaican music and preservation of its roots.

The link between Patterson and The Skatalites in a month dedicated to the preservation of the musical trend brings a demonstrative fact of the influence of reggae in the island to the memory, the concert One Love on April 22, 1978, that had Peter Tosh and Bob Marley among its protagonists.

The initiative of Marley, an ícon of reggae, took to extend the musical terms to turn the presentation at the National Stadium of Kingston in a political event, by the hand of the musician's philosophy centered in tolerance, understanding and peace.

In the middle of strong confrontations between those in favor of then Prime Minister Michael Manley, of the Popular National Party and Edward Seaga, of the Labour Party of Jamaica, Marley called both politicians to the stage and made them have a handshake.

The fact happened during the presentation of Bob Marley and The Wailers and remains like a directed action to use music to improve human behavior.

With more than 30,000 spectators and one impressive troops of talented musicians, this was the first concert of Bob Marley in Jamaica, after an attack against his life in 1976 during which he was wounded and that took to him to leave the country.

Unfortunately, it was not enough to stop the violence and there is the belief that Manley and Seaga never shook hands any more until 1981, in Bob Marley's funeral to honor a figure that both admired though they were irreconciliable political actors.

From the initial time of The Skatalites (disintegrated and soon rearmed with renovation of its musicians) and the concert of One Love, Reggae mainly crossed a way of recognition universal, although non free of the mistrusts of the musical industry.

Despite the Grammy Award was established since 1985 to the Best Reggae Record, this award is still considered one of the least important, practically delivered "behind the stage", out of the broadcast segment of the show on the television.

Its development has not been able to avoid the influence of negative factors such as bribering those who edit, publish and transmit the music, which acoording to the Jamaican Reggae Industry Association, covers electronic and written press as well.

Producer Stephen Stewart told Jamaican newspaper Observer that such a practice stops the transmission of recordings with a great quality, facilitating things for a music with a lot of less merit. Another obstacle, in the opinion of British critic David Rodigan, a historian of the reggae music, is the loss of identity in some artists.

"Could you imagine Aretha Franklin singing just wearing her bra and panties?... No! However, that is what most stars today do, to attract the attention of the press media," Rodigan said.

Rodigan coincided with cultural authorities in making the reggae music history know better, and the conscience that made it original and popular. Regarding this, Jamaican Culture Minister Lisa Hanna promised she would work on terms of monetary and fiscal support to strenghten reggae music.

"We are a reggae nation. We have to go back to claim our cultural position in the world," she said. In a speech on the celebration of the Reggae Month, Jamaican Tourism Minister Damion Crawford urged musicians to revert the role of reggae.

Tourism Assistant Director Jason Hall said Jamaica is taking the risk to lose the control and property of reggae music, so he called for taking measures to preserve it. "Reggae music has become one of the mostly listened all around the world.

Not only it offers entertainment but also inspiration for people from all over the world to improve themselves," Hall said. In Jamaica, reggae music is a genuine expression from the Jamaican authentic people, but now faces the challenges of a commercial world, a factor that not always benefits small countries' typical values.

The challenge of the preservation of reggae is another job to do, since Jamaican reggae reaches its first 50 yearsof independence in the middle of obstacles going from the climatic change to the economy, including scourges such as violence and drug trafficking.

It is precisely in difficult moments, when legitimate values get a greater relevance. This is quite clear for Jamaican authorities, since they see in the preservation of reggae music an element in favour of their own nationality, and the promotion of better human values

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Film on Bob Marley at Berlin Film Festival

The film "Marley" by director Kevin MacDonald will be presented in the 62nd Berlin International Film Festival next February, as an attempt to cover the life and legacy of the Jamaican musician.

The documentary film includes photos, recordings and music considered "rare", whose publication was authroized for the first time by the family of Bob Marley, according to the specialized online magazine United Reggae.

According to the source, MacDonald had access to private family archives during the filming of the documentary and visited countries such as Uganda, Kenya, India and Japan to provide an overview of the global impact of Marley's work.

MacDonald said he is interested in showing why the philosophy of the creator and leading exponent of reggae, who died at age 36 in 1981, still has an impact in virtually all the world.

Son of a British white man and a Jamaican black woman, Robert Nesta Marley was born on February 6, 1945 in Nine Mile, north of Jamaica, but later moved to Kingston where he started the musical legend with Bunny Wailer.

Along with Peter Tosh they formed The Wailing Wailers, later Bob Marley and the Wailers.

The talent of Marley and his group, which was joined by his wife, singer Rita Anderson (born in Santiago de Cuba), overcame the commercial barrier of its socially committed lyrics, which would then become a key element of its significance.

Prensa Latina to Launch Book on Indigenous People

The book "Abya Yala: An Indigenous View", containing a foreword by Bolivian President Evo Morales, will be launched at the International Book Fair of Havana, scheduled from February 9-19.

The book belongs to the collection Letras Urgentes (Urgent Lyrics), published by Prensa Latina’s publishing house, whose purpose is to address current Latin American and the Caribbean issues based on the contributions from the news agency’s correspondents and experts in Havana.

The book, which will be presented on February 15 at 14:00 pm in the Jose Antonio Portuondo Hall in the Morro-Cabaña complex, published in cooperation with the Ciencial Sociales publishing house (Social Sciences) and includes features, interviews, columns and articles about indigenous peoples.

In the foreword, President Evo Morales defines the book as "an unprecedented approach to the reality of our peoples", and indicates that it will allow future generations to learn about aspects of the culture of our grandparents and founders, as well as the continuity of their lessons.

According to Morales, the book refers to the period prior to Christopher Colombus’ arrival, when the continent was a single land: Abya Yala, which means land full of maturity or land of life blood.

This is the second title of the Letras Urgentes collection, after "SOS Amazon", a collection of works by Prensa Latina correspondents in that Bolivia.

"Abya Yala, An Indigenous View" contains fifty works written by 25 authors who reflect how in their transit through the 21st Century, Latin American native people demand fair recognition of their ancestral values in the future.

It also deals about aspects of indigenous people’s participation in parliamentary and governmental institutions in the context of the current process in the region, and about issues related to the defense of language and other native cultural expressions.

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Colombian Paramilitary Threaten Venezuela

Miguel Lozano

Caracas.- Having emerged in the context of an over 50-year old war, paramilitarism crossed the borders of Colombia and is currently a main worry for Venezuelan authorities.

The detention in 2004 of a group of paramilitaries near Caracas who were planning to assassinate President Hugo Chavez showed the political intention of the heirs of the so-called United Self-Defenses of Colombia.

Situation complicates because it is an open secret, denounced at the National Assembly (Parliament), that Colombian paramilitary groups are taking part in drug trafficking from Colombia to the United States through Venezuelan territory.

This element gets prominence in the context of US harassment of Chavez, whom they want to link to drug trafficking to justify a military action against Venezuela, as they did in Panama with Antonio Noriega.

A new element denounced by Chavez is that they are not only using Colombians, but also citizens from other countries called private "contractors," as they have done in Iraq and other countries.

According to Venezuelan authorities, these paramilitary forces are introduced in Venezuela by Colombian war supporting sectors backed by US private firms.

A consequence of this action was the emergence of kidnapping in the last few years, a practice spreading from states bordering Colombia to other regions of Venezuela (there were 382 cases registered at the end of 2007), mostly in border areas.

Actions against Chavez are a well-defined tactic of the opposition, in a year of elections of governors and majors, which Chavez himself has described as essential for the future of the process of changes he has been leading since 1998.

Source: Prensa Latina

Chavez, Tenth Year s Counterattack

Miguel Lozano

Caracas.- Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez began his tenth year in power engaged in a revision, rectifying and boosting process that puts to the test his assertion as a strategist who is comfortable in a counterattack situation.

Chavez assumed the Presidency on February 2, 1999, after winning elections with a little over 50 percent of the votes and the proposal of a more just society in the rich oil country ridden with poverty for most of the population.

In the opinion of the President, what then began was the dismantling of a neocolonial system ruled by a super-rich minority dependent on the United States.

That oligarchy, said Chavez in a speech to the nation on occasion of the ninth anniversary of his mandate, took over all the powers of the nation and played the role of pawn of the US empire, following its orders.

As a result, despite the enormous wealth of Venezuela (fifth oil exporter of the World), the country he inherited in 1999 expressed extreme differences as 50.2 percent of the population in poverty and 42.5 percent in misery.

Nine years after, misery was reduced to 9.4 percent and poverty is estimated at 33.7 percent.

The leader believes that was possible not only for the oil revenues, but because those resources for the most did not go to the hands of transnational companies.

Another cause is the social focus of state policies that allowed to engage in numerous programs of social benefit, the so-called missions, to convey health services and free education for millions of Venezuelans, among other results.

One of the myths used by the opposition to downplay advances is the argument of oil price increases. which is still lower than the hike of the 70s, when the barrel of oil went from 2 to over 30 dollars (15 times) while the most recent increase took prices from 10 to 65 dollars on the average.

Now 90 percent of the oil income stays here and does not only stay but is used in the people s Benedit, says Chavez.

Advances includes the eradication of illiteracy, and the Venezuelan president admits that errors have been committed like the ones leading to the defeat in the referendum on his proposal of constitutional reform last December.

This led Chavez to introduce his Project of the 3 Rs: Revision, Rectification and Relaunch of his mandate, in the midst of a tough opposition campaign trying to deny any of his government s accomplishments.

The alternative, the old, perverse, anti Christian, inhuman and savage capitalist system, which abandoned the people, grabbed most of the nation s resources and allowed them to escape abroad.

The 3Rs is a kind of halt along the way that will be defined by the elections for governors and mayors next November.

The followers of change in Venezuela will be put to the test in those polls for their unity, their ability to understand and recover.

Source: Prensa Latina

ALBA: Integration Strategy with Practical Mechanisms

Miguel Lozano
Caracas.- Beyond its strategic importance as a new kind of cooperation alliance, the Sixth Summit of the Bolivarian Alternative for the Peoples of Our America (ALBA) paved the way to immediate development projects.
Unlike other presidential meetings, the summit held in Caracas from January 24-26 debated the implementation of concrete self-financed programs.
A major element in this approach is the ALBA Bank, made up of Bolivia, Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela, which has excluded traditional concepts to seek profits to focus on benefits for the peoples.
Venezuelan Finance Minister Rafael Isea pointed out that the bank’s first actions would be aimed at defining the domestic policies to approve "grand national" projects, based on proposals by the ALBA Ministerial Council.
As grand national, ALBA experts define joint projects among member countries that are aimed at benefiting the peoples instead of seeking profits, unlike the principle of transnational companies.
Cuban Central Bank President Francisco Soberon told reporters that the new financial body would fund projects that similar institutions would reject.
Unlike commercial banks, which reject low-profit loan requests, the new mechanism will consider the productive, social and ecological impact of the projects, he added.
Therefore, each partner country will supply capital to the bank, which will also receive funds from third parties, because it will open so strong that it will be a perfectly-viable alternative in a relatively short term, Soberon pointed out.
He explained that one of the main characteristics of the bank, unlike other similar institutions, is that it will not play a hegemonic role, and its decisions will be based on equal votes, independently from the partner’s level of participation.
However, although the creation of the ALBA Bank was one of the key issues debated at the group’s summit, the initiative’s reach is greater, as it is regarded as a project aimed at the Great American Nation.
Cooperation and social benefits instead of competition and profits make the ALBA a new kind of group aimed at achieving strategic goals based on concrete actions with short- and medium-term results.
Source: Prensa Latina

A Forest Inventory in Venezuela

Caracas (Prensa Latina) Venezuela initiated preparations for the carrying out of a national forest inventory that will be ready within five years, Ministry for the Environment of the South American nation reported.

The director of Forests Olga Perez explained that the study will begin in January in the southern State of Amazonas, of more than 11,000 miles, and will continue with Bolivar and Delta Amacuro States, both located south Orinoco River.

This region approximately concentrates the 80 percent of the forests of the country and includes a considerable portion of the Venezuelan part of Amazonia, world’s great water reserves, shared by eight countries of South America.

Perez reported that the Unit of Management of the National Forest Inventory was created, element contemplated in the methodology for the carrying out of the investigation, formed by forest engineers, agronomists, geographers and botanists.

The inventory, according to experts, is an instrument of management to protect the natural resources and to help its administration.

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Theology of Liberation Again in Venezuela

Miguel Lozano
Caracas.- Theologians from several countries will meet to re-launch the Theology of Liberation, when religious sectors fear a rise of conservatism in the Catholic Church.
One of the meeting organizers, Father Atencio Vidal, told Prensa Latina that the appearance of the Brazilian Leonardo Boff, among other personalities from Spain and Latin America are invited to the event that will be held from August 14 to 15.
Father Vidal explained that although the specific program is still not decided, meetings will most likely be held in four popular parish churches of the Venezuelan capital. Official social programs will be also visited.
The priest recently criticized a document released by the Venezuelan Episcopate Conference for assuming opposition political attitude ignoring social programs. He gave this explanation in a meeting that promotes the beatification of Oscar Arnulfo Romero.
The Salvadorian archbishop, a well-known defender of human rights, was assassinated while practicing his priestly duties and a process of canonization was begun in 1994.
According to Father Videl, the meeting in Caracas will serve to demonstrate that the Theology of Liberation is not dead, as some church officials would wish and in spite of condemnation of its promoters, such as Jon Sobrino.
He added that Venezuela can now become a platform for the re-launching of this religious movement that seeks an approach of the church with the poor.
Questioned over the possibility of suffering some form of reprimand from the Catholic hierarchy, the Venezuelan priest of indigenous origin recalled that he already ready received a letter from the Maracaibo archbishop, Ubaldo Santana, asking for his silence.
He added that, although he has received no answer to a letter he sent, no one will be able to silence him in his demands in favor of the poor and the expression of his opinions.
Source: Prensa Latina

Market of the South at the Crossroads

Miguel Lozano
Caracas.- Beyond annecdotes about the entrance of Venezuela in the Market of the South (MERCOSUR), this group is in a definitory phase in the regional integration process.
The pretext upheld by parliamentarians of Brazil and Paraguay to delay Venezuela s application to become member -the non renewal of a concession to a private TV station- is negligible in the political context in which it takes place.
In the opinion of Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez, what is at stake is the rejection by some sectors of the traditional right, of the new integrationist approach demanded by peoples.
The real reason is that Venezuela has not "deregulated its economy" to stop supporting domestic businesspeople, says Chavez, for whom this system places the aspirations of capital and money over those of peoples interests.
The stand of Venezuela is based upon the need to introduce an integration model that respects and recognizes the assymetries of the MERCOSUR member countries.
In the opinion of Saul Ortega, president of the Venezuelan parliamentary comission of Foreign Policy, many Brazilian lawmakers oppose the entrance of Venezuela, would gladly approve if it was only a question of expanding a market of 27 million persons for their products.
However, even before applying to enter, president Chavez made it clear that he was in favor of pushing for changes in the bloc, beyond its original trade and economic objectives, sure that it can become the axis of integration in the region.
For some observers like Aram Aharonian, Vice President of the multistate TV channel Telesur, at the bottom of the conflict lies the definition of what kind of integration is wanted.
In his opinion, the bloc must choose either the neoliberal continuity, supported by big economic national and transnational groups, or one of cooperation, complementation and solidarious integration, based on a strategy of political, economic, social and cultural transformations.
The case of Venezuela, as seen from Caracas, surpasses the reach of short episodes and confrontations between officials and diplomats to acquire a strategic nature, linked to the region s future.
If Venezuela becomes a member, this would open the way for other nations to become members. On the contrary, it World impla the closing of a road to integration and thus make it necessary to find other mechanisms to push them open, for which MERCOSUR seems to be the right tool.
If the door is closed on Venezuela, than other expectations would be blocked to the region s popular movements, which have expressed interest to add a social dimension to the block, beyond the purely economic goals.
Source: Prensa Latina

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Posada Carriles’ torture victims demand his extradition to Venezuela

by Miguel Lozano

CARACAS.—Two years after the presentation of an extradition application, the wounds provoked by terrorist Luis Posada Carriles are still open in Venezuela, while the authorities and social sectors are demanding that the criminal should be handed over.

Posada, a Venezuelan citizen of Cuban origin, escaped from a national jail in 1985 in order to evade trial for his responsibility in the attack on a Cuban passenger plane in 1976 that cost the lives of 73 people of various nationalities.

On June 15, 2005 the Venezuelan authorities asked the United States for the terrorist’s extradition, protected under a bilateral agreement, but far from being detained for that purpose, Posada was arrested on charges contravening immigration law and subsequently released.

But for people like Jesús Marrero, tortured on the orders of Posada – “Captain Basilio” during his time with the Venezuelan political police (DISIP) – the release of the criminal is a bitter pill that demonstrates the existence of impunity.

Interviewed by Prensa Latina, Marrero believes that the release of the torturer “shows clearly that the U.S. government is maintaining its double standards in condemning terrorism and promoting it in certain situations.”

“There is an enormous level of impunity: we, those who have been directly affected, were not called to appear during the trial in which he was released.

“We were ready to go to El Paso, Texas (where the trial took place) to make a statement and they did not take us into account."

Marrero explained that they even published his opinion in a U.S. newspaper “but it was all silenced, they wanted to cover up the case and forget about it. That’s what they planned to do,” he stated.
Source:Prensa Latina/Granma

Venezuela Warns against Subversion

Caracas.- After the international success of the First South American Energy Summit, Venezuela is ready to face a domestic challenge that some sources have described as a plot.

In the light of subversive actions scheduled for late May, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez called on authorities and the people to thwart any conspiracy using mobilization as a pretext to protest the decision of not renewing the concession to a TV network.

Speaking at a gathering with activists for the formation of Venezuela's Socialist United Party (PSUV), Chavez explained that everybody has the right convene marches, but he urged the people to remember what happened in 2002, when a coup d' Etat was perpetrated.

He recalled that then, some irresponsible opposition party leaders and US-manipulated members of the oligarchy convened marches to massacre these people later in order to justify the coup, foreign intervention or his assassination.

The Venezuelan president said those subversive actions were supported by most private TV networks.

I insist, the Government is duty-bound to carry out all efforts to guarantee public order and the life of citizens, and thwart any conspiracy plan, but the people must be alert, he stressed.

"Every 11 will have its 13," he said, in reference to April 11, when the coup was carried out and two days later he was back in power by joint action of the people and military officers who respected the Constitution.

Also Venezuela's defense minister, General in Chief Raul Baduel, called the people to be peaceful and that good sense prevails.

"Those who insist in taking violent actions are dissociated from the sentiment of the majority of the Venezuelan people," warned Baduel, who also called to "reinforce that peaceful vocation."

Other Venezuelan personalities have also warned against a "large-scale" destabilizing plot against the government of President Hugo Chavez.

According to them, there is a plan to "heat the street" with demonstrations against the government for refusing to renew RCTV's permit, which expires on May 27, to use the radio-electric space.

The tactic is aimed at taking violent actions, because the opposition has repeatedly failed to win the elections since 1998, due to Chavez's growing popularity.

The head of State's project aims to establish socialism in Venezuela, for which purpose he called a constitutional reform and urged all left-wing political forces to unite in a single party.

However, local observers like former Vice President Jose Vicente Rangel have warned the opposition against violence, as no good results have come out of it in the past and it is the main cause of the demise of those parties.

Those violent actions include the coup d'etat in April 2002, which was defeated in less than 48 hours by the people and constitutional military officers, and an entrepreneurial strike that paralyzed major economic sectors in the country.

Previously, Minister of Interior and Justice, Pedro Carreno, said that the opposition was forging a subversive plan to heat the street before May 27. The Government said it won't be renewed because of continuous violations of Venezuelan law.

The opposition mobilization began with a pro-RCTV march to the Caracas representation of the Organization of American States (OAS).

Organizers admitted a low turnout and said they were planning a larger demonstration on April 21.

Carreno linked the subversive plan to a bomb attack against a security building in the state of Miranda, and warned that no peace-breaching disturbance will be tolerated.

Source: Prensa Latina

Venezuelans Revive Barbados Crime

Miguel Lozano 

Caracas.- With sadness but no excessive surprise, Venezuela received in Holy Week reports of new maneuvers to try to release Cuban-origin terrorist Luis Posada Carriles, demanded for the murder of 73 people.

In a week dedicated to recall Jesus Christ's passion and death, Venezuelans also had to revive that sabotage occurred in 1976, when Posada and his accomplices made explode a Cuban civil plane in mid air.

Due to the attack was planned in Venezuela, where the criminal lived, the country demanded jurisdiction of the case, but the legal trial was interrupted because the accused escaped from prison, supported by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), according to evidences.

The "Cubana de Aviacion" airplane exploded off the coast of Barbados, but explosives were introduced by two Venezuelans accomplices of Posada, who organized the crime from this country.

Posada had been sent to Venezuela by the CIA, to advise repression, which he made from an important post in the then DISIP political police.

Now United States project the terrorist, detained for violating migratory laws, while denying to try him for his crimes or acceding the request of extradition presented by Venezuela.

The information of bail dictated to Posada curiously coincided with accusations against Venezuela for disrespecting human rights and the lack of democracy presented by the US Department of State.

The new attack to Caracas and the attempt of releasing a terrorist demanded by the local justice during a week of Christian mediation, is included in a series of hostile actions that as President Hugo Chavez has denounced are part of assassination plans.

Source: Prensa Latina

Chavez, Kirchner Change Financial Architecture

Miguel Lozano

Caracas.- More than a boost to bilateral relations, Argentina and Venezuela inked several agreements that lay out the base for regional integration and open the way to a new world financial architecture.

The wide list of accords for industrial development, oil and gas exploitation, agricultural coop, trade and others, a memorandum of understanding stands out for the creation in a term of 120 days of the Bank of the South.During a two-day visit of the president of Argentina, Nestor Kirchner, the heads of state signed 17 instruments of cooperation, including the start of Block Ayacucho 6 in the Orinoco Oil Belt by Argentinian company ENARSA.

The memorandum of understanding establishes the creation of the Bank of the South, an institution that has emerged in the bilateral level but with multilateral vocation.Kirchner himself explained that the decision of both governments pretends to boost a project much talked about but still not in operation, reason for which membership is open to other member countries.

On the subject, Chavez advanced that Bolivia, Ecuador and Brazil are interested in taking part of the institution whose purpose is to finance economic and social development plans.Thus Argentina and Venezuela open an unprecedented option in the so-called world financial architecture, dominated by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, whose policies have been criticized for being invasive.

In the middle term, the Bank of the South can become an option for developing countries which will be able to assimilate the monetary reserves of nations that are today deposited in the United States and Europe.Chavez recalled that only his country´s reserves, together with those of Argentina and Brazil reach jointly 150 billion dollars, part of which may be withdrawn from banks in the north to fill the coffers of the new institution.

As of today, Argentinian and Venezuelan experts will have 120 days to lay out a plan of action, the bank´s statutes, round up resources, estimate initial capital and other technical aspects, with which an unprecedented door will be opened in the world of finances.

The strengthening of livestock production in Venezuela with Argentina´s coop, projects of cooperation in health and medicine, exchange of experience, consultancy and training of professionals are among the accords inked during Kirchner´s visit.Also it was agreed to establish information exchange between the Agencia Nacional de Noticias de Argentina (TELAM) news agency and the Agencia Bolivariana de Noticias (ABN) of Venezuela and cooperation between diplomatic institutes of both nations.

Memos of understanding in the field of electrical equipment, import of buses with motors that run with natural gas and its reconversion, a contract for supplying fuel oil Venezuela agreed to finance Argentinian dairy cooperative Sancor and the participation of Argentinian companies in the exploitation of oil in the Orinoco Belt.Chavez finally estimated that by its reach, the accords mark the beginning of a South American national project of integration like the one predicted by Argentinian Jose de San Martin and Venezuelan Simon Bolivar in the 19th Century.

Source: Prensa Latina

Cuba and Venezuela Closer to Strategic Alliance

Miguel Lozano 

Caracas.- By the signing of 16 cooperation agreements early this year, relations between Cuba and Venezuela have reached new levels, bringing them nearer to the concept of strategic alliance.

These accords signed in Caracas, which cover the fields of oil, steel industry, agriculture, tourism and telecommunications, among others, are seen as a practical platform for complementation and cooperation, rather than competition.

We are taking a giant step in the process of union between the peoples of Venezuela and Cuba, said Venezuelan Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro, after the signing ceremony at Miraflores Palace.

In Maduro's opinion, this step contributes to strengthening the Bolivarian Alternative of the Americas (ALBA), a proposal of regional integration that aims to go beyond strictly economic matters, placing the people as its main objective.

Referring to plans, such as Barrio Adentro (Within the Neighborhood) that offers free medical treatment with Cuban aid to more than 15 million Venezuelans, ALBA "is today able to count how many thousands of men and women it has saved."

At least 50 million free consultations and 40,000 lives saved constitute one of the most significant expressions of the social content of this wide-ranging bilateral cooperation.

For his part, Cuban Vice President Carlos Lage, who attended the signing ceremony, recalled that from 2001 to 2006, the comprehensive bilateral accord went from $36.6 million to $840 million, and the next will be greater.

Regarding trade, Lage said it reached $460 million in 2001, and by the end of 2006, it was six times that figure, or $2.64 billion.

The agreements open the possibility of establishing 12 new joint ventures in several fields, which will join another nine already in operation.

These are not only important for bilateral relations, but also for marking the course of ALBA and the new concepts of cooperation, in the opinion of Cuban and Venezuelan authorities.

"It is a new social-human political model of union and integration of the peoples," stressed Maduro.

The projects include ship and port modernization and building, lending institutions for sea and railway transport, insurance and tourism, as well as joint oil prospecting research and the installation of a submarine optical fiber cable as part of an international telecommunication system, with ramifications to other countries in the Caribbean, Central and South America.

In the opinion of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, rather than trying to benefit any party in particular, these joint ventures are the basis of a single homeland.

They are structural projects that belong to a structural ALBA; it is not only trade, but a strengthened ALBA, he said.

Source: Prensa Latina

2007, Lively Year for Venezuelan Films

Caracas.- The first work of filmmaker Carlos Villega, "Al borde de la l¡nea," opened an energetic film year in Venezuela, with the expected premiere of 36 films.

The plan is to produce triple the movies of 2006, with 26 of them to be produced with government funds. In 2006 Venezuela premiered 11.

In a statement to Prensa Latina, Villegas said the film opens many expectations for him, after a career in television and documentaries in Mexico, where he resides.

The Venezuelan government, through the Ministry of Culture and the National Autonomous Filmmaking Center, will outlay over 3.5 million dollars for the production of films, documentaries, and cartoons.

The fiction long-length films "Un lugar lejano" by Jose Ramon Novoa and "Boves, El Urogallo" by Luis Alberto Lamata stand among the selected proposals.

Meanwhile, "La Uva" by Alexandra Henao, "Mujer del Tirano" by Ernesto Solo, "Chiqui chiqui Bom" by Belen Orsini and "Libre" by Natalia Machado are among the fiction short-length projects to be benefited.

This year, there was a considerable increase on the support to the new filmmakers with a higher contribution to the first works (two in the genre of fiction and another seven in the section of documentary.)

Cuban Doctors Inspire Venezuelan Film

Filmmaker Roman Chalbaud, one of the most important directors in Venezuelan cinema, confirmed he would make a film on the humanitarian work carried out by the Cuban medical brigades in his country.

The famous director of such films as “Un pez que fuma” (1977) and “Cangrejo” (1985) stated that the future film would be based on the book by Cuban investigator Enrique Ubieta, who travelled throughout Venezuela for nine months.

According to the director, the Uruguayan filmmaker and writer Ugo Ulive will be in charge of the screenplay and there is plenty of enthusiasm surrounding the project.

The outstanding director also referred to the successes of his most recent production “El Caracazo” (2005) that won the jury´s prize at the Trieste Festival and the Glauber Rocha Award conferred by the foreign press accredited in Cuba in the Havana Festival.

(Source: Prensa Latina)

Mission Milagro: US Doc Praises Cuba-Venezuela Eye Op

Caracas.- The US ophthalmologist and professor of Illinois University James Phillips highlighted the innovative value of the Venezuelan health system that allow poor people to have medical treatment.

Phillips came to Venezuela with Patty Nealon, the first US woman operated for cataracts free in the South American country, as part of the joint program called Mission Milagro implemented between Venezuela and Cuba.

"The entire world should admire Venezuela for its health system, you can count on me for implementing this kind humanitarian mission wherever is necessary", said the specialist who had attended several humanitarian missions in Africa and Haiti.

According to a report of the Venezuelan consulate in Chicago Nealon s operation was successful and the woman went back to her job as bus driver.

The ophthalmologic health program called Operacion Milagro was established between Cuba and

Venezuela to give attention to poor people from the Third World late in 2006 and after two years functioning almost half a million persons have been benefited with this program.

Patients from 28 countries have been freely operated in Cuba and Venezuela. There are 13 ophthalmologic centers functioning in Venezuela with 28 operating rooms.

Other health facilities of this type are been constructed in Ecuador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras and Bolivia with Cuban advice.

(Source: Prensa Latina)