Annual
message from Hugo Chávez Frías,
president of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela,
in the Legislative Palace, on 14 January 2004,
"Year of the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas".
(Council of State – Official Version)
Citizen deputy Nicolás Maduro Moro. Why are you laughing? I just learned that Nicolas' second last name is Moro, Mr. President, Nicolás Maduro Moro. This is what happens when someone has a high position in the judiciary, isn't it? Nicolas Maduro Moro, president of the National Assembly and good friend;
Citizen deputy Ricardo Gutiérrez, first vice-president of the National Assembly;
Citizen deputy Pedro Carreño Escobar, second vice-president of the National Assembly;
Deputies of our Assembly;
Your Excellencies ambassadors;
Honorable charge d'affaires and representatives of international organizations accredited with our government;
Citizen Doctor Iván Rincón Urdaneta, president of the Supreme Court of Justice;
Citizen doctor Germán Mundaraín, president of the Republican Moral Council and ombudsperson;
Citizen doctor Oscar Bataglini, head of the National Electoral Council;
Citizen doctor José Vicente Rangel Ávalos, executive vice-president of the Republic;
Citizen ministers of the Executive Cabinet;
Citizen doctor Marisol Plaza, attorney general of the Republic;
Citizen Juan Barreto, metropolitan Lord Mayor;
Citizen governors present at this ceremony;
Citizen Freddy Bernal, mayor of Libertador Municipality;
All other mayors;
José Vicente Rangel Ávalos, mayor of Sucre Municipality, Miranda State;
All other mayors and mayoresses present;
Citizen vice-ministers;
Citizen doctor Orieta Caponi, chancellor of the Bolivarian University of Venezuela and other university authorities;
University students;
Citizen Rear Admiral Orlando Maniglia Ferreira, inspector general of the National Armed Forces;
Other officers, generals and admirals of our top military command;
Citizen presidents of autonomous institutes and state enterprises;
Special guests to this ceremony; journalists, photographers and camera people from Venezuela and the world;
Friends all;
People of Venezuela:
Today, January 14, as we know, is the Day of the Divine Shepherdess; Divine Shepherdess, Shepherdess divine. I want to begin by invoking her, our Shepherdess, invoking all she means to us, her kindness, her peasant origins, the young worker who spread and continues to spread kindness, love and affection for all; because the Divine Shepherdess, as we know, the patron saint of Barquisimeto, the patron saint of Lara State, has extended her kindness, her radiance, her wisdom, her strength and her light to all of Venezuela.
So, accompanied by the Divine Shepherdess, I offer my congratulations to Lara state, the governor and all the people of that state and through the Divine Shepherdess, I begin by invoking God, the Almighty, the creator of the universe; Christ, the redeemer of the peoples, unequaled fighter and the greatest martyr of all times. I ask for their guidance so that this message I am about to give will reach not only you, Mr. President, fellow Venezuelans and deputies but, through you and from this hall, will also reach all the Venezuelan people and, through you, most illustrious ambassadors accredited to our government, this message of brotherhood and reflection will reach all the people of the world.
I am going to begin remembering one of the most famous men born of these lands, who ever set foot in Venezuela or in the Americas, an American martyr too, a martyr, of the struggles for equality, liberty and justice, as Christ was, a Quixote of these lands. And when I say Quixote, I am remembering that we are now in the year of the 400th anniversary of the first edition by the Manco de Lepanto, the immortal Cervantes', of a monumental work in terms of not only Spanish literature, but also of world literature, Don Quixote.
Bolivar was a Quixote, without a doubt, and a Quixote was the man I am especially remembering today, the Abel of Colombia, a martyr, as Simon Bolivar said when he learned of his death in Berruecos. He was hardly 35 years old and in only 35 years he had earned the highest honors in the military and political fields, grand marshal in Ayacucho, one of the liberators of South America, president and founder of our ever-beloved sister Bolivia: you know who I am speaking of Antonio Jose de Sucre (Applause).
So, there, thinking of Bolivia, which was just then being born in those beloved sister lands, there where one day Bolivar rode, flanked, on one side, by none other than Sucre and, on the other, by that wonderful Venezuelan and Latin American, unequalled teacher and revolutionary, the Robinson of America, Simón Rodríguez; there where Simón Rodríguez exclaimed: "Thomas More's utopia is here, it is here in the Americas, either we create or we fall by the wayside". So, there, thinking about that birth, Bolivia's birth, Sucre gave us those words that we must continue to harvest, re-sowing them, spreading them to all Venezuelans, Latin Americans, Caribbeans, all Americans, those from the north, from the center, from the south and even further, to the world as a whole, so that the dark face of the world truly begins to change and that this century, the 21st, be the century of virtue, the century of peace, of human beings rediscovering one another.
Sucre gave us that phrase: "When Spanish America went to the battlefield to fight for its emancipation, for its independence, it was understood that it also fought for liberty and equality, inseparable sisters". The first, independence, wouldn't make any sense without the second, equality. That equality, that independence, that full liberty, that justice – Bolivar would say – these must be the queen of all republican virtues, must become the battle standards of the entire Venezuelan people. They are the battle standards of the government that I am honored to preside over, and we must raise them higher every day.
Mr. vice-president; ministers and top public servants of the republic; generals, admirals and soldiers, from sunrise to sunset, from cockcrow to moonrise, liberty, equality and justice must be the standards that light our way every day.
And what is more, they must be our standards always and forever, Mr. president, deputies, ambassadors: liberty and equality, old standards, renewed standards.
That is the core of the feelings that drive us and the strongest emotion that moves us, the greatest force that motivates us, the greatest force that motivated us throughout 2004, from the first of January to the last second of the last day of December.
As every year –you know– I bring my written report, on which I was working intensely until late last night. The vice-president, the minister of planning, the ministers and the government team got together top work in coordination. But I am going to spare you a written speech thick with figures, which, at this late hour, might be nothing short of torture.
However, I have divided my report on the year 2004 into political, economic, social, territorial and international areas of government so I can go over the main areas. I've most certainly left some out, because there are so many details, so many programs, so many projects, there is so much progress that I haven't mentioned. At the end of my speech, Mr. President, I will give you the text of my original report and we will send out enough copies so that each deputy can go over it. We are also publishing a pamphlet –the Minister of Communication is in charge of this– which can be circulated in the streets, because, as I said before, this report is not just for the National Assembly but also for the whole country.
This is my sixth report to the nation –on the work we've done, I mean, because I have made other speeches during these six years in office – and this is the first thing I want to comment on.
Our sixth year in office ended with 2004. Of course, there have been two terms, as we know; the first, of two years, was cut short by the decision of the most sovereign National Constituent Assembly, and then, these four years of the second term, but that's six years.
Time, time, time and space, fundamental elements for understanding life, for understanding any strategy, any project, for developing any strategic plans. There is no life without space, there is no life without time.
I remember that when we were in the opposition, and even before getting involved in politics, that political mechanism that existed here, which ensured what they called "alternating governments", and which they said was an essential feature of democracy –and we had those five-year terms in office-- always seemed strange to me personally. The first year, generally, was for not only the president but also the teams, the most varied teams, ministries to get their feet wet, to learn, to make all the staff substitutions that had to be done –and here it was generally everyone– at all levels and on all fronts.
The first year was taken up with these tasks, which are normal, to get to know, to learn even, and the last year was election year, so that in the last year, when they really should have had government power as political leaders those presidents, I would imagine, began to lose a large part of them. A terrible thing, I always thought. These at times irrational alternating governments need not be an essential rule of democracy.
On one occasion, in Germany, I asked the governor of Brandenburg –we were traveling through the countryside to Potsdam– and he understood what I was saying, that governor, and he talked with such great knowledge about his state, Brandenburg, of its economy, its history, plans, projects, its form of government, its organized communities.
I offer my apologies, because I hadn't looked to this side and I hadn't greeted the Attorney General of the Republic and the Comptroller General of the Republic, who are here with us; they are here, but I hadn't seen them. I welcome them, as I do the comrades from the High Military Command.
So, that good man explained all of that to me and I was amazed at how much he knew and understood about his region, his people, and I asked him: "Governor, how long have you been governor?" He said for something like 22 years. "And for how many more years can you be governor?", and he said: "for twenty two more, that is, it depends on the people: Does the people want a governor to continue in office? Let's ask the people".
A few days ago, with a good friend of mine who's called Rosinés, I was thinking about time, time, and I said to her and to other friends and relatives: "For this revolutionary process, I would have handed over the government by now, my stay here would have been fleeting". Actually, my time could have been extremely fleeting but that's not what the people wanted.
So, this reflection is in line with the tenets of our Bolivarian Constitution, the possibility of consecutive re-election, something much better than the mechanism established by the 1961 Constitution, whose implementation and results were harmful to the Republic, to the country.
Six years have passed, there are of course two left in this term and, most probably, God and the Divine Shepherdess willing, six more in the next term (Applause).
This has nothing to do, as some continue to say, and I don't know if there's anything we can do about those who continue to say this, this has nothing to do with a personal ambition for power, no, not in the least. It is only the expression of one will and of many wills, of millions of individual wills and one, huge, collective will, to use these years to move ahead with building what we have begun, from the foundations, from the bottom up, this very long-term project. It's a 200-year project (Applause).
It's a 200-year project, so we will have to and we do have to lay it down on solid moral, political, social, economic, territorial and comprehensive foundations. This is our task and always following that principle of Christ: men, human beings, well, men, women, boys, girls, human beings must always be the alpha and omega, the beginning and end, human beings.
So, our sixth year in office is over, the fourth of the second constitutional mandate and of the first term of the Fifth Republic and also of this new century, and when one looks at how far we have come, then we could recite those verses that we have been reciting for many years: "You have to make your own way".
We have been making our own way and at this point –this is not the first time I've said it this way– we could say we've been making our own particular and specific way each one of these last six years of republican life, of national life.
We could call year 1999 the year of the National Constituent Assembly and of the Bolivarian Constitution's birth. This seems to be the sign that will be etched forever on 1999.
The year 2000 was the year of re-legitimizing the three powers and that made it the year of the birth of the Fifth Republic.
The year 2001 was the year of the empowering laws; they left their mark on that year and they left a deep mark on the years that followed, since all of these laws arose from the sovereign mandate of the people, through the original 1999 Constituent Assembly. But 2001 was also the year when the counterrevolution or the beginning of the counterrevolution or the mobilization of the counterrevolution was born.
At the beginning of 2002, I think I once said that it was the year to live or to die, and God wanted us to live, and not only us individually, in our personal lives, but also in our political lives; the year for the republic and the homeland to live.
2002 was the year of the imperialist attack on Venezuela, but, at the same time, it was the marvelous year of the revolutionary, popular, civil-military, democratic, profoundly democratic response (Applause).
So, we come to 2003, year of the national counter-offensive, after having been –who could deny it– against the ropes for a good part of 2002, against the ropes all of 2002, there was even a knock down, but we quickly got back on our feet. We couldn't go back on the offensive straight away however, and that brought us to December 2002.
Now, 2003 was the year of the national counter-offensive in every field and of the birth of the social missions, as part of this national offensive. However, as well as being the year of this political and economic offensive, this counter-offensive, 2003 will go down in history as the year of the birth of the social missions to bring about inclusion and justice.
That brought us to 2004, and though I must go over things quickly, as I have done with the five previous years, I must devote more time to 2004, as we could call this last year, first, the year of the victory of the new democracy; a great national political victory, a victory for the nation, for the republic, for the Constitution, not just for one of the country's political sectors but for all of them. I even ask God that, as time goes by, those who still refuse to recognize that 2004 was a great victory for the nation, a great victory for the whole of Venezuela, that they begin to acknowledge this. I think some people, many ordinary people have begun to acknowledge this, and I think that some opposition leaders have also begun to acknowledge it. Therefore, 2004 was the year of the great victory of the new democracy that is here.
Secondly, it was the year of a fairly solid birth and takeoff of a new economic cycle that we were hoping for and that we will exploit to the full, and I make a call to the whole nation, regardless of their political stripe, social origin or religious belief, to make the best use of this solid base and the beginning of a new economic cycle of expansion and growth. Thus we may break the vicious circle of boom and bust to which the economic system — a system which creates riches for a minority but poverty and misery for the majority, development for a small group of nations but underdevelopment and total poverty and dependency for the majority of the world's nations— has for so long condemned our economy and those of dependent and underdeveloped economies.
Let us all make an effort to break this vicious circle (Applause). We can do it. Venezuela can do it with the support of many of the world's nations, of many of the world's governments, of many investors, of the national and international private sector. We have the economic plan, nothing is hidden, we are transparent. We have the political plan, the economic plan, the social plan, the worldview. This is the plan.
I want to thank, and believe me when I say I do so sincerely, in good faith and hope, I want to give special thanks to Albis Muñoz, the president of FEDECAMARAS, for being with us in this chamber. Welcome (Applause). She deserves nothing but respect, acknowledgement and affection for being here, and no one here will boo her, we will applaud her and embrace her as a fellow Venezuelan (Applause).
Similarly, I want to acknowledge the presence of the governor of Nueva Esparta state, Morel Rodríguez (Applause). Welcome, governor, it is a pleasure to see you here. There he is, next to the mayor of Sucre, and the mayor of Caracas, and the governor of Bolivar state.
Well, we're going to work together. You won the elections, you are the governor. My commitment and our commitment is to the whole country, to Nueva Esparta, of course, we really love that state! To Zulia, how we love that state! A few days ago, I spoke with governor Manuel Rosales of Zulia state and I said to him too: "Governor, we're going to work together, you can count on my full support. We're going to work together to rescue the land, in the struggle against large land ownership, in the struggle against drug trafficking, unsafe borders, armed or unarmed incursions by other countries which often violate our national sovereignty, especially along that border, and this is a common task, the struggle against corruption, well, the whole national project.
President Nicolás Maduro Moro has just given me some really good news. He gave me the really good news that yesterday he issued the ruling making VENEPAL a public utility (Applause). This ruling, which was passed unanimously with all of the opposition voting in favor, paves the way for the government expropriation of this company for the benefit of the workers (Applause).
How could we allow a company not to meet its obligations to the workers, allow some to leave the country and others to stay, to close the company and to affect hundreds of families, thousands of persons and not pay the workers benefits nor respect their labor rights? That violates the Constitution and the rule of law, of justice; we can't allow that.
The striking fact here, I must point out, is that all the opposition deputies in this parliament voted for this ruling. This is a good sign, an excellent sign for everyone in the country (Applause).
I also thank some opposition deputies for being here.
This is something I have never been able to understand, but, I hope that, little by little, things will continue to fall into place.
Just imagine, the National Assembly committee, complying with its constitutional mandate, came just a few days ago to inform me, the head of state, of the beginning of the parliamentary session. It was only right for two Social Christian deputies to be there, and I gave them special thanks for coming to the Palace and shook their hands with the same affection with which I shook Nicolás Maduro's hands and the hands of all the rest of the Bolivarian deputies. They are Venezuelan, they are deputies.
Suppose I had said to my household staff: "Don't let those two deputies in". That would be most unbecoming of a head of state. And so the day must come, in my 14th message perhaps (Applause), --not so far away, right?-- perhaps in my 7th message. We needn't wait that long, Vice-President Carreño, perhaps next year the opposition deputies will be here, doing their duty. They should come and hear the message, so that they can then go out and criticize it or not. If there's anything positive in it, well, then they can think about it, and it is their duty, using the speech and an analysis of the documents we will be giving you today, to say anything negative about the government's performance in the year 2004 and to give their opinion, objective opinions, we hope, not just those motivated by political considerations or by the fact that they are the opposition or not.
To sum up, a new economic cycle of expansion, growth and redistribution of national income has been born and is moving on. We're all going to make a big effort so that we never again fall into a recession, so that we may avail ourselves of the boost given us by a rate of economic growth that is a record for us and one of the highest in the world in the last 100 years. The growth of the Venezuelan economy this year that's just ended, 2004, is real, sustained growth (Applause).
In addition to being the year of the victory of the new democracy, of the birth and takeoff of a new economic cycle of growth and expansion, 2004 has also been the year of the consolidation and development of the social inclusion missions (Applause).
We've made wonderful progress in the social missions. We'll soon be seeing some figures. I won't overburden you, but I have to refer to some figures, don't I, Mr. Vice-President? Not all those that you sent me, I've chosen about 10 % of all the figures on economic growth and of social growth and development, one without the other wouldn't make sense, because this, my dear friends, the ambassadors, is one of the dilemmas in which we are caught. I mentioned it in the last few summits in South America and my last few trips through Europe and Asia, but mostly here in Latin America, in my meetings with my fellow presidents from this our Americas.
I will never forget my good friend, ex president Fernando Enrique Cardoso's speech, his valedictory speech. He was leaving to hand over the presidency of the Federative Republic of Brazil to comrade President Lula Da Silva. It was in the Dominican Republic, at the last Iberoamerican Summit; Cardoso was a few days away from handing over the presidency and said a few heartfelt words, and among the things Fernando Enrique Cardoso said were these words. I will never forget them, because I used them when I made a speech there. He said: "I governed Brazil, one of the biggest nations in the world, for eight years, and in all those eight years, Brazil's economy didn't stop growing". Then he said an amazing thing: "Neither did poverty stop growing".
It has to do with the economic model; growth is not enough, or economic growth is not enough; it's all about a model that must make the fair distribution of national income a priority. And that's what we've started to achieve in 2004, the year of the emergence and takeoff of a new economic cycle of expansion and growth, which went hand in hand with a redistribution of national income, mostly through the social missions, to allocate a very large volume of resources to that vast number of Venezuelans who always received next to nothing from government plans, and if they did get anything it was just crumbs; it's a matter of structural changes.
I invite you, fellow Venezuelans, deputies, governors, mayors, to read —and we must distribute, Mr. Minister of Communication, through all possible channels— the latest poll of Latinobarómetro taken in Latin America. We should evaluate it, what it says, a poll that has nothing to do with elections nor candidacies, no; it's a structural poll about what the peoples of Latin America and the Caribbean think.
Among other things, it reports that a real cultural change is underway in Venezuela, something they've been able to measure over the last few years, because it's been going on for several years now, it's not just a passing thing. There's a structural change here, in the cultural area too, which is where the heart of true change lies.
Fourthly, the year 2004 has marked the beginning of the model for endogenous territorial development. The word "endogenous" was in fact not very popular, let's put it that way, in Venezuelan slang, it was mostly used in technical circles and, even so, not very often. Now it's become widespread. Back there, in the plains of Barinas, a little girl said to me a few days ago: "We're endogenous here, Chávez". So, she's endogenous. And, what's more, she knew how to explain it, I asked her: "And what does `endogenous' mean?". She said only two little words, which come from here, inside, they come from the heart: "I'm endogenous". How lovely, that a little girl feels that and is able to say so as well! (Applause).
Well, the model for endogenous territorial development has come into being and we've begun to disseminate it through the length and breadth of Venezuela, and not only in the country but also something much more important, in peoples' souls; and this kind of dissemination is much more important than even the countrywide dissemination.
Fifthly, 2004 was the year when the international counter-offensive began. In the last part of the year mostly, Venezuela, the Bolivarian government, started a powerful and strong international offensive, which has had very significant results, which the country already knows about. Only some of them, because the impact of many of these results is not precisely instantaneous, but it will happen in the short, medium and, in some cases, long term
Last night, for instance, I talked for several hours with a very high level delegation from the sister Islamic Republic of Iran, the vice-minister of oil and directors and managers of oil companies, gas companies, businessmen from the petrochemical industry, and even last night we made the first decisions. How did this come about? Because of the visit I made to Teheran about a month ago and because of this recent meeting with President Khatami and his government and the most important leaders of that sister republic. Last night we took, let me repeat, a first gamut of decisions about working hard in the month that remains, it's just over a month before President Khatami's visit to Venezuela. He's coming here again, he's going to be handing over the presidency, there are elections in Iran, he's already governed for two terms, there'll be elections in the middle of the year, and he said to me: "Before leaving office, Chávez, I want to visit you and the Venezuelan people again and, what's more, take our bilateral relations a step forward". We were talking last night, by the way, about the petrochemical complex in Paraguaná.
God willing, in Paraguaná we're going to build a powerful complex, not for the petrochemical industry, but also for trade, for tourism, and last night we were discussing this project with the Iranians.
So, with respect to short-term impacts: we are preparing to welcome the Vice-President of China in a few days, accompanied by a fairly large number of government and party leaders and businessmen. Over these last three years, Venezuela has become the major recipient of Chinese investment in Latin America and the Caribbean, and we are discussing and giving shape to a number of projects…I'm not going to get ahead of myself, because that will be in the report for a year from now; but, to sum up, it's an international counter-offensive.
Sixthly, 2004 has been the year of the big bang, of the political big bang which has given a kick-start to a new age. We have entered a new stage for which, after much thought and consideration with my team, I have set 10 important strategic goals for the new 2005 – 2006 period. So, moving along these 10 strategic tracks, we can reach the end of 2006 in the best position to continue the march in the next period until 2013 (Applause).
I have scarcely gone through two pages, there are about 40 left. No, it'll go quicker now.
Well, that's more or less the vision that I came to tell you about, I hope I do a good job of it, of the years that have gone by, taking some time to focus closely on last year, 2004.
Now, a few thoughts on 2004's first big achievement: the victory of the new democracy. I've already said something about this, I just want to go into more detail on some other aspects that I think are important,
Mr. President, deputies.
We all know what we went through: 2002, 2003, and the attempt to turn us away from the Constitution, coup d'etat, terrorism, economic destabilization, imperialist aggression, attempts to use international bodies against Venezuela, something that's still going on, but those who want to continue down this road should realize how strong Venezuela is.
Last night, for example, on CNN —it's a good thing that TV-Sur will be coming on air soon (Applause)— they were interviewing a gentleman who is the president of an inter-American human rights commission, and this gentleman, irresponsibly, continued to attack the truth and attack this institution, Venezuela's National Assembly, to attack our sovereignty and to attack our government with no compunction whatsoever. He was asked what he thought about human rights in the Americas. Huh! He spoke only about Latin America, he didn't dare speak about the United States, not even on tiptoes. Then he talked about Cuba, of course, attacked the Cuban people and government —he couldn't avoid paying us the honor of putting us in the same bag as Cuba, it seems— and he said it is worrying that an authoritarian blueprint is still being applied in Venezuela and that the National Assembly approved some laws like the Law of the Media —that's what they call it— which violates freedom of expression. It goes to show you, how immoral, how disgusting, but that is what millions of people in the world hear and see and that's the power of the media.
Once, when I was watching CNN, I couldn't take it anymore and I asked my staff to call the CNN studio, because it was a live broadcast discussing Venezuela, and they answer the phone, and after one question they cut off the president of Venezuela's voice, they weren't interested in having the Venezuelan president give a version different from the one they were giving, which was an attack on freedom of expression, an attack on just about everyone.
Eduardo Galeano is still right: "Never before have so few deceived so many." The dictatorship that the media exercises over the world is sinister, terrible. We are sad not because of CNN, but because the Episcopal Conference has gone back to its old ways and is saying the same as CNN does, that here we are infringing on freedom of expression.
I call on Venezuelan bishops to put their hand on their heart and have their portraits painted with Christ the Redeemer (Applause). And we have to say this to all of them, because silence implies consent.
No, it's not enough for someone to clap me on the back and say: "Well, we, you know, have a different opinion". No, that clap on the back is no longer enough, silence implies consent.
But, after all, we know how they tried to turn Venezuela into a dependent state using international bodies, how they wanted to intervene in Venezuela, how they called that so-called consultative referendum, with the revocatory nature they tried to give it, backed by unlimited, obscene international pressure. We're all quite well aware of that.
The OAS General Secretary set up camp here and once I reached the point of saying to him: "Look, do you think you're a proconsul?" Once I reached the point of saying to him: "If you continue with this attitude, I am about to declare you a persona non grata and ask you to leave my country", I was on the point of doing that (Applause).
Believe me —I remember my conversations with José Vicente— what we put up with then, we will never again put up with, we will never again put up with it!
But, well, more than all that, 2004 was a great victory for the new Constitution, the new democracy. And after that unprecedented process of collecting signatures and in spite of the fact that one of the things that the opposition, the national and international offensive and some governments said was that President Chávez would not accept the referendum, that he was not democracy's man, that the National Electoral Council was going to follow Chávez's orders to prevent the referendum at any cost. In spite of that, August 15 arrived and all the world saw the giant again: the giant stood up, the giant got up very early, the giant went to queue up, the giant often spent up to 14 hours waiting to vote YES or NO, the giant then went home, the giant waited for the official decision and then the giant triumphed. That giant's name is the Venezuelan people (Applause).
Then came October 31 and your triumph, governors, mayors, lord mayors, regional legislative councils, in a new demonstration of faith in democracy, faith in the constitution. So, this is a great victory for the new democracy and for the political process as well, for the national referendum, of which there is no precedent, either here in Venezuela or on this continent and I don't know if anywhere in the world. The constitution was tested, and it worked, in spite of all the conspiracies against it.
In addition to that, democratic institutions made their presence felt more strongly, the nation began to think that these were indeed the kind of institutions to dispense justice as justice should be dispensed. Those brave prosecutors made their appearance, one of whom was foully murdered. And here I want to pay tribute to Danilo Anderson from this podium and this stage, 2004's martyr and a martyr for all times (Applause). For having dared to act, simply so that justice could be dispensed, just that, and he paid for it with his life.
There's no political persecution of any kind here, as some continue to say in their own defense. Political persecution? No, justice is just beginning to take effect here, and that, even when I am not mentioning it as one of my government's achievements, is part that giant victory, the victory of the new democracy.
The National Assembly deserves special consideration, Mr. President, deputies, because, as we know, in spite of the unceasing wave of sabotage, obstacles and impediments to the normal functioning of this center for national political debate, this center for drafting laws to carry the constitutional project forward and to respond, as behooves us, to the nature of things —as Montesquieu said— in spite of all that, the National Assembly reached the end of 2004 with all its engines fired up and going at full steam, passing laws, many of them, or some of them, over half a century due, such as the extraordinary Law of Radio and Television Social Responsibility, which you passed, for the good of the nation, the good of the republic, the good of truth (Applause), or the Law of the Supreme Court of Justice, another of the things that that gentleman I referred to took the liberty of criticizing on CNN last night.
Supreme Court of Justice? We are well aware of what went on there for a century, and what happened to our country and us over the last few years. You need only remember that decision about the power vacuum and that there was no coup d'etat and that the president had gone on a picnic, so to speak, to Orchila for a weekend, therefore, no one was guilty here, there had been no crime, according to those honorable votes, except those of the president of the Supreme Court, Dr. Iván Rincón and eight other judges, who saved the honor of the highest court in the land (Applause).
Well, a great victory for the new democracy, the Venezuelan constitution and democracy were tested and, my goodness, what a trial by fire it was! We passed the test and we have emerged stronger than ever. We give thanks to God and thanks to our people for 2004 (Applause).
Secondly, I said that 2004 marked the birth and takeoff of a new economic cycle. Let's look at a few figures, which I'm sure you're aware of, but they are an important part of my report, Mr. President. The growth of the Gross Domestic Product of Venezuela up to the third quarter, since we don't have the official figures for the fourth quarter yet, we'll have to wait for them so we can tell you about them officially, even though some figures have already been leaked. ECLAC, for example, has said that Venezuela's growth was the highest on this continent in 2004, and that's the way it was. But, the cumulative growth for these three quarters, up to September, is 20.8 % of the Gross Domestic Product, and that's a world record. We haven't heard of any economy in the last 50 years that has grown at that rate, and everything indicates that the real growth for last year, once the figures for the last quarter have been taken into account, will be, in the worst case scenario, 15 %, and in the best, close to 20 %, 18 % maybe. But, even given the impossible situation that growth in the last quarter was 0 %, it would still end up at 14 %, and that's an impossible supposition, so growth this year will be higher than 15 %.
That, citizen president of FEDECAMARAS, Venezuelan businessmen, that is positive for everyone. Let us go forward together, so that 2005 continues the expansion of this solid, sustainable growth for the benefit of the whole country.
How sad I felt in last year's economic report and the one for the year before that, when the Venezuelan economy plummeted by 8 % or 9 %. What's more, I knew it was not due to the government's mistakes, not due to economic mistakes, not due to the incorrect implementation of an economic policy. No, all of us here know, and even the harshest critics of my government should admit it, that the revolution's economic plan has been working, working since 1999, 2000 and 2001, when that madness at the end of 2001 broke loose for no real reason, for no real reason! Because this government considers itself to be the government of all and for all, and wants to listen to everyone and take everyone into account, from the richest to the poorest, from the darkest to the fairest of skin, including mixed race people, women, men, peasants, indigenous peoples, city dwellers, young people, not so young people, elderly people. My commitment is to everyone, that's what I feel. I ask God that one day those who don't believe this, those who don't believe me, realize the truth.
Admiral Maniglia, inspector general of the Armed Forces, was remembering, as he told me, that over 40 years ago he was reading the speech that President Kennedy gave when he took office back then in 1961. Last night in the early hours of the morning –this is something I thank the admiral for very much– a copy of that speech was delivered to me. In 1961, Kennedy spoke of the revolution of hope. Kennedy said that those who block the way for peaceful revolution are, at the same time, clearing the way, perhaps without realizing it, for violent revolutions.
What a great speech Kennedy gave on that day in January 1961; we were almost all of us children, with one or two exceptions. Some of us here were certainly already teenagers, like my friend Santiago de León, you were already a cadet, weren't you? You were already a cadet that year? What year did you start at the Academy? In 1958, you see, he was in fourth year or had already graduated. I will recommend something to you –the deputy fell from a horse and had a bone fracture– ask my brother Fidel for the formula, for he has fully recovered and is now rushing around.
Mr. Ambassador, I pray that Fidel Castro can give his formula for full and rapid recovery to Deputy and Colonel Santiago de León (Applause). He fell off his horse; well, he says that it was the horse that fell (Laughter), and I think that it probably was, because he's a brilliant horseman, I've seen him. The horse fell and, of course, so did he.
Well, what a great speech of Kennedy's: the revolution of hope. Just look what happened to Kennedy in Dallas shortly afterwards.
Okay, so, this successful economic growth is not owed to the government, Mr. President, it is owed to the workers, to the public sector, the private sector, to the real public and private managers, to the private and public businessmen, to the honest investors, who are in the majority, and I acknowledge them from here, and ask for a round of applause for all of them (Applause).
We've performed a kind of miracle, we've pulled the economy out of the ditch into which it had fallen –I had thought of bringing a screen and some overhead projections, but no, we'd rather do the pamphlet. This is not the right place for an overhead projection.
But take note of these details, these figures. The growth of non-oil economic activity, because some may say: Ah! The price of oil! No, the non-oil economy grew much more than the oil economy. The building sector, for example, grew 40.3 % --let's remember that this is all the first three quarters, the last quarter's not included; financial institutions grew 27.2 %; transport and storage grew 25.5 %; trade and services grew 24.8 %; the manufacturing sector grew 20.7 %. The private manufacturing sector, for example, just listen to these figures: vehicle production 161.3 %, wood production 132.3 %, clothing manufacturing 85.1 %. Shirts as beautiful as the one Juan Barreto is wearing, for example. Dr. Albis Muñoz has been offered one, Mr. Mayor, and please send one to me too, Venezuelan-made shirts.
Well, this sector grew 85.1 %, the clothing sector; furniture manufacturing 71.2 %.
Inflation was much lower –this figure is the official figure for the whole year, from the Central Bank– than we ourselves had estimated. Some critics, some economic analysts, who should do their homework, because they've got a doctorate from I don't know where, and doctorate on top of doctorate, and, well, they said to all of the media, at the beginning of the year, that Venezuela was heading for hyperinflation, that no one could stop it, that the government was rubbish, etc. Well, inflation was 19.2 %. It's still very high, but you have to remember that it had already reached 12 %, it was about that at the end of 2001 and it's gone down from more than 30 %. Under the previous government, it reached 100 %, I think that was in 1996 that it was higher than 100 %. It came from up there, from the wuthering heights, and now we're aiming for single digit inflation. Now we are, not dreaming, no, we're coming close to 10 %, to go lower than 10. Then came the madness and inflation went higher than 30 % again; now, this year, it's at 19.2 %, and inflation will continue to go down in 2005.
I'm calling on all of us to work towards that end.
In the first place, I want to call on the Central Bank itself –as they say in La Hojilla now: "With all due respect, ah, with all due respect", whenever they hit you it's with "all due respect"-- with all due respect, it seems to me that the method to measure inflation is not the best, because they only measure it in Caracas. There should be a method of measuring inflation in the country's major cities and in the countryside. Of course, that costs more, and you'd have to look for more people, but that creates more employment. But what does the Central Bank do? Their method is to go out and shop, for there's a group of people who go out to buy things and they go to a supermarket. I recently asked someone from the Central Bank: "But you don't go to MERCAL, you don't buy at MERCAL". And it turns out that at MERCAL – we'll look at the figures a little later- all through this year, inflation was zero, because they didn't raise the price of any food product by a single cent, zero inflation (Applause). And MERCAL is not just a couple of corner-shops, MERCAL is today the biggest food distribution network in Venezuela, that supplies good and cheap food to almost 10 million people and we're going to continue growing in 2005.
Now, we must undertake a revision of the way we measure inflation, it seems to me that it doesn't grasp the real situation in the country. It's as if you were going to measure, the quality of the soil in Lara state, and you were going to measure from Carora up. Well, what it will come out as is: "Lara state is infertile", someone might say. "No, but, what are you talking about; why don't you go and measure it over there in the valley of Quibor or the Turbio River valley, or in Apure". If we're going to measure in the Caribén dunes, south of Capanaparo, there is some very acid soil, but along the axis from San Fernando to Biruaca the soil is incredibly rich.
These are some rather modest comments, because I am not an expert on the subject, but I have put this question several times to the ministers in the economic cabinet and to some Central Bank officials.
Anyway, we accept that this is the figure, 19.2 %, but I call on the whole country. Do you know why? Firstly, as we increase production, we are attacking one of the structural causes of inflation, and, secondly, there is another factor here that has a big influence on inflation, more than you could imagine, and that is speculation, speculation in the distribution chains. There are organizations or people who buy a kilo tomatoes back there on the banks of Guárico river, let's say at X bolívares, and come here to Caracas, paying very little for transport and storage, to sell it at five times Xs, thus speculating.
I call on all of you, governors, mayors especially, those who work in the executive branch, financial supervisory bodies and, well, on the nation's sense of morality, that we all do our bit so that these urges to make a quick buck, with no regard for my comrade or my brother, are definitively eliminated.
Well, to sum up, inflation will continue to decrease, as will unemployment; that's another real figure from last year. It makes me really happy to tell you about it, because what happened in previous years made me really sad, after all we had done to bring unemployment down as we had done to 11 % in December 2001. However, unemployment went shooting up after the terrorist strikes, after the employer's lockouts, the factory closings, sabotage and all that stuff, and unemployment shot up to over 20 %, and that's not counting underemployment.
Unemployment this year 2004, stood at 10.9 % in December (Applause), another big step forward, 10.9 %. We're moving in that direction. And now we have to break the 10 % floor. We're aiming for one digit, as we are in inflation, and we're going to get there, I ask for national unity to achieve it, and, united, we will make it.
Some other economic performance figures are all the result of my government's very clear economic policies. For example, the Casa Corporation has been reborn. They had dismantled it during the Fourth Republic. In 2004, the Casa Corporation increased its storage capacity in silos by 425 %, and it's now that this will begin to bear fruit for national production and justice, mostly in the countryside. You know what I'm referring to. The silos, or many of them, were in the hands of a group of merciless exploiters, who paid the small producer a pittance so that he could then offer a deal to the monopolists. We have now regained control of more than 400 % of storage capacity.
The MERCAL programs or the MERCAL mission, the soup kitchens that are up and running all across the country, have now reached 1,047, and this number will continue to grow. That's MERCAL, maximum protection. Now that the governors are re-elected or recently elected – what pleasure it gives me my good comrade of many years standing, Brigadier Francisco Rangel, in this chamber, in his capacity as governor of Bolívar state (Applause). What pleasure it gives me to see you here as governor! Well, to mention just one case, I've already spoken about the governor of Nueva Esparta, Morell Rodríguez, all the governors. Johnny Yánez Rangel is over there, and over there is Tarek William Saab, making his debut as governor of the state of Anzoátegui (Applause). Liborio Guarulla is over there. He wasn't re-elected. There were no elections in Amazonas. We know there is going to be elections next year. Governors, who else is out there? mayors, there is Antonio Muñoz, who was re-elected governor in Portuguesa state (Applause). We're all going to work to speed up this project, this soup kitchen program, which you know is to care for street children; well, anyone who lives in the most abject poverty.
The MERCAL mission has already begun to sell, is selling quality food, at even lower than the regulated price, to 9 million, and we're heading for 10 million people as 2005 begins – I'm talking about the end of 2004-; there are now 9 million people who benefit from the MERCAL mission.
In January 2004, they started the year with a sale of 250 tons a day of food and growth was dramatic and they now sell 3,535 tons of food a day, after a logistic effort unprecedented in Venezuela in which, as in almost all of our projects, the Armed Forces has played a crucial role (Applause). I ask for a special round of applause for my comrades from the glorious Venezuelan Bolivarian Armed Forces, the National Armed Forces, and for the governors, the mayors, all the volunteers and the public in general who participated. This is the way to go, everybody united, everybody involved.
The private sector has been cooperating too, helping this mission. In the middle of the year, I authorized MERCAL to make regional purchases so they could expand the range of products supplied. And who sold to MERCAL? Private producers from all regions of the country. There's even MERCAL down there in San Cristóbal, and in Mérida, in the Supermercales, they sell flowers, they sell products other than those in the basic food basket, they sell handicrafts. Now there are plans to even sell very cheap, quality clothing in some MERCAL, and this range of products will continue to expand in 2005 and in coming years.
The growth of sales in MERCAL, to sum up, was of 631 % in 2004.
Agriculture, I'm an enthusiastic supporter of agriculture, because we continue to put our heart and soul into the national agriculture project, and we've started the year –as all of you know– full steam ahead, because no agricultural project will be successful in Venezuela if we do not do away with the obnoxious legacy of large land ownership (Applause). This is a true structural flaw.
In 2004, in spite of this structural flaw, of this enormous obstacle and many others, the number of hectares harvested, the amount of land harvested rose by 10.4 %; good progress in 2004.
The increase in production, especially in some branches that have a short growing cycle, was as follows: black beans 48.2 %, corn 13.5 %, cotton 73.6 %, and that is the result of government decisions and of coordination with producers and governors. I remember the Cotton Plan, that's what we called it, on the banks of the Orinoco and Apure rivers, which had no credit, no machinery, and we started by giving a little bit of support, what we have in fact given isn't a great deal, some support, but there, where people need everything, and look at the results, look at the response we get from our people, look at the response we get from our farmers. The cotton production growth was 73.6 %.
Rice 45.8 %, and I want to offer special congratulations to the farmers in Guárico and Portuguesa states for this great accomplishment, and to governors Manuit and Antonia Muñoz for this increase in rice production (Applause).
Beans 55.9 %, and potatoes a modest 4.8 %. We had some problems with potatoes but, still, there was a slight growth.
In this new economic cycle, it is worth quoting the following figures about the economy, especially about the social economy. The Bank of the Sovereign People gave 5,368 credits amounting to 21.7 billion bolívares. The Microfinancial Development Fund approved 6.186 credits amounting to 25 billion bolívares; the Women's Bank approved 12, 045 micro-credits amounting to 10.2 billion bolívares and BANDES gave out 10, 297 micro-credits amounting to 92.7 billion bolívares. This is one of our revolution's policies, this policy of micro-credits to the poorest, which is accompanied by, or rather preceded by training, by community organization, so that the investment may be effective, and it is being effective.
Thirteen irrigation systems have been reactivated nationally; we also reactivated the irrigation systems of the rivers Guárico and Tiznado and three irrigation systems in Aragua state.
Industrial production –this is very important information, because it also gives an idea of the recovery achieved in the Venezuelan Corporation of Guayana and in other areas of domestic industrial production, and the governor of Bolívar state deserves a great deal of credit for this, as does the current president of the VCG, Rafael Sánchez Márquez.
VCG-Alcaza, Aluminios del Caroní's production rose by 25 % in 2004. The production record in Venalum and in VCG-Proforca was beaten. The energy output of VCG-Edelca, the Caroni electrification, increased by 16 %. The total income of VCG was 5,5 billion bolívares and, throughout the country, 251 companies were re-industrialized. I'd like to repeat my message to the domestic private sector. How could anyone think that we want to destroy any company? Not one, not a single one! What we want is coordination, to have a concerted action between the government, the state, the private sector and the workers to continue with this process of re-industrializing the country, of democratizing the economy, of pushing a productive, diversified economic model as the sovereign constitution demands, which allows us to generate enough wealth to be distributed amongst all, so we may achieve the goal that Bolívar set for us almost 200 years ago: the greatest possible degree of happiness for all.
The financial sector, and this is very important too, and here we have to express our appreciation for the coordinated action of the public and private banks, with one or two exceptions, but they're just exceptions. The level of financial intermediation –and this is very important for national development– increased by 32.12 %. This is the bank's most important role, not speculation, nor encouraging capital flight.
Furthermore, to continue giving a boost, this time to the public financial sector, the country's fund for economic and social development was set up. You may remember how they made fun of me for using a word from the back of beyond, they started that joke about the little billion, do you remember? The little billion for Chávez. Well, no, it's not the little billion for Chávez, anyway, it was two little billion in the end (Laughter). The squeaky wheel… (The public shouts out: "Gets the grease!") That's right. Two billion dollars! That's not for me or for salary increases for the president, the ministers and the bureaucracy. No. All of that money, which we finally called FONDESPA –a name I never liked, but, well, it stuck– FONDESPA (Fund for the Economic and Social Development of the Country), was founded then. Since the Central Bank wouldn't have it any which way, in order not to go on fighting with my friend Diego Luis Castellanos, who I thank very much for his work as head of the Central Bank, because I soon will be appointing a new president of the Central Bank (Applause). In a few days I will be sending my choice to this Assembly for its consideration, as the constitution ordains. Diego Luis is coming to the end of his term in office, he's a good friend, you know, I hold him in high esteem. I send him my greetings from here, with all due respect, everything I have said to him is always with all due respect.
We reached an agreement with the Central Bank, you see, because the constitution and the law provide that there has to be an agreement between the government and the Central Bank. They finally agreed to the following: not to use the international reserves, but to use a part of oil income; instead of accumulating reserves, we created the revolving fund of up to 2 billion dollars. It's begun to fill up again, because we have already distributed the 2 billion, but this is for projects of such great importance to all of us, as, for example, the La Vueltosa hydroelectric power station. This is one of those projects. I don't have the list handy, but the other one is the motorway to the east. The other project has to do with special allocations to accelerate work on the subways, the Los Teques subway, for example, which I hope to open…when was it, Carrizales, what did they tell us? God willing, we'll open it in 2006 – it's one hell of a subway for Los Teques! Ten minutes from here to Los Teques, that's amazing!
We've allotted money from this fund for another thermoelectric plant in the middle of the country; to the Conviasa airline, which is already flying, thanks to this fund, Conviasa taken off (Applause); to the Ezequiel Zamora sugar mill, there in Barinas, the building of which was making very slow progress for lack of resources, now we've speeded up the construction of this mill, which is going to be one of the best in all of South America, Latin America and the Caribbean.
Well, a real oil-sowing season, and I am going to borrow that phrase from the well-remembered, much-respected Dr. Arturo Uslar Pietri, who –as we all know– when we hadn't yet been born, back then in the forties, when our country was governed by general Isaías Medina, he spoke of an oil-sowing season. Anyway, we set up 29 trusteeships through the Bank for Social and Economic Development.
Exchange controls worked efficiently in 2004, efficiently and rapidly to see to the demands of importers and of the Venezuelan economy. We even exceeded 10 billion dollars in allocations in 2004, exchange controls pretty well suited to the needs of the country. The interest rate dropped to 15.6 %, which is also very important. The country risk dropped to 379 basic points. Our international reserves broke a historic record and reached 24 billion dollars at the closing of the year. Venezuela is one of the few countries in the world that can pay all or almost all of its foreign debt with its international reserves, a true record.
The rate of royalties stood at 20 %; that's also very important: it's now at 16.6 %. This year we began a process of recovering full oil sovereignty. You know that previous governments signed agreements that were really harmful to our national interests. One of these came under the so-called oil opening, under which agreements were made which allowed the foreign companies with which we were working, --and we are working well with all of them-- to not pay, or pay practically no royalties. In fact, 1 % is almost nothing. Where in the world does oil pay only 1% royalties? Well, not in Iraq, not even with all that's happening there, and which we really regret. That was done violating the 1961 constitution and violating the old Hydrocarbons Law. So, we took the decision to implement the provisions of the law, including what the previous law said, which had already been repealed: 16.6 % royalties. This is a first step towards the recovery of full national oil sovereignty.
The financial sector, I want a round of applause for SENIAT, for its first-rate performance this year (Applause), for superintendent Vielma Mora and all the officials and workers in SENIAT (Applause).The increase in tax collection this year was 136.7 % and non-oil tax income reached 85 %. This really is a record in Venezuelan history.
This, Mr. President, with respect to the other information I've already mentioned, is one of the most important indicators of 2004: the birth and takeoff of a new economic cycle of growth and expansion. Let's take care of it, let's continue to sow and fertilize it, so that, in a very short time, we shall have a sound Venezuelan economy. We have the wherewithal to do this. I pray to God and let's do all that we have to do so that the Venezuelan economy continues to get back on track and, moreover, continues to get back its sovereignty and its capacity to create happiness for all Venezuelans.
Thirdly, I said, deputies, that 2004 saw the strengthening and expansion of the social inclusion missions. Here too, allow me to give you some statistics.
The coffee's here, that's brilliant, because it helps me to get my strength back, and it helps all of you too, coffee's very good, it was a good initiative by President Nicolás Maduro.
Thank you, Mr. President, for the excellent coffee that they have here in the Assembly (Applause).
Do you want a coffee, José Vicente? He drinks tea with milk, a green Chinese tea that Khan…Chino, you should drink green tea. I'm really so happy to see you, comrade! (Applause). What a scare you gave us, José Khan, deputy and friend. You have to go on a diet, take good care of yourself, walk (Something is said to him).
I'm giving the coach signal, as Rosinés tells me too. Okay, cool.
The missions, the wonder of 2004! Moreover, 2005 will be a year in which the social missions will speed up and new missions will begin. For example, Barrio Adentro is now entering its second phase. This very year we're going to launch Barrio Adentro II. I'm going to tell you something about this mission, which I planned with my good friend and comrade Fidel Castro. In the visit we made to Cuba in December, we began working already, because it is part of the Cuba- Venezuela Cooperation Agreement, and, besides, we have signed, within the international offensive, the Strategic Alliance Agreement which gives birth to the Bolivarian Alternative for Latin America (ALBA) in Latin America and the Caribbean (Applause).
Now, listen compatriots from all over Venezuela, these figures concerning the missions, they give us a certain idea, a certain idea of how marvelous these revolutionary programs are..
The educational missions were joined by a total of 3,844,000 people in 2004. Do your arithmetic, of the approximate 25 million that we already are, according to INE (National Statistics Institute) figures, we are nearing 26 million. We are on our way to 30 million, the giant is growing.
There are 3,844,000 people participating in the educational missions. And who were these people? The excluded; they had been left out. This from Robinson I, Robinson II to Sucre; facilitators of the great national group of volunteers of the educational missions, 250,000, a true army of volunteers; facilities prepared, the premises, 2,624 at national level, more than 15 million cassettes produced , more than 90 million printouts distributed; 1,640,000 family libraries delivered, with a priority to the new readers and the children that completed the 6th grade.
I want to acknowledge the Cuban people and government, because all these cassettes, printed material and family libraries have been produced in Cuba. Thank you distinguished Ambassador; convey our thanks to President Fidel Castro (Applause).
Robinson Mission I was joined by 1,411,000 Venezuelans and up to now 1,371,595 have completed the literacy course; 1,300,000, almost 1,400,000. Soon Venezuela will be an illiteracy-free region. We have not tried to go too fast with this, because you have to follow the strictest procedures and meet the strictest requirements, imposed by ourselves, in the first place, and by the U.N. in the second place, since there are world parameters to meet; but soon, and I ask you all to step up in the next few months Mission Robinson I: Literacy Campaign, I certainly can.
Well, there are 1,371,000 who have completed the course.
Mission Robinson II enrolled –this is very important to finish primary school, and these are all quality processes– 1,261,000 Venezuelans and 87,000 facilitators are with them in 81,300 premises. Also, a mass scholarship plan began in 2004. This had never happened before in all of Venezuela's history. For example, for Robinson II,100,862 scholarships are being granted to the poorest students, to the most needy ones, because they are, as Victor Hugo said, and I quote him again, les miserables, those who lived in poverty all of their lives. The light of hope has arrived for them. Thank you God for allowing us to bring the light of hope to so many people! (Applause).
The effectiveness of the Cuban method I certainly can has been proven once again. Of course, we have "Venezuelanized" it here, we have even adapted it by regions. This method is not the same in Zulia as it is in La Guayana, or over there in Margarita, distinguished Governor, or in el Táchira, so we have been regionalizing the I certainly can method.
The I certainly can and I certainly can continue methods have had an effectiveness of 97 %. I certainly can continue is a Venezuelan invention.
All the regions are being benefited. There is not a single region that has not been benefited from these Robinson educational missions, including the penitentiaries, incorporating the indigenous languages over there where our brothers in Amazonas, in Bolivar, in La Goajira, in the Mesa de Guanipa, in the Amacuro Delta live. We have published booklets in indigenous languages. We are saving indigenous languages that were being lost in the voices of the jungle, because the indigenous people did not know how to write. Now they are learning to write their own language, besides Spanish, abiding by the Constitution. That had never before been done in Venezuela and I think that it is being done in very few places in the world today.
The Ribas Mission is also a marvelous mission to complete secondary school. Seven hundred and twenty-six thousand six hundred and eighty- one Winners in 29,000 premises all over the country, with 31,000 facilitators and 3,700 coordinators have joined the mission! And there are the scholarships. The scholarships of the Ribas Mission have already reached 200,000, and they are scholarships – to put it in terms of dollars, distinguished ambassadors – of 100 dollars a month each, which gives us a total of 200,000 in the Ribas Mission. It is 100,000 in Robinson II – we have already gone over 100,000, but let us round it off to 100,000 –and this year we are reaching 150,000. We said, Aristóbulo, 200,000 and a bit more, but let us round it off to 200,000 in Ribas. It's 300,000, and the Sucre Mission also has 100,000 scholarships. There are 400,000 scholarships only in the missions. We are not talking about the regular education system. At 100 dollars a month, it is 40 million dollars a month. Forty million dollars a month!
Neoliberals say that's losing money. Ah, they don't know the truth of life!
Man, the human being, said Christ; I repeat, alpha and omega; Bolivar said, "Nations will march toward their greatness at the same pace as their education marches" These scholarships will enable those hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans to subsist while they study. Otherwise, most of them would not be able to, they would end up dropping out as they did 20 years ago, or 40 in some cases, or more. A 90-year-old man who learned to read and write answered my question: "And why didn't you ever go to school? He said: How could I, Mr. President, if I began working with my father in our smallholding since I was five years old? He enrolled me in a little school, but I could not study, hunger did not let me." That's what he said.
If we don't help them now with that 100-dollar-a- month scholarship, once again they will be driven away from the classroom by hunger, poverty, and more than poverty, destitution.
That is what is marvelous about these missions which we, distinguished governors, ministers and deputies, must continue to put our souls into. Let us put our souls into these missions to strengthen them even more and to extend them throughout our land.
Well, now, the Ribas Mission has 201,540 scholarships and, I repeat, 726,681 people enrolled. The Sucre Mission included 334,453 high school graduates, of whom 155,999 finished the university initiation program (PIU) in 2004. 76,864 enrolled in university studies and 53,069 are in the municipalization program, right there where they live, in 10, 816 chapters all over the country.
We have already begun the construction of the university villages with all the equipment required; because we will gradually improve the missions. Right now, many are watching the lessons in a house yard, although almost all of them are in high schools during the evening or in Bolivarian schools, or in the town hall, or in a church.
There are many priests… Just as I lashed out a while ago against the Catholic leadership, I want to wholeheartedly embrace the Venezuelan priests that are everywhere amongst our people, crying out and struggling in this valley of tears, with Christ's cross and the sublime love for the great causes of the peoples (Applause).
Very well then, 100,000 scholarship students. Just look at these data that minister Samuel Moncada has given me and that come from a statistical survey.
I ask all the ministers, Mr. Vice-President, all the ministers, especially those of the social areas, to continue developing instruments to measure reality with a greater accuracy; and to understand the mathematics of it, it is essential to contrast, to compare, if not, it is difficult to understand.
When I was telling you a while ago that Banco del Pueblo gave so many loans this year, 2004, I forgot to mention how many it gave in 2003, in order to have an idea of the progress. If not, how can we contrast it? That is nature, the colors, the contrast, it's the day, the night.
I want to continue insisting on this, and especially with the mathematicians, like minister Merentes. Everyone should have a good statistics team in the governors' offices, the mayors' offices, to measure, to measure ourselves and admit our errors, to correct them, to look at the variables.
Here's some data collected by the Ministry of Higher Education's team. Look at these details, these are strange data, we could call them that, strange data: in 2004, Venezuela, for the first time, had a million and a half students in higher education. Someone might say: "Well, that's because of population growth", and it might be logical to explain it in this way. But let's look a little further into this data.
In 2004 alone, 400, 000 students began to pursue higher-education studies! This figure is equal to 80 % of all the university students that there were in Venezuela in 1998. There has never been in all of Venezuela's history a year that had such a sudden increase in higher education. Half of the 400,000 new students in 2004 came from the Sucre Mission.
Higher education budgets.
Previous governments had budgets more or less frozen. We have to remember here that they even went as far as to suggest privatizing higher education, with that neoliberal tell tale that, well, students in higher education could work and pay for their studies. This would have sealed the fate of the poor forever.
Compared to 1998, between 1999 and 2004, the higher education budget has increased thirty six times. The number of students benefited jumped from 14,000 in 2003 to 104,000 in 2004, and the figure allocated to the students reached 128 billion bolívares.
And this figure provides us with some strange data, extraordinary data, which I mentioned in Alo Presidente: in a year and a half, the Sucre Mission has managed to bring more students into higher education than all of the graduates of the Central University of Venezuela in its entire history, and the CUV is 280 years old. Official data: in a year and a half, the Sucre Mission has managed to bring into higher education more students than all of the graduates from the Central University of Venezuela in its entire history (Applause).
Here are the figures.
The total number of graduates from the Central University between 1725 and 2004 is 146,646, and the number registered in the Sucre Mission is 264, 007. And when the Sucre Mission begins to turn out graduates, I am sure –I dare to predict– that within five or six years the Sucre Mission will have had more graduates in five years than the Central University has had in its entire history. This is what we hope for.
The other amazing and miraculous mission, the Barrio Adentro Mission, just look at these facts:
The recorded number of visits to the doctor in Barrio Adentro, the historic total is close to 86,500,000. Once again, thanks to Cuba, to its doctors, thanks to Venezuelan doctors, to the Cuban and Venezuelan nurses and to all the volunteers, the health committees, thanks to the governors, the mayors, thanks to all of those who are working in this miraculous mission of justice (Applause). Render unto God that which is God's and unto Caesar that which is Caesar's.
Well then, this curious data that the Minister of Health Francisco Armada gave me: in the five years between 1993 and 1998, records show that 70 million people went to the doctor in the public system or in what was left of it. In five years, 70 million visits to the doctor! In 2004 alone, in Barrio Adentro alone, 76 million people visited the doctor, more than all the visits in the whole country in the five years before we took office (Applause).
What's more, there were 20 million visits to the doctor made in the traditional health system in 2004; but we started out with 14 million, 12 million visits in 2000. We have improved the capacity of the traditional health system, so with the traditional public health system and Barrio Adentro combined, we had almost 100, 000 million visits to the doctor in 2004 alone. This is a record, I think it's a world record, if we take into account the size and makeup of our population, that is to say, four times the Venezuelan population, as if each Venezuelan had, on average, made four visits to the doctor.
I hope you realize the importance of this. We are securing medical care to all Venezuelans and especially those who have been excluded all of their lives. We now have 20,000 Cuban doctors and dental surgeons and the number of Venezuelan doctors continues to grow. And I appeal to Venezuelan doctors and nurses. I congratulate those who have already joined, but let's all, governors and mayors, launch a national campaign, let's go looking for doctors. There are many who would like to join, let's make it easier for them to join this mission, to join their Cuban fellow doctors.
135 million cases have been seen in Barrio Adentro, a hundred and thirty five million cases! This includes the visits to the doctor, this is the accumulated total for 2003 and 2004, 86 million; home visits amount to 35 million, because the doctors make home visits, they don't just see people in their offices; family visits are 12,472,000; visits by nurses is 17,988,000; lives saved, and this isn't poetry, these are verified facts, and, quite simply, if the doctor hadn't been nearby, the person would have died; 22,012 Venezuelans who would have been in the graveyard today if it hadn't been for the Barrio Adentro Mission, twenty two thousand and twelve! 1,339 baby deliveries attended by doctors. And something that is very important in terms of our vision of preventive healthcare, and that's educational activities, 48, 066, 000 educational activities throughout Venezuela.
In the first week of 2005, we set off at full steam, 2, 047, 000 cases were seen in the first week of 2005, in just one week, there were 1, 238, 821 visits to the doctor in that one week. In that first week of 2005, the average number of visits per doctor per day was 18.3. My, these Cubans work hard! Mr. Ambassador, please convey to each and every one of them our admiration, our appreciation and our gratitude. 18.3 (Applause).
Here are some details about the Barrio Adentro Mission, and here we are not including the thousands of Venezuelans who went to Havana for delicate surgeries, as part of the Miracle Mission, delicate eye surgeries. Thousands of Venezuelans have regained their sight, from children to elderly people; that's the Miracle Mission, which is part of the Barrio Adentro Mission.
Now, I'm not going to fall into the temptation of making announcements here; I'll limit myself to this one, which is very important, and we'll talk about this in more detail in Alo Presidente and on other programs. I want to say –I've already told you about it, but now I'm going to give you more details-- that we have started phase II of Barrio Adentro, and this will consist of something that very few people are going to believe right now. Some will say Chávez is delirious, go get a doctor, a psychologist, like when Jean Valjean got to court and they were going to condemn a poor man, for they said that he was Jean Valjean and Valjean had changed his identity, he was a fugitive, he was the mayor who was much loved in those towns. When he saw that they were going to condemn the poor man- he could have remained quiet, how noble was that man!- he entered as the mayor and said to the Chief Justice: "Mr. President, arrest me, I am Jean Valjean, free that man." A few people will think that way. Then the Chief Justice didn't believe the mayor, a very prestigious mayor who was also very good, like Juan Barreto, like Pepe Rangel, like Freddy Bernal. How good, Freddy, that the rubbish… Now it is true (Laughter), now we are indeed going to win the war on rubbish. Thanks to Mayor Freddy Bernal (Applause), of course, he had help, so did Juan Barreto.
No, honestly, you can count on my and our support. We're going to support a special project with PDVSA social funds to make Caracas into a clean city. And I ask the support of all the men and women of Caracas (Applause), and all those who support Caracas.
What has come of the Magallanes? Magallanes made a leap forward, says President Nicolás, but into the void (Laughter).
Okay, very well, on that occasion, when Jean Valjean said "Arrest me, your honor. Release that man, he is innocent", well, nobody believed him, he himself had to call the three witnesses who had been in prison for many years, and the three said: "Yes, he is Jean Valjean, that is he, he was a prisoner with me, and with me, and with me", and, at that time, Jean Valjean himself was mayor. He called the prisoners one by one. "And you? Do you have a date tattooed on you? Take off your shirt. The date on which the emperor disembarked", Napoleon, and, in fact, there it was, and he showed them that he was Jean Valjean.
Well, Mr. President, let no one here call a psychologist or a doctor after I say this, but this is what we're going to achieve in the agreement with Cuba that has already been approved by both presidents, President Fidel Castro and your humble servant, and we're already working to make it come true. We need the support of the whole country, governors, mayors, communities, private businessmen too, all deputies, and it's possible and we're going to do it.
Now I will tell you: this year with Barrio Adentro II, we're going to open 600 diagnostic centers all across the country; as of now, we have 84 which we opened at the end of the year. Because, of course, a doctor in a neighborhood, in the countryside, in the city, or wherever he is, alone with his stethoscope, his thermometer and some other equipment, well, Fidel said to me: "Chávez, it's like sending a soldier to war, but armed with a harquebus, without a compass and without map", and that's true. And if we consider the shortages that we still have in our health system, which we've been shoring up a lot in a group of our hospitals, especially in the Military Hospital thanks to the Minister of Defense Jorge García Carneiro (Applause), to the director of the Military Hospital (Applause), because the Military Hospital has been turned into a Barrio Adentro center. Of course we've renovated it from the basement to the roof. The Clinical University Hospital has also been giving a great deal of support to Barrio Adentro, and other hospitals too. But there are big shortages in most of the hospitals that we have been addressing and that we will continue to address; but there is no doubt that this led us to draw up the plan for the diagnostic centers. As of now, we have 84, but we're going to open 600 all across the country. By the end of the third quarter, according to the plan we have, Minister Armada, they should be completed.
These diagnostic centers operate out of small locales and all are going to have the necessary equipment –to serve the middle class as well. What does any surgery cost today? What does a tomography cost? How many middle class families are hard pressed because of a disease and four medical exams? Well, these clinics will provide such services free of charge for all (Applause).
In December Fidel showed me in Havana a letter from an upwardly mobile middle class Venezuelan engineer that lives on the east side of Caracas. While taking a taxi home –this was recently, in November- he felt a sharp pain and the worried driver told him: "Sir, I know a nearby Barrio Adentro clinic, do you want me to take you there?" And that's where he ended up. It was late at night but these centers operate 24 hours. They performed the pertinent exams on him –they have emergency services- he rested a while, they gave him painkillers, an emergency medicine, and they told him to return the following day for further exams. He returned, they did the tests and it turned out he even had a cataract. He ended up going to Cuba where he had a cataract operation and returned home cured. So, it was he, a middle class Venezuelan engineer that sent a letter Fidel was nice enough to show me: "Look Chavez, you see how grateful people are?"
Therefore I want to tell the entire country today that this is not only available to the middle class but also to those that have a high income and economic status. They are open 24-hours to any Venezuelan or any other person visiting the country from anywhere in the world, there's no distinction made, they are open to all.
Six hundred diagnostic centers. What's the minimum they will have? Governors, start looking for locales. Starting today I am requesting all governors, Governor Morel, all governors, all mayors, it doesn't matter if they are Accion Democratica, why should it matter to me?, I'll give them special recognition, and even from any political party, from here on the east side of Caracas, the mayors of the east, besides Pepe Rangel, the mayors of Baruta, of Chacao, we must also set up free diagnostic centers for those who live in those communities (Applause). They are all Venezuelans.
An X-ray machine and other modern equipment, an ultrasound, an endoscope, an electrocardiograph, to do the diagnostic work I explained. The second cause of death in Venezuela, after traffic accidents, is heart attacks, heart disease. And the painful accidents are a public health problem that also must be addressed. Hence we also have to carry out a stronger campaign, all cabinet members, ministers of education, health, and I'm making a call to the news media to help out as well.
There's going to be an electrocardiograph, not just for diagnostic purposes; it's important that people get a check up even if they are feeling like a teenager (Laughs). Why are you laughing so? What other word can I use? Fresh as a grapes. Thanks Mr. Carreño, they are so delicious (Laughs). Excuse me Mr. Deputy, vice president. Like grapes, as Pedro Carreño suggested. Thanks Carreño.
Look, it's not just for the diagnosis, it is necessary to do a heart check up. This is done in 10 or 15 minutes, the diagnosis, to evaluate the heart functioning. Besides, we are going to include a defibrillator to treat heart emergencies. When heart attack or pre- heart attack occurs, many people die because there are no such machines close by. The majority of people who die from heart attack don't die at the moment. They die on route to wherever they are going. Often nervous people put them in a car, there's no doctor, there's no ambulance, or they arrive at the hospital and no one's on duty to attend to them and the person dies. Most die on the road.
So these are going to be available in the entire country, as well as defibrillators for emergency pre-heart attacks or attacks; there will be a clinical laboratory in each center, especially equipped for blood and stool exams where microbes and viruses can be detected so the doctor can treat them directly. It's like a soldier, a pair of binoculars and a map, it's identifying the problem. It's an ultra- micro-analytical system to verify the presence of a virus like dengue, hepatitis or AIDS, that wasn't detected through the blood and stool exams. And I am making a call to step up the campaign and actions to prevent AIDS, which continues to cause grief on the planet, and of course, threatens with its presence here in Venezuela. You always tend to think: "No, I can't get it," that's what you always think, a natural mechanism, no?, like the paratrooper accustomed to saying: "No, I jump and nothing happens to me".
Thus, this ultra-micro-analytical system allows to detect the presence of viruses.
I've only spoken on the first aspect of Barrio Adentro II, the 600 diagnostic centers; but, besides, they are going to be accompanied by other components including 600 eye clinics. Besides the ophthalmologist services, something very important to save lives, there will also be 600 intensive care units with artificial respiration machines (Applause).
We are going to install all that. I always ask God for his help. Fidel, since he is an atheist, the last time he wrote me he said: "Chavez, may God help you and your friends." Fidel Castro is a Christian in the social sense; he always clarifies, in the social sense. Therefore, I'm asking God to help us and I ask for help from the entire nation. This is not only the responsibility of the government. Yes, we are most responsible, but I am asking everyone for help, everyone.
The Alo Presidente telephone lines are open to any Venezuelan. If anyone on the east side of Caracas or in the middle class districts, like Santa Monica, for example, which I know or Prado de Maria, which I also know well –I used to live there- in any city or over there in the east, La Trinidad, if any family has a locale they'd like to make available to the Barrio Adentro Mission, then let us know, call us on the Alo Presidente line or through any other of the many existing channels, or the media, or at Miraflores or the Ministry of Health to start once and for all. Governors and mayors, let's start identifying locales. They can't be just any place because they need to be located in conjunction with the Barrio Adentro system. They can't be disconnected; they must be part of the system that we have already begun: the neighborhood doctor's offices, the health clinics, etc.
I continue with the miracle: we are going to install 600 physical therapy and rehabilitation centers throughout the country (Applause). What happens with the many people that even go to Cuba or elsewhere and have an surgery on a knee, arm or other body part? They return here and don't have the money to pay for rehabilitation; which is long in many cases, or for life, just as with those who suffer from a cerebrovascular accident that needs permanent treatment. But how can we maintain it? This is very important for the full mental and physical health of the individual and society. These 600 physiotherapy and rehabilitation centers are going to have the necessary equipment for the following areas: electrotherapy, hydrotherapy, mechanical therapy and gymnasiums, occupational therapy, defectology, speech impediments, and podology. These areas are going to be treated in the 600 physical therapy and rehabilitation centers.
But, besides that, an even crazier idea, or the most quixotic of all, is going to be the following: We are going to install 32 –to date this is the number we believe necessary-- high-tech diagnostic centers, one for each state and the metropolitan district; there might be two in Miranda and Zulia, in some states; but at least there will be one in each state. We're estimating 32, with the most advanced equipment existing today in the world.
For these high-tech diagnostic centers we need to find locales and if there are none available then find property and start building. We are already working on the blueprints of a model center.
These facilities are going to have nuclear magnetic resonance technologies; they are going to have tomography equipment capable of 16 or more virtual slices, the most modern in the world, they are going to have three dimensional ultrasound equipment for the heart and other organs. Each of these 32 high-tech diagnostic centers are going to have a video endoscope, a complete laboratory, an ultra- micro-analytical system and a moveable X-ray table.
And to continue advancing this year with Barrio Adentro Mission, the Bolivarian University, with the help from other universities in the country, and based on the Barrio Adentro Mission, this year we are going to begin classes for 20,000 young people of the Sucre Mission to become integrally trained general practitioners (Applause). The first figure we estimated, Ministers of Higher Education and of Health –over there are Samuel and Francisco; they, besides are very young and can work 28 hours a day- was very modest, it is not enough. We need to speed things up. So, the rounded off figure is 20,000 young people to begin the first stage of their education to become integral general practitioners, so that they can meet the needs of Barrio Adentro. And although we don't want the Cuban doctors to leave us, you are aware that it is only fair and necessary that they do so someday, in the coming years, to return to our dear and sisterly Cuba when we are capable not only of filling their posts but also to follow their example, and why not, within a few years, just as Cuba has generously provided us with nearly 20,000 doctors and dentists, who are here body and soul carrying out their mission in Venezuela –just recently, a few days ago, one of those doctors died in a traffic accident, a young woman, it was very painful for us. In the not too far off future, Venezuela, Bolivarian Venezuela, should also –to be faithful followers of the ideals of Bolivar-- have legions of doctors and then join with Cuba and many other nations of the Americas and the world to combat the tragedy of poverty, the tragedy of destitution, anywhere in the world where our participation is needed (Applause).
Mr. President, honorable deputies, 2004 was the year of the strengthening and expansion of the missions for social inclusion; and this year, 2005, we are going to continue strengthening and widening the initiatives of inclusion.
Fourthly, as I said a while ago, 2004 was also the year for activating the model of endogenous territorial development. As to this point, I am not going to elaborate much, because up until now gains in this area have been modest. But the one great achievement has been the design of the endogenous model. It has been the rescuing of the concept of endogenous territorial development. This has been the reshaping of special development zones. In the early morning today I had a conversation with Minister Francisco Natera—he has done a great job. I ask for special recognition for him. He came from the private sector where he served as president of FEDECAMARAS (Applause), and is working hard, sometimes without the necessary resources. And this year, 2004, we are witnessing a veritable leap in the design as much as in the execution of programs in the special development zones. The increase of livestock, for example, was important in the year 2004; as were loans for cacao and palm oil in the zone extending from Lake Maracaibo to Barlovento to the coasts of Apure and the Mesa de Guanipa. These are special development zones that are beginning to take shape. No one here knew what it was.
We passed laws, we designed a plan –but in a very general way. Now we are focusing on the special development zones. In addition, we have promoted the development project in the regions of the country with the vision of endogenous development. For this purpose, we have created the Ministry of People's Economy. We have already identified 1,000 centers of endogenous development, as well as a number of endogenous development areas.
And the special development zones, their headquarters, are nothing but regional zones of endogenous development. I repeat, the great achievement in this area in 2004 was the redesigning and re- launching of the original plan of the special development zones, which is one of the axes of territorial development in the Bolivarian project.
This year —and I announce it in a very general manner— the 1,000 endogenous centers, already identified and 25% of them in operation, the Vuelvan Caras Mission began as a wave; socially excluded people across the country are now being trained…
A short time ago we saw on Channel Eight and on Vive Television some extraordinary documentaries from the Mesa de Guanipa, one of the endogenous centers that PDVSA is promoting there. Now Governor Terek William Saab with Governor Briceño there in the grasslands of Monagas, the endogenous center is a marvelous thing that is beginning and, in addition, fostering solidarity and awakening the ingenuity and creativity of our people.
To promote this, I have said to Minister Elías Java that these 1,000 endogenous centers, almost 25% of which are in operation, --and we are going to continue putting them into operation progressively to expand them as people complete the training that the ministry, through INCE and other institutions, and the armed forces, are giving across the country-- to turn these centers into productive units, because we cannot allow our people to go to work there equipped only with their fingernails, we must provide them with the tools and technology as well as with the capacity and social organization for production along with the necessary credits.
I must tell you that, as a result of the additional oil income in 2004, for the support of this project of the endogenous centers—and governors and mayors, I hope that you too continue to cooperate with this plan from below and from within, and precisely because it is endogenous this must come from below and from within, as the girl here just said—I have reserved—and I will see to it, Mr. President, that respective proposals for additional credits are progressively made to the National Assembly—the amount of one billion dollars to support industrialization in a steady and consistent manner (Applause). And toward this goal, we are going to work in close coordination with sisterly nations, such as Brazil.
From Brazil we have brought this year 5,000 pregnant cows of the Girolando breed, most of which have already delivered their calves. They are best suited for this land and climate. This Girolando livestock is being brought from the area south to the lake down to the eastern grasslands, and this year a further 5,000 heads are expected to come. These will be provided through the Ministry of Special Development Zones, through CORPOZULIA, and also through the CVG and the Ministry of Agriculture. This means that we are going to continue strengthening this resource through various ways.
Where is the sense in giving a group of countrymen, for example, 100 acres of recovered land, which in the best case belonged to PDVSA and were held by them underutilized, as we are doing. Because first we are initiating, as you know, the recovery of state assets and their transfer to the people, because we are continuing to strengthen, in a very concrete manner, the following directive: if we want to end poverty, we must give the poor power, knowledge, land, credit, technology, and organization. This is the only way to end poverty (Applause).
In 2004, fellow countrymen and comrades, ladies and gentlemen, Venezuela continued to advance, and strongly, as an alternative model to savage neoliberalism that has destroyed and that threatens to finish off entire peoples. Here, an alternative model that is attracting the attention of millions and millions is functioning. I could probably say hundreds of millions—or more, possibly billions of people on this planet. And if there were life on Mars — it seems that there isn't, but if there were— I am sure that there would also be followers of what is occurring here in Venezuela (Applause). Because this is a true alternative, like a hope for millions who have lost hope around the planet in view of the plans to impose the neo-liberal model upon us, the Washington Consensus, and the recipes of the International Monetary Fund: savage recipes that wiped out and killed millions of human beings, and brought poverty and destitution to hundreds of millions. These were entire peoples devastated by neo-liberalism. Here there is work around an alternative project, and it is this one; it is here, it is only that we are building it.
So then, the Vuelvan Caras Mission and the Ministry of the People's Economy are being formed as part of a new institutionalization by the State, so that it becomes truly social, lawful and just, through that new model of endogenous territorial development.
In addition, I have said that many countries such as Brazil, Argentina… soon we will meet President Lula and President Kirchner. Argentina has also been supporting us and is going to continue supporting us. We are going to buy from Argentina, while we are going to begin manufacturing products here –if not everything, a good part of what we need. But in the meantime, Argentina is offering us a cotton ginnery. So, we are going to bring it here; just as we are bringing sugar refineries from Cuba– one is going to be set up in Cojedes. We already have the land and the project in place there.
Now, will that be conducive to State capitalism? No. It is a social economy model based on co-management by the state, the private sector, and the workers. It is a new economic management, a new model. It is not state capitalism in the classical sense that we are going to reproduce here; that has failed too, that is not the way either.
We are working together with China, with India —soon we shall be going to India— with Iran, Spain, and many other countries. We are working with businesspeople from those countries, ministers, the public sector, the private sector, scientists, technicians; and you are all going to see what happens here.
What has happened up to now is little compared to what is going to happen here. Great things are going to happen here! Things much greater than what has ever happened! (Applause)
Next, and fifthly, there was the international offensive and counter- offensive. The year 2004 was one of international counter- offensive, especially in the last part of the year, after the August 15 referendum, when the message was once again clearly put across, clearly as if sung by Juan de los Santos Contreras, our Carrao de Palmarito, our Clarín de Llanura, the voice of Venezuelans, as clear as the call of the limpkin in the grasslands of our nation, as clear as the wake-up call of the bugler in the beloved barracks of our homeland.
We really launched the international counteroffensive after the 15th of August ─naturally we had organized it earlier─ and that was how Venezuela, to make a quick jump, joined MERCOSUR. We are now members of MERCOSUR; that is the course, the course of the South (Applause).
I would like to mention another important international event. Five years ago, in Canada, we stated our position ─both orally and in the minutes that were signed that day-, that all the continent's presidents minus Fidel Castro signed, our solitary position against the plan to impose FTAA on us by any means in the year 2005, on January 1st, 2005.
Today, I tell you standing here, for all to hear: That FTAA is dead; they cannot force an FTAA upon this continent (Applause). To force us to compete with such strong economies as the US is a truly imperialist, colonialist pretence. To do so would be impossible and suicidal.
Nonetheless, there it is, January 1, 2005 came, and there is no FTAA, and an alternative proposal is taking shape. A proposal that here in Venezuela we call, and in Cuba they call it, and in many other parts of this continent, workers, indigenous, landless people, political leaders, conferences, governments, presidents, etcetera call it ALBA, the dawn of a new America, the Bolivarian Alternative for Latin America] (Applause).
Such international counteroffensive led us also to be very actively involved in the founding of the South American Community of Nations, that, as you will know and remember, took place in Cuzco and in Ayacucho, during the commemoration of the 180th Anniversary of that great battle, the South American Community of Nations (Applause). And we are committed to the idea that this South American Community of Nations becomes a reality, that is more than just words on paper.
That is the course, the Bolivarian project called upon 180 years ago, from Lima to the Amphictyonic Congress of Panama. We know why Bolivar convened this conference; we must remember and repeat it: it was not to establish an FTAA; rather, it was to establish an ALBA, to form in South America and the Caribbean a block of nations─ Bolivar stated─, able to negotiate on equal footing with the North, East and West. However, firstly, we here in the South must be united, to achieve, as Bolivar said, equilibrium in the universe, a multi-polar world. And here it is, everything points to it, the weather, the map, the waters, the land, the rivers, the subsoil, the sky, the stars, the peoples, the magic of our communities. Here in South America and in the Caribbean, it is possible to form a powerful assembly of republics and nations, the union of the South (Applause).
From here, I send greetings of solidarity to all the heads of states of South America, the Caribbean, Latin America, and especially South America. In this respect, the Venezuelan commitment is boundless; we are determined and committed, down to the bone, to this South American union.
To this end, a few days ago, in Aló Presidente, we announced the decree ─and we had already signed it a few hours earlier─ on the creation of TV-Sur, the Television of the South. It is from this medium that we must approach cultural integration, the integration of our peoples' soul, the awareness of who we are, where we come from, where we live, the awareness of our history, of the birth of our republics, of our customs.
From here, from the Caribbean, to the Patagonia, we will continue to propose the creation of PETROAMERICA or PETROSUR, a true alliance of oil and energy producers from all the South American and Caribbean countries, and PETROCARIBE, which will give strength to our peoples.
We will continue to put forward and develop an extraordinary idea: the establishment of a South Bank, so that we have our own international reserves and we do not have to keep them in the banks of the North only; the creation of a development fund for the South, starting with South America; a common currency for South America in the future, and I propose that it be called the Sucre, in honor of the Great Field Marshall of Ayacucho, the Sucre. (Applause)
This international offensive or counteroffensive took us to Cuba, in a memorable visit to commemorate the 10th Anniversary since our first encounter and, moreover, it wasn't just a commemoration, but there we gave birth to an Bolivarian Alternative and Martían Agreement for the Americas in an unprecedented agreement between two sister republics, in an integration agreement that allows us to speak about this miracle of the Robinson Mission —Barrio Adentro— in its second phase, which allows us to talk about complementary economics, which allows us to talk, for example, about details like this.
In Cuba there are large deposits of nickel and here we have large deposits of iron ore. Ah!, but Venezuela exports iron as a raw material and steel as well, some steel, and Cuba exports nickel as a raw material. We have reached an agreement, we are going to invest resources to increase the exploitation of nickel in Cuba, using Venezuelan coal for the exploitation of the nickel, which needs a lot of energy and up to now they don't have that in Cuba. But we've got large coal reserves in Guasare and in Táchira, and now we've increased the extraction of coal in the first stage, and later we'll bring over part of the nickel from Cuba to alloy it with our steel and we'll export stainless steel. This is just one example. Stainless steel has much more added value than steel and much more than iron, of course, or than nickel as a raw material.
This is the big difference, or one of the big differences between the countries with developed economies and the countries with colonial economies, of dependence, like ours. We cannot continue being exporters of raw materials, but for this we need investments, technology and, above all, a lot of political will. (Applause)
As a result of that international drive, people have started to arrive in Venezuela…. Well, now I haven't got time to attend to so many delegations. Businessmen from Brazil came the day before yesterday. I spoke with them for more than two hours because they want to invest. They are investing in Venezuela, on the second bridge over the Orinoco; but now they want to build a third bridge, and I said to them "Let's do it! When do we start?" Now we're to lay the foundation stone for the third bridge over the Orinoco River here in Caicara/Cabruta, (Applause); and the subway in Los Teques, and the subway in Maracaibo, and the Diluvio-el Palmar dam, for the great Maracaibo plateau. And now we're talking of a diamond project; here, they continue to take the diamonds and the gold away and we are readdressing that.
You know that to achieve all these objectives I've been taking decisions to continue strengthening the new institutions, and I have decided to create a Ministry of Basic Industries and Mining, and I have appointed Víctor Álvarez, the current President of the Foreign Trade Bank, to be our new minister of basic industries and mining. It will comprise CVG and other companies and other businesses. We're going to create, and I've got the decree now to sign it today, a ministry of light industries, and here we're going to place a great woman, a tireless fighter, none other than Edmée Betancourt, Minister of Light Industries. (Applause)
Thus, this international counteroffensive has already brought a first impact on politics, on economics, which is very favorable to our country, for the progress of Venezuela, for the full recovery of the country. This international counteroffensive took us to Madrid, and where good winds are blowing, as I said a few months or a year ago while visiting Buenos Aires, a beautiful city I hadn't visited in nearly five years where neoliberalism was rampant, but where as soon as Néstor Kirchner, a nationalist comrade and a friend, took office, I went on a trip and came out with a phrase: "Fresh air can be breathed in Buenos Aires." And the same I can say about, Madrid, Spain: Fresh air can be breathed in Spain! In this Spain with a new socialist government, a new government with a new orientation towards Latin America (Applause) towards peace, not towards war, not towards violations of human rights, not towards disrespect for sovereignty of nations, which are sacred and fundamental principles that everyone in the world must respect if we want a world of peace and balance.
So that visit to Spain was the best visit that I have made to Spain, of the many that I have paid to this country, and I met the King, His Majesty King Juan Carlos, a good friend, and Queen Sofia, the Prince and the Princess, the Prime Minister Rodriguez Zapatero, and his Foreign Minister, his ministers. We went to Toledo, that marvelous city in Castilla La Mancha, with Pepe Bono, the Minister of Defense and the President of Castilla La Mancha, and we saw the great grasslands of Castilla, that same one which inspired the infinite Cervantes who gave us that monumental work Don Quixote, a Florentino.
Florentino himself was a Quixote —"Mixed-blood Florentino, walking along the wide road, heading to hopelessness, dancing as he walks." Let's not forget that Florentino lives on, he still rides the grassland. With Spain we have re-launched our relations, and through Spain, also with Europe. From here, we greet Spain and Europe; just as have I greeted the Caribbean and Latin America as a whole.
And that counteroffensive took us to North Africa again, to revive the links with Libya and with OPEC, and with our brothers in Arabia; and then on to Moscow, again to re-strengthen, and re-launch and place our strategic relations with Russia at the highest level, with President Vladimir Putin and with the immense economic, industrial, technical and scientific potential that Russia has, its industry, its people, its society; a new Russia that carries on re- strengthening itself. And that's what the world needs. God, free us from a unipolar world. Lord, let us have a multipolar world for an international balance.
That counteroffensive took us to Russia to sign agreements for the acquisition of an important group of naval ships, assault helicopters, to increase our defense capability, above all, in our borders, and to start negotiations for 100,000 rifles, also to increase…well, Venezuela will not meddle with anyone, but nobody should meddle with Venezuela. (Applause)
That international counteroffensive also allowed us in Moscow, where we also signed an agreement with a Russian aluminum company to install with an investment of about three billion dollars, a huge plant for the extraction of bauxite and the production of aluminum on the Orinoco, and exchanges in the gas industry.
Later today we'll have a meeting with the president of GASPROM, a large Russian gas and oil company, one of the biggest in the world, as an agreement will be signed today in the Government Palace. The Russians are coming with all their experience and their capital to invest in gas, and gas and petrochemical industry development, and these are fundamental and strategic objectives of the new model of national development, like oil, mining, and agriculture.
Then we went to Iran, to meet our brother President Mohamed Khatami again, and the leaders, and that brotherly people, and from there we re-launched, like a rocket, the exchanges between Iran and Venezuela. A while ago, I told you about the meetings last night. A week ago the vice president for Industries of Iran was here, and the president will come soon, and we've signed and we've agreed and now we're working to open as quickly as possible, when Khatami comes, in March—God willing—a tractor factory in Ciudad Bolívar (Applause). We're going to build tractors here, and not just tractors, but seed drills, harrows, machinery, and later we're going to build trucks, vehicles, excavators, buses, all of this we can make here. Clearly, we're not going to take on more than we can and we must. No, we must define, as we are defining, strategic matters and those areas and sectors where, with the help of many friends in the world, we have great potential for production and for supply, first for our country, and, secondly, the international markets, including, of course, the great Asian market.
This international counteroffensive took us to China, where we had a frosty Christmas, but were received with such warmth in China by new President Hu Jintao and other top government officials, Chinese executives, the Peking University, and old friends, such as ex- President Jiang Zemin. It was a marvelous encounter. We also went to the People's Assembly, we met and exchanged ideas with a group of members of parliament. Nicolás, the President, and members of parliament such as Deputy Khan and Deputy Cilia were there. Major projects, some of which we have already mentioned, came out from these encounters, as did from those in Moscow, Madrid or Tehran.
As I said to Khatami: "Well, Khatami, imperialist aggressions have caused us some losses; for example, we lost two years, 2002 and 2003, because many projects were terminated, even when we prevailed in many areas. We acquired moral strength before the world; we showed that what is taking place in Venezuela is a bona fide and authentic democracy. We endured, as Trotsky used to say, the lash of counterrevolution; but Leon Trotsky also said: "All revolutions need the lash of counterrevolution; the lash strengthens the revolution if it survives it." We have not only survived the lashes of counterrevolutionary aggressions; we have emerged strengthened. This is what I told all the friends around the world, in one way or another.
Great things have come up with China. The Chinese Vice-President, will soon visit us, and the first missions have already arrived in. Among many other things, China has offered us a line of credit of nearly 800 million dollars, to build housing here for the people ─good, practical and cheap housing. We are talking about technical support for small machinery, for small and even large-scale workshops, cereal processing equipment, milk and meat processing equipment, so that we build our own machinery, as I was told by the governor of Shangdong ─a province that alone has 90 million habitants, that has made remarkable and astonishing progress. The governor told me: "President, we not only want to sell machinery to you –and this is the wish of President Hu Jintao and of China as a whole. We want to help you through technology transfer; we want you to manufacture computers there, for example." And why can't we produce computers and high technology equipment here? Look, this is an example that shows that it is not necessary to be an empire to be big. One can become big without being an empire. One can become big, like China, without trying to impose one's model on others, rather by respecting the model of each country and its specificities. This is how the future world must be (Applause). This is the other world that we need, the other world that we want.
One of the lines of work that we are committed to with China and with many other countries—Europe, Spain—is tourism. Tourism!
China contributes 90 million to world tourism annually—excuse me—90 million Chinese tourists travel internationally every year. So, Mr. Governor Morel, imagine if only 0.1 % of this tourism goes to Margarita, or to Anzoátegui, Canaima, or the Sierra Nevada!
So, that is why, among other things to actively promote tourism now, I have decided to create the Ministry of Tourism and have appointed Commander Castro Soteldo to be the Minister of Tourism.
One of our major difficulties is that we do not have a direct flight from Beijing to Caracas or Margarita, a flight with, of course, stopovers in North America or Mexico. This is one of the problems that we have to tackle so that more tourists go to the Caribbean, to Venezuela and other places in the Caribbean, of course, the Caribbean, this Caribbean of Ours, a beautiful and magic region.
So then, this is a message that I am also sending to Latin Americans, some of whom focus only on the North. We also look to the north, but beyond the Atlantic; further beyond is Africa, and still further beyond the Red Sea is Asia. And further to the north is Europe, above the Mediterranean. The world is round. We are going around the world. Some have a narrow vision of the world but the world is round.
This international counteroffensive has thus re-positioned Venezuela in the world, having –as I have already said- a better moral and political standing. Nobody in the world doubts anymore—no one who's honest, sensitive, judicious and objective—nobody doubts anymore what is really going on here, that we are leaving behind a dark era, an era of false democracy, an era of real dictatorship of a minority against the vast majority of the people, against the majority of the country, the majority of the middle class, and that we are witnessing the birth of democracy, of horizons of greater political, economic, social and general democracy, of a new way of life. We salute that world from here, that world to which we pledge peace and respect.
Over the last few days, regrettable things have been happening that we will try to keep from gravely affecting the relationship that we have been building so carefully with the sisterly Republic of Colombia. I feel great friendship and respect towards President Uribe, and we have had very important meetings. President Uribe visited us in Maracaibo, before the referendum. I visited President Uribe in Cartagena on his generous invitation: we worked very well together, we concluded an agreement on a cross-border gas pipeline, and we began studies for a multiple pipeline into Colombia. We reactivated trade in 2004 and new records were set, we reached two billion dollars, and we paid the debts that Venezuela had with entrepreneurs in Colombia that had been affected by currency exchange controls.
Our defense ministers held talks, in good faith. We told the Colombians, the government and the people of Colombia: "Let nobody continue to believe that lie about Hugo Chavez having turned Venezuela into a safe heaven for terrorists or subversive groups. No, if there is one thing we do not want to do, because we should not do it, is to get involved in the conflict, because it is internal, the Colombian conflict: What we want is peace for Colombia, unity with Colombia, because we love Colombia." (Applause) I love Colombia! And I say it from the very bottom of my heart, because I know my roots, because I too am Colombian when I look at history and see the Colombia of Bolivar, the great dream of Bolivar. (Prolonged applause)
Colombia, fellow Venezuelans; Colombia, ambassadors, Colombia is hurting, you know? And I'm not resorting to some rhetorical recourse. Tears come to my eyes when I speak of Colombia, of the Colombian people, of Colombian history, of all that unites us with Colombia. I remember my grandfather, General Pedro Pérez Delgado, who spoke of himself as being Venezuelan and Colombian; I say the same, and feel the same.
Maisanta was once fleeing through the flatlands of Casanare, chased by Gómez—Gomez's army was after him because he was a nationalist, a revolutionary, an all-around Venezuelan I would call him—and then in Colombia they also ordered his arrest on grounds that he had joined a rebel movement in the Arauca—that was around 1916—and when Pedro Pérez Delgado heard that he was also wanted in Colombia, he said: My Goodness! What am I to do now? I'm in trouble with my mother and I'm in trouble with my aunt." His aunt was Colombia.
And for those of us born in the Venezuelan south, who learned from childhood to love the murmur of the Arauca, those who learned from childhood to vibrate with the soft humming of the Apure, those of us who grew up with Colombians born there, those with brothers and sisters and friends who are Colombians, for those of us it is a national feeling: Venezuela is in pain over Colombia because Venezuela loves Colombia.
And this latest affair has hurt me deeply. I have no doubts about this, I believe so and I will say so: I do not think that the President of Colombia was aware of the operation planned by the Colombian police that managed to buy —bribe is how it is called— a small group of Venezuelan military men and most likely Venezuelan civilians by paying what they called ransom. Now, some in Colombia are trying to justify this to the world. There is no way that it can be justified.
President Alvaro Uribe, for the affection we feel, in the name of your children and mine, in the name of your people and mine, who are one and the same, I stretch this hand to you from here. I do not believe that you knew of this operation that so flagrantly violated the sovereignty of the Venezuelan people and nation and which we categorically reject. I invite you to rectify it. I invite your government to publicly rectify it. (Applause)
I should say to you, President Alvaro Uribe, that I have felt much sorrow in the last few days. I will never forget the last telephone call in the early January, in the very first hours of the New Year. I was wandering along the grasslands of my beloved Barinas with Rosines, the old folks and the children with my head full of magic things, and so I told him and he said to me: "Dear Hugo, I would love visiting your grassland", referring to Barinas, and I replied: "Come, this is your home." I ratify my invitation, Mr. President, but, unfortunately, recent events must be corrected. It is only wise to rectify. In Colombia a serious mistake has been made which should be corrected instead of looking for cunning arguments that embarrass your government.
It is not possible, there is no excuse whatsoever for officials, high-ranking officials from the Colombian State and Government to instigate Venezuelan officials to commit crime, to bribe them or buy out Venezuelan military persons to betray their homeland, and they will be severely punished by law (Applause). This small group of Venezuelans will stand trial. There will be no mercy for that small group of Venezuelans who do not merit wearing the uniform of the Simon Bolivar Armed Forces, for they went as far as committing a crime to earn a reward.
But, that such crimes were instigated from Colombia, from the very insides of the Colombian government is a very serious crime. I have been commenting on this lately on the phone with several Latin- American presidents. This subject should be brought to discussion; otherwise no government here will feel save… how can we trust anyone? Who can you trust?
Let's imagine that I made up my mind to organize a commando – which I will not, of course, I am a man of respect and to me the sovereignty of Colombia, or any other country, is sacred. But, let's assume for a second that I offer a reward to anyone bringing Pedro Carmona or a group of ex military Venezuelans who have been involved in a coup d'état and terrorist actions who are now hiding in the United States or in Central America or even in Colombia itself. I know where they are, some of them are in Colombia. But I will not send for them. And if we were interested to find them and bring them back, there are clearly defined International Legal procedures for this or else this would become, Mr. President and friend, the law of the jungle.
So it is with great regret that I have removed the Venezuelan Ambassador from Bogotá and the Ambassador will not return until the government of Colombia apologizes to us and puts things straight (Applause).
Parallel to this, I have brought all agreements and negotiations going on with Colombia to a halt. It means that the Trans-Caribbean gas pipeline is, unfortunately, brought to a halt. But until Venezuelan sovereignty is vindicated from this violation I will feel obliged to take these steps. Nothing nor anyone could make me change my position for I represent the dignity of the Venezuelan people (Applause and exclamations).
I sincerely ask you to believe me when I say that this saddens me beyond measure. But I have faith and pray God and trust that the wisdom of Colombia and its institutions and ourselves make it possible for us to be able to overcome these serious events, to heal wounds and to continue ahead.
We ratify we want to help Colombia in its search for peace in Colombia and that we want to continue working for political and socio-economic integration with that great republic which, I repeat, we love. I love that land, I love that people.
Mr. President, Deputies, this has been my sixth speech or, rather, message to the National Assembly and the nation about the performance of my government in the political, social and economic fields. This government took office in 1998, more than six years ago, because of the will of the majority of the Venezuelan people. And this Government is committed to the Venezuelan people, and not only to those who voted for us and re-elected us and who have legitimized us one, two, three times, but to Venezuela as a whole. I avail myself of this opportunity to make an appeal to all Venezuelans to work together, in good faith and harmony, to be aware of the differences that there might be and to accept one another. Let's put our hands, arms, and soul into building up our homeland, one that our children need so much to have a better and happier future.
To conclude, I'd like to remind the nation as a whole as I speak from this hemicycle that we have entered the year 2005, which marks the 200th anniversary, two centuries, of the Mount Sacro oath, in Mount Aventino, Rome—the oath made by the young Bolivar in 1805, that man who spent 25 years doing his best to carry out his oath. And he carried it out, he carried it out, because as he lost the strength in his arm and had almost lost the strength in his soul, he wrote a last proclamation or dictated with his last breath of life, precisely as he addressed Colombians, the Grand Colombians: "You have witnessed my efforts to bring liberty where tyranny used to rule before. I have worked selflessly; have turned my back on wealth and peace. And I stepped aside from command when I was persuaded that you mistrusted my selflessness.
"The love I feel guides me to make a final statement to my people: I want nothing else than the strengthening of Colombia. You should all work for the inestimable good of the unity.
"My enemies have led me to the gates of my sepulcher; I forgive them."
That is how Bolivar said good-bye after 25 years. He would die lonely, betrayed, driven out of his homeland. He would die saying: "I've been plowing in the sea, Jesus Christ, Don Quixote and I, the three great mavericks of history." He was stabbed to death. He would devote 25 years to his struggles in the fulfillment of his oath at Mount Sacro, on August 15, 1805.
This year, fellow Venezuelans, 200 years later, is the year when we should strongly retake the 200-year-old oath, which is not Mount Sacro's —it is Bolivar's, it is the oath that brought us here, the one leading us, the one for which so many of our countrymen have died over these years, and for which we too would give our lives, what is left of them.
I invite you to take this oath as a banner. I invite you to struggle with all the strength in your souls, in your bodies and in your minds, to struggle now individually and jointly for its full and complete implementation.
"I swear before you all", said the young Simon Bolivar, in front of his teacher Simón Rodriguez: "I swear to my parents' god, I swear to them, I swear on my honor, and I swear on my homeland that I shall not let my arm nor my soul rest until we have broken the chains that oppress us, imposed on us by the Spanish empire."
The struggle ahead of us today is even bigger and I urge that this oath be internationalized, and that we not let our arms nor our souls rest until we have definitively defeated all the demons that threaten our people, and until we have broken all the chains of ignorance, backwardness, dependence, colonialism and poverty that continue to besiege our people. Fellow countrymen, we shall not let our arms or our souls rest.
Six years have gone by, only six years. But we have a lifetime ahead of us. With God first; with Bolivar and with the people always and forever.
Good afternoon, Mr. President; good afternoon deputies and ambassadors. Good afternoon to you all.
Thank you very much.
(OVATION)
LETTER FROM
JESÚS ANGEL DÍAZ MOLERO
TO PRESIDENT FIDEL CASTRO, REFERRED TO
IN A SPEECH BY PRESIDENT CHÁVEZ
Caracas, December 15, 2004
Citizen FIDEL
CASTRO
President of the Republic of Cuba Havana, Cuba
Dear Mr. President,
It is with a great sense of honor that I write to you to express my gratitude for the enjoyable experiences of 160 (a hundred and sixty) Venezuelans in the second half of last October, in the country of which you are such an honorable president. I went to receive medical care in Havana for a cataract operation, and I and the hundreds of other Venezuelans who have benefited from low-cost medical treatment have all received much moral help and family support, among other things. We all returned to Venezuela extremely satisfied and would like to say how grateful we are for the invaluable work of your medical-surgical personnel.
God bless you!
Yours sincerely,
Jesús Ángel Díaz Molero ID 108.154
AN ACCOUNT
OF AN ENJOYABLE EXPERIENCE
BY JESÚS ANGEL DÍAZ MOLERO
I am an engineer by training, known around here as a `veteran'. During the first weekend of last September I suffered a sudden bout of food poisoning which caused vomiting and cephalea without apparent cause, accompanied by generalized discomfort and malaise. I sought help as soon as I could, expecting difficulties in getting medical help at weekends in the Santa Fe housing development where I live, and set out to find the nearest clinic to my home that might be open.
On asking a taxi driver, I received my first surprise when he informed me that nearby there was one of the medical centers run by the "Barrio Adentro Mission" where I was seen immediately by the two young female doctors on duty there. They didn't enquire about my social status or my economic resources; they only asked for my identity card, and quickly proceeded to diagnose my complaints and find a primary course of treatment to stabilize my physical condition, using the necessary medical supplies at no cost to me.
The time needed for my condition to stabilize passed, and I was sent home with the first stage of my treatment (including all the medication needed for this stage) and an appointment for the following Monday to carry out a series of tests at the Military Hospital and other medical centers, which were deemed essential to determining the cause and current status of my condition. They told me that if I suffered another attack, I was to go immediately to the clinic, whatever the time, as there would be medical staff on hand around the clock to attend to me.
My new appointment was at the same place as before, where they checked my condition and issued the documents needed for the various medical tests.
In the course of these various checks, it emerged that I was suffering from cataract in both eyes. They asked me if I was prepared to travel to Cuba for the necessary surgery to cure my cataract, which would restore total vision to both eyes. They said I would also have further tests there to determine the final course of treatment for my original complaint. My flight to Cuba would be paid, while all the medical attention - tests, pre- and post- operative care and hospitalization, the actual surgery, the post- operative recovery period - would be free. The return trip to Venezuela was also covered, as were the necessary medication, and I could take a companion, a relation or otherwise, to take care of me, also all expenses paid.
I accepted this generous offer and within a relatively short time I was told the day and time of the flight from Maiquetía Airport that would mark the beginning of the process. We had to take the required documents - basically our passports and current identity cards. Had we not had valid passports, they would have intervened on our behalf to speed up the process of issuing these.
My companion and I left Simón Bolívar Airport, Maiquetía, at the appointed time and arrived, without any problems, in Havana, Cuba, where we were met by a delegation of specialists who took us to our accommodation in special buses. This was at a medical center comprising a largely complete complex: a kind of hospital town with every sort of medical facility, including doctors´ living quarters, skilled support staff for each specialty and leading edge- technology, the very latest, most advanced equipment.
The group of people who traveled with us on this occasion consisted of about a hundred and fifty individuals, including a large percentage of patients´ companions who were also to receive treatment of some kind.
Once we were duly settled in, the medical team began the necessary tests, including some new ones, as well as my preparation for the ophthalmic surgery I was to undergo.
The surgery required on the first eye was unusual and complicated, because of conditions peculiar to the type of cataract concerned; surgery on the second eye was consequently postponed until January 2005, to allow me to recover fully from the first operation, and I would be told the day and time of the next trip well before my new procedure. We were also given five hundred Cuban pesos to cover our day-to-day expenses, all the other costs having been covered in full by the Cuban state.
As a special gift we were given a box containing: a pair of trainers, underwear, trousers and T-shirts as an extra gift from the Cuban people to us, visitors to the island.
To my surprise, while undergoing a series of pre-operative checks, the doctors detected an abnormal sugar level and immediately started me on a specific course of treatment to normalize my blood sugar level; I was put on a diet and was given a complete course of special medication for this condition, during my stay in Cuba and for my follow-up treatment in Venezuela.
My companion (my brother) had a sebaceous cyst on his neck, which the medical team was planning to remove. However, during the pre- operative tests they discovered that his arterial blood pressure was very low. So that he could undergo surgery, he was given specific treatment to correct this within a given timeframe. He will be ready for surgery in January, and will therefore be returning with me for the operation.
Clearing customs and taking the plane back to Venezuela were entirely hassle-free and in the process we were officially registered for the next course of treatment; we will be officially notified of this without having to undergo any additional procedures, apart from the required medical checks.
We note the highly important fact that this type of medical care is available to all social classes, without any kind of discrimination. We understand this to be a unique part of the country's welfare policy and have no precedent in the history of healthcare in Venezuela. We greatly hope that it will be expanded and continued, if possible, on a permanent basis.
I, Jesús Ángel Díaz Molero, an engineer, Venezuelan and Maracucho, would like to express my most heartfelt thanks to citizen Hugo Chávez Frías, President of the Republic, and to citizen Fidel Castro Ruz, President of the Republic of Cuba, for the medical service established between their countries for the benefit of all the nation's social classes, without discrimination of any kind, and above all for that of neediest classes in the country.
We were also given several phone cards so we could call our family and friends whenever we wished.
To end this journalistic report I would like to say how grateful I and my traveling companions are to the Revolutionary and Bolivarian presidents of Cuba and Venezuela for the policies they have developed in this field.
It behooves us to be truly grateful. It was St. John who said, at the start of his retreat on the island of Pathos at the end of his glorious and saintly life: "Purgatory is full of the souls of the ungrateful."
Jesús Ángel Díaz Molero ID 108.154
SOURCE:
From: quintin19982000
mailto:quintin19982000@yahoo.com
Sent: Wednesday, January 19, 2005 6:19 PM
To: GreenLeft_discussion@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [GreenLeft_discussion] Annual message from Hugo Chávez Frías