Government announces food, medicine and fuel guarantees

BY MARIA VICTORIA VALDÉS-RODDA —Granma International staff writer—

• President Hugo Chávez condemns new destabilizing plan by private media channels whose only objective is to flood the country with false rumors

AN attempted "social coup" made patent via a blatant manipulation of reality is the latest strategy by the opposition in Venezuela to bring together the maximum number of sympathizers for a supposed revocatory referendum of Hugo Chavez’s presidency. On May 11, the President himself exposed the plan and called on the executive and the people to be on the alert in relation to the Democratic Coordination’s maneuvers.

In the same way, he warned his critics that a national front composed of diverse political forces and supporting the achievements of the Bolivarian Revolution is to come into existence in July.

The possible passing of the Radio and Television Social Responsibility Law in the National Assembly is seen by Chávez as an instrument giving genuine freedom of expression while sanctioning distortion and manipulation of information.

For the last three months (approximately), rumors regarding shortages of food, medicines and fuel have circulated throughout this South American country via an offensive launched through the private media. These channels reported that a delay in the operations of the Hard Currency Administrative Commission (Cadivi) was the result of a scarcity of essential state resources needed to import production accessories for bread or poultry production.

In the face of a series of distorted facts from the opposition whose only objective is to detract from the current government’s credibility, Cadivi informed the press that it is "in a position to meet hard-currency demands for real necessities in the import sector and essential raw materials."

For his part, Chávez explained why many businesspeople have not had accessed the dollars administered by Cadivi. "They (the businesspeople) are not fulfilling the requirements that the state demands, most notably the presentation of tax payments and Social Security premiums. He also stressed the important role of that organization, its responsibility for currency exchange controls, preventing the flight of capital and speculation.

Giving his traditional Sunday address in Mérida, in the southeastern part of the country, the Venezuelan president underlined the idea that the individuals who took in on themselves to remove him from power on April 1, 2002, and who are now calling for a revocatory referendum for August, have hatched a new plot based on an "attempt to inundate the country with rumors via the television and media."

"I condemn this latest destabilizing onslaught by the media," he affirmed while insisting: "we will defeat it and I call on the Venezuelan people once again to raise their conscience to battle and struggle."

He appealed to the confidence gained over the last few years thanks to the Bolivarian process, which, he stated, will do as much as it can and with a firm political will to guarantee food for the population. In this way, he announced the import of more than 1,000 tons of chicken from Brazil and wheat flour from Italy to fill gaps in the local market.

He referred to the provocative act of stockpiling provisions by saboteurs in the production industry and to illustrate what he termed as a "dishonest" situation, mentioned that authorities in various alimentary sectors had confiscated food and hidden it deliberately.

FRANCO-BRAZILIAN CONSORTIUM TO PROMOTE HYDROELECTRIC CONSTRUCTION

To show how the country is advancing despite the enemy’s obstacles, the Venezuelan leader praised a $160-million-USD investment for the construction of a hydroelectric plant in the southwestern region of the country, in order to secure a significant increase in national energy by the year 2006. The project will be the responsibility of the Venezuelan Electrical Administration and Promotion Company (CADAFE) and the Franco-Brazilian consortium, Alatom Power Hidro.

"This contract once again exposes the opposition’s lies and their attempts to confuse Venezuelans and people around the world by claiming that here in Venezuela there is no government, there is no governability and that nobody wants to invest in Venezuela", he stated.

Analyzing the possibility of facing a revocatory process on August 19, just halfway through his six-year presidential term (2000-2006), Chávez assessed that it would be very difficult for the Democratic Coordination to gather together 2.8 million credible and non-fraudulent signatures.

On the contrary, he predicted increased unity among sympathetic forces suggesting that a new Bolivarian front will bring together center-left parties and organized civil groups of women, trade unionists, drivers, campesinos, etc.

"The opposition will have to sweat in the streets to collect signatures and request a revocatory referendum for my term of office," he stated, adding that they would have to be genuine and not falsified as they were last December, when the names of military personnel absent from the country and other names taken from electronic bank records were included in the petition.

CONFLICTING INTERESTS WITHIN THE OPPOSTION

Meanwhile, Prensa Latina reported on May 12 that talks between the Venezuelan opposition and the government at the Negotiations and Accords table under the supervision of the Organization of American States (OAS) have been resumed.

However, there is a lack of unity amongst those opposed to Chávez’ presidency. According to analysts, individual positions put forward to date give rise to fears for the outcome in the political arena and of an incipient crisis in the ranks of the opposition.

The same news agency affirmed that the Democratic Action Party (AD) leader Henry Ramos Allup has accused members of the Primero Justicia Party (PJ), Causa R and Proyecto Venezuela (PV) of playing on disunity within the opposition front in line with their own private interests.