www.alertnet.org NEWSDESK   09 Mar 2003 22:46

CARACAS, Venezuela, March 9 (Reuters) - President Hugo Chavez, accused of having links with leftist rebels from neighboring Colombia, warned Marxist guerrillas on Sunday not to meddle in Venezuela.

"(The Venezuelan government) has insisted that Colombian guerrillas don't meddle in our territory," Chavez said in a rambling four-hour monologue during his weekly "Alo Presidente" state-sponsored television show.

Chavez sounded more conciliatory than he did last month, when he threatened to break off diplomatic relations with Colombia.

Colombia has accused Chavez of sympathizing with Colombian rebels amid a war of words between the two South American nations, which share a porous 1,400 mile (2,200 km) border of sparsely populated jungle and savanna.

"Our land is sacred ... we're ready to defend ourselves, whether they're guerrillas or not guerrillas," Chavez said in a speech during which he also told ghost stories and sang "Happy Birthday" to a member of the audience.

Relations between the two countries soured last month when Colombia's Interior Minister Fernando Londono accused Chavez of meeting Marxist guerrillas. Chavez hit back by threatening to end diplomatic relations.

A powerful bomb attack at the Colombian consulate later in February notched up tensions.

Venezuela's opposition as well as Colombian soldiers suspect Chavez, a friend of Cuban leader Fidel Castro, of ideological sympathies with Colombian rebels fighting a four-decade-old war that claims thousands of lives a year.

More controversy surfaced last week following media reported that Manuel Marulanda, top commander of Colombia's biggest rebel group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, known as FARC, was hiding in Venezuela near Colombia's border.

This year Chavez has faced a national strike and huge street protests against his "revolutionary" government by a largely middle- and upper-class opposition that accuse him of taking Venezuela down the road of Cuban-style communism.

The crisis in the world's No. 5 oil supplier has drawn the international spotlight amid fears Venezuela could slide into civil war.

Chavez has refused to describe that FARC as "terrorists -- as Colombia would like them labeled -- and instead calls them "guerrillas."

www.vheadline.com Posted: Sunday, March 09, 2003 By: Patrick J. O'Donoghue

Indigenous National deputy Noehli Pocaterra has announced that the government’s special food supply program will target Warao indians that migrate from eastern Venezuela to Caracas to beg for food.

“The idea is to help the Indians set up allotments where families can grow vegetables, beans and roots … we hope the program will help them improve their standard of living and stop them from migrating to the cities.”

The Agriculture & Lands Ministry (MAT) and Banco de Desarrollo (Bandes) have confirmed that they are drawing up economic projects for indigenous communities.

www.vheadline.com Posted: Sunday, March 09, 2003 By: Kira Marquez Perez

Date: Sat, 08 Mar 2003 16:55:04 +0100 From: Kira Marquez Perez Kira.MarquezPerez@uni-duesseldorf.de To: editor@vheadline.com Subject: You can't buy intelligence

Dear Editor: I have been a very lucky girl. I was born in one of the most beautiful countries in the whole world and grew up within a wonderful family. My parents, who are both professors of Science, have worked with people from around the world, and always say (and they are absolutely right about it) that you can’t buy intelligence.

Money and luxury are material things that have actually nothing to do with intelligence, which is strictly a "human quality."

• Today, we can see how the world is being driven towards a really chaotic place by the actions of a few people with a lot of money, but with an obvious absolute lack of intelligence.

However, many of them have been clever enough (again cleverness is NOT equal to intelligence) to use their money to manipulating information.

We have recently seen how a few wealthy sectors and groups in Venezuela actually intend to make us believe that they are more intelligent than the rest (although their actions have shown exactly the opposite) just because they have more money. They have even given themselves important names, such as: "meritocratas,“ "gente del petroleo," "gente de la universidad" etc.

And, as Voltaire said: “those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities.“ Actually, the only thing that is really attributable to these individuals is the fact that they can access education more easily as a result of their economical condition. But ... this fact can not be confused under any circumstances with special intelligence or brilliancy.

Furthermore, corrupts can sometimes even buy themselves a title (like Ms. Blanca Ibanez did) ... but that doesn’t improve their intelligence at all, does it?

These poor people are so mistaken, that they can’t see reality and they actually believe themselves to be indispensable. Pride has often made them blind, and has kept them from acting rationally. This has driven them to disdain the rest of the population, from which often the real genii arise ... history has already done its job to prove that, as we will see below:

(1) Jesus from Nazareth (00 ú 33). Born into a modest family. His father was a carpenter and his mother was a housewife. He received home education and showed a great interest in religious matters. His wisdom, his teachings and his love towards the others made him the leader and guide of Christianity.

(2) Leonardo Da Vinci (1452 ú 1519). Was the son of a notary from Florence. He studied at Verrocchio. He was an outstanding artist, scientist and inventor. The variety of his work made him a universal genius.

(3) Galileo Galilei (1540 ú 1603). Was the eldest son of a trader. He started his studies in medicine, but had to interrupt them for financial reasons. Later, he became well known for his work in physics and mathematics (pendulum, hydrostatic balance, gravitational movement, telescope, astronomic studies). He was punished by the Inquisition for supporting Copernico's theory.

(4) G. W. Friedrich Hegel (1770 ú 1831). Eldest son of a low-ranking military official. He initially worked as a private family teacher and later began to teach at the university of Jena. His outstanding work at the University of Berlin made him a leader in the German intellectual community. His contributions to philosophy were very valuable.

(5) Vincent van Gogh (1853 ú 1890). Spent his adolescence in a rural environment. He received religious education and dedicated an important part of his life to arts and teaching. He specialized in painting and worked in Holland and France. He became one of the greatest Dutch painters in history.

(6) Marie Curie (1867-1934). Was born in Warsaw, the daughter of a secondary-school teacher. She received a general education in local schools and some scientific training from her father. She became involved in a students' revolutionary organization and found it prudent to leave Warsaw. In 1891, she went to Paris to continue her studies at the Sorbonne where she obtained Licentiates in Physics and the Mathematical Sciences. Her early researches, together with her husband, were often performed under difficult conditions, laboratory arrangements were poor and both had to undertake much teaching to earn a livelihood. Mme. Curie was the woman who discovered radium, paving the way for nuclear physics and cancer therapy.

(7) Gabriel Garcia Marquez was born in 1928 in the small town of Aracataca, situated in a tropical region of northern Colombia. He grew up with his maternal grandparent -- his grandfather was a pensioned colonel from the civil war at the beginning of the century. He began to read Law but his studies were soon broken off for his work as a journalist. Besides his large output of fiction, he has written screenplays and has continued to work as a journalist. He is one of the greatest contemporary Latin American writers.

This is only a small sample, although the list is a lot larger. Naturally, we have also had some very important leaders coming from more wealthy families but in almost ALL cases they have come from families with very high human values and a great dedication to work.

So … merits DO NOT come from money alone.

You have to build them with work.

• Money may help you develop your skills (if you have any), but it will not create them for you.

Misinformation, corruption and arrogance have never made genii and they won’t do it now.

Best regards, Kira Marquez Perez Kira.MarquezPerez@uni-duesseldorf.de

www.vheadline.com Posted: Thursday, March 06, 2003 By: Patrick J. O'Donoghue

Shadowy Movimiento Quinta Republica (MVR) political adviser, Eliezer Otaiza says the planting of car bombs had no other purpose than to create a climate of war in Venezuela and therefore, the government should prepare the population.

The former State Political & Security (DISIP) Police director says he has no doubts that foreign intelligence agencies are mixed up to sell the spin that the government is linked to acts of terrorism … “I’m also convinced that a parallel DISIP is at work … only experts could have set off the bombs placed at the Spanish Embassy and Colombian consulates.”

Otaiza calls on State security agencies to move fast to avoid falling into the trap of when Peruvian spymaster, Vladimir Montesinos was in Venezuela.

When asked about the alleged presence of Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) commander, Manuel Marulanda in Venezuelan territory, Otaiza replied that it is "not likely" and anyway, "the government does not support any group in particular in Colombia.”