Thursday, April 15, 2010

10 Years of Bolivarian Achievements http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:Gbrx2M9Bj6kJ:www.venezlon.co.uk/pdf/10_years.pdf+Years+of+Bolivarian+Achievements&cd=2&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us&client=opera


In four years, poverty has been cut in half and extreme poverty by 70 percent.http://www.drclas.harvard.edu/revista/articles/view/1100

Bank of the South http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bank_of_the_South

The ultimate goal of the Bank of the South is to include every state within the region of South America. It has been established because of disapproval of the protocol of the World Bank and IMF, in particular the enforcement of unrelated free market reforms on countries seeking emergency loans.[3] It also represents an attempt to achieve regional independence and endogenous development. The program would lend money to any nation involved in the construction of approved programs, and without conditions traditionally attached to such loans, such as deregulation.

ALBA nations Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bolivarian_Alliance_for_the_Americas

SUCRE -http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SUCRE 

The SUCRE (Spanish: Sistema Único de Compensación Regional, English: Unified System for Regional Compensation) is a proposed regional currency for the Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas (ALBA). It is intended to be in use as a virtual currency by early 2010, and eventually as a hard currency

Petrocaribe http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petrocaribe

Petrocaribe S. A. is a Caribbean oil alliance with Venezuela to purchase oil on conditions of preferential payment. The alliance was launched in June 2005. The payment system allows for a few nations to buy oil on market value but only a certain amount is needed up front; the remainder can be paid through a 25 year financing agreement on 1% interest

A People's Health System - Venezuela (10/04) http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Health/PeopleHealthSystem_Venez.html

Hugo Chavez and Petro Populism (4/05)http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/South_America/Petro_Populism_Venez.mtml

Mission Robinson http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mission_Robinson

Misión Barrio Adentro: Experiencing Health Care as a Human Right http://upsidedownworld.org/main/content/view/746/1/

 Venezuela's oil wealth funds social programs http://www.sptimes.com/2005/05/08/Worldandnation/Venezuela_s_oil_wealt.shtml

Bolivarian Missions http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bolivarian_Missions

Social Policy in Chávez’s Venezuela A Radical Alternative or More of the Same?http://www.drclas.harvard.edu/revista/articles/view/1101  

In December 2002, the World Bank proposed an Interim Country Assistance Strategy (ICAS) designed to help Venezuela meet the MDGs by 2015. This included a $60.7 million Caracas Slum Upgrading Project with the state institution Fundacomun. The WB also committed funds to public health services, urban transport and finance. 

The Turnaround: Social Policy Post-2002

However, by 2002-2003, the Chávez government was ready to make a break with its predecessors’ social policies, including its ties to the WB and international agencies. This was partly related to the opposition’s attempted coup in April 2002, the work stoppage by oil executives from the state-owned oil company PDVSA on December 10, 2001, and the lockout a year later, which resulted in the dismissal of 18,000 employees. Following these events, Chávez took control of the oil company and made internal structural changes, giving his government more leverage over funds. The growing independence of the Chávez administration was also a consequence of the spectacular rise in oil prices, from US$24.13 per barrel in December 2002 to $84.63 in December 2007, that made more funds available to state coffers. 

In July 2002, the government proposed a Plan Estratégico Social 2001-2007 (PES), which aimed to broaden social rights, reduce income inequality, and promote collective and public ownership. At the center of this new social policy were the missions, a comprehensive series of publicly funded and administered poverty alleviation programs. Two of the main goals of the missions were introducing universal education and health care. This was initially done by bypassing the established institutions and setting up programs in the barrios through a parallel set of institutions. The missions were introduced at the time when Chávez was facing a recall referendum, leading some to see them as part of an electoral strategy. 

The key educational missions included adult literacy and elementary education programs Mission Robinson I and II, work-study program Mission Ribas, and a university program, Mission Sucre. Unemployed and informal groups were incorporated into these programs in large numbers as both instructors and students, helping to partly alleviate poverty by providing them with small stipends for their involvement. 

In mid-2003, Chávez introduced the Barrio Adentro program of local health clinics, staffed by Cuban doctors, in 320 of Venezuela’s 335 municipalities. By mid-2005, he had added another two programs, Barrio Adentro II and III for additional medical services. In March 2005, there were over 5,000 Health Committees, which were created to supervise and help out with the Barrio Adentro program. 

In addition to educational and health programs, Chávez encouraged barrio residents to create a range of committees and cooperative organizations. In a 2002 executive decree, Chávez established the basis for Urban Land Committees, in order to redistribute and formalize land deeds. Since most dwellings in the barrios were constructed through a process of massive squatting as people moved to urban centers from the countryside, few home owners possessed deeds or titles to their land. In March 2005, there were more than 4,000 Urban Land Committees in the urban capitals of Venezuela, which had distributed about 170,000 property titles. 

The Chávez government also set up soup kitchens, where needy children and single mothers from the barrios received one free meal a day. During 2004, there were 4,052 soup kitchens established in Venezuela. Mission Mercal was a series of subsidized supermarkets also designed to improve nutrition.

Venezuela's social programs http://political-analysis.org/sav/id9.html

VENEZUELA: Social programs mark milestones http://www.greenleft.org.au/2006/680/7865

Venezuela's Oil Wealth Funds Gusher of Anti-Poverty Projects http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/1002-06.htm

Venezuela - MDG Monitor: Tracking the Millennium Development Goal http://www.mdgmonitor.org/factsheets_00.cfm?c=VEN

Successful Fight against Drug Trafficking http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2009/gashc3948.doc.htm

FAIR Study: Human Rights Coverage Serving Washington’s Needs http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=3699

Region: Venezuela http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=18&region_id=18

VENEZUELA: ACHIEVEMENTS OF 10 YEARS OF REVOLUTION http://www.venezuelasolidarity.org/?q=node/294

Chavez: Accomplishments of a Rebel http://theragblog.blogspot.com/2008/04/chavez-accomplishments-of-rebel.html




Chavez Fuels the South Bronx http://upsidedownworld.org/main/venezuela-archives-35/2441-chavez-fuels-the-south-bronx

Chavez Offers Uruguay To Cover Oil Needs http://www.insidecostarica.com/dailynews/2010/april/08/latinamerica10040802.htm

Over the Next 10 Years Investments in the Orinoco Belt Will Reach US $80,000 Millions http://venezuela-us.org/2010/04/03/investments-in-the-orinoco-belt-will-reach-us-80000-millions/

Comparing Democratic Institutions in Venezuela and Canada http://www.mediacoop.ca/blog/steve/3081

Venezuela, There is No Going Back: A Discussion with Federico Fuentes and Kiraz Janicke http://upsidedownworld.org/main/venezuela-archives-35/2413-for-venezuela-there-is-no-going-back-a-discussion-with-federico-fuentes-and-kiraz-janicke

National Assembly could pass all six popular power laws within next six months http://www.pr-inside.com/venezuela-s-national-assembly-could-r1781843.htm

Venezuelan lawmakers approve financial regulation law in first-round vote http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-03-16/venezuela-approves-financial-regulation-law-in-first-round-vote.html

Chavez threatens to nationalize Venezuelan bankshttp://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20091129/wl_nm/us_venezuela_banks_chavez_1

Good Things Happening in Venezuela by Michael Parenti http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Parenti/GoodThings_Venezuela.html

ALBA - An Extraordinary Achievement!http://www.axisoflogic.com/artman/publish/article_24427.shtml