Unemployment, Inflation and Poverty Rates Declining

Despite of the world economic crisis, the economic policy of the Bolivarian Government made it possible to continue reducing the unemployment, inflation and poverty rates in Venezuela in 2009.

Figures released by the Central Bank of Venezuela and the National Institute of Statistics show that Venezuela has an employment rate over 90 percent, and it has reduced the inflation rate by 5.8 percent in comparison to 2008, when it was 30.9 percent.

Likewise, households in poverty were reduced by over 50 percent in comparison to 1998. In addition, the GINI coefficient continues declining,; it has been reduced by 9 points from 0,4865 in 1998 to 0,3928 in 2009.

Growing Employment

In September 2009, and faced with the crisis of the world capitalist crisis, President Hugo Chávez decided to adopt a number of measures aimed at the recovery of the economy and the protection of the employment rates.

Therefore, he launched the Employment Extraordinary Plan which, supported by the investment of the Venezuelan state, would foster this sector and contribute to the continuation of different works developed by the Bolivarian Government.

The plan worked and, by late 2009, the unemployment rate closed in 6.6 percent, thus decreasing by 0.9 percent in comparison to November (7.5 percent).

“We are very concerned about preserving jobs (…) We do not want unemployment to climb; therefore,, we will launch an extraordinary plan that will be carried out in the first week of October,” said the Venezuelan president on that occasion.

Fight against Inflation

For the last 25 years, Venezuela has maintain annual inflation rates over two digits, especially after the so called “Black Friday” on February 18, 1983, and whose consequences included a rapid decline of the Venezuelan economy.

“With socialism, we are starting to stop inflation, speculation and exploitation. We will not see immediate results, but it is possible to see them in some cases. We are working to reduce this rate,” explained President Chávez in 2009.

Thanks to these economic measures, the National Price Index for Consumers closed in 25.1 percent in 2009, thus showing a decline lower than the estimations (26 and 27 percent).

“We are going to reduce it to one digit,” said the Bolivarian leader in September 2009.

Christ Mission

By 1998, Venezuelas poverty rate was 48.1 percent, while extreme poverty was higher than 19 percent. Thus, out of every 10 Venezuelan households, 4.8 percent were poor and 1.9 percent experienced extreme poverty.

“We all are going to work for this mission: Christ Mission, whose goal is to reach a 0 percent poverty rate in 2021. We have to do our best and make extraordinary efforts to achieve this goal,” said the Venezuelan president.

In order to achieve this goal, the Venezuelan government has created different social programs (Missions) covering fields such as health, education and culture, among other activities that have increased the standard of living of the people.

These plans and actions have make it possible to reduce poverty for the last 10 years on an annual basis. It only climbed in 2002 and 2003 because of the coup d État and the oil boycott against the Venezuelan government.

Thus, by 2009, the percentage of households experiencing extreme poverty was reduced by 1.6 percent in comparison to 2009 (7.6 percent) and closed in 6 percent in the second semester of 2009. When measuring the unsatisfied basic needs, the results in the first semester of 2009 was 7.9 percent and 8.5 percent in 2008.

Likewise, the total of households experiencing poverty shows a reduction of 2.3 percent from 27.5 percent in the second semester of 2008 to 24.2 percent in the same period of 2009.

“We are building socialism, and it means that we have to build a more egalitarian country. Therefore, we must defeat and transform the capitalist model and its diseases such as poverty, inequality and unemployment,” stressed President Chávez.

Bolivarian News Agency ABN 

During 2009 the policies of the Venezuelan government in food production resulted in the increase of bovine meet, chicken, milk and sunflower.

On Sunday January 10 during his program Aló Presidente Nº 347, Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez informed that the milk production in 2009 increased in 2,3 million tons, that is, 11%. The goal is “to export milk and its byproducts in the future; for this it is necessary a continuous effort and to take advantage of our potentiality.”

Also, there was an increase of bovine meet, both cattle and buffalo, that reached 2% in 2009.

President Chávez said that it is an important increase, because “we stopped the drop of herds and meet production and we are recovering now.”

He also remarked the increase of chicken production, boosting in 10% which equals more than one million tons.

As for Sunflower production, he highlighted the information given by Elías Jaua, Minister of Agriculture: In 1998 there were 12,300 acre sown, but in 2009 we reached 81500 acre, despite the drought, producing 34.549 tons, which implies a reduction of 70% of imports of this product, and savings of 30 million dollars.

When presenting the goals, President Chávez said: “We have to become an exporting country. If with one boost we are replacing 70% of sunflower exports, two more boost will be enough to cover the sunflower oil and animal food supply, and we will export.”

Likewise he informed that “during these 11 years of revolution, the vegetable food production increased almost 25%; from 16 million tons, we reached and exceeded the 20 million; this has to continue moving on. We count on all the country men and women.

Additionally, agriculture financing increased from 62.7 million dollars in 1998 to more than 4,651 million dollars in 2009: “we recovered 939,000 acre from Latifundium and we handled 17,800 agrarian instruments, agrarian letters, permanence declarations, and allocation documents.”

Social Impact

President Chávez recalled that among the results of the official policies he can tell that poverty in Venezuela, in the past of 50%, lowered again to around 20%.

Also, malnutrition dropped in more than 75%. Last statistics show malnutrition lowered to 6% from 21% in 1998.

In this connection he commented: “Whereas in Venezuela poverty and malnutrition drop, in the world they increase. Fighting against poverty is the biggest challenge of the Revolution.”

It is necessary to overcome the rentist model

Chávez recalled the importance to defeat the oil rentist model, and that national producers and business persons contribute to this objective so as to boost national production together with the government.”

“We are used to getting easy money, to introducing a pipe and get a spurt of petroleum and selling it; almost all the countrys incomes have been obtained doing so. The “petrodólares” are not a result of the collective effort; it is made by the earth and it is relatively easily extracted,” he said.

Thus, “I continue urging the true producers and business persons to join us boosting the national production of food, cloth, electric appliances...”

Celebration of Bicentenary of Independence Includes Restoration of Bolivarian Museums

The Bolivarian Government will commemorate the Bicentenary of Venezuelas Independence with different political, arts and cultural programs, including the most relevant restoration works of the five Bolivarian Museums and the creation of the Bicentennial House of Independence.

The Birthplace (House) of the Liberator, the Bolivarian Museum, Bolívars Block, the Museum of Arms History and the San Mateo Estate are the five museums that will be restored to foster tourism.

Likewise, between 2010 and 2011 the construction of the Museum of National History will start. It will be located in the city of Maracy, Aragua state and it will feature two large exhibition halls, auditoriums, library, workshops restoration laboratories, shops, and a parking lot.

In addition, on the occasion of the Bicentennial Year, the Bolivarian government has foreseen the publication of 200 books, awards for research, international and domestic events and conferences, and audiovisual and photographic exhibitions.

The Research International Award of Emancipation will be granted on April 19, 2010 to the author of the best unpublished research.

From April 21 to 23, 2010, Venezuelan historians will meet in Coro,Falcon state, at the 10th Congress of Regional and Local History.

This event is organized by the National Center of History and the Francisco de Miranda Experimental University.

Bolivarian News Agency ABN 

A total 246.256 surgical interventions were carried out, out of 3,009,824 practices in the national public health system, by Misión Milagro during 2009.

Manuel Pacheco, International Coordinator of the Mission, informed that, compared to 2008, the number of interventions increased in 51,232 and referred that it is due to the training specialists are receiving in the framework of Misión Milagro and the provisioning of hospitals in the field of eye care by the national government.

“Before a social, national and human need, that was forgotten for many years and used by the private sector to make money, the national government has been working, through this humanitarian program, to apply mechanisms to pay this social debt,” he highlighted.

Pacheco mentioned that from 2004, Misión Milagro has made 1,038,683 surgical interventions, out of which, 299.289 were practiced by Venezuelan specialists and 534,658 by Cuban doctors.

Likewise, he said that the numbers also include the 204,736 Venezuelan patients that traveled to Cuba to be operated -when the program was launched in the framework of the Sandino Agreement.

Pacheco also said that in terms of international cooperation, the program has brought attention to more that 25,000 patients coming from Honduras, Nicaragua, ESalvador, Bolivia, Chicle, Brazil, Gambia, Dominican Republic and Costa Rica, among others.

In this connection he explained “We make an average of two international flights per month, during which we caoture from 100 to 110 patients to be operated in Venezuela.”

“Out of this international activity, we have experienced great satisfactions and the people are very thankfull to the Venezuelan solidarity,” he added.

Rosa María Ortega, a 72-year-old Nicaraguan woman, who was operated in Porlamar, state of Nueva Esparta, in January 2008, said via telephone that programs such as Misión Milagro are possible only in governments like President Chávezs.

“I knew cases of Nicaraguans that were operated in Venezuela with very good results. Now I am one of them, another good experience to tell,” said Ortega.

Another 43-year-old Nicaraguan, Julio Cordero, considered: “the only fact of being included in the group of people that was operated in Venezuela was a great opportunity the Venezuelan people and President Chávez gave us.”

Bolivarian News Agency ABN 

In three years, the Latin American Childrens Heart Hospital has provided totally free medical care to over 3,500 Venezuelan, Latin American and African children.

The hospitals director Isabel Iturria informed that around 5,000 children are born with heart condition and thats the reason why the hospital has been essential to increase the standard of living of Venezuelan children.

Iturria explained that Venezuela has increased the number of childrens heart operations from 141 in 1998 to over 2,000 operations per year. Around 1,100 and 1,200 operations are performed in the Latin American Childrens Heart Hospital per year and the rest in Venezuelas public hospitals.

She pointed out that these figures represent a big difference regarding heart problems since less than 5 percent of patients with heart conditions before 1998 underwent operations in public hospitals in Venezuela. “But now we are covering 100 percent of those children that are born with heart condition.”

Likewise, there are 18 regional cardiovascular care centers with the appropriate equipment to detect heart conditions in patients, who the are referred to the Latin American Childrens Heart Hospital.

Regarding foreign patients, each country has a medical center, appointed by the Ministry of Peoples Power for Health, which refers the patients medical reports to the Latin American Childrens Heart Hospital. If it is safe to move the patients, the Venezuelan state pays the expenses so that they can be provided medical care in Venezuela.

“This is part of a health state policy: solidarity with other countries. This is fulfilled as a basic right established in the Constitution: free health for everyone,” said Iturria.

Latin American Childrens Heart Hospital has received patients from Ecuador, Dominican Republic, Colombia, Peru, Mexico, Nicaragua and Gambia, among others.

Bolivarian News Agency ABN 

Message from President Chavez

Admirable Campaign, Admirable Homeland!

My comrades, Happy New Year!

I

These are the first lines of 2010: A year that has been marked by its importance. This is the Bicentennial Year, the beginning of the process of the Emancipation of Venezuela and Our America. We are entering the epicenter of the Bicentennial Age.

In 2010, we must boost the continuity of the emancipating effort taken 200 years ago.

We want to recall, again, the words of the "Gran Mariscal de Ayacucho" (Grand Marshal of Ayacucho) Antonio José de Sucre: When America has shed its blood to consolidate freedom, it also understood that it did it for justice. Without the plenty enjoyment of both of them (freedom and justice), (Americas) emancipation would have been useless. Sucres voice is calling us to battle: without the plenty enjoyment of freedom and justice, that is to say equality, independence would remain unfinished forever. And it would only be possible through the heroic way towards socialism.

And thats precisely one of the huge challenges we face this year: Consolidate and set a certain course towards the Venezuelan socialism. There is not a better way to honor the living memory of 200 years of battles.

Its been 200 years since our emancipating cry was heard: A cry that crosses time and is still heard with its original encouragement.

Celebrating this heroic deed, which honors us and gives us sense, must be a sound and firm commitment to our historical time.

This path is signaled by the Constitution: the Simón Bolívar National Project explains us the conception and actions. And the years we have been in Revolution are the concretion of our constructive, creative and liberating dynamic. We need, and we will always do, to deepen the definite incarnation of the peoples power, the full deployment of all their liberation force in the collective soul and the every-day practice in order to give a full sense and an irreversible fate to the Bolivarian Revolution.

Lets recall the great Venezuelan singer Ali Primera: we, my fellow countrymen and women, have to make history, and let other write it, in a better world. It is time to give a happy ending to the unfinished Independence: This is the celebration that is calling us, giving us presence, extolling us and compelling us.

Today, more than ever, is Bolívars time, and it is ticking in all the clocks. Let it tick in all our hearts.

II

This New Year, my fellow countrymen and women, is yours.

More than time was born from you, choose
the best of you and devote it to combat.

I recalled these verses by Pablo Neruda because battle after battle is whats awaiting us: battle against corruption, parasitic bureaucracy, insecurity, all kinds of waste, bad habits inoculated into us by capitalism. The battle against these deviations and dangers, which do not contribute to the consolidation of a new social system, must allow us to consolidate the revolutionary field and widen the scope of our alliances to clearly locate the imperialist enemy, their allies in the region and their lackeys inside our borders.

This is the great Admirable Campaign must lead us to great victories this year. Today I want to ask you to do your best so that we, together with the people, continue strengthening our Bolivarian Revolution.

The measures I announced last Friday, January 8, are a response to this consolidation. The public sector will have a new working day (8:00 am-1:00 pm) in order to save electricity (With the exception of public customer service offices). Likewise, and in order to stop unnecessary imports, replace imports and encourage production for exportation, I have announced the coming into force of a new double exchange rate: one at Bs. F 2.60 per dollar and the so-called oil dollar at Bs. F 4.30 per dollar. The first one covers health, food, machinery and equipments, science and technology, books, money transfers, Venezuelan students taking courses abroad, consulates and embassies, retired people; the second one covers car industry, trade, telecommunications, chemical and iron and steel industry, computer, etc. A third measure is the intervention of the foreign currency exchange market by the Central Bank of Venezuela and the Venezuelan government in order to avoid the speculative increase of currencies. We have to move away from the oil income model, and we will again leap forward in this sense. Economy must be at the service of men and women, and social issues. Thats our path: socialism.

III

The crime took place in San Carlos (Cojedes state). On January 10, 1860 General Zamora is killed by a treacherous bullet, a bullet shot from among his own ranks. The landlord oligarchy of both the Liberal and Conservative parties saw that the peoples force surrounding General Zamora was a real threat to their interests.

Zamora is the heir to Bolívars legacy. He raised the Bolivarian flag of justice and equality: Lets recall that Bolívar wrote a law to distribute lands in 1817 that, later, was confirmed by the Congress of Cúcuta in 1821 and gave each soldier a piece of land a reward for their services. Those lands were bought by Páez and Monagas, for instance, at a very low price, thus betraying the people that fought together with the Liberator and becoming the new lords of the country.

Zamora did not only took up the class struggle as the peoples rebellion of 1814 revealed. He also was aware of his nationality, the consolidation of the Homeland as a territory and the inheritance to the Bolivarian Homeland: the peoples homeland that was betrayed by the former allies of the Liberator.

Today, 150 years after his death, Zamora lives and has a lot to do: his cause is embodied today by the rural Venezuela, its people and soldiers.

We have moved forward, with no doubt, with the fight against large state. We have recovered lands, and thousands of hectares are now producing food for the people. Together with the peasant movement, we have started to draw and consolidate the land revolution in our homeland.

Now then, we can not deny the attacks of the oligarchy against the peasant movement, we can not deny the legal tricks that still remain; we can not deny the threat represented by the ill-fated oligarchy-paramilitary alliance. In this time, which is also the time of the furnaces, "and only light should be seen," the peasant militia and the organized peasant movement, together with the Bolivarian Armed Force, must keep up with the circumstances to definitely sentence impunity to death.

Happy New Year 2010, the first defining and conclusive cycle of this Bicentennial Age.

Admirable Campaign, Admirable Homeland!

We will triumph!

Hugo Chávez Frías

Bolivarian News Agency ABN