Over the last 12 years, advances in technological infrastructure and access to it have produced considerable increases in the satisfaction of the social needs of the Venezuelan people, according to a presentation made by Venezuela’s Minister of Science, Technology and Intermediate Industries, Ricardo Menendez, to the National Assembly. Menendez presented the state of his portfolio alongside the ministers of Basic Industries and Mining, José Khan; Agriculture and Lands, Juan Carlos Loyos; Tourism, Alejandro Fleming; and Commerce, Edmeé Betancourt.

Menéndez said that the Venezuelan government has democratized access to new technologies and that access to indispensable services, including land- and mobile-lines and Internet have been extended to far-away areas.

As an example, the minister mentioned that Internet access in Venezuela has increased to 33 percent of the population, while in previous governments only three percent of Venezuelans had access to the service.

Menéndez highlighted that Venezuela launched Simón Bolívar satellite, an initiative to strengthen technological services and boost access to communication and tele-medicine services throughout the country.

Canaima Program

A technological achievement that has had a great impact in education is the Canaima Plan, a program that offers laptops for children of public elementary schools to strengthen their science and technology curricula.

“In Venezuela there are over 670,000 Canaima laptops distributed among first- and second-grade children,” said Menéndez.

Expanding Telecommunications

The Venezuelan minister highlighted that when the national telephone company, CANTV, was privatized in the 1990s, there were only 3,335,000 landlines, while currently there are 6,045,391.

“That number represents landlines installed in excluded areas, in barrios. Almost 62 percent of the landline penetration comes from populous areas,” he said.

In 2010, the state-run telephone company CANTV produced dividends worth $348.8 million, which were allocated to social investment.

Agricultural Production Increased by 64 Percent

For his part, the Minister of Agriculture and Lands, Juan Carlos Loyo, said during his speech that in 12 years of Venezuelan revolution the agricultural production reached 24.6 million tons of food, a 44 percent increase.

Loyo highlighted that the milk production has reported a 68 percent increase throughout the country.

Additionally, he said that Venezuelan government policies have led to an increase in annual caloric consumption.

“Before our government, food consumption per person was 1,800 kilocalories per year, far below FAO’s standards of 2,700 kilocalories. Today, in this Bolivarian Venezuela, each Venezuelan consumes an average of 2,783 kilocalories,” informed the minister.

The appearances before the National Assembly are part of a proposal made by President Hugo Chávez on January 15 during his state-of-the-nation speech.

Since last February 8, ministers of the executive cabinet started to report before the parliament the state of their respective ministries. Unlike other appearances, deputies are allowed to as questions to the ministers.

AVN / Press Office – Venezuelan Embassy to the U.S. / February 23, 2011

Source: Embassy of Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela in Washington