VENEZUELAN EMBASSY'S SEMINAR ON THE SOCIAL CHARTER

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 LIMA 002751

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

DEPT FOR INR, WHA/AND

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PGOV SOCI VE PE
SUBJECT: VENEZUELAN EMBASSY'S SEMINAR ON THE SOCIAL CHARTER
OF THE AMERICAS


Sensitive But Unclassified, Please Handle Accordingly


1. (SBU) On 6/15, Political Section FSN Assistant attended a
"Participative Forum/Workshop" sponsored by the Embassy of
Venezuela in Lima entitled "The Social Charter of the
Americas (SCA)." Summaries of the interventions by the
scheduled speakers are provided below.


2. (U) Ambassador Jorge Valero Briceno -- Permanent
Representative of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela to
the OAS: In April 2002, Venezuela suffered a terrible blow
when stateless persons (personas apatridas),the CIA and the
U.S. Government kidnapped President Chavez for 72 hours.

-- Latin America was used to an OAS which was distant from
us, but the Social Charter will serve to integrate the
peoples of the Americas. Bolivar said: "The most perfect
system of government is that which produces the greatest
amount of happiness possible, the greatest amount of social
security and the greatest amount of political stability."
The Social Charter is an instrument to bring the words of
Bolivar up to date. This Charter is the result of an
intense and profound debate within the OAS, the most
important debate since its creation in Bogota in 1948. It
is a debate on the nature of democracy in the continent.
Venezuela believes that it is not enough to simply promote
the political and civil rights of representative democracy,
there is a need to incorporate the notion of participative
democracy which the Bolivarian Constitution approved through
a referendum in 1999.

-- Participative democracy is a historical improvement over
the political reality of the 60's and 70's marked by fascist
and terrorist dictatorships. Participative democracy allows
the people to play a major role day in and day out. There
are various types of referenda authorized in our
Constitution. Democracy cannot exist if all it guarantees
are free elections. It is not tolerable that the poor are
only allowed to exercise their rights in a limited fashion,
they must be capable of fully enjoying their rights. From a
historical perspective, within the United Nations a block of
nations used to traditionally stress the importance of
political and civil rights while the other block stressed
the importance of social, economic and cultural rights.

-- The OAS has had a long journey in which some nations
claimed that social, economic and cultural rights were
already included within the political and civil rights and
thus, it was unnecessary to introduce the Inter-American
Social Charter, while other nations claimed that it was
necessary to promote a debate about this matter. After 3
years of debate in the OAS Headquarters a decision was made
for the OAS to study the Charter, and finally in October
2004 a workgroup was created and in May 2005 a president for
this workgroup was selected.

-- The Inter-American Democratic Charter has no popular
support, it was discussed only among diplomats, that's why
we need for the common people to take part in the discussion
of the Social Charter of the Americas. In Venezuela, one
million copies of the Social Charter of the Latin American
Parliament where distributed throughout the country, and
many events were organized in that regard.

-- In the OAS the process will be officially inaugurated on
September 1, 2005. There will be negotiators and two
different models of development are being proposed: the neo-
liberal and the humanistic models. Jose Miguel Insulza will
request the support of all representative governments in the
OAS. The SCA must include the aspirations of all the
peoples, and the people need to monitor the process and make
sure their governments are adhering to the ideas contained
in the SCA.

-- Venezuela has had oil since the beginning of the 19th
century and the first oil companies began operating at the
beginning of the 20th century. It has accumulated huge
riches. However, when President Chavez came to power, there
was 80 percent poverty in the country. Oil helped to worsen
corruption and made differences between the elites and the
people more acute. Public debts must be paid, but it is
more important to pay the social debt of Latin American
countries. This is the first time oil has been used to
produce hemispheric solidarity, facilities offered to poorer
countries to diminish the effect of a lack of oil in their
territories.

-- The Government of Venezuela is considering the
possibility of creating a transportation company, "Petroleo
Caribe," to eliminate speculators so that Caribbean nations
can use the money they save in transportation in addressing
other needs of their people.

-- A historical mutation is taking place in the continent,
i.e., the U.S. proposal to monitor and control the OAS
member countries, assigning the role of a guardian to the
OAS, was defeated with the support of the majority of OAS
states. President Chavez is being accused of exporting his
Bolivarian Government, i.e., the U.S. has spread the rumor
that Chavez contributed to the defeat of Sanchez de Losada
in Bolivia, while in fact his defeat was the result of a
social volcano.

-- The Bolivarian revolution is not exportable, just as the
Soviet Union's revolution wasn't, that being the reason why
the latter failed in the countries that tried to copy it.
Just as the neo-liberal model being forced upon all
countries is failing (and fortunately the so-called
"Washington Consensus"),the neo-liberal and macro-economic
adjustment policies have also failed. There are 240 million
poor living in Latin America and the Caribbean, and six
million people descend into poverty every year.

-- The Embassy of Venezuela has open doors to hear all those
who wish to express their views.


3. (U) Representative Walter Gavidia -- Vice-President of
the Latin American Parliament and President of the
Venezuelan Parliamentary Group: It is essential to
eliminate extreme poverty. The OAS discussed poverty for
the first time in 2003. The principal problem in Latin
America and the Caribbean is poverty.

-- Why is a Social Charter needed? It is: a) to promote
the integration of the people of the Americas; b) to satisfy
basic needs of the people; c) to address the social debt --
poverty, inequity and social exclusion. There are basic
social rights: to a decent life, to being nourished, to
development. We must subsidize the food of our poor people
(the U.S. and Europe subsidize their agricultural products
and exports). Communities must organize and take part in
their own development.

-- The people must be informed about what is being done and
spread the word about the Social Charter, which must be
internalized to help people in extreme poverty. All states
have received the SCA in a positive way, except for the
United States, that has always opposed it.


4. (U) Raul Diaz Marin -- President of the "Heroes of
Pacification:" There is a need for social justice,
transparency, training in public administration, and a
vision of a future where efficiency and effectiveness
prevail. This will result in a model population where
tradition and modernity will come together. There is also a
need for social development policies. Poverty,
environmental degradation, and hunger must be addressed
through strategic and viable plans. Human rights and
respect for women's rights must be promoted.


5. (U) Jose Chang -- President of the Brigade of Bolivarian
Volunteers of Peru: His organization was created 23 years
ago and has 22 branches in the provinces and 8 in Lima. Its
goal is to promote solidarity among all people. Young
people currently lack information and paradigms. The
government of President Hugo Chavez is the author of the
Social Charter of the Americas (SCA). There is a need to
reestablish the OAS through the SCA. The image, credibility
and administration of the OAS has been hurt by its guilty
silence and lies. A true leadership is required to run the
OAS. The seven titles, 18 chapters and 140 articles of the
SCA address the current problems of the world in an integral
way. All States should promote the work of volunteers in
their own countries.


6. (U) Juan Chafloque -- Huaycan Self-Governing Urban
Community: There is no real housing program for the poor in
Peru. The homes being built by "Mi Vivienda" (the GOP's low-
cost housing construction program) are too expensive for
most workers, who only earn 400 to 480 soles (USD 125 to
150) per month. There is a need for decent housing. Thanks
to the people's efforts in Huaycan, water and sewage systems
are being built. His organization believes that the SCA is
an important step towards development. Cuba and Venezuela
have eradicated illiteracy among their citizens. Peru is
full of street vendors and car washers.


7. (U) Jorge Ramirez -- ASONEDH (Black Association for the
Defense and Advancement of Human Rights): ASONEDH has been
fighting for the rights of Afro-Peruvians for the last 15
years. Ten percent of the Peruvian population is Afro-
Peruvian. Currently, there is rampant discrimination
against Afro-Peruvians in Peru. Blacks are treated as
second-class citizens and are not allowed to occupy
important positions. He was a witness of the social
sensibility shown by the Venezuelan Government. He was in
Caracas for a month and was able to perceive the inclusion
of Indians and Afro-Venezuelan citizens in its society.
Venezuela is an example for other countries. The SCA is the
result of this policy of inclusion, and is a road towards
inclusion. The people feel hopeful about this Charter.
ASONEDH hopes Peru will some day become a country of "all
bloods," one of equality and respect for one another.


8. (U) Carlos Jimenez -- CGTP (General Confederation of
Workers of Peru): The CGTP is very worried about the
situation in Latin America. There is one permanent problem:
the foreign debt keeps growing. Natural resources are
exported in ever growing quantities. There is a state of
exclusion and poverty, which results in the migration of our
citizens. The capitalist and neo-liberal model resulted in
the State losing its traditional role and functions,
citizens were left unprotected and on their own. There is a
need to recover those rights and the SCA has that goal in
mind. An alternative model to the one currently in place in
most countries is needed. The current model does not
represent the interests of the workers or the people.
Contacts must be encouraged between workers from the Andean
Region and Mercosur. The rights of workers must be
globalized as a way of responding to the globalization of
the economy. It is essential to recover economic, social
and cultural rights of the workers in this Region.


9. (U) Representative Filinto Duran -- President of the
Social Debt Committee in the Latin American Parliament: How
was the Social Charter written? Through a process of
collective construction. All sectors could contribute to
it: a true participative democracy. There are two ways of
viewing democracy in Latin America and in the OAS
headquarters, two life-concepts: one is a model of
accumulation of capital that favors one sector but causes
poverty to grow and increases the number of victims of
exclusion and poverty. Those who benefit from this model
wish to maintain the accumulation model (i.e., IMF, World
Bank, WTO).

-- Why does poverty grow if the world is richer? A world of
accumulation persists, if there are no excluded masses there
can be no accumulation (i.e., VIASA was swallowed by Iberia,
and Iberia will be swallowed by a larger fish, and so on).

-- The Bolivarian Constitution of 1992 was the child of the
"Caracazo" of 1989. This is a wise constitution because it
will permit a new foundation for the republic. Venezuela's
constitution reflects the country its citizens aspire to
have some day. Society will build a participative, multi-
ethnic and pluri-cultural democracy, and Venezuelans are
advancing toward a social democracy, a true democracy free
of exploitation and one that honors public liberties.
Representative democracy does not guarantee a true equality
of opportunities. Twenty percent of Venezuelans (the
elites) are traumatized watching the invisible and excluded
80 percent gain dignity and the chance to speak up. We need
to build a state where justice and equal opportunity
prevail. We must give the captive peoples the social rights
stolen from them by neo-liberalism. We need to go from a
state where the rule of law prevails to one where justice
prevails (an equality of rights and obligations) within the
framework of humanism: the human being should be the most
important consideration.

-- With the Cuban people's cooperation, one and a half
million Venezuelans learned how to read and write in
2003/2004. Terrorism must be fought, but in order to do
that it is essential to also fight poverty and inequality.

-- Democracy and governmental stability do not depend solely
on democratic policies, these will be in danger if the
social demands of the people are not addressed. The SCA is
an instrument to eradicate poverty and the states have made
a commitment to promote a debate of this Charter. It
represents a rejection of neo-liberal policies, conservative
positions and hegemonic powers located in the United States.


10. (U) Venezuelan Representative Chirinos: The Venezuelan
constitution was discussed broadly in all towns of
Venezuela, it promotes respect for human rights and the
integration of the people. In Venezuela there is a public
debt of 27 billion dollars, but the internal debt is 3 times
that amount. There is now in Venezuela a health campaign
being carried out with the support of the Cuban people,
which looks after the health needs of those individuals who
don't have social security. 15,000 Cuban doctors have come
to help us.

-- Venezuela is an oil-rich nation, it has some of the
largest oil reserves in the world. In previous years the
authorities in power kept all the profits, currently that
money is reverting to the people of Venezuela in the form of
culture and education. A multi-polar world embracing a new
geopolitical view is needed; the world cannot continue with
a single hegemonic power. In 1950, 50 percent of the people
in the world were poor; today, 80 percent of them are poor.
This Charter is an instrument to reduce the poverty levels
in Latin America and the Caribbean.

STRUBLE