Category Archives: FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION

What the Press Hides from You about Venezuela — A Case of News-Suppression

FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION

An article by Eric Zuesse in Transcend Media Service

8 Feb 2019 – This news-report is being submitted to all U.S. and allied news-media, and is being published by all honest ones, in order to inform you of crucial facts that the others — the dishonest ones, that hide such crucial facts — are hiding about Venezuela. These are facts that have received coverage only in one single British newspaper: the Independent, which published a summary account of them on January 26th. That newspaper’s account will be excerpted here at the end, but first will be highlights from its topic, the official report to the U.N. General Assembly in August of last year, which has been covered-up ever since. This is why that report’s author has now gone to the Independent, desperate to get the story out, finally, to the public.


Alfred de Zayas,  UN Independent Expert on the Promotion of a Democratic and Equitable International Order (appointed by the United Nations Human Rights Council)


The Covered-Up Document

On 3 August 2018, the U.N.’s General Assembly received  the report from the U.N.s Independent Expert on the Promotion of a Democratic and Equitable International Order, concerning his mission to Venezuela and Ecuador. His recent travel though both countries focused on “how best to enhance the enjoyment of all human rights by the populations of both countries.” He “noted the eradication of illiteracy, free education from primary school to university, and programmes to reduce extreme poverty, provide housing to the homeless and vulnerable, phase out privilege and discrimination, and extend medical care to everyone.” He noted “that the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, and Ecuador, both devote around 70 per cent of their national budgets to social services.” However (and here, key paragraphs from the report are now quoted):
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22. Observers have identified errors committed by the Chávez and Maduro Governments, noting that there are too many ideologues and too few technocrats in public administration, resulting in government policies that lack coherence and professional management and discourage domestic investment, already crippled by inefficiency and corruption, which extend to government officials, transnational corporations and entrepreneurs. Critics warn about the undue influence of the military on government and on the running of enterprises like Petróleos de Venezuela. The lack of regular, publicly available data on nutrition, epidemiology and inflation are said to complicate efforts to provide humanitarian support.

23. Meanwhile, the Attorney General, Tarek Saab, has launched a vigorous anticorruption campaign, investigating the links between Venezuelan enterprises and tax havens, contracting scams, and deals by public officials with Odebrecht. It is estimated that corruption in the oil industry has cost the Government US$ 4.8 billion. The Attorney General’s Office informed the Independent Expert of pending investigations for embezzlement and extortion against 79 officials of Petróleos de Venezuela, including 22 senior managers. The Office also pointed to the arrest of two high-level oil executives, accused of money-laundering in Andorra. The Ministry of Justice estimates corruption losses at some US$ 15 billion. Other stakeholders, in contrast, assert that anti-corruption programmes are selective and have not sufficiently targeted State institutions, including the military. …

29. … Over the past sixty years, non-conventional economic wars have been waged against Cuba, Chile, Nicaragua, the Syrian Arab Republic and the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela in order to make their economies fail, facilitate regime change and impose a neo-liberal socioeconomic model. In order to discredit selected governments, failures in the field of human rights are maximized so as to make violent overthrow more palatable. Human rights are being “weaponized” against rivals. Yet, human rights are the heritage of every human being and should never be instrumentalized as weapons of demonization. …

30. The principles of non-intervention and non-interference in the internal affairs of sovereign States belong to customary international law and have been reaffirmed in General Assembly resolutions, notably [a list is supplied]. …

31. In its judgment of 27 June 1986 concerning Nicaragua v. United States, the International Court of Justice quoted from [U.N.] resolution 2625 (XXV): “no State shall organize, assist, foment, finance, incite or tolerate subversive, terrorist or armed activities directed towards the violent overthrow of the regime of another State, or interfere in civil strife in another State”. …

36. The effects of sanctions imposed by Presidents Obama and Trump and unilateral measures by Canada and the European Union have directly and indirectly aggravated the shortages in medicines such as insulin and anti-retroviral drugs. To the extent that economic sanctions have caused delays in distribution and thus contributed to many deaths, sanctions contravene the human rights obligations of the countries imposing them.Moreover, sanctions can amount to crimes against humanity under Article 7 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. An investigation by that Court would be appropriate, but the geopolitical submissiveness of the Court may prevent this.

37. Modern-day economic sanctions and blockades are comparable with medieval sieges of towns with the intention of forcing them to surrender. Twenty-first century sanctions attempt to bring not just a town, but sovereign countries to their knees. A difference, perhaps, is that twenty-first century sanctions are accompanied by the manipulation of public opinion through “fake news”, aggressive public relations and a pseudo-human rights rhetoric so as to give the impression that a human rights “end” justifies the criminal means. …

39. Economic asphyxiation policies are comparable to those already practised in Chile, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Nicaragua and the Syrian Arab Republic. In January 2018, Middle East correspondent of The Financial Times and The Independent, Patrick Cockburn, wrote on the sanctions affecting Syria: There is usually a pretence that foodstuffs and medical equipment are being allowed through freely and no mention is made of the financial and other regulatory obstacles making it impossible to deliver them. An example of this is the draconian sanctions imposed on Syria by the US and EU which were meant to target President Bashar al-Assad and help remove him from power. They have wholly failed to do this, but a UN internal report leaked in 2016 shows all too convincingly the effect of the embargo in stopping the delivery of aid by international aid agencies. They cannot import the aid despite waivers because banks and commercial companies dare not risk being penalised for having anything to do with Syria. The report quotes a European doctor working in Syria as saying that “the indirect effect of sanctions … makes the import of the medical instruments and other medical supplies immensely difficult, near impossible”. In short: economic sanctions kill. …

41. Bearing in mind that Venezuelan society is polarized, what is most needed is dialogue between the Government and the opposition, and it would be a noble task on the part of the Secretary-General of the United Nations to offer his good offices for such a dialogue. Yet, opposition leaders Antonio Ledezma and Julio Borges, during a trip through Europe to denounce the Government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, called for further sanctions as well as a military “humanitarian intervention”. …

44. Although the situation in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela has not yet reached the humanitarian crisis threshold, there is hunger, malnutrition, anxiety, anguish and emigration. What is crucial is to study the causes of the crisis, including neglected factors of sanctions, sabotage, hoarding, black market activities, induced inflation and contraband in food and medicines.

45. The “crisis” in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela is an economic crisis, which cannot be compared with the humanitarian crises in Gaza, Yemen, Libya, the Syrian Arab Republic, Iraq, Haiti, Mali, the Central African Republic, South Sudan, Somalia, or Myanmar, among others. It is significant that when, in 2017, the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela requested medical aid from the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, the plea was rejected, because it ”is still a high-income country … and as such is not eligible”. …

(Article continued in the right column.)

Question(s) related to this article:

Free flow of information, How is it important for a culture of peace?

What is really happening in Venezuela?

Are economic sanctions a violation of human rights?

(Article continued from left column)

46. It is pertinent to recall the situation in the years prior to the election of Hugo Chávez. Corruption was ubiquitous and in 1993, President Carlos Pérez was removed because of embezzlement. The Chávez election in 1998 reflected despair with the corruption and neo-liberal policies of the 1980s and 1990s, and rejection of the gulf between the super-rich and the abject poor.

47. Participatory democracy in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, called “protagónica”, is anchored in the Constitution of 1999 and relies on frequent elections and referendums. During the mission, the Independent Expert exchanged views with the Electoral Commission and learned that in the 19 years since Chávez, 25 elections and referendums had been conducted, 4 of them observed by the Carter Center. The Independent Expert met with the representative of the Carter Center in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, who recalled Carter’s positive assessment of the electoral system. They also discussed the constitutional objections raised by the opposition to the referendum held on 30 July 2017, resulting in the creation of a Constitutional Assembly. Over 8 million Venezuelans voted in the referendum, which was accompanied by international observers, including from the Council of Electoral Specialists of Latin America.

48. An atmosphere of intimidation accompanied the mission, attempting to pressure the Independent Expert into a predetermined matrix. He received letters from NGOs asking him not to proceed because he was not the “relevant” rapporteur, and almost dictating what should be in the report. Weeks before his arrival, some called the mission a “fake investigation”. Social media insults bordered on “hate speech” and “incitement”. Mobbing before, during and after the mission bore a resemblance to the experience of two American journalists who visited the country in July 2017. Utilizing platforms such as Facebook and Twitter, critics questioned the Independent Expert’s integrity and accused him of bias, demonstrating a culture of intransigence and refusal to accept the duty of an independent expert to be neutral, objective, dispassionate and to apply his expertise free of external pressures. …

67. The Independent Expert recommends that the General Assembly: (g) Invoke article 96 of the Charter of the United Nations and refer the following questions to the International Court of Justice: Can unilateral coercive measures be compatible with international law? Can unilateral coercive measures amount to crimes against humanity when a large number of persons perish because of scarcity of food and medicines? What reparations are due to the victims of sanctions? Do sanctions and currency manipulations constitute geopolitical crimes? (h) Adopt a resolution along the lines of the resolutions on the United States embargo against Cuba, declaring the sanctions against the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela contrary to international law and human rights law. …

70. The Independent Expert recommends that the International Criminal Court investigate the problem of unilateral coercive measures that cause death from malnutrition, lack of medicines and medical equipment. …

72. The Independent Expert recommends that, until the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court address the lethal outcomes of economic wars and sanctions regimes, the Permanent Peoples Tribunal, the Russell Tribunal and the Kuala Lumpur War Crimes Commission undertake the task so as to facilitate future judicial pronouncements.

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On January 26th, Britain’s Independent headlined “Venezuela crisis: Former UN rapporteur says US sanctions are killing citizens”, and Michael Selby-Green reported that:

The first UN rapporteur to visit Venezuela for 21 years has told The Independent the US sanctions on the country are illegal and could amount to “crimes against humanity” under international law.

Former special rapporteur Alfred de Zayas, who finished his term at the UN in March, has criticized the US for engaging in “economic warfare” against Venezuela which he said is hurting the economy and killing Venezuelans.

The comments come amid worsening tensions in the country after the US and UK have backed Juan Guaidó, who appointed himself “interim president” of Venezuela as hundreds of thousands marched to support him. …

The US Treasury has not responded to a request for comment on Mr de Zayas’s allegations of the effects of the sanctions programme.

US sanctions prohibit dealing in currencies issued by the Venezuelan government. They also target individuals, and stop US-based companies or people from buying and selling new debt issued by PDVSA or the government.

The US has previously defended its sanctions on Venezuela, with a senior US official saying in 2018: “The fact is that the greatest sanction on Venezuelan oil and oil production is called Nicolas Maduro, and PDVSA’s inefficiencies,” referring to the state-run oil body, Petroleos de Venezuela, SA.

Mr De Zayas’s findings are based on his late-2017 mission to the country and interviews with 12 Venezuelan government ministers, opposition politicians, 35 NGOs working in the country, academics, church officials, activists, chambers of commerce and regional UN agencies.

The US imposed new sanctions against Venezuela on 9 March 2015, when President Barack Obama issued executive order 13692, declaring the country a threat to national security.

The sanctions have since intensified under Donald Trump, who has also threatened military invasion and discussed a coup. …

Despite being the first UN official to visit and report from Venezuela in 21 years, Mr de Zayas said his research into the causes of the country’s economic crisis has so far largely been ignored by the UN and the media, and caused little debate within the Human Rights Council.

He believes his report has been ignored because it goes against the popular narrative that Venezuela needs regime change. …

The then UN high commissioner, Zeid Raad Al Hussein, reportedly refused to meet Mr de Zayas after the visit, and the Venezuela desk of the UN Human Rights Council also declined to help with his work after his return despite being obliged to do so, Mr de Zayas claimed. …

Ivan Briscoe, Latin America and Caribbean programme director for Crisis Group, an international NGO, told The Independent that Venezuela is a polarising subject. … Briscoe is critical of Mr de Zayas’ report because it highlights US economic warfare but in his view neglects to mention the impact of a difficult business environment in the country. … Briscoe acknowledged rising tensions and the likely presence of US personnel operating covertly in the country. …

Eugenia Russian, president of FUNDALATIN, one of the oldest human rights NGOs in Venezuela, founded in 1978 before the Chavez and Maduro governments and with special consultative status at the UN, spoke to The Independent on the significance of the sanctions.

“In contact with the popular communities, we consider that one of the fundamental causes of the economic crisis in the country is the effect that the unilateral coercive sanctions that are applied in the economy, especially by the government of the United States,” Ms Russian said.

She said there may also be causes from internal errors, but said probably few countries in the world have suffered an “economic siege” like the one Venezuelans are living under. …

In his report, Mr de Zayas expressed concern that those calling the situation a “humanitarian crisis” are trying to justify regime change and that human rights are being “weaponised” to discredit the government and make violent overthrow more “palatable”….

Venezuela has the largest oil reserves in the world and an abundance of other natural resources including gold, bauxite and coltan. But under the Maduro government they’re not easily accessible to US and transnational corporations.

US oil companies had large investments in Venezuela in the early 20th century but were locked out after Venezuelans voted to nationalise the industry in 1973.

Other than readers of that single newspaper, where has the public been able to find these facts? If the public can have these facts hidden from them, then how much trust should the public reasonably have in the government, and in the news-media?

FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION, global, Latin America, United Nations, ,

US Media Ignore—and Applaud—Economic War on Venezuela

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An article by Gregory Shupak in Fair.org

The US media chorus supporting a US overthrow of the Venezuelan government has for years pointed to the country’s economic crisis as a justification for regime change, while whitewashing the ways in which the US has strangled the Venezuelan economy  (FAIR.org, 3/22/18).

Sister Eugenia Russian, president of Fundalatin, a Venezuelan human rights NGO that was established in 1978 and has special consultative status at the UN, told the Independent (1/26/19):

“In contact with the popular communities, we consider that one of the fundamental causes of the economic crisis in the country is the effect [of] the unilateral coercive sanctions that are applied in the economy, especially by the government of the United States.”

While internal errors also contributed to the nation’s problems, Russian said it’s likely that few countries in the world have ever suffered an “economic siege” like the one Venezuelans are living under.

While the New York Times and the Washington Post have lately professed profound (and definitely 100 percent sincere) concern for the welfare of Venezuelans, neither publication has ever referred to Fundalatin.

Alfred de Zayas, the first UN special rapporteur to visit Venezuela in 21 years, told the Independent(1/26/19) that US, Canadian and European Union “economic warfare” has killed Venezuelans, noting that the sanctions fall most heavily on the poorest people and demonstrably cause death through food and medicine shortages, lead to violations of human rights and are aimed at coercing economic change in a “sister democracy.”

De Zayas’ UN report  noted that sanctions “hind[er] the imports necessary to produce generic medicines and seeds to increase agricultural production.” De Zayas also cited Venezuelan economist Pasqualina Curcio, who reports that “the most effective strategy to disrupt the Venezuelan economy” has been the manipulation of the exchange rate. The rapporteur went on to suggest that the International Criminal Court investigate economic sanctions against Venezuela as possible crimes against humanity.

Given that de Zayas is the first UN special rapporteur to report on Venezuela in more than two decades, one might expect the media to regard his findings as an important part of the Venezuela narrative, but his name does not appear in a single article ever published in the Post; the Times has mentioned him once, but not in relation to Venezuela.

The economist Francisco Rodríguez points out  that the sanctions the Trump administration issued in August 2017 prohibited US banks from providing new financing to the Venezuelan government, a key part of the “toxification” of financial dealings with Venezuela. Rodríguez notes that, in August 2017, the US Financial Crimes Enforcement Network warned financial institutions that “all Venezuelan government agencies and bodies…appear vulnerable to public corruption and money laundering,” and recommended that some transactions originating from Venezuela be flagged as potentially criminal. Many financial institutions then closed Venezuelan accounts, concerned about the risk of being accused of participating in money laundering.

Rodríguez says that this handcuffed Venezuela’s oil industry, the sector most crucial to its economy, with lost access to credit preventing the country from obtaining financial resources that could have been devoted to investment or maintenance. And whereas previously the Venezuelan government would raise production by signing joint venture agreements with foreign partners who would finance investment, Trump’s sanctions “effectively put an end to these loans.”

Mark Weisbrot (The Nation, 9/7/17) , also an economist, raised a related issue:

“If we step back and look at Venezuela from a bird’s-eye view, how does a country with 500 billion barrels of oil and hundreds of billions of dollars’ worth of minerals in the ground go broke? The only way that can happen is if the country is cut off from the international financial system. Otherwise, Venezuela could sell or even collateralize some of its resources in order to get the necessary dollars. The $7.7 billion in goldheld in Central Bank reserves could be quickly collateralized for a loan; in past years, the US Treasury department used its clout to make sure that banks who wanted to finance a swap, such as JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America, did not do so.”

Sanctions have kept the Venezuelan government from accessing financing and dealing with its debt while hamstringing its most important industry. Given that US media are writing for a principally US audience, the damage done by Washington and its partners’ sanctions should be front and center in their coverage. Exactly the opposite is the case.

Virginia Lopez-Glass of the New York Times (1/25/19) uses 920 words to describe the challenges facing Venezuelans, but “sanctions” isn’t one of them, even as she writes about matters to which, as I’ve shown above, sanctions are directly relevant: “Food and medicine shortages are widespread. Hundreds have died from malnutrition and illnesses that are easily curable with the appropriate treatment.”

Weaponizing hunger in Venezuela in this manner is dishonest and misleading. Christina M. Schiavoni, a doctoral researcher at the International Institute of Social Studies in The Hague, and Ana Felicien and Liccia Romero, both of whom are Venezuelan scholars, wrote in Monthly Review(6/1/18) on “overt US aggression toward Venezuela” in the form of

“the intensifying economic sanctions imposed by the Obama and Trump administrations, as well as an all-out economic blockade that has made it extremely difficult for the government to make payments on food imports and manage its debt.”

(Article continued in the right column.)

Question(s) related to this article:

Free flow of information, How is it important for a culture of peace?

Are economic sanctions a violation of human rights?

What is really happening in Venezuela?

How can war crimes be documented, stopped, punished and prevented?

(Article continued from left column)

Bret Stephens’ column in the Times (1/28/19) only mentions the word “sanctions” to complain that the media supposedly isn’t blaming “socialism” for the crisis in Venezuela, alleging that

“what you’re likelier to read is that the crisis is the product of corruption, cronyism, populism, authoritarianism, resource-dependency, US sanctions and trickery, even the residues of capitalism itself.”

After dismissing the idea that the sanctions are a key part of the problems in Venezuela, Stephens went on to advocate using them to bring about regime change in the country, writing that the Trump administration

“should enhance [Guaidó]’s political standing by providing access to funds that can help him establish an alternative government and entice wavering figures in the Maduro camp to switch sides. It can put Venezuela on the list of state sponsors of terrorism.”

These “funds” presumably refer the money that the US has seized from Venezuela, and adding the country to list of “state sponsors of terrorism” automatically entails hitting it with further sanctions.

The editorial board of the Washington Post (1/24/19) alleged that Venezuela’s government has “subject[ed] the country’s 32 million people to a humanitarian catastrophe,” without referring to what scholars whose research and writing focuses on Latin America—such as Laura Carlsen, Sujatha Fernandes, Greg Grandin, Francisco Dominguez, Noam Chomsky, Aviva Chomsky, Gabriel Hetland and Venezuelan-born historian Miguel Tinker Salas—describe (Common Dreams, 1/24/19) as sanctions

“cut[ting] off the means by which the Venezuelan government could escape from its economic recession, while causing a dramatic falloff in oil production and worsening the economic crisis, and causing many people to die because they can’t get access to life-saving medicines.”

Later, the editorial said that “a US boycott of Venezuelan oil could endanger ordinary Venezuelans already coping with critical shortages of food, power and medicine,” an absurd remark given that the sanctions they are occluding have had precisely these effects.

Henry Olsen in the Post (1/24/19) wrote as if sanctions are a benign tool that can be used to usher in a brighter future for Venezuelans, rather than a key reason that so many of them find themselves in such a grim condition:

“Trump has many levers to pull short of military intervention to topple Maduro. He could use US pressure on the global financial system to cut off regime access to international banks, freezing access to any secret accounts that the regime — and, probably, its highest-ranking leaders — established offshore. He can, as Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) has suggested, work with American oil companies that purchase Venezuelan oil to provide the profits from those purchases to accounts controlled by Guaidó’s National Assembly. He can also pressure China, which has a far more valuable relationship with the United States than it does with Venezuela, to withdraw its support. Any or all of these measures would ratchet up pressure directly on the regime, decreasing its ability to finance itself and buy support from security and military figures….

Odds are that increasing financial pressure on the regime will finally bring about its collapse.”

Even if one momentarily sets aside that the sanctions are illegal under international law  and violate the charter of the Organization of American States, and that the US has no right whatsoever to decide who governs Venezuela, these measures don’t just “ratchet up pressure” on “the regime,” they also kill and immiserate ordinary Venezuelans.A

The Post’s Charles Lane (1/28/19) wrote:

“Apologists for the regime blame US sanctions and destabilization for Venezuela’s problems. The truth is that, with the exception of the George W. Bush administration’s brief, halfhearted support for a coup attempt in 2002, Washington—learning the lessons of ill-fated Cold War interventions—has shown restraint in dealing with the Caracas regime.”

He went on to write that, until the Trump administration announced limitations on imports of Venezuelan oil that day, “the United States had traded with Venezuela and focused economic pressure on regime leaders and key institutions,” which suggests that the sanctions exclusively harm the “regime”—again, even if that were true, it would still be illegal—and amounts to a lie, given the evidence that the sanctions are crushing the Venezuelan masses.

Unlike Lane and the rest of the media’s regime change choir, the US government has acknowledged what it’s doing to Venezuela. Schiavoni, Felicien and Romero point to a telling remark  that a senior State Department official made last year:

“The financial sanctions we have placed on the Venezuelan Government has forced it to begin becoming in default, both on sovereign and PDVSA, its oil company’s debt. And what we are seeing because of the bad choices of the Maduro regime is a total economic collapse in Venezuela. So our policy is working, our strategy is working and we’re going to keep it on the Venezuelans.”

Thus, the US government acknowledges that it is knowingly, consciously driving the Venezuelan economy into the ground, but US media make no such acknowledgment, which sends the message that the problems in Venezuela are entirely the fault of the government, and that the US is a neutral arbiter that wants to help Venezuelans.

Call this elision what it is: war propaganda.

FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION, Latin America

Cuba: International Conference for Peace and “World Balance” Supports Venezuela

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An article by Roger Harris in the Transcend Media Service

 Close to 700 conferees from 65 countries convened in Havana, Cuba from January 28-31, for peace and “world balance.” This, the fourth such conference, was dedicated to honoring the ideals of Cuban national hero José Martí who died in 1895 at the age of 42 fighting for independence from colonial Spain. The event was organized by the José Martí Project of International Solidarity, which is sponsored by UNESCO.


Photo: Yaimi Ravelo

An overarching theme of the conference was the urgency for international solidarity with the democratically elected Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro who is under attack by the US and its minions. Another prominent issue was the struggle to free the unjustly imprisoned former President of Brazil Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

The wide-ranging conference addressed the “most pressing issues that have an impact on humanity” from global warming, to feminism, to cyber democracy, to sustainability. Well known personalities from all over the world included Spanish intellectual Ignacio Ramonet, Brazilian liberation theologian Frei Betto, historian of Havana Eusebio Leal, and a representative of the Vatican. Aleida Guevara, daughter of Che, spoke during the panel on solidarity along with Puerto Rican fighter for independence Oscar López Rivera.

The first plenary session was attended by newly elected Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel and leading members of the Cuban government and Communist Party. They sat on the mainstage without fanfare or even significant security, other than a few unarmed men in guayabera shirts standing in the background; considerably less security, say, than the average US high school student must pass to get to class.

(Article continued in the right column.)

(Click here for an article in Spanish about this conference.)

Question(s) related to this article:

Free flow of information, How is it important for a culture of peace?

Does Cuba promote a culture of peace?

(Article continued from left column)

Yuri Afonin of the Russian Federation Communist Party observed that the open colonialism of Martí’s time has been replaced by today’s neo-colonialism. With the collapse of the USSR/Eastern Europe, imperialism was given a green light. The planet has gone back to the 19th century as capitalism tries to impose its neoliberal hegemony.

Yeidckol Polevnsky of the newly triumphant MORENA Party in Mexico advocated strongly for respecting sovereignty and self-determination among nations, denouncing US interference in Venezuela and Nicaragua. Likewise, the representative of the ruling Chinese Communist Party called for non-interference. Venezuelan Minister of Culture Ernesto Villegas warned: “The US has unleashed a culture of war.”

Adán Chávez Frias of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) and brother of Hugo Chávez spoke of the 2002 US-backed coup that lasted less than three days because the people rose up against it. Today, he reported, the civic-military union is stronger than in 2002 and will defend the process towards socialism.

Rene González of the Cuban 5 and Vice President of the Martiano Program Office observed that many internationals, some of whom were at the conference, fought with the Sandinistas in Nicaragua against the US-backed dictator Anastasio Somoza and many more would now do the same if Venezuela must defend itself.

Fellow Cuban 5 hero Fernando González, who is the current President of the Cuban Institute of Friendship with the Peoples (ICAP), summed up the conference: “we must unite to defend these causes because the enemy is the same…yanqui imperialism.”

Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla closed the conference saying: “We inhabit a planet that is unequal as never before. We live in a world of enormous and growing imbalances, which cause great threats to international peace and security, to justice, and to the dignity of human beings.”  He stressed that US imperialism is clinging to a unipolar order, which is historically discarded and unsustainable.

The international conference adjourned, dedicated to an inclusive multi-polar world where, in the words of José Martí, patria es humanidad (homeland is humanity).

FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION, Latin America

Venezuela: An Open Letter to the People of the United States from President Nicolás Maduro

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Published by Transcend News Service

7 Feb 2019 – If I know anything, it is about people, such as you, I am a man of the people. I was born and raised in a poor neighborhood of Caracas. I forged myself in the heat of popular and union struggles in a Venezuela submerged in exclusion and inequality.

I am not a tycoon, I am a worker of reason and heart, today I have the great privilege of presiding over the new Venezuela, rooted in a model of inclusive development and social equality, which was forged by Commander Hugo Chávez since 1998 inspired by the Bolivarian legacy.

We live today a historical trance. There are days that will define the future of our countries between war and peace. Your national representatives of Washington want to bring to their borders the same hatred that they planted in Vietnam. They want to invade and intervene in Venezuela – they say, as they said then – in the name of democracy and freedom. But it’s not like that. The history of the usurpation of power in Venezuela is as false as the weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. It is a false case, but it can have dramatic consequences for our entire region.

Venezuela is a country that, by virtue of its 1999 Constitution, has broadly expanded the participatory and protagonist democracy of the people and that is unprecedented today, as one of the countries with the largest number of electoral processes in its last 20 years. You might not like our ideology, or our appearance, but we exist and we are millions.

I address these words to the people of the United States of America to warn of the gravity and danger that intend some sectors in the White House to invade Venezuela with unpredictable consequences for my country and for the entire American region. President Donald Trump also intends to disturb noble dialogue initiatives promoted by Uruguay and Mexico with the support of CARICOM for a peaceful solution and dialogue in favour of Venezuela. We know that for the good of Venezuela we have to sit down and talk, because to refuse to dialogue is to choose strength as a way. Keep in mind the words of John F. Kennedy: “Let us never negotiate out of fear. But let us never fear to negotiate”.

(Article continued in the right column.)

(Click here for the letter in Spanish or click here for the letter in French.)

Question(s) related to this article:

Free flow of information, How is it important for a culture of peace?

What is really happening in Venezuela?

(Article continued from left column)

Are those who do not want to dialogue afraid of the truth?

The political intolerance towards the Venezuelan Bolivarian model and the desires for our immense oil resources, minerals and other great riches has prompted an international coalition headed by the US government to commit the serious insanity of militarily attacking Venezuela under the false excuse of a non-existent humanitarian crisis.

The people of Venezuela have suffered painfully social wounds caused by a criminal commercial and financial blockade, which has been aggravated by the dispossession and robbery of our financial resources and assets in countries aligned with this demented onslaught.

And yet, thanks to a new system of social protection, of direct attention to the most vulnerable sectors, we proudly continue to be a country with a high human development index and low inequality in the Americas.

The American people must know that this complex multiform aggression is carried out with total impunity and in clear violation of the Charter of the United Nations, which expressly outlaws the threat or use of force, among other principles and purposes for the sake of peace and the friendly relations between Nations.

We want to continue being business partners of the people of the United States, as we have been throughout our history. Their politicians in Washington, on the other hand, are willing to send their sons and daughters to die in an absurd war, instead of respecting the sacred right of the Venezuelan people to self-determination and safeguarding their sovereignty.

Like you, people of the United States, we Venezuelans are patriots. And we shall defend our homeland with all the pieces of our soul.

Today Venezuela is united in a single clamor: we demand the cessation of the aggression that seeks to suffocate our economy and socially suffocate our people, as well as the cessation of the serious and dangerous threats of military intervention against Venezuela.

We appeal to the good soul of American society, victim of its own leaders, to join our call for peace, let us be all one people against warmongering and war.

Long live the peoples of America!
Nicolás Maduro

President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela

FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION, Latin America

2019 Biennial of Luanda [Angola]: The initial budget has about 440 thousand euros

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An article from the Observador (translation by CPNN)

The Angolan Government presented this Friday the Biennale of Luanda 2019 – Pan-African Forum for the Culture of Peace, with a budget of more than 500 thousand dollars for “initial costs” in the framework of an agreement with UNESCO.


The UNESCO representative for the meeting, Enzo Fazzino. Photo: AMPE ROGÉRIO / LUSA

Highlighting the contribution of African cultures to world peace through a wide variety of cultural expressions from the six African regions, including the fine arts, music, dance, theater and literature, is the objective of the Luanda Biennial, which will take place from September 18 to 22.

According to the national coordinator of the Luanda Biennial, Alexandra Apatricío, during five days the meeting will gather reflections, as well as hold cultural and sporting events.

Under an agreement signed between the Angolan Government and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the national coordinator of the biennial said that Angola “already has an initial budget set aside from funds already identified that is 505 thousand dollars “(about 440 thousand euros).

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(Click here for the Portuguese version of this article.)

Question related to this article:

The Luanda Biennale: What is its contribution to a culture of peace in Africa

Will UNESCO once again play a role in the culture of peace?

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“[The budget is] deposited for certain costs and we are currently collecting all the costs of all these actions and there are already large institutions in the country and other international institutions that have approached us willing to contribute to the actions of the Luanda Biennial” , he pointed out.

At the ceremony held this Friday at the Anibal de Melo Press Center (CIAM), in Luanda, the official said that during the biennial “the intention is to promote a culture of peace by taking into account the diversity of Africa.”

According to the Angolan authorities, 12 countries, namely two from North Africa, two from West Africa, two from East Africa, two from Central Africa, two from Southern Africa and two from the diaspora are expected to be participants.

“The idea of ​​this Biennial is to have a space where we can contribute to a culture of peace and violence prevention to create more actions, share, and exchange these moments that exist in other countries for sustainable development,” he said.

The UNESCO representative at the meeting, Enzo Fazzino, also pointed out the relevance of the Luanda Biennial 2019 – Pan-African Forum for the Culture of Peace, which is an opportunity to find actors in conflict prevention in Africa.

“The idea is to create a Pan-African Movement for the Culture of Peace that values ​​ongoing actions and that creates opportunities for these projects to gain more support,” he said.

He added that it will be “an opportunity to show the cultural diversity of the African continent and create a sense of better integration between African cultures. The achievement of bringing together countries from across the African sub-regions can create greater integration.”

Africa, FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION

Bolivia: Evo Morales says the United States seeks to “devastate and impoverish” Venezuela as did to Iraq and Libya

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An article from RPP Noticias

The president of Bolivia and friend of his Venezuelan counterpart, Nicolás Maduro, Evo Morales, said Wednesday that the United States wants Venezuela to be “devastated and impoverished” like Iraq and Libya, by provoking violence through its threats to coexistence in Latin America. .

Through his Twitter account, the Bolivian president wrote. “The US threats against Venezuela are threats to peaceful coexistence in Latin America, they want to provoke confrontation between brothers with war and violence.”

He also accused the US government of seeking that Venezuela “be devastated and impoverished as Iraq and Libya”, referring to interventions in which the United States participated in those countries.

Morales said in another message on the well-known social network that “by failing at the UN to justify a military intervention that allows it to take over Venezuela’s oil, the United States arbitrarily confiscates the money of the Venezuelan people to finance the coup [… ] The United States undermines peace and the right of peoples to dispose of their natural resources, “he added.

(Article continued in the right column.)

(Click here for the original article in Spanish.)

Question(s) related to this article:

What is really happening in Venezuela?

(Article continued from left column)

To this he added. “Latin America is a region of peace, we are once again proposing to build a South American identity in terms of defense and we reject any attempt at intervention, we must promote the peaceful resolution of conflicts and a culture of peace in the continent and the world.” (EFE)

Evo Morales Ayma
@evoespueblo

The economic sanctions of #EEUU against the brother country of #Venezuela, when trying to confiscate the assets of @PDVSA, violate the Charter of the United Nations that recognizes the equality and sovereignty of the States, as well as the self-determination of the peoples.

Evo Morales Ayma
@evoespueblo

The threats of #EEUU against #Venezuela are threats to peaceful coexistence in # AméricaLatina. They want to provoke confrontation between brothers with war and violence. The empire wants Venezuela to be devastated and impoverished as were Iraq and Libya.

Evo Morales Ayma
@evoespueblo

# AméricaLatina is a region of peace, we are once again planning to build a South American identity in terms of defense and reject any attempt at intervention. We must promote the peaceful resolution of conflicts and a culture of peace on the continent and the world.

FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION, Latin America

US attack on Venezuela: alternative media coverage

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An analysis by CPNN

For the most part the major mass media supports the attack on Venezuela led by the government of the United States. They give the headlines to the US and EU charges against Venezuela, and imply that the Chinese and Russian refusal to go along with the American initiative at the UN Security Council is simply a revival of the Cold War.

According to the news agency of the United Nations, some other countries also gave reasons to oppose the US initiative during the Security Counil meeting, as described below.

Meanwhile, the website Common Dreams carries a statement from 70 intellectuals opposing the US initiative.

Here are the remarks at the UN Security Council from the representatives of South Africa, Equatorial Guinea, Cuba, Bolivia and St Vincent and the Grenadines:

JERRY MATJILA (South Africa) emphasized that, in any country, political parties choose the provisions on which to conduct elections.  Recalling that Venezuela held presidential elections in May 2018 on the basis of its national laws, he voiced deep concern over the “clear attempt […] to circumvent the country’s constitutional legal mechanisms which govern its elections”.  Any grievances or disputes should be resolved in a peaceful manner through the proper mechanisms, without external influence.  Echoing calls for the swift de-escalation of tensions to prevent violence, and for the relevant actors to commit to inclusive and credible political dialogue, he urged the international community and United Nations entities to work with Venezuela and its neighbours to assist those in need.  South Africa stands against any attempt at undue constitutional change of Government in Venezuela, he stressed, warning that the Council must never be an instrument that validates such attempts.

ANATOLIO NDONG MBA (Equatorial Guinea) appealed to Venezuelans to arm themselves with courage and wisdom to overcome this crisis.  The solution, aside from being peaceful and democratic, must be in accordance with the Venezuelan Constitution.  The situation in Venezuela is an internal matter and does not pose a threat to international peace and security, and the Security Council must be cautious in that regard.  The main focus of the United Nations and the Council should be on encouraging the parties to negotiate the differences that are “pushing them to the edge”.  The international community “should not put fuel” on the situation, but rather, facilitate a dialogue.  External interference will only exacerbate tensions.  Recalling the suffering caused by foreign interventions in the Middle East and Africa — “only to change a regime and without any consideration of what could happen afterwards” — he said Equatorial Guinea acknowledges, respects and adheres to the constitutional order of Venezuela.  He expressed hope that all parties will resolve their differences through dialogue, calling on Secretary-General António Guterres to use his diplomatic experience to mediate this crisis.

PAUL OQUIST KELLEY (Nicaragua) reiterated his Government’s full solidarity for the legitimately elected President, Mr. Maduro.  The situation in Venezuela does not represent a threat to international security, he added, strongly urging that the sovereign decisions of the country’s people be respected.  The interest and insistence of the United States to include the subject of Venezuela in the agenda of the Security Council is another form of interventionist action into another nation’s internal affairs.  Its clear objective is to impose a change of Government and replace the constitutional Government of President Maduro through a coup d’état.

(Article continued in the right column.)

Question(s) related to this article:

Free flow of information, How is it important for a culture of peace?

What is really happening in Venezuela?

(Article continued from left column)

These actions do not contribute to a political solution, which belongs to the Venezuelan people as the ones to exercise their right to self-determination, he said.  What characterizes the situation in Venezuela are the brazen attempts to destroy prior achievements made in health, education, housing and reducing poverty.  Nothing should hinder the peace zone of Latin America and the Caribbean and therefore any threat of military aggression is condemnable.  Venezuela is defending non-interventionism and the multilateral order based on independence, sovereignty and the equality of States.

ANAYANSI RODRÍGUEZ CAMEJO (Cuba) said the Caribbean is the stage for threats that are incompatible with the region’s zone of peace, recalling that the 2014 proclamation signed at the second summit of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) enshrined a duty to uphold the principles of the Charter of the United Nations, notably to refrain from interference in internal affairs, and respect for sovereignty and equal rights.  The current United States Administration appears to have “dusted off the Monroe Doctrine”, and in a fresh extension of imperialism in the region, gone so far as to say that all options are on table.  The region is like a lawn during a drought — a single spark could set off an uncontrollable fire that damages the interests of all, she said, calling it a “tinder box”.  She rejected statements by the United States delegation made today, seeking to exploit the Council to illegitimately campaign against Mr. Maduro’s constitutional leadership.  The main threat to the region is the bullying by the United States and its allies, she said, calling it a flagrant affront to the popular will of Venezuelans.

She voiced unwavering support to the Bolivarian revolution, the union of the Venezuelan people and their democratic Government.  She condemned in the strongest terms, attempts, through a coup d’état, to install a lackey Government to United States interests.  She supported Venezuela’s right to chart its own future.  She decried unilateral coercive measures, calls for a military coup to topple Venezuela’s Government, warnings that the use of military might is an option, the 4 August attempt to assassinate Mr. Maduro, actions by a group of countries, the shameful role of OAS and attempts to apply a worthless policy of regime change, which has been frustrated, time and again, by the resistance of the Venezuelan people.  She advocated respect for the principles of the Charter of the United Nations, expressing Cuba’s unwavering support for the principles of sovereignty, non-use of force or the threat thereof, and non-interference in domestic affairs.  History will judge those who push for a coup d’état, she cautioned.

GARETH BYNOE (Saint Vincent and the Grenadines) said his county has been monitoring developments in Venezuela at the bilateral and multilateral levels and expressed deep concern over the unfolding events.  Stressing his Government’s adherence to the principles of non-interference, non-intervention and sovereignty, along with respect for human rights and democracy, he emphasized the need for meaningful dialogue among all stakeholders.  “We are undoubtedly living in an unpredictable era and must reject all attempts to aggravate dangerous situations or engender change of democratically elected leaders,” he said.  The history of Latin America and the Caribbean is indelibly scarred by military interventions and imposition of dictator Governments.  The need to triumph over its lingering remnants drives the countries in the hemisphere “to be viscerally abhorrent to any semblance of its re-emergence”.  Constitutionally, Venezuela has an elected President in Mr. Maduro, but an unconscionable crusade against the legally elected President, orchestrated by OAS, aims to erect a parallel unelected Government.  OAS has abdicated its role of arbiter.  Venezuela is not a threat nor represents a danger to international peace and security.  History teaches that rejection of dialogue is often the precursor to unilateralism and war, he said, an option that cannot be allowed in the region’s zone of peace.

FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION, Latin America, United Nations,

Democratic Republic of Congo: Activities Report of JFDHOP during the 2018 elections

. . DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION . .

by Medard du Rocher-BOPE, President, JFDHOP (Youth and Women for Human Rights and Peace)

The year 2018 was marked by strong tensions associated with national elections in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). On the side of power (the rulers), there was no desire to organize these elections and they sought by all means how to circumvent them.


One of their strategies was to offer one of the opposition leaders the post of Prime Minister, which would allow them to extend the term of office of those in power. This would have bypassed the election agreements of Saint Sylvestre that had been agreed on 31/12/2016.

The electoral center, an accomplice, proposed the delay the dates of the election, hoping to provoke a popular uprising that would enable them to declare a state of emergency and simply cancel the elections for a later date.

Also to circumvent the elections, a coup d’etat was prepared, the army and / or the National Police would take power by force for a few days as was done in the past with Kasa Vubu and Mobutu after independence, enabling them to declare the impossibility of organizing elections as a result of insecurity.

Several strategies were mounted; the most recent was the scenario of a fire to burn up the voting machines and bulletins on the high command avenue in Kinshasa / Gombe. Under the watchful eye of the international community, with divided opposition. Part of the latter supported the elections with or without voting machines and another was categorical: elections without a machine for several reasons:

One reason given was that the Congolese people do not have experience with voting machines. One of the proponents has even stated that he needed 6 minutes to use it, and he felt that those who do not master computers would need more or less 20 minutes.

Another argument was that by manipulating the computers, the results could be determined in advance by programming it so that each vote would be counted 3 or 5 times for one of the candidates.

All this was said to discourage the people from going to vote, to sabotage the elections and allow those holding power to cling and extend their power. Finally, the voter turnout turned out to be low at only 37%.

In brief, this was the context in which your Association “J.F.D.HO.P” went to work. Sometimes, security guards would charge us for being supporters of KAMWENA SAPU. But they ended up freeing us when they could not find any indication of KAMWENA SAPU supporters.

Several activities were organized to offer the population to go to the polls and vote. A motorized caravan was organized in October during the submission of applications, encouraging women to come forward, and to realize that they are the majority of the population. This caravan organized for 2 days in Kimbaseke, Ndjili, Makala, Nsele, part of Maluku, Masina, Ngaba, Limete and Matete.

During this period, doubts hovered over the heads of the Congolese people. Everyone supported the elections but the voting machines were called “machine to steal” and this did not inspire confidence.

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Click here for the version in French)

Question(s) related to this article:

Can you add to this analysis of the Democratic Republic of the Congo?

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Faced with this situation, your Association organized a morning with the Youth at the Church of God’s Elect at Residential Limit 13th Street to discuss the subject of elections. The theme was “Democracy and Elections”. The Association urged the youth not to give way to discouragement. They must seize the opportunity because their future depends on it. In turn, the young people gave us the mission to bring them the information about whether they were really”machines to steal”.

Your Association attended the sensitization on the voting machine in Ndjili  [a municipality in the Tshangu district of Kinshasa] and we had the opportunity for the first time to use the voting machine and to ask the necessary questions.

After this session, your Association has once again convened a meeting, this time also inviting the elders as well as youth. We explained to them how to vote with the machine. Young people as well as old people who have android phones quickly understood. For the others, it was necessary to explain them more. And, we asked the participants to reiterate to others, to convey the information that the machine is not complicated, it is enough to have in advance the numbers of your candidates, in which case everything is easy. It is more complicated and takes longer if you have to look for the number of your candidates.

But the tension was increasing around the voting machine. One of the leaders of the opposition declare openly that they would sabotage the machines.

Faced with this situation, your Association with the support of the United Nations Joint Human Rights Office distributed T-shirts with various messages of peace, (among others: voting is a right and a duty; violence is a crime; your choice in the elections; it is the Congo of tomorrow; Election yes! violence no!, etc.).

Your Association went to meet with youth associations in Kasavubu, Limete, Makala, Kalamu, Kingasani, Masina, Ndjili, Mont-ngafula and Nsele to exchange and give these messages in the churches and finally with the activists of the political parties. We first went down to the UDPS / Tshisekedi headquarters at Limete 10th Street. We exchanged with the militants of this party and distributed to them the messages of non-violence and peace. To avoid being confused with the candidates to the elections and to avoid being stoned by the population, the members of the Association wore the T-shirt when going to the peripheral districts of the city of Kinshasa such as Malueka, Kimbaseke, Ferbois , Siwabanza, Makala etc.) At bus stops, markets, etc. we distributed messages and spread this message of non-violence and peace. A strong sensitization was also made to the Church of the elect of God in Limete 13th Street by the president of the Association Mr. Medard du Rocher-BOPE. Your Association has also used social networks (facebook, etc.) for a wide dissemination of message.

The postponement of the elections from December 23 to December 30 further sowed doubt about effective organization. Your Association, always close to young people, reassured them by reminding them of the will of the International Community to bring our country to the organization of elections.

Finally, J.F.D.HO.P are volunteers. After voting, they circulated in different polling centers to see what was happening and to assess the degree of violence. Some of our members were in the center until the results were posted.

[Editor’s note: As of the date of posting of this article, the opposition candidate Felix Tshisekedi has been sworn in as President in the country’s first transfer of power via an election in 59 years of independence. However, there are claims that the election was actually won by another opposition candidate, Martin Fayulu, and tensions remain high in the country.]

Africa, DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION, FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION

UNESCO Awards Jose Marti Prize to Roberto Fernandez Retamar

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An article from Prensa Latina

UNESCO Director General Audrey Azoulay awarded the Jose Marti International Prize to the outstanding Cuban intellectual Roberto Fernandez Retamar, diplomatic sources announced Monday.

The award, proposed by an international jury, was given to Fernandez Retamar, one of the most prestigious voices of Cuban literature, with a deep Marti vocation and conviction, said a diplomatic statement.

‘President for four decades of the cultural institution Casa de las Americas, Fernandez Retamar has contributed permanently, from this prestigious center, to the promotion of peace, solidarity, human rights and equality among Latin American and Caribbean nations, values recognized by this Award’, said the statement.

(Article continued in the column on the right)

(Click here for a Spanish version of the article)

Questions related to this article:

Where in the world can we find good leadership today?

(Article continued from the column on the left)

The outstanding essayist has a trajectory of excellence in the cultural field, and has dedicated a considerable part of his work to the study, teaching and dissemination of the Apostle Jose Marti’s values and ideals.

The decision, according to the jury, recognizes the Cuban intellectual’s work ‘to advocate for justice, the protection of children, the ethical development of peoples, the recognition of the dignity of each man and woman and the importance of combating racism.

The UNESCO Jose Marti Prize was established by the Executive Board, at Cuba’s initiative, in November 1994, which implied recognition of the universality and validity of the Cuban National Hero’s ideals.

The award is designed to encourage and reward a particularly meritorious activity which, in accordance with Marti’s ideas and spirit, has contributed to the unity and integration of Latin American and Caribbean countries, as well as to the fostering of a culture of peace and the cohesion of countries.

The prize-giving ceremony will be held on the occasion of the Fourth International Conference for World Balance, to be held from January 28 to 31 at the Havana Convention Centre.

The event’s scientific agenda includes several issues of special impact on UNESCO’s mandate, including intercultural dialogue, peace, access to education and culture for the exercise of human rights, and solidarity and integration in Latin America and the Caribbean.

FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION, Latin America

Angola: Culture ministry analyzes programme of Luanda Biennal

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An article from Agência Angola Press

The Ministry of Culture analyzed on Friday in Luanda, aspects concerning the preparation of the Biennale of Luanda , a Pan-African Forum for Culture of Peace to kick off in the second fortnight this year.


Angola and UNESCO sign agreement for Luanda Biennal

The meeting, in which the national coordinator of the biennale was introduced, Alexandra Aparício, discussed issues related to the programme of the event to be held in the ambit of the agreement signed by Angola and UNESCO in December 18 of 2018 in Paris.

(Continued in right column)

(Click here for the Portuguese version of this article.)

Question related to this article:

The Luanda Biennale: What is its contribution to a culture of peace in Africa

Will UNESCO once again play a role in the culture of peace?

(Continued from left column)

For the execution of the activities slated for the biennale, the Culture minister, Carolina Cerqueira, stressed the need for the involvement of all sectors of the society, mainly the staff of the sector, representative of the civil society, artists, writers, associations, cultural groups, show makers and journalists.  

The programme can also include discussions on the role of young people to combat corruption and woman’s protection against domestic violence, resolution of conflicts and the challenges to bolster dialogue and friendship amongst peoples.
 
The holding of the Biennale of Luanda shows the political willingness of the Angolan government to establish a closer cooperation with UNESCO, with view to promoting a true culture of peace in Africa and represents the recognition of the country’s example of strengthening peace and national reconciliation.  
 
The event will also count on the support of the African Union.

Africa, FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION