Thursday, December 07, 2006

Patrick J. O'Donoghue

Fruto Vivas in London to speak about the “North-Savannah-Axis” project: The Venezuelan architect, Fruto Vivas, visited London to explain the ambitious project: North-Savannah-Axis. He is the coordinator of ecological development for the Ministry of Urban Planning. The Government once again succeeded when it elected for this position a man with passion and vision.“ No better man for the job” as we would say in Ireland.

I wrote about the project “Orinoco-Apure Axis” during Chavez’s first year in government. Even though I remember the beginning of the dredging works at Puerto Nutrias, I thought the plan had come to a stop. The North Axis is part of the Orinoco-Apure axis. President Chavez hopes to decongest the coastal areas by creating five new cities … from scratch. The first will be called Santa Cruz del Sur.

I met Fruto Vivas years ago, in the 80’s in Santa Rosa in Barquisimeto. From his house could be seen el Turbio and the Church of the Divine Shepherdess. The house, designed by him, was refreshing and green with abundant plants. At the time, like all the “small remnants” of the left, Vivas was an active partaker of the Sandinista battle to overthrow Somoza.

If I remember well, after the Sandinista victory, Vivas was invited to Nicaragua to design a comfortable and ecological housing project.

I regretted not being able to attend the speech given by Vivas and which was organized by the Ambassador of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Alfredo Toro Hardy. One of the good things about attending these events is the possibility of being able to speak with the special guests, such as the president of the National Electoral Council, Tibisay Lucena.

With regard to the speech by Fruto Vivas, I heard that those in attendance were impressed with the scope of North Axis project, specially the urbanists, architects and academics.

I have a feeling that President Chavez is toying with the idea of transferring the seat of the national Government to the north-savannah area but first he needs the adequate infrastructure. As Fruto Vivas stated at the closing of the conference: “He who attempts the absurd conquers the impossible.”

Ken Livingstone’s visit to Caracas (resacas): Last week we launched the “From Trafalgar Square" column. We spoke about London buses and cheap Venezuelan gas. I have received the first reactions and they aren’t favorable. It has been really difficult trying to get a coherent response from the Mayor’s office in Caracas as to the cancellation of the London mayor. It has been just as frustrating trying to get information from the Thames river area. The phone calls to Mayor Livingstone’s office to speak with the officials that formed part of the team that traveled to Caracas have been fruitless. I was directed to a website where the Mayor had supposedly published a bulletin. At the website there was only a notice with the following title” The Mayor Travels Abroad." The bulletin focused on the mayor and his committee’s visit to Cuba by invitation from the British Olympic Association. The only reference to Venezuela was the official’s travel expenses: (One UK£ sterling. = Bs.4.000; plane ticket: 12.948,13, Hotel: 3.469,20, Expenses: 74,50.)

Livingstone explained that, considering the importance of Cuba’s Olympic potential, he would still have gone to Cuba without visiting Venezuela . However, the Mayor catalogues the visit to Venezuela as important to London. “The cost to secure an agreement for London’s poorest were modest when compared to the potential benefits of the agreement.” I have the impression that the Mayor wanted to kill two birds with one shot but it backfired.

Ken has a revolutionary nickname: Forgive me for changing the subject. In London Ken used to be known as “Red Ken." With such a nickname the Mayor has won the support of many revolutionaries. Even though he doesn’t wear a red shirt, he incorporated the color to his name. It is a pleasure to hear Chavez say that one is not a rebel because of the color of one’s shirt but by dedication and commitment.

Pirates of the Caribbean: The book Pirates of the Caribbean by Tariq Ali was launched in London. The event was organized by the Embassy of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. The event took place at Francisco de Miranda’s house. Tariq Ali has visited Venezuela and interviewed President Chavez on several occasions. Being a Trotskyite, Tariq Ali writes that Hugo Chavez, Evo Morales and Fidel Castro form an ‘axis of hope’ for the entire planet.

The author thus mocks George Bush’s expression: “axis of evil.”

Allan Woods, another British socialist, is presently visiting Venezuela. He gave a successful speech at the University of the Andes in Merida, which was organized by Professor Franz Lee.

Warning to foreign journalists: Unfortunately, I was not in Venezuela to cover the elections. Apparently VHeadline.com is the only foreign correspondent who was not be in Venezuela to cover the events. Fortunately, we have some volunteers in Venezuela who covered the most important event to take place in years. Sometimes life is unfair.

Alexander Boyd, one of the most vicious members of the opposition, has been out of London for over six weeks reporting about Rosales’s campaign.

Commenting about a news conference with the opposition candidate, Boyd reprimanded the international journalists that attended and accused them of not reporting the ‘reality’: Boyd claimed that his candidate had surpassed Chavez in the opinion polls. He also stated in an open letter to the journalists: “ I took the precaution of taping the whole session, which in practical terms means that if you lie or manipulate the speech or Rosales’s answers in any manner or form , I will be capable of unmasking you as liars, just as I am doing right now to Reuter’s chief editor: Saul Hudson.”

Ambassador at the European Union: I tried to reach the Ambassador of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Alexander Fleming, at the European Union (EU) in Brussels to confirm the accusations made by the European Deputy for the Popular Party in Spain, Jaime Mayor Oreja, who called a press conference in the European Parliament with representatives of the opposition party. I wanted to ask about the Venezuelans who would be present as representatives of the opposition. I was unable to speak to the counselor at the Embassy but a pleasant receptionist told me that Fleming was in a meeting and that he would be going to Caracas on Sunday (last Sunday).

VHeadline still has no sponsors: As to VHeadline.com, the English-speaking Venezuelan newspaper, which was founded in 1997...people have asked me why we are no longer on line and the answer is simple: we don’t have the financial funds. We cannot find sponsors. Something similar happened with Miguel’s Truths when public institutions withdrew their advertising contracts to intimidate and silence.

We share Miguel‘s view: 100% support for the democratic and constitutional process without compromising freedom of speech. We still continue to write and send news in English via e-mails thanks to the support of volunteers throughout the USA, Europe and Venezuela.

Ireland/Venezuela parody. Will there ever come a day of reconciliation? It doesn’t shame me to mention Ireland in this column that originates in Trafalgar Square, London.

On his visit to London in May, Chavez made a small reference to Ireland during his speech. I believe he was surprised to see (by the audience’s reaction) that Ireland was present.

Two days before, in Northern Ireland, an assassin armed with guns and bombs succeeded in penetrating security at Stormont where the seat of Parliament is located. A meeting was is progress between protestant and catholic communities to form a provincial government for the first time. The assassin, a protestant paramilitary screamed: “No Surrender!” This was the same individual who, years before, had murdered three Catholics during the funeral of an IRA militant. The man was sentenced to 600 years in prison for the murder of 11 people. He was liberated as part of a peace agreement last year.

Many friends have commented on the parallels between the situation in Ireland and the situation in Venezuela. The uncompromising attitude of the protestant leader who is constantly making new demands, makes it impossible to reach a political agreement between the conflicting sides. My friends commented that it is similar to the opposition’s attitude in Venezuela: they don’t accept the rules of the game and are always looking for excuses for not accepting the results.

Chavez is going to put an end to professional baseball. Even though all the newspapers here foresee Chavez’s victory next Sunday as a given, there are some unsettling rumors, such as the one written by Graham Dunbar from Caracas for the New York Times in London. In this article, Dunbar cites Ron Rizzi, Scout for the Angelinos, alleging that if Chavez wins he could close down professional baseball in Venezuela and forbid young men who aspire for the major leagues to travel to the USA. According to Rizzi, the creoles will have to go to the USA in rafts. The undiplomatic scout who has been visiting Venezuela for the past 39 years is using a modernized version of the cold war equation: Chavez + Fidel Castro = cubanization of Venezuela.

What would Juan Vene say about this?
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Patrick O'Donoghue patrick@vheadline.com