Bolivia, Venezuela ink strategic alliance accord
Bolivia, Venezuela ink strategic alliance accord
11:17, May 27, 2013 LA PAZ, May 26
(Xinhua) -- The governments of Bolivia and Venezuela signed an agreement on Sunday to consolidate their strategic bilateral alliance.
Ministers from both countries contributed to drafting the mega-agreement, which outlines 22 measures in five pivotal fields, and was then endorsed by Bolivian President Evo Morales and his Venezuelan counterpart Nicolas Maduro.
The two heads of state called for prioritizing the agreement's objectives in the areas of food, education, culture, energy, textiles and communications.
The agreement marked the conclusion of the second meeting of the Bolivia-Venezuela Joint Integration Committee, which had been convening since Friday in the Bolivian city of Tiquipaya, in central Cochabamba, to discuss such matters as healthcare, education, communication, sports, defense and security, culture, tourism, energy and fuel, among others.
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Both their speeches were electric and the crowds were fired up. They both put a lot, and I mean a LOT, of emphasis on how strengthening these ties was what Simon Bolivar wanted with the Grande Patria and would be another blow to imperialist exploitation and the Latin American fight against big capital running people's lives. The communications network is very important because Wikileaks showed them how all their communications were being intercepted and then manipulated by the US working in tandem with their right wing. Both speeches were interrupted with lots of cheering.
It's little wonder the corporate media and its lemmings are bending over backwards to discredit and demonize them.
PL - Bolivian President Evo Morales on Friday urged the strengthening of social movements in Latin America and the Caribbean, including the United States, to carry out the revolution. At the close of the Second Meeting of the Joint Integration Commission Bolivia-Venezuela, the president highlighted the role of social organizations in preserving the gains of the people of America.
Morales in Bolivia thanked the Venezuelan president, Nicolas Maduro, and reminded everyone that "we all have the task of freeing our people, socially, ideologically, economically, and in cultural development".
At the same time, he discussed a recent survey that showed that Venezuela is, among all countries, Bolivia's best friend, "according to the survey, 70 percent of Bolivians say Venezuela is our best friend," he pointed out. "Then come Argentina, Brazil. Five percent of Bolivians are still pro-imperialist, pro-capitalist, according to a survey conducted in the cities. It's astounding how much admiration, respect, and affection people have for Venezuela," he said.
He also stressed that there are "still minutes of silence in memory of Chavez in rural areas. This survey surprised me very much and commits us to redouble our efforts on the topics of trade, food".
Morales stressed the significance of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America (ALBA) in achieving many of the achievements of the region, and stressed the importance of ALBA Military School. "Earlier we had School of the Americas, located in West Point, United States- (our military officers) were taught that the enemies were the Indians, the peasants, the workers. This caused coups, massacres in the mining centers. And now that's over," he said.
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http://www.contrainjerencia.com/?p=68006
Do you remember when Evo Morales gave Condoleezza Rice a Bolivian charanga decorated with coca leaves? Ha ha ha.
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Venezuela and Bolivia Commit to “Higher Level” of Cooperation
By Ewan Robertson
Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro (left) with Bolivian president Evo Morales following the signing of agreements (AVN)
Mérida, 27th May 2013 (Venezuelanalysis.com) – Venezuela and Bolivia have agreed to raise cooperation to a “higher level” following Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro’s visit to Bolivia last weekend.
During bilateral meetings held in the city of Cochabamba, Maduro and Bolivian president Evo Morales signed key accords in food production, industrial development and communications.
“It’s necessary to place the strategic map of bilateral cooperation at a higher level, including a more organised one,” said Maduro on Saturday.
To achieve this task, he confirmed that the Venezuela-Bolivia Joint Integration Commission would re-start quarterly meetings, and that ministerial commissions had already identified “projects to be strengthened”.
Agreements
A noted-upon agreement signed between Maduro and Morales was the establishment of a Gran-National Food Production Company with the aim of guaranteeing the food security of both countries.
The company will begin operations this year with the plantation of 500 hectares of rice in Venezuela and 500 hectares of soya in Bolivia.
Company transactions will take place using the Sucre, an electronic currency created by the left-leaning ALBA bloc of Latin American governments to avoid depending on the US dollar for commercial exchange. Both Venezuela and Bolivia are ALBA members.
The bi-national food production initiative comes as Venezuela struggles with food shortages in some basic products. As a more immediate form of assistance, Bolivia also agreed to send Venezuela 60,000 tons of sugar, 8,000 tons of powdered milk and 900 tons of palm heart.
Maduro signed similar import deals when he visited Uruguay, Argentina and Brazil earlier this month.
Under another agreement, Venezuela’s National Centre of Chemical Technology will assist the Bolivian state to develop the industrial production of lithium, with the aim of eventually producing lithium batteries.
EFE reports that several transnational companies had previously approached the Bolivian government with offers to exploit Bolivia’s Uyuni lithium, but their offers fell short of the Morales government’s demands.
Several accords were also reached in the area of communications, such as cooperation in the research and application of satellite technology, and Venezuelan assistance in the expansion and improvement of Bolivia’s internet network.
Path of Integration
The results of the meetings in Cochabamba cement the continuity of the close relationship developed between Venezuela and Bolivia under the presidency of Maduro’s predecessor, Hugo Chavez.
“Bolivia will always accompany Venezuela’s Bolivarian Revolution, (and) will always accompany our brother Maduro, who also accompanies us,” said Evo Morales, who has governed the Andean nation since 2006.
Morales also paid homage to the memory and legacy of Hugo Chavez, who was a close ally and friend to Morales. In the presence of Maduro and several Bolivian social movements on Saturday, the Bolivian president said that Chavez was a figure for whom his movement felt “profound respect and admiration”.
Both presidents committed to continuing along the path of “socialism of the 21st century” as a new model for Latin America. Morales contrasted this against the “neocolonialism” of the 1990s, when the region was dominated by neoliberal governments which followed free market policies associated with the “Washington consensus”.
Maduro meanwhile affirmed that the aim of bilateral cooperation was to benefit the peoples of Venezuela and Bolivia. “Our objectives are to strengthen democracy, beat poverty, and consolidate independence and processes of equality,” he said to press on Sunday.
Venezuela and Bolivia continue their international schedules in Caracas this week, where both nations are participating in a Union of South American Nations (Unasur) conference about the use of natural resources for regional development.
Published on May 28th 2013 at 11.54am
This work is licensed under a Attribution Non-commercial No Derivatives Creative Commons license
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