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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