President Chávez received Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad with honours at Miraflores Palace. Ahmadinejad welcomed the opportunity to return to see his "revolutionary brothers" and called President Chávez "courageous" for "resisting the pressures of imperialism and defending freedom for the peoples of Latin America." President Chávez discussed the position of the media against Ahmadinejad. "The western media, how it attacks my brother," he said, while he commented on the opinion Shimon Peres gave to South American media about the upcoming departure from power of the two leaders. "What the President of Israel said we take as a threat and act accordingly." Presidents Chávez and Ahmadinejad signed 70 new agreements on agriculture, industry, trade, energy, food, industrial, energy, science and culture.
Caracas Mayor Antonio Ledezma condemned Tuesday's judicial ruling, enforced by Judge Jeanne Medina, to extend the captivity of Richard Blanco who has been charged with incitement to rebellion. According to Ledezma, the opinion is evidence of a "neodictatorship" that exists in the country as well as the manipulation that Venezuelan courts are subject to. He asserted that the process that Blanco has undergone, who has been detained for 72 days in jail in Yare, and the effects of it on his family members, is "an act of sadism". "They were subjected to torture by having to wait almost 12 hours to see the court decision. The most inhuman part of this is that the judge is that (...) at the edge of that court sat the elderly mother of Richard Blanco, waiting for her last child," he said.
Some 300 small and medium enterprises (SMEs) from Guyana warned that the state-run companies operating in the region have one and a half year delays in paying bills and are accumulating a debt that amounts to $1 billion. Fernando Goyenechea, president of the Chamber of Industry and Mines of Guayana, said yesterday at a press conference held at Conindustria headquarters, that these SMEs generate 50,000 jobs and the raw material inputs for state-run companies like Alcasa, Venalum, Sidor and Carbonorca. "There are companies that have bills more than one year delayed, such as Carbonorca and Alcasa," he said. Goyenechea said the industrial park of Guyana is in crisis and it shows in the indicators presented in the third quarter by the Central Bank of Venezuela (BCV). "The GDP of the metalworking sector, which is the strongest of Guyana, has declined 41 percent from 2008, while that of non-traditional exports has declined 17 percent and non-metallic minerals has declined 20 percent. Guayana indicators are the worst in the country.
The Farmers' Federation of Venezuela declared an emergency on Wednesday due to the takeover of productive farms in the country that the government has implemented and warned that "more than 1,500 families have been put out of work in the industry." The president of the federation, Valeriano Gonzalez said "we are being affected because of these 31,000 expropriations; there are more than 1,500 families who live and work and benefit from these farms." He said that during the 1990s, "Venezuela produced 550,000 tonnes of meat. In this past decade of the Chávez government, 350,000 tonnes of meat were produced. You can see the difference and it is benefiting agriculture in other countries."
France's Foreign Affairs Ministry said that it sent a "firm" response to the ambassador from Venezuela after President Chávez extolled the convicted terrorist Carlos the Jackal as a revolutionary fighter. A Foreign Office spokesman said: "For us, Carlos will never be anything but a terrorist." Spokesman Bernard Valero said yesterday that the Foreign Ministry summoned the ambassador to Venezuela after Chávez's comments to indicate to him that the French courts sentenced Carlos for terrorism and murder. The French Justice sentenced him to life imprisonment "for very serious crimes, terrorism and killings," spokesman Bernard Valero said in response to a question about Chávez's recent statements about the Jackal. Do not forget also that "he is responsible for the death of several Frenchmen."
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