Venezuela: Putting the planet before profits

On September 27, at a United Nations forum on climate change, Venezuelan deputy foreign minister Jorge Valero slammed First World governments and the Airrational capitalist model of consumption for causing the current climate crises. AThe majority of poor people aren't at all responsible for global warming. Those who are responsible intend to continue their consumption of natural resources in order to maximise their profits, favouring multinational corporations without measuring the environmental impact or sustainable development. Venezuela is the fifth-largest oil-producing nation in the world, exporting 1 million barrels per day to the US. This has caused significant environmental destruction and the oil production is a major contributor to worldwide climate change. However since Venezuela=s Bolivarian revolution - a process of change that aims to empower the country's poor and overcome underdevelopment - began in 1998, led by socialist President Hugo Chavez, the government has embarked on a conscious process of reducing its dependence on oil and implementing environmentally sustainable measures. In particular, the government has formed a number of community-based programs, called missions, to address the country=s environmental situation and to overturn years of neglect by governments that governed in the interests of the corporate elite. In September 2005, the Chavez government inaugurated a five-year plan called Mission Tree. The mission aims to collect 30 tonnes of seeds, plant 100 million plants and reforest 150,000 hectares of land. It has already collected 15,000 bags of seeds and 15 million seedlings are growing in nurseries, under the second phase of the program. A September 27 Venezuelanalysis.com article reported that Valero Aemphasised that in the first year of this program more than 30 million trees were planted. Perhaps the most important program initiated by the government has been Mission Energy Revolution. The mission, which started in November 2006, is focused on reducing energy usage over the next five years and promoting alternative energy sources. With a focus on community organising, some 53 million light bulbs in more than 5 million homes had been replaced with energy-efficient fluorescent bulbs by April. The next step is to substitute almost 27 million inefficient incandescent light bulbs with energy-saving light bulbs in the official, industrial and commercial sectors. The second phase of the mission, to be completed in 2009, aims to promote alternative energy sources and encourage a shift from petrol- to natural-gas-fuelled cars. The third phase, 2009-12, will involve a transition from diesel to natural gas. Another important aspect of Venezuela=s socialist revolution is recognition of indigenous rights, in particular giving indigenous people control of their traditional lands. This is primarily driven by Mission Guaicaipuro. Along with increasing the recognition and respect for indigenous history and culture, it also sets out new guidelines for the return of land to its traditional indigenous custodians. This involves not engaging in extraction of natural resources without prior consultation with indigenous groups. In April, the government banned construction of all new coalmines on indigenous land in Zulia, a major oil producing state. These measures, along with the other environmental advances, are in stark contrast to the actions of governments of the First World, which seek to preserve the market while introducing ineffective Agreenwashing@ policies. In a short period of time, the Venezuelan government has been able to achieve significant environmental gains by putting the needs of people and the environment above corporate profits. The formation of vehicles for popular power, such as communal and workers= councils, are giving the poor majority of Venezuelans an opportunity to control the implementation of government programs and make other decisions on issues that affect them. Chavez has declared that the Bolivarian revolution aims to replace capitalism - a system based on private profit - with socialism, a system based on real, democratic participation in decision-making by Venezuela=s working people and with an ecologically sustainable economy run in the interests of people, not corporations. As Valero put it at the UN discussion: tragedy is coming for the whole human species if we don't change current patterns of production, distribution, and consumption that characterise savage capitalism and imperialism.=