Venezuelan ambassador visits UD, answers critics

2:02 p.m., Oct. 10, 2005--Bernardo Alvarez, Venezuelan ambassador to the U.S., said the oil-rich country has been unfairly criticized by the U.S. administration and victimized by biased reporting by the mainstream media. The ambassador spoke to students and members of the University community and answered their questions during a visit to the University of Delaware on Friday, Oct. 7.

Alvarez said that Venezuela was criticized for launching a successful two-year campaign to eliminate illiteracy, but the formula of free trade and liberalized economic policies that is often prescribed by the World Bank and championed by the U.S. as the basis for prosperity has failed in many countries.

“The main problem in Latin America is that people realize that poverty and social exclusion is the problem, but at the same time we haven’t done anything to solve it,” Alvarez said. “In some cases in our countries, the more you apply those policies, the more exclusion you produce.”

During the visit, which was sponsored by Campus Alliance de La Raza, Alvarez met with UD President David P. Roselle.

“We are glad you are here,” Roselle said. “The premise of the University of Delaware is a place of free exchange of ideas and opinions, and we appreciate you coming and adding to that.”

Kim Wilson, a doctoral student in political science and adviser to Campus Alliance de La Raza, said the ambassador’s visit was aimed at promoting academic dialog and opening an avenue of communication with the academic community.

“It went really well,” Wilson said. “It’s an initial step toward more positive relations. I hope that the audience got good information and a better picture of U.S.-Venezuela relations. If we really believe in free exchange of ideas we should listen to dissenting ideas, not just those we agree with. That’s democracy.”

Alvarez, who was accompanied by Leonor Osorio, consul general, and Patricia Abdelnour, cultural attaché, said Delaware will be considered for low-cost home heating oil that the government of Venezuela has pledged to sell to low-income homeowners in Chicago, the South Bronx in New York City and Boston by the end of October.
Osorio said the government of Venezuela, through the “Bolivarian Revolution” led by President Hugo Chavez, is working to create a new order in social justice, social equality and human rights.

“As the world’s fifth-largest oil producer and the third oil partner with the United States, Venezuela has long been a country of contrasts. Despite its great wealth, 80 percent of Venezuelans live in poverty,” she said. “To address this problem, the government has decided to allocate more funds from the state-owned oil company to a series of social programs that have been designed to fight poverty, and thus the social inequalities in our society.”

Article by Martin Mbugua

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