Toronto, April 10, 2015. The Embassy of Venezuela in Canada promoted the first meeting with the Latin American Studies program at the University of Toronto for the development of the second Latin American Studies Program of ALBA, which was developed in its first edition in 2014, with the graduation of its first cohort.
The main purpose of this effort is to update and create technical staff with a solid technical and methodological preparation, with specialized knowledge of Latin American affairs and its relation to Canada.
The meeting between Ambassador Wilmer Barrientos and the Director of Latin American Studies Program of the University of Toronto, Valentina Napolitano, allowed for the discussion of a proposed agreement, which contemplates among other things, the training of Venezuelan, Latin and Canadian professionals and the deepening of Latin American-Canadian studies, promotion of partial scholarships to students of low income, exchange of articles and other educational materials for the geopolitical analysis of Latin America from the perspective of international law, integration, democracy and human rights.
Barrientos Ambassador explained that to have a clear understanding of Latin America, its culture, art, education and social development, a political analysis is imperative, for events like the brutal Spanish colonization has left deep scars that define the current combative and Libertarian nature of the peoples of South. "The imperialists models and its control mechanisms such as media, universities and private companies have tried to criminalize socialism around the world. However, the model built by Commander Chavez and followed today by our President Nicolas Mature rests on the socialist ideology of a system that redistributes wealth of the Venezuelan nation equally, in order to live in a more just world, while counteracting the chilling gap between rich and poor. This does not imply that employers should disappear, what is sought in Venezuela is the way to organize them in such a way that their individualistic and unrestrained ambitions are controlled. It’s not to replace capitalism by decree, but its most recent manifestation, neoliberalism, which does not distribute the national wealth of nations evenly; against this, as an alternative model, the socialism of the XXI century appears, whose appeal is in its distributive justice", said Barrientos.
The proposed study involves the development of at least six modules that explore topics as diverse as Latin American geopolitics from the perspective of international law and the regulatory framework governing relations between states, in terms of mutual respect, non-intervention, sovereignty and self-determination; the Latin American integration mechanisms and their historical, political, economic and educational implications; to the defense and promotion of human rights in Latin America and the Caribbean; and the scenarios created to generate a model that counters the interests of the ALBA countries.
The Bolivarian Government has given priority in the last 16 years in its management for a free, diversified and quality education, reaching achievements that are recognized around the world, even by organizations responsible for measuring such advances with high international standards, including including UNESCO and ECLAC.
