March 7, 2016 – Recipients of an Emerging Leaders in the Americas Program (ELAP) scholarship were in Ottawa from February 22-26 to participate in a democracy study tour. The goal of the study tour was to help 36 selected Master’s and PhD students and researchers from 12 Latin American and Caribbean countries to better understand how democratic governance is upheld in Canada.

The prominent Dr. David Suzuki, in an interview about our fourth edition of the Gathering of Knowledge, an academic event taking place in the National Library and Archives of Quebec for the oncoming November 28 in Montreal, spoke with the staff of the Venezuelan Consulate in Vancouver; his opinion was the following;

1. What are your expectations for this event? The dominant worldview today is shaped by the lens of capitalism that sees the economy as the engine of progress and the reason for governments to exist.  María Páez Víctor has convinced me that Venezuela has chosen a different path and I would like to find out at the meeting.

2. Why do you think it is important to address this invitation?  Capitalism that does not see itself as subordinate to ecology is inevitably destructive.

The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela has reiterated its position in regards to climate change as well as its impact on Latin-American societies, resulting in a global phenomenon that calls for joint action.

The Bolivarian government, in representation of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America (ALBA), has ratified its commitment on reaching an agreement to come into force by year 2020 in regards of limiting greenhouse gas emissions.

This position has been reiterated countless times, and more recently at the opening plenary session of the Ad Hoc Working Group on the Durban Platform for Enhanced Action (ADP), as part of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, which took place in Bonn, Germany on June 1^st 2015. The Venezuelan government has expressed that it “firmly believes that a true solution to reverse the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and their impact on climate, must be built on the urgent need to change the system that has caused this global problem, in order to achieve solutions for the alterations that have been generated in the climatic system. Unsustainable models of production and consumption, excessive accumulation of capital and depletion of natural resources are fundamental causes that threaten the biophysical limits of the planet”.

Venezuela announced Tuesday a four year plan to improve human rights, including institutional reform and better coordination with social movements.

Announced by Vice President Jorge Arreaza and Security Vice President Carmen Melendez, the 2015-2019 National Plan for Human Rights aims to consolidate Venezuela's progress in promoting human rights. “Human rights are indivisible,” Arreaza stated.

According to Arreaza, the new human rights plan will focus on promoting a “culture of human rights.” The plan will also involve strengthening existing human rights institutions.

Arreaza praised the plan as a continuation of the vision of 19th century South American liberation fighter Simon Bolivar, arguing the initiative will be a historic step towards a more just society. He added that the plan is an expression of the governments’ philosophy of human rights, which includes a commitment to ensuring all Venezuelans have access to basic necessities like housing, work, food and healthcare.

"Here are the human rights, cultural, educational ... the right to work, the right to land," he said.

Maduro expressed his support for the Caribbean nations seeking reparations from former colonial power. Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro expressed support for the Caribbean call for reparations from their former colonial powers, in an address to the country on Wednesday. Maduro expressed his support for those 15 Caribbean nations seeking reparations from former slave-trading nations, including the U.K., France, Spain, the Netherlands, Portugal, Norway, Sweden and Denmark.

The Pope says Christians are hypocritical if they support the global arms trade. Pope Francis condemned weapons manufacturers as un-Christian during a fiery speech Sunday. During an event in the Italian city of Turin, the Pope delivered a largely unscripted speech on various themes, including trust and war. “It makes me think of ... people, managers, businessmen who call themselves Christian and they manufacture weapons.

That leads to a bit of distrust, doesn't it?” he said. The comment was met by a round of applause. He continued by slamming investors in the global arms industry, stating, “duplicity is the currency of today ... they say one thing and do another.” During the same speech, Pope Francis spoke out in favor of migrant rights, while condemning government corruption. "Immigration increases competition, but migrants should not be blamed because they are the victims of injustice, of this throw-away economy, of wars," he said.

European politician Javier Couso criticized the lack of balance of the European Parliament in its handling of human rights issues in Venezuela. A committee representing the victims of Venezuelan right-wing violence in early 2014, met Tuesday with the European Parliament in Brussels to explain their side of the events that left more than 40 people dead. Known as the “Victims of the Guarimbas,” the group, made up of family members and friends of the victims, is seeking recognition of the rights violations that occurred from February to May last year. Anti-government groups used blockades to prevent people’s access to health and urgent hospital treatment, schooling, and work. People from both sides of politics were killed as they tried to get through blockades, due to car crashes, wires placed across the roads, or being shot as they tried to clear a path. The group told the European Parliament members that constant human rights abuses had taken place.

President Nicolas Maduro says he will “modernize” Venezuela's public transport system. Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro announced a slew of measures Tuesday to reinforcing his country's transport sector, after issuing a warning that anti-government sectors are plotting to attack public transport and infrastructure. “There is a plan linked to right-wing extremists to inflict pain on the transport sector, to generate chaos,” Maduro warned.

He said four transport workers have been assassinated in the state of Nueva Esparta in the past two weeks alone, as part of right-wing efforts to spread fear and destabilize the country. In early 2014, violent right-wing groups, which took to the streets to demand Maduro resign, targeted public transport.