by the El Reportero’s news services
Hugo Chávez
When troubles come, create another level of bureaucracy. It is a simple rule of thumb that has served Venezuela’s President Hugo Chávez well for years but as October’s elections approach, he seems more and more convinced of its efficacy.
Chávez knows there is a pressing need to be seen to be tackling public security, a perennial problem in Venezuela and the principal public concern, so he created a new political entity, a council of state, to form a commission to combat it. He also announced a whole new political structure to address another enduring problem – stagnant agricultural production.
Bolivia, the main reserve of drinking water in the world
La Paz, Feb 8 (Prensa Latina) Bolivia has the highest potential of freshwater in the world, said today the executive director of the National Irrigation Service (Senari), Delfin Reque.
The director of the Senari said that an important aspect to consider is that the most important water reserves of the planet are all together in the Amazon area, which includes part of Bolivia.
Reque said that the amount of national reserves of water are so considerable; that by means of different topographic factors they could make transfers to mountainous areas and valleys to use it in different ways.
At the same time, he said that there is no a current water balance in the country because it is difficult to make accurate measurements of the level of annual rainfalls.
On the other hand, he recognized the importance of water reserves, which are essential if we consider that Bolivia has a large number of basins that must be preserved.
A test for Brazil’s Rousseff
On 6 February the US State Department issued a warning to US citizens to avoid temporarily all non-essential travel to Salvador, the troubled capital of the north-eastern state of Bahia, where a third of the state’s military police (PM) have been violently striking for the past week in demand of a 50% pay rise and better working conditions.
Bolivian government to toughen eradication of coca crops
Bolivian Interior Minister Carlos Romero has warned that those who try to hinder the process for the eradication of coca leaves will be punished by the law.
Any position contrary to what it is established by authorities on the eradication of the coca leaves will be legally punished, said Romero when referring to the events that took place in La Asunta.
On Monday, soldiers of the Joint Task Force (FTC) were attacked by coca growers in La Asunta, in the zone of Los Yungas zone, department of La Paz.
The FTC soldiers were eradicating coca crops in Floriarti and Barbarito when they were attacked by coca growers, who said that the soldiers were doing their work without a previous agreement.
Romero said that late last year, another FTC unit was attacked by coca growers who resisted the elimination of coca crops, as a result of that clash several people were wounded, including troops. (Latin News and Prensa Latina contributed to this report).
