Venezuela Takes Control Over Its New Satellite

[Joanne98]

January 13, 2009 (venezuelanalysis.com)— The Venezuelan government officially took control over its own recently launched satellite on Saturday and announced that it plans to place over 16,000 satellite antennas throughout the country so that communities may take advantage of the satellite’s telecommunications capabilities.

Venezuela commissioned the satellite from China in November 2005 and launched it almost three years later, in October, 2008.

In the first phase, during 2009, the government plans to install 1,200 to 1,500 antennas, primarily in remote areas of the country, so that these may take advantage of the satellite’s television, internet, and telephone capabilities. Also, the satellite will be used to conduct remote medical diagnoses in real time and distance education, according to the ministry of science and technology.

Venezuela’s Minister of Telecommunications, Socorro Hernandez, said that 16,000 satellite antennas would be placed throughout the country in the next five years.

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http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/news/4107

[Joanne98]

1. Venezuela Inaugurates New Food Production Plant for Food Sovereignty

Mérida, January 12, 2009 (venezuelanalysis.com)-- President Hugo Chávez, in his weekly Sunday TV show “Alo Presidente,” inaugurated the Agro-industrial complex “Vuelvan Caras” (About Face) in Portugesa state, which aims to be another step towards Venezuela’s food independence.

The agro-industrial complex, according to Chavez, is the first of its type, as it includes all stages of production, processing, and distribution. It has a pasta processing plant, an area for tractor assembly, a sun flower planting area, an agriculture supply shop, a fertilizer warehouse, and corn processing plant that produces material to make corn oil and concentrated food for animals and has a capacity of 46.8 tons daily.

Construction of the plant began in June 2007 and 300 people were employed during the construction, 90% of which were put forward by the local communal councils.

The pasta in the processing plant will be made of rice or corn, and the plant will produce 3 tons daily, making a product of 400 grams that will sell for 1.50 bolivars (US$ 0.70) and will be distributed through the subsidized state-run food distribution networks known as Mercal and Pdval. 9 million bolivars (US$ 4.2 million) have been invested in the pasta plant and 30 million bolivars (US$ 14 million) in the complex overall.

Portuguesa state, where the plant is located, is the main producer of corn and rice in the country, and this complex will produce 41% of the corn and 60% of the rice. Using resources from a China-Venezuela fund, the government will also establish a fish processing plant there.

According to Chavez, when his government arrived in office ten years ago, agricultural and livestock activity was almost non-existent, making the country very dependent on imports. However, he said that corn production has increased by 205% and rice by 94% over the last ten years.

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http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/news/4102

[LaPera]

2. Cheers to a progressive government in the region. Venezuelan's will be able to

"take advantage of the satellite’s television, internet, and telephone capabilities"

[Vincardog]

3. Second that "Cheers to a progressive government in the region"

[Judi Lynn]

4. A lot of great news delivered on one page, Joanne98. Look how far they've come from the time

before they elected Chavez, when they had to import nearly everything.

All this, and cable tv, and the internetS, too. They are so far ahead of where they were when he was inaugurated in February, 1999.

Thanks for the information.