“We are an oil producing country and that obligates us to take even more
care of the environment—on an extreme level—and to avoid contamination, and to
reduce contamination in all areas: earth, water and air.” – President Hugo
Chávez of Venezuela, February 24, 2007.
Did anyone from Greenpeace or Earth First! ever imagine that the world’s
first environmental president would come from Venezuela? Many Greens might find
such an idea ludicrous considering that the South American nation is one of the
largest oil producing countries in the world and a major resource for heavy
mineral and coal mining. However, ever since Hugo Chávez Frías first won office
back in 1998, he has been developing a very green conscience that simultaneously
is reflected in the nation’s policies and social programs.
Chávez probably wasn’t an environmental activist in his youth, yet one of his
finest characteristics is his openness and his willingness to listen and learn.
And President Chávez has been listening to calls from anti-globalization and
environmental activists around the world now for years and learning how to
change Venezuela’s form of governance so as to support and endorse efforts of
conservation, balanced consumption and decontamination campaigns.
Last year, President Chávez launched Misión Arbol (“Mission
Tree”) to combat deforestation and to create a community-based model of
sustainable development with a social consciousness based on the recuperation,
conservation and maintenance of the nation’s forests. The “mission” - or social
program - has encouraged local communities, environmental activists, ecologists
and Ministry of the Environment employees to together plant more than ten
million trees throughout the country, in both rural and urban areas. The program
is aimed at generating environmental consciousness nationwide about the
importance of ecological equilibrium and the recuperation of damaged forests in
order to improve quality of life.
During a press conference on Saturday, February 24, 2007, President Chávez
announced the elaboration of a new law to control emissions and to defend the
environment. “We have to place controls on those companies that continue to
openly contaminate the environment with clear disregard and disrespect, from the
largest State industries to the smallest private companies. They must respect
the law.” Speaking directly about world environmental concerns, the Venezuelan
leader declared, “environmental issues should concern us all, especially climate
changes, global warming and other aspects of the planet. We must continue to
raise our consciousness about this problem”
No previous Venezuelan head of state has ever addressed these issues on an
effective and profound level. In fact, governments preceding Chávez have been
responsible for the massive contamination of Venezuela’s lakes and rivers, as
well as deforestation efforts in the Amazon region that, thanks to President
Chávez, have now been stopped. Moreover, during 2005, the Chávez administration
together with the State-owned oil company, PDVSA, announced the elimination of
lead-based gasoline. PDVSA has been implementing an environmentally-friendly
plan over the past few years that includes recuperating green areas,
decontaminating rivers, lakes and land, and reducing emissions. “You should all
know that the gasoline produced in Venezuela is now ‘green’ gasoline, we don’t
use lead anymore,” claimed Chávez proudly during his Saturday meeting with local
journalists.
Through Venezuela’s Ministry of the Environment, thorough and complex efforts
are underway to decontaminate the nation’s rivers and lakes in both urban and
rural areas. President Chávez himself initiated the decontamination program,
bolding remarking that one day soon he hopes to swim in the River Guaire, a
stream that runs all through the capital city of Caracas and frankly has looked
and smelled like a sewer up until now.
While the leader of the world’s most powerful nation, George W. Bush, denies
the existence of global warming, Venezuela’s Chávez has made environmental
issues a top concern of his government and is actively engaging in efforts to
raise awareness throughout South America about the importance of conservation.
Venezuela also recently initiated Misión Energía (Mission Energy), a social
program aimed at energy conservation that has funded hundreds of “brigadiers”
(young activists) all over the country in efforts to replace common heat-burning
light bulbs with more environmentally friendly cold energy bulbs. President
Chávez has ordered that all government buildings must use the energy conserving
light bulbs and must lower excessive air conditioning in State offices. During
television and radio appearances, Chávez never fails to comment on the
importance of turning off water faucets when not in use, not leaving televisions
on when they are not being watched and switching off unnecessary lights.
A nation under the constant aggression and verbal attack of the United
States, as well as the victim of several direct interventions (such as the
failed coup d’etat against Chávez in April 2002), Venezuela is setting an
important example about how government truly can play a protagonist role in
stopping global warming and environmental decay. Greens and activists around the
world should support and encourage, as well as aid with expertise and
solidarity, Venezuela’s green agenda.
Eva Golinger is a Venezuela-American
attorney and the author of “The Chávez Code: Cracking US Intervention in
Venezuela” (2005) and most recently, “Bush vs. Chávez: Washington’s War on
Venezuela” (2006). She can be reached at
evagolinger@hotmail.com.