Bringing Solar Power to Rural Venezuela

[Peace Patriot]

“Sowing Light” Part 1: Bringing Solar Power to Rural Venezuela

By JAMES SUGGETT - VENEZUELANALYSIS.COM, August 30th 2010

“We live in paradise. Look, the people are very tranquil, the kids are growing, and we cultivate food without contamination because we know how to produce natural fertilizer from worms. And now, with solar electricity, it’s like a dream,” said the Venezuelan farmer Ramón Dávila with a smile, his solid stature and rough, wrinkled skin bearing the signs of six decades of rural life in the remote Andean village of El Quinó.

Dávila’s community is made up of forty closely knit families and separated from the nearest town by a full day’s rugged hike into the Sierra Nevada National Park. It is one of thousands of communities that have benefitted from Sembrando Luz, or “Sowing Light,” a government social program that brings electricity to the country’s most geographically isolated towns by installing solar panels and training the community to use and maintain them.

When Dávila’s family arrived in El Quinó 104 years ago, they produced light with lamps powered by cloth, pig lard, and sheep wax. They used the natural fibers of the fique plant to make hammocks, bags, ropes, and clothing to wear or sell. As a child, Dávila walked barefoot or wore woven sandals. When he was 16 years old, the neighbors built their first aqueduct, and a few years later, began producing coffee to sell in nearby towns.

The town has not changed much over the past century. Farming for local consumption remains prominent, with the exception of coffee production. Families produce sugar cane, bananas, yucca, beans, plantains, tomatoes, onions, and raise cattle and chickens on small farms. Most continue to live in homes made of adobe walls with a basic wooden frame and a corrugated metal roof. The community remains disconnected from the national electric grid, but now each and every family enjoys basic electricity service to their home, powered by the sun.

http://venezuelanalysis.com/analysis/5598

---------------------------------------------

A very interesting article in many ways. It bolsters the parallel that I have often noted between the Chavez government in Venezuela and FDR's "New Deal." For one thing, FDR was called a "dictator" by the rightwing/"organized money" powers of that era, just like the rightwing and (even more lethal) "organized money" of today, here and in Venezuela, call Chavez a "dictator" (when they are not calling him "incompetent.") (Since their "talking points"--which you can read almost daily in the New York Slimes, the Wall Street Urinal, and other corpo-fascist 'news' outlets--are not reality based--are, indeed, contrived at the USAID in Washington and the CIA in Langley-- they are often illogical and contradictory. The latest, that Chavez is responsible for the "street crimes" in Venezuela doesn't gel with his being a "dictator." How come he doesn't confiscate guns in very gun-loving Venezuela? How come he doesn't have heavy-booted police kicking in doors and dragging criminals off to gulags? This "tyrant" can't control the murder and robbery rate? Hm.)

This Chavez government solar power initiative for rural areas is very similar to FDR's Rural Electrification Administration. FDR created the REA "by fiat" at the height of the Great Depression (something else Chavez is often accused of doing), using lawful powers granted to him by Congress (how Chavez does things, as well), for the same purpose as Chavez's solar power initiative: alleviating poverty. Both initiatives provide government funding and technical expertise to create power co-ops, which require considerable local community organizing and cooperation, as well as agreement to pay the costs of maintenance and to create permanent local entities to oversee the system.

As to long term benefits for the poor, just think how important it is for a school to have a refrigerator.

Chavez's rural electrification program is thoroughly 21st century, in that it is solar, and does not include the great environmental impacts of "on the grid" power systems. (--something that these organic farmers are very savvy about, as evidenced in their comments in the article, despite their lack of education and their isolation from the rest of the world.)

Another parallel to FDR is that people in these rural communities revere Chavez (the article uses the phrase "almost literal worship of the president"). When I was in Alabama as a civil rights worker in 1965, I often saw pictures--photos, paintings, woven rugs--depicting FDR (who, at that point, had been dead for 20 years) in the homes of Alabama's poor. He had obviously had a great impact on the poor, especially the black and excluded poor. I also have family with rural backgrounds in the Midwest, and I know how much FDR was revered by Midwestern farming communities. FDR was something of an ikon within my own family. And I know that the cause of this feeling is not anything anti-democratic in the sentiments of poor people, but rather it is evidence of the rarity of political leaders who genuinely care about the poor majority. I am also aware that the Chavez government has been elected--and was restored to power after a rightwing coup attempt--by a strong, very democratic, grass roots movement, involving many people, and that the Chavez government is not just Chavez, but is comprised of NUMEROUS people--experts, activists, politicians, bureaucrats--who are very like "New Dealers"--highly motivated, highly committed to progressive values, and to the welfare and empowerment of the people. Both governments--the Chavez govenrment and FDR's government--may have had ikonic heads, but those heads of government are as much the result of democracy revolutions from below, as they are leaders who create a democracy revolution. The labor movement, for instance, had been very active for many decades, prior to FDR's election. So had the progressive farmers' movement. Similar movements put Chavez in power. Both heads of government are/were elected--in fair and honest elections--by big majorities, repeatedly. (FDR was elected president four times.)

Venezuela is going through a "New Deal" transformation. That is why it is so hated by our multinational corporate/war profiteer rulers (our real rulers, that is), who have been fervently trying to dismantle the "New Deal" here, since the 1950s. Venezuela has been the avantgarde of this "New Deal" transformation throughout Latin America. This rural solar electrification project in Venezuela is one example of how this transformation affects ordinary people--in this case, hundreds of rural communities that had no electricity--very similar to the impacts of the "New Deal" on poor farmers here, with multiple similarities to the "New Deal" throughout Venezuelan society (in health care, education, small business, empowerment of labor, pensions, equality/human rights, and government advocacy of the poor against "organized money," as FDR put it).

[bherrera]

1. I doubt Venezuela is hated

I suspect Venezuela's ruler, the fascist Chavez, is diliked because he has war-like tendencies and is implementing a fascist-like regime, which demands absolute obedience to the government. The multinationals do not hate him, he creates opportunities for foreigners to invest via new corporations, and companies such as Chevron, Repsol, and Total are very active in Venezuela.

It is to the detriment of the world's economy when a country such as Venezuela suffers from the economic disease imposed by Chavez, caused by his mismanagement of the exchange rates and the instability caused by arbitrary and crazy abuse of private property rights of Venezuelans. Chacez, like his mentor Castro, has no problem with multinationals or foreigners investing, but he wants Venezuelans to be his feudal subjects, as if this were the middle ages.

Let us remember that Venezuela, unlike most other nations, suffers from a negative Gross Domestic Product growth since 2008, which is incredibly happening together with very serious inflation. This of course harms the poor, who suffer from poor employment prospects, low wages, which are then eaten by the 30 % inflation rate.

Chavez, who doesn't focus on the benefits of the working class, uses some propaganda to try to cover his true nature, which is to become an imperial ruler of Latin America, similar to the way Adolf Hitler wanted to rule the world. Chavez is not a socialist, he is a megalomaniac fascist.

[Peace Patriot]

2. LOL! What rightwing swamp did you crawl out of?

Same muck that drips from the 'teabaggers,' it seems to me. When reality doesn't fit the swirling snakepit of your mind, you project that mindboggling, twirling, swirling confusion onto reality, and change socialist Hugo Chavez, who enjoys the support of most Venezuelans, in opinion polls and, repeatedly, in fair, honest, transparent elections, into Adolf Hitler. Kind of like what the 'teabaggers' do to Obama.

I can't even begin to answer your post because it is a swamp. I suggest respite at a health spa--massages, mineral baths, yoga, lots of fruit juice--and maybe some gestalt therapy.

[Judi Lynn]

4. There's no place in it sound enough to address. n/t

[Zorro]

5. Chavez enjoys the support of most Venezuelans?

That assertion may not be quite accurate.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=405x40712

[Flatulo]

8. It doesn't matter. Do you really believe that Hugo is going to let

any popular opposition run againat him?

He's el Presidente for life, just like his hero Fidel.

[Peace Patriot]

9. FDR was also "el Presidente for life." He ran for and won 4 terms in office and died in this 4th

term. Hugo Chavez has gone about his political career IN EXACTLY THE SAME WAY, based on overwhelming majority support in every election that he has run in, and in the election by the VOTERS OF VENEZUELA that lifted the term limit on presidents. We had no such vote here, in the U.S., when the Pukes rammed the 2-term limit on the president through Congress in the 1950s, to prevent a "New Deal" from ever happening here again, and to begin to dismantle the one we had (which they have very nearly accomplished). In Venezuela, it was PUT TO THE VOTERS and they answered, 'YES, we want to keep our "New Deal," we want Chavez to run again!' That is the critical key that you leave out: Chavez may run for office again. He may subject himself to voter approval again. He may be tossed out; he may not be. That is up to the VOTERS OF VENEZUELA, as it was here with FDR.

And just to state this fact again, for those who don't know it--or who deliberately ignore it: Venezuela's elections are far, FAR more transparent than our own, and have been repeatedly certified by every major election monitoring group on earth as honest and aboveboard.

Help for the poor, the neglected, the starving, the homeless, the jobless, and regulation of "organized money" so the rich can't just treat the rest of the population like expendable slaves, and so that a prosperous and truly competitive economy can be created, TAKES TIME. The rich have inordinate money and power. The poor merely have TIME. That is why it is necessary for the poor MAJORITY to have the option of keeping a good leader in office-a leader who answers to the majority.

With inordinate money and power, the rich build up undemocratic systems of control over the government and the economy, to make themselves ever richer and ever more powerful. It takes an equal force of political power to control their greed, not to mention their unconscionable activities (strikebreaking, shooting union leaders and strikers, unsafe, inhumane working conditions, monopolies, squeezing out/destroying small businesses, etc.) This is what Chavez is doing in Venezuela, and there is ZERO evidence that he is doing it for his own benefit, that he is doing it autocratically (he has done absolutely nothing that he was not authorized to do by the Venezuelan Constitution or the National Assembly) or that he is doing it without the support of the Venezuelan people. He has furthermore stood against opposition in every election. The voters have, in every case, had the option of voting for someone else. It is not Chavez's "fault" that the opposition in Venezuela is no crazily rightwing--and with such a bad reputation from previous rightwing governments, and from little items like the 2002 rightwing coup e'tat attempt--that they can't win elections. Maybe the USAID should stop funding and "training" them! Maybe then they would develop into a respected, LOYAL opposition that can produce popular leaders with good ideas.

This is rightwing bullshit that Chavez is a "dictator." It is A LIE. There are no facts to support it--none!--and overwhelming evidence that the opposite is true: that the Chavez government is the most democratic, the most representative and the most beneficial government that Venezuelans have ever had.

Your snipey, smug little rightwing "talking points" about "el Presidentet for life" are not facts. They are slander.

[Flatulo]

11. How many opposition candidates have been banned from running?

How many opposition candidates have been gassed? Charged with corruption? Held without trial? Slandered on state television by el Presidente? Fled the country?

If you really believe that Hugo hasn't rigged the game so that he is the only possible winner, then there is no hope for you. You accuse me of echoing RW talking points, but you're here, literaly within seconds of an anti-Hugo post, banging out the same old tired Chavesita talking points in defense of your darling that everyone here has read so many times that they can recite them by heart. If I hear about the 'sizzling economic growth' (cleverly using old data of course) one more time I'm going to slit my wrists. Here's a hint: cut and paste is your friend.

[Peace Patriot]

24. So sorry to hear about your suicidal thoughts.

I had a friend who just committed suicide (or probably did). Very saddening.

I urge you to hang in there, keep up your hard battle against reality and the facts, keep calling people who adhere to the facts "Chavez lovers," never get sick of your own baseless opinions, tough it out, and maybe some day enlightenment will happen to you, and you will understand why facts need repeating in the face of so much highly trumpeted propaganda about "Hugo Chavez."

You are looking at a political REVOLUTION, not at one man. You need to understand this, or you will indeed despair. This is a region-wide revolution in Latin America. It has happened in Bolivia, in Ecuador, in Paraguay, in Uruguay, in Argentina, in Brazil, in Nicaragua, in Honduras (until it was temporarily smashed by the rightwing coup d'etat), in Guatemala, and almost in Mexico (the leftist candidate for president lost by only a hair--0.05%--in the last election). It is not going to go away. You cannot defeat it by trying to make Hugo Chavez into a bogeyman.

As for Chavez, he is a genuinely popular and honestly elected leader, who has improved the lives of millions of Venezuelans. And if the Venezuelans don't like what he is doing, they have several remedies, including a recall capability. As for candidates who can't run for office: Many Latin American countries, including Venezuela, have a law that crooks cannot run for office. They have commissions to determine eligibility for office and being under investigation, in the midst of prosecution or in jail for corruption--or having fled the country after emptying your bank accounts of money from the public trough--disqualifies you. Whether or not the Chavez government has interfered in this process for political purposes is up to the people of Venezuela to decide. They have plenty of information about it, fed to them daily by the corpo-fascist press. The president has his say. The rightwing has theirs. But the PEOPLE put Chavez in charge, and that is who he is responsible to. The voters of Venezuela recently decided, by a big majority, that they want Chavez to run for office again. (They voted to lift the term limit on the president.) That is THEIR CHOICE. If they think Chavez has been unfair, it is their choice to remove him--by recall or in the next election. They also have the upcoming opportunity to saddle him with an anti-Chavez National Assembly, if they chose to do so.

Venezuela is a DEMOCRACY--and one with far, FAR more transparent elections than our own. The Chavez government has done a great deal to IMPROVE that democracy--including greatly increasing voter turnouts and public participation, wiping out illiteracy, promoting education, encouraging local community decisions about the use of federal money, improving public access to the media (including greatly increased access to computers and the internet), inviting all the major international election monitoring to Venezuela, and, at long last--after so many years of repression--giving the poor MAJORITY a voice in government. If he is wrong, if he enacts bad policy, if he grows too powerful, or if they simply don't like him any more, for whatever general or particular reasons, the people of Venezuela have it in their power to throw him out. So what is your problem with this? With democracy? Why are you trying to convince ME--or other Democrats in the USA--that Chavez is BAD?

There are REASONS for his popularity. There are REASONS that he has been elected and re-elected. The voters of Venezuela are not uninformed and they are not stupid. They get daily doses of the most venomous anti-Chavez criticism imaginable right there on their TVs. CLEARLY they can make up their own minds.

And I am quite serious about you not falling into despair--and recognizing that this is NOT about one man. it is about DEMOCRACY. Chavez has won fairly and squarely--for very good and obvious reasons (economic growth, spreading the wealth, giving the poor a voice). So has Evo Morales. So has Rafael Correa. So has Lulu da Silva. So has Daniel Ortega--and all the other new leftist leaders. And it beyond dispute, in a number of cases--the attempted coup in Venezuela, the recent coup in Honduras-- that it is the rightwing who wants to gain power illegitimately--by hook or by crook--because they do NOT represent the majority--and that has certainly been the historical pattern in Latin America, aided and abetted by Reaganites and Bushwhacks of the USA. This pattern has CHANGED. Latin Americans have attended to their democratic institutions, which are now stronger and more responsive to the needs and interests of the majority. You need to grasp this reality, or you are forever going to be living in an "Alice in Wonderland" world.

You cannot dismiss these FACTS without doing violence to REALITY. Your dwelling upon Chavez is not just ridiculous, it is a great distortion of reality. This political revolution in Latin America is not about Chavez. He is merely one of its products, and one of its more visible ELECTED leaders. It is about democracy itself. It is about the people who elected him and the people who elected these other leaders. It is up to THEM to weigh the goods and bads of the leaders they choose. As North Americans, all we can do is try to be informed and try to understand the reasons for political developments in Latin America, and of course try to influence our own government to keep hands off, as they should be doing (and aren't). That is our obligation--to be informed, to understand and to try to influence whatever is done in our name. Personally, I approve of oil revenues being used for health care and education for the poor. I certainly don't deny that. I wish we had some of that Chavista socialism here. And I most certainly approve of transparent vote counting which we do NOT have here. But that does not make me a "Chavez worshiper." That does not make Chavez "my darling." Those are ludicrous and false depictions of my views--which I try my damnedest to base on FACTS. And if those facts lead you to despair, maybe going through that dark tunnel will ultimately be to your benefit, if you come out of it on the side of reality. Your obsession with Chavez "the bogeyman" is unreal.

[Flatulo]

25. I really don't care about Chavez. What I care about is people

who can rationalize his dubious methods of eliminating his competition. The reason I care about this is that if people can excuse what I consider to be abuses of power in Latin American countries, then they will be able to excuse similar behavior here simply because they agree with the candidate's politics.

I umnderstand that you sincerely believe that something wonderful is happening in Venezuela, but I see it differently. I see a personality cult forming around this man. I do not like personality cults. I think power corrupts, and no single person is wise enough to wield power in the way that Chavez is now able to. I do not like it when people who should know better are able to suppress their better instincts and support tyrants-in-waiting because they're fixing the teeth of the poor and allowing them to light a few light bulbs.

I will continue to call BS on what I believe to be this irrational cognizant dissonace as the opportunity arises, within DU guidelines.

I don't expect us to agree on this, but I do (really) appreciate how civil you manage to remain, and I will endeavor to do likewise.

On edit - very sorry to hear about your friend. I apologize for my glib comment about slitting my wrists. I'm actually a very happy guy who (fortunately) has never suffered from depression.

[bherrera]

12. Perpetual presidency by autocrats is wrong

I believe the USA amended its constitution to avoid this problem, a president perpetuating in power. On the other hand, Venezuela held an amendment to allow Chavez to repeat himself in power, which means they went in a reverse fashion.

Given the poor results of the Chavez years, one would expect the people to vote for change. It is very common to see people vote for change when the economy is performing badly, Venezuela's economy is performing very badly, much worse than most other economies around the world. The list of problems ranges from a negative GDP, to high inflation, to a very high crime rate, and to other social ills such as government corruption. We must also remember the Chavez government has ignored the popular will when in the past, the people voted against his party, such as the case of the metropolitan major of Caracas, when millions of Venezuelans voted for the opposition leader and Chavez chose to overrule the results.

And it is this case, as well as the Judge Afiuni case, which has become like the Mandela of Venezuela, which leads progressives around the world to think this man is a fascist, and not a true socialist.

[Flatulo]

14. You're wasting your breath. The Chavistas will defend darling Hugo

even when he is lining people up against he wall and shooting them.

I can see it now...

"The progressive democratic Chavez government has carried out the will of the overwhelming majority of Venezuelans by instituting a Civilian Marksmanship and Firearms Quality Control mandate. Given the impending US invasion, it certainly is good to hear that Chavez is being proactive in ensuring that all Venezuelans are honing their marksmanship skills!!! This is truly wonderful news!!!!"

[bherrera]

18. I crawled from the Spanish Socialist Party, Alicante branch

I know you find it strange, because you are evidently an American, but most socialists around the world do not consider some of these Latin american socialists to be socialists. They are a strange group, more like old style marxists, and they have an aberration because they also like to form fascist-like alliances with very large corporations. Open your eyes, these guys are anti-labor, they are for the worship of a caudillo who wants to perpetuate himself in power, such as Fidel Castro did in Cuba. They bring ruin, and they do not allow proper individual freedom.

[Judi Lynn]

There are so many DU'ers who ARE totally familiar with Latin America,

living there themselves, or having relatives or other loved ones living there still. We also have U.S. American or European D.U.'ers who either live there now, or have recently. I think they are qualified to discuss Latin American socialism, and the alternatives very, VERY well.

[Zorro]

23. I am one of those DUers

Thanks for recognizing that I am well-qualified to discuss Latin American affairs.

[Billy Burnett]

27. As well qualified as American teabaggers are when discussing the US.

[Flatulo]

3. Just as an FYI, the solar array pictured in your link is composed

of 8 panels, with each panel being in the 200 watt range, for a theoretical ideal output of 1600 watts under perfect conditions, or about enough to operate a hair dryer. And at night, they produce nothing.

This is really not a very impressive power generating installation. I'm sure it's better than nothing, but real solar installations cover acres and require thousands of panels to produce power in any appreciable quantities.

I've worked in the solar industry for the last year, and business sucks. The efficiency of a typical solar wafer is only 16%.

People are going to be burning dino oil for a very long time. I wish it weren't so, but solar is only a very very small part of the solution.

[roody]

6. The one on my house does not cover acres.

I haven't paid for electricity for 8 years.

[Flatulo]

7. How many panels? What wattage per panel? How old are they?

What is your usage? House square footage? What kind of heating/cooling system? What latitude?

Even if you live where it doesn't snow, the variable wind loads cause cyclic stress reversals in the panel's laminate. With over a thousand solder joints, and solder having a ridiculously low fatigue endurance limit, your panel's internal resistance will creep up over time, and much of that power will be lost as waste heat withing the panels joints.

Also, since silicon and solder have dramatically different coefficients of thermal expansion, every time the temperature changes the solder pulls up on the cells, trying to tear itself free. Eventually it can delaminate from the cell. There's no way around these effects - it's the immutable laws of physics.

You're to be commended for trying to get off the grid, and I hope you can recoup your investment, but current solar panel technology is riddled with problems that have no easy solution.

Wind is a much more mature technology.

FYI, here's a solar farm in Massachusetts that can provide power for 200 homes. All that space is needed to provide a measly 1 MW. A single wind turbine using a fraction of the area could produce 3 MW.

http://www.brighterenergy.org/11075/news/solar/national-grid-opens-largest-solar-plant-in-massachusetts/

[bherrera]

15. The comment is somewhat off the subject

Evidently a solar panel installation to supply a small town is a lot larger than one required to supply a single house. Therefore the man's answer is not really relevant. If we assume this town is one where the people have very small homes, no air conditioning, a small refrigerator, and a small television set, the total load may be about 1600 watts. But if the hamlet has 40 homes, then one would guess they need at least 50 KW to supply the electricity they need. And this of course requires batteries to store electricity.

My humble guess is this installation is intended to power a few lights and possibly a community cell phone tower, possibly a small water pump for a water well. It is a solution for a primitive, isolated location, and provides the regime with a propaganda point. A more sensible solution may be a coupled solar power and wind power system, with batteries to store the electricity. if they are located in a mountain setting, a better solution would be to install a small water mill to supplement these systems. But this is a more engineered sollution, and I have noticed the Venezuelan government doesn't seem to have good engineers or planners (they don't seem to have good of anything, as shown by their poor performance).

[Judi Lynn]

10. Tremendous! Had no idea you have access to solar energy.

It must have been exciting to have taken the leap, and so satisfying. You will ALWAYS be a walking advertisement, encouragement to everyone you meet to entertain the idea for themselves.

Congrats, roody. :bounce: :hi:

[Judi Lynn]

13. If it weren't for this energy conversion going on in rural Venezuela, these people would still

be strictly on their own, and another century would pass. They have expressed their awareness that clearing land and putting up enormous power lines up that far into the mountains would destroy essential timber needed to hold the soil together to prevent landslides, mud slides, and real devastation, and wreak real havoc on their communities.

They know it because they have seen the results in other places. Solar power seems absolutely idea for this need, in this situation. Perfect.

Before these citizens got a President who was serious about bringing help to the people, they were strictly on their own, as we can see, just as they had always been.

Changes have been made in their daily lives which have transformed the way they live, made them feel far less isolated, and in touch with a world which actually CARES about them, and sees them as part of the real world of human beings, as important to our world as everyone else.

If the government gets seized again, will these people be cut loose to drop dead, just as the oligarchs immediately voided the Venezuelan constitution, the National Assembly, the Supreme Court, and sent out the police to start tracking down the members of the President's administration to imprison them during their one illegitimate day at the wheel when they kidnapped the elected President and stole his office?

Without a doubt. The oligarchs have no honor. That's why people dispise them. In the meantime, Venezuelan people are being taught how to make the steps necessary to work together in ways they didn't before they got the technical information, instruction, and will be able to keep things going like their new gift of light in the remote mountains.

http://venezuelanalysis.com.nyud.net:8090/files/imagecache/images_set/images/2010/08/system_mounted_2.jpg

[Flatulo]

16. No doubt this is a Good Thing, but I suspect that it is more about

scoring propaganda points than providing useful power. This array can power a few light bulbs, and not much else. A water pump would bring it to it's knees.

[bherrera]

Not a very small water pump

Something with a 500 kw load can pump water to a tank, where it can be gravity fed to public faucets. This is common in third world nations. I visited a village in Africa where they had a community member pumping water by hand, and this went to a channel, which led to various places, one of them where the women could wash, the other where the cattle and goats drank. The use of electricity in these primitive communities is quite sparing, because they lack the wires in their huts, so I imagine a small distributed power plant could work. But it would be for a very small load. And I agree with you, this is a propaganda piece, caused by the recent massive power cuts, caused by their mishandling of electricity infrastructure.

[Judi Lynn]

17. If you spent your time reading the material, rather than waiting like a vulture for comments,

you would know already they HAVE been installing water pumps. That's part of their programs. Jesus.

We're so aware of right-wing filthy slurs against leftists' progressive ideas. They ALWAYS claim leftists are trying to buy votes by helping the poor. Such profoundly ignorant drool is simply beneath contempt.

The oligarchs HAD all these many long years in their seizure of the power in Venezuela. That's why these people were STILL without any means of lighting their homes well before these energy measures were initiated.

The reason people of your political persuasion didn't help them, themselves, is because there wasn't anything in it for them: the people living in such poverty had nothing to offer them which would fatten their slimy pockets, so it wasn't going to happen. With rightwingers the pigs have to benefit first, before everyone else, or nothing gets done.

That's why the human world needs real human beings in office.

[Flatulo]

20. And if you had any understanding of physics or

engineering, you'd understand that 1600 watts is approximately nothing. But you *feel* that this is something wonderful that your heroic Hugo has done, so reality matters not.

[Judi Lynn]

21. What they had was nada. Under an oligarchy controlled administration, they would ALWAYS have nada.

This is the beginning of their step into the process, not the end of the beginning. They have something upon which they can build, with assistance from the government which already got the ball rolling for them, and will be keeping in touch with them regularly.

[Flatulo]

22. As I said earlier, this is a good thing, and power

is essential to sanitation, education and progress. I hope this small step is the beginning of bigger and bigger generating capabilities.

[bherrera]

26. it is also a propaganda piece

They have seriosu electric power defficiencies, and their industries are closed due to the lack of power. Therefore little articles like this are used to offset the major faults they have created by not investing in the electricity infrastructure in the past. Because the regime is in power for so many years, their excuses (the other guys installed too many hydroelectric plants) sound very hollow, but they try mightily to point very long fingers into the past. The truth is they are incompetent.

[IBEWVET]

19. Good to see!

800 systems in 550 communities is a good bit of progress. I am sure this will make a big difference in their quality of life. I hope the government has made provisions for maintenance of the systems. As an electrician, I know it can take some skill to maintain. In any case this is good too see.