I don't have a horse in this race, but in gratitude to your outstanding work on behalf of the Iranian people, despite the total lack of cooperation on the part of their always fractious (and sometimes flaky*) leadership, I'll mention this: decorating Muhammad Yunus with the Order of the Liberator, President Hugo Chávez said that rarely such important recognition as the Nobel Peace Prize went to a man of such merits as "this illustrious fighter for a better, different world without poverty." Don't tell liberals about it, but you can use that when leftists act up.
<http://www.mci.gob.ve/noticias-prensa-presidencial/28/13738/muhammad_yunusun_ilustre.html> 11 de mayo de 2007
Noticias - Prensa Presidencial RECONOCIMIENTO En homenaje a la lucha contra la pobreza Muhammad Yunus: un ilustre luchador por un mundo mejor
Así calificó el jefe de Estado venezolano al economista que obtuvo el premio Nobel de la Paz del año 2006, quien se encuentra de visita en Venezuela. La condecoración otorgada es una manera de "honrar a quien nos honra con su visita"
Durante el acto de entrega de la Orden del Libertador, en su primera clase, al premio nobel de la paz 2006, Muhammad Yunus, el presidente Hugo Chávez enfatizó que pocas veces tan importante reconocimiento "ha caído en tan merecidas manos y tan merecido pecho, el de este ilustre luchador por un mundo mejor, distinto, sin pobreza".
En tal sentido expresó que los ricos deberían entender mejor que si queremos vivir en un mundo de paz debemos lograr un mundo sin pobreza; mas, por el contrario, "hay algunos que creen que invadiendo países, bombardeando pueblos se acabará la violencia. Irak es uno de los tantos casos".
El apoyo e impulso de la dirección estratégica del rumbo hacia donde se ha enfilado el país, fue señalado por el presidente Chávez como un objetivo fundamental que también apunta a la salvación del mundo actual, amenazado por la miseria, la pobreza y la destrucción del ambiente.
Expresó que la condecoración otorgada es una manera de "honrar a quien nos honra con su visita".
Al recordar que en el país existen sectores que se valen de la libertad de expresión para "meterle miedo" al pueblo, mediante campañas, alertó sobre la existencia de empresas de comunicación en manos de la oligarquía, que se oponen a los cambios y se dedican constantemente al terrorismo mediático. "En los últimos días me he dado cuenta de cómo andan algunos enloquecidos tratando, otra vez, de infundir pánico en la colectividad", dijo.
El líder de la Revolución Bolivariana señaló que mientras más grandes son los cambios y se hace mayor la satisfacción de la población, más fuerte es la resistencia presentada por tales sectores ante dichos cambios. Afirmó que "en épocas de grandes cambios a veces pierden la razón y toman la vía del fascismo y de la locura, incluso".
En el evento el presidente Chávez conversó con Janeth Parra, mujer venezolana representante de un Banco Comunal, quien se refirió a los avances que ha alcanzado este tipo de programas en el país. Expresó que los mismos se dedican a financiar proyectos presentados por las propias comunidades, de acuerdo con las necesidades fundamentales que existan en cada territorio.
Agregó la luchadora social que en el corto plazo la meta consiste en impulsar gabinetes de viviendas, así como otros proyectos productivos mediante la creación de núcleos endógenos, con la finalidad de fortalecer y consolidar la lucha contra la pobreza.
Por su parte, el bangladesí creador del Grameen Bank agradeció el gesto y afirmó que coincide con el pensamiento del jefe de Estado venezolano en cuanto a la necesidad de crear un mundo libre de pobreza. Aprovechó la oportunidad para extender un saludo en nombre del pueblo de Bangladesh, su país natal, y especialmente de los pobres.
Prensa Presidencial/José Manuel Blanco
<http://www.rnv.gov.ve/noticias/index.php?act=ST&f=2&t=46845> Le impondrá la condecoración Orden del Libertador Presidente Chávez recibió en Miraflores a Premio Nobel de la Paz
Muhammad Yunus, el hombre que creó en 1976 un banco para los pobres llegó a Venezuela para hablar de la experiencia y de su visión acerca de las alternativas que pueden ayudar a superar los índices de pobreza.
Véase también: Muhamad Yunus aboga por fomento de microcréditos y empresas sociales
<http://www.rnv.gov.ve/noticias/uploads/post-2-1178905202.jpg> Foto Juan Carlos Solórzano
Prensa Web RNV/Prensa Presidencial 11 Mayo 2007, 01:40 PM
* Memo to Iran's leadership -- quit being so paranoid and release this poor woman at least.
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/30/AR2007053002453.html> Md. Bank Freezes Funds of Scholar Jailed in Tehran State, Treasury Get Involved In Effort to Unlock Accounts
By Robin Wright Washington Post Staff Writer Thursday, May 31, 2007; A04
It was a hard enough day for Shaul Bakhash, as he dealt with the ongoing drama surrounding the imprisonment in Iran of his wife, noted American scholar Haleh Esfandiari. Then he found an express letter on the doorstep of his Potomac home yesterday morning announcing that Citibank had frozen his wife's bank accounts on grounds that she is now a "resident" of Iran.
In the letter, Citibank said the accounts had been frozen "in accordance with U.S. Sanctions regulations," which stipulate that U.S. banks are prohibited from servicing accounts for residents of Iran.
So began a stressful process of inquiries and appeals for help -- to the bank, financial contacts, the State Department and the press -- to finally reach a resolution.
Bakhash, a historian at George Mason University, quickly learned that his two Citibank accounts had also been closed, even though he has not visited Iran since 1980. Bakhash and Esfandiari are both U.S. citizens, but Esfandiari has maintained her Iranian passport so she can visit her family in Tehran twice a year. She was on a 10-day visit to see her 93-year-old mother when she was put under virtual house arrest for four months, after which she was jailed in Tehran's Evin Prison on May 8. Iran charged her this week with espionage and endangering national security.
There is no law stipulating that bank accounts of dual U.S.-Iranian citizens must be closed if they go to Iran, the Treasury Department said yesterday, unless they have been specifically designated by the U.S. government for sanctions. "Iranian nationals living in the United States may open and maintain accounts in U.S. financial institutions, even if they go back occasionally to Iran," the official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitive detention.
Citizens can maintain bank accounts in U.S. financial institutions even if they move to Iran, although U.S. banks cannot provide normal services on the accounts while the customers are in Iran, the official said.
Bakhash described the decision to freeze the accounts as "ridiculous" and "arbitrary." Esfandiari's paycheck from the Smithsonian's Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, where she is director of Middle East programs, is deposited directly into her Citibank account. Because she is not in the country, she could not change the payment arrangements. Freezing the accounts could have made it difficult to pay major bills, Bakhash added.
"Clearly someone at the bank recognized my wife's name from the newspaper accounts and took action without contacting me. We did not even receive a phone call before the letter," he said in an interview. "We have had money there for 10 years, and I didn't expect to be treated so shabbily after such a long time."
To help out, the State Department contacted the Potomac branch of Citibank yesterday, offering to write a letter to the bank confirming that Esfandiari and Bakhash are U.S. citizens, that Esfandiari is not a resident of Iran, and that she is held there against her will, a State Department official said.
After several more calls, Bakhash said that late in the afternoon the bank told him it would consider reactivating his two accounts but not Esfandiari's two accounts.
"We deeply regret our mistake in blocking certain accounts," said Shannon Bell, Citibank's deputy director of public relations in New York. "We are requesting that the Treasury Department expedite our request to reactivate other accounts that are subject to Treasury restrictions regarding individuals in Iran. We are in contact with the family and have apologized for the stress this inconvenience has caused."
Treasury officials, however, said they were unaware of Citibank's initial action until yesterday.
Well after the end of business hours, calls were still being exchanged among the many parties. At 8 p.m. yesterday, in an expedited decision, Treasury said it had informed Citibank that it could reactivate all the accounts. At 8:30 p.m., Bell called The Washington Post to say that all accounts would be reopened.
Bakhash was informed by a senior Citibank official at 8:45 p.m. that the bank would again do business with him and his wife. -- Yoshie
