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• 02 / 25 / 2010

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The Venezuelan government is promoting technological independence through a satellite called Simon Bolivar, which was put into orbit on October 29, 2008 and is already showing results regarding telecommunications, defense, health, education and
scientific research.

The satellite was registered in the final declaration of the eighth Summit of the Bolivarian Alliance of the Peoples of our America (ALBA), which is made up of Antigua and Barbuda, Bolivia, Cuba, Dominica, Ecuador, Nicaragua, St. Vicent and the Grenadines and Venezuela.

The member countries agreed in Havana, in December, to improve coordination and agreement of policies for technological sovereignty, supported by projects and means as the satellite, which was launched from China.

Beyond the issue of connectivity, our satellite has an impact on health, medicine and education, highlighted President Hugo Chavez a year after its launching.

In reference to education, off-site knowledge transmission, creation of educational websites and technological literacy of thousands of indigenous people, peasants and other traditionally marginalized sectors outstand.

Regarding health, the Sinapsis project is being implemented and will allow the connection of outpatients' departments located in far-off indigenous communities and also the so-called "smart operating room", which is an initiative directed at qualifying medical students and solving emergencies in remote areas, where there are no doctors.

The satellite also allows carrying out medical researches, as those of the Foundation for Seismological Research and their use in defense, deploying 88 satellite dishes at border points.

Criticism by political rivals of the government range from saying that putting the satellite into orbit was a con to saying that over $400 million invested were a waste.

Source: PL