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CAT Media Centre
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CAT Media Department: Press Release
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| Oil, Equity and Biospheres Venezuelan politician brings environmental message to Wales |
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| Contact: Arthur Girling 01654 705 953 (Email) |
Date: 25/06/2007 |
 The rural Dyfi Valley in Mid Wales will become a focus of environmental international relations this summer, when Dr Cesar Aponte from the Venezuelan Ministry of the Environment speaks in the town of Machynlleth. He will describe how his country plans to grow sustainably by using its abundant oil resources creatively and democratically.
Dr Aponte will be the keynote speaker at the ‘Oil, Equity and Biospheres’ workshop on Friday 10 August. The event is part of the El Sueno Existe (‘The Dream Lives On’) Festival, and is supported by the Centre for Alternative Technology (CAT). Other speakers at the workshop include journalist and campaigner George Monbiot, local climate change campaigners, and authors of ‘zerocarbonbritain’, a groundbreaking new energy strategy from CAT.
The free workshop will take place at Y Tabernacle, Machynlleth from 10.30 to 4pm.
El Sueño Existe ('The Dream Lives On') is a festival celebrating music and political activism in Latin America, from Friday 10 to Sunday 12 August. The event brings bands, speakers, artists and poets from Latin America, Wales and other parts of Britain to the Dyfi Valley. It builds on the huge success of the first El Sueño Existe festival in 2005.
Keith Jackson, one of the festival organisers, was inspired by a visit to Venezuela last year and the way the country was using its oil riches not only to eliminate poverty, but also to generate active concern about the environment for future generations. “This is a true reflection of our festival’s themes. This workshop could make a real contribution to our thinking about relations between developed and developing countries on the issue of climate change,” he said.
Although political, social and environmental issues run through the three-day festival, it is also a celebration of great music and art from all over the world. The event is dedicated to Victor Jara, a Chilean folk musician and dramatist who was executed by the Pinochet regime in 1973. Bands include Gerardo Y Su Son from Venezuela and Omar Puentes y Cubania from Cuba. President of Plaid Cymru and Welsh folk legend Daffydd Iwan will perform as will radical roots band Seize the Day. Renowned Italian songstress Silvia Balducci also appears on the eclectic bill.
There will be theatre performances and art exhibitions, including an exhibition of artist Joan Santana's work on people, the land and exploitation.
Tickets for the three day festival cost £25, concessions are £20, and tickets include camping. Children under 14 are free. Some tickets are available for individual events. Any profits will be invested in future festivals.There is basic camping with showers adjoining the festival site. Organisers Tony Corden and Keith Jackson are both available for interview, in both Welsh and English. For more information call Arthur Girling on 01654 705953.
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