Venezuela, Bolivia, Nicaragua Options

[Snuffysmith]

US bans arms sales to Venezuela
By Saul Hudson
Mon May 15, 6:16 PM ET

Washington banned all U.S. arms sales to Venezuela on Monday, punishing President Hugo Chavez for his ties with Cuba and Iran and for what it believes is his inaction against guerrillas from neighboring Colombia.

The sanctions symbolically escalate a diplomatic crisis with a major U.S. energy supplier and come after years of friction between the nations on issues ranging from trade to oil prices that have dragged ties to their worst state in decades.

Despite Venezuela's repeated assertions that it works against terrorism, and particularly militants in the Andean region, the United States designated it on Monday as a country considered uncooperative in the U.S. war on terrorism.

While the move is not as severe as adding a country to the U.S. blacklist of state sponsors of terrorism, which includes Iran and Cuba, it does trigger sanctions and is likely to provoke an angry response from Chavez.

The sanctions extend the Bush administration's practice in recent years of stopping country-to-country sales involving American arms and technology to Venezuela.

Now Washington also prohibits all U.S. commercial weapons sales to Venezuela and prevents any re-sales of American arms and technology from other nations.

Such sales have been in decline anyway. Last year, the U.S. government approved licensing for commercial military sales to Venezuela worth a total of $8.5 million, mainly for parts for C-130 transport planes, down from $41 million in 2004, one U.S. official said.

Maripili Hernandez, Venezuelan vice minister of Foreign Relations for North America and Multilateral Affairs, dismissed the U.S. move.

"From a diplomatic point of view, those classifications that the United States makes are absolutely irrelevant. We don't take them into account," she said.

OIL THREAT

The top U.S. diplomat for Latin America said the Bush administration took the step with "enormous reluctance," but noted the countries' traditionally strong ties had eroded under Chavez.

That deterioration has weighed on world oil markets in recent years, adding to supply worries that have helped cause record high crude prices.

Governing policy over the largest oil reserves outside of the Middle East, Chavez has periodically threatened to stop oil exports to Venezuela's biggest market, the United States, but the OPEC member has remained a reliable supplier.

Larry Birns of the Council on Hemispheric Affairs think tank in Washington said the move was a powerful symbol of U.S. disdain for Chavez, but would have little practical impact on a country that has turned increasingly to suppliers like Russia.

"This is a political act. The State Department has been looking to up the ante without provoking a full-blown meltdown," he said. "It is an escalation of U.S. hostility toward Venezuela."

State Department spokesman Eric Watnik explained Monday's decision, citing Chavez's relations with the two U.S. foes, Iran and Cuba, and accusing him of allowing leftist guerrillas from neighboring Colombia to operate from Venezuela.

Rep. Pete Hoekstra, a Michigan Republican, who chairs the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, said in a statement: "The hostility shown by the Venezuelan leadership toward the United States, along with its efforts to sow totalitarianism in the hemisphere, at the expense of the Venezuelan people, should be alarming to everyone."

(Additional reporting by Doug Palmer and Andrea Shalal-Esa in Washington and Magdalena Morales in Caracas)



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[Snuffysmith]

US is creating climate to attack Venezuela:

The Venezuelan Foreign Affairs Ministry Monday issued a communiqué expressing that "the government of the United States climbs to new heights of cynicism and shamelessness, when it tries to tie Venezuela to its particular vision of international terrorism."
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article13069.htm

===
Jilted Venezuela may sell its U.S. jets to Iran:

Even before the United States announced the ban on arms sales Monday, Washington had stopped selling Venezuela sensitive upgrades for the F-16s.
http://www.yakima-herald.com/page/dis/350566625892131

===
Ken Livingstone: Not a difficult choice at all :

Chávez and Venezuela deserve the support of all who believe in social justice and democracy
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article13068.htm

[Snuffysmith]

- Venezuela says Iran might be buyer for its F16s
http://www.spacewar.com/reports/Venezuela_...r_its_F16s.html

Caracas (AFP) May 16, 2006 - A Venezuelan general said Tuesday that Iran might be interested in buying Venezuela's US F16 fighter jets that he has recommended selling.

[Snuffysmith]

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Venezuela 'may swap oil currency' :

Venezuela has hinted it could price its oil exports in euros rather than US dollars, further weakening its links to the US.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4990302.stm

===
War pimp alert:

Chavez accused of ties to terrorists:

Venezuela has allowed its intelligence service to become a clone of Cuba's while it shelters groups with ties to Middle East terrorists and allows weapons from its official stockpiles to reach Colombian guerrillas, a senior U.S. official said yesterday.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article13088.htm

===
Chavez in London: Transcript of press conference:

Mr. President, is the government of Venezuela disposed to cut the flow of oil to the United States in the case that the United States attacks Iran?
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article13083.htm

===
Venezuela, China Sign $1.3 Billion Tanker Deal :

Venezuela has signed a $1.3 billion agreement with China to purchase 18 oil tankers to facilitate the south American country's expanding Asian market.
http://www.voanews.com/english/2006-05-11-voa47.cfm

===
Venezuela’s Chavez meets with Gadhafi in Libya:

Gadhafi, his face partly covered by a large brown scarf draped over his Arab tribal robe, welcomed Hugo Chavez at his house, scarred with bullet holes and showing damage to some of the crenelated concrete at the top of the building from a 1986 U.S. bombing raid.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12837050/

[Snuffysmith]

http://www.humaneventsonline.com/article.p...nt=yes&id=14990

Venezuela F-16 Sale to Iran Must Be Stopped

by Rep. Connie Mack
Posted May 19, 2006

For more than a year I have been warning my colleagues and the American people that Hugo Chavez is an enemy of freedom, a menace to the United States and our allies, and a co-conspirator with those who support terrorism, socialism and all things contrary to liberty and democracy.

From his efforts to acquire nuclear technology from Iran, to his establishment of a formal broadcast alliance with the mouthpiece of terrorism -- Al-Jazeera, and now his proposed sale of F-16 fighter jets to Iran, Hugo Chavez is turning Venezuela into the Western Hemisphere's strongest ally of terror.

It's bad enough that Iran is working to build nuclear weapons. Chavez's proposed sale of F-16s to Iran compounds an already difficult diplomatic crisis and ought to further raise alarm bells with our allies in Europe and the Middle East. This proposed sale must be stopped.

The time has come for the United States to conduct a full investigation into the breadth and depth of Hugo Chavez's relationship with Iran and other enemies of freedom.

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

[grammydidi]

RANT!!!!! RANT!!!!!! RANT!!!!!!

The US sells nuclear weapons to Israel and provides the underpinnings to their genocide practises in Palestine.

The Repubs are all for a free market world. But only if the US is immune to criticism and has no accountability for what it does. If Chavez wants to sell his oil or F-16s, why not?

http://www.humaneventsonline.com/article.p...nt=yes&id=14990
 
Venezuela F-16 Sale to Iran Must Be Stopped

by Rep. Connie Mack
Posted May 19, 2006

For more than a year I have been warning my colleagues and the American people that Hugo Chavez is an enemy of freedom, a menace to the United States and our allies, and a co-conspirator with those who support terrorism, socialism and all things contrary to liberty and democracy.

From his efforts to acquire nuclear technology from Iran, to his establishment of a formal broadcast alliance with the mouthpiece of terrorism -- Al-Jazeera, and now his proposed sale of F-16 fighter jets to Iran, Hugo Chavez is turning Venezuela into the Western Hemisphere's strongest ally of terror. 

It's bad enough that Iran is working to build nuclear weapons.  Chavez's proposed sale of F-16s to Iran compounds an already difficult diplomatic crisis and ought to further raise alarm bells with our allies in Europe and the Middle East.  This proposed sale must be stopped.

The time has come for the United States to conduct a full investigation into the breadth and depth of Hugo Chavez's relationship with Iran and other enemies of freedom.

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

This post has been edited by grammydidi: May 19 2006, 07:17 AM

[Snuffysmith]

THE U.S. EMBARGO AGAINST VENEZUELA - COUNCIL ON HEMISPHERIC AFFAIRS (POLITICAL AFFAIRS MAGAZINE, NY, MAY 19): As of now, the administration?s game plan is primitively simple and grossly offensive. Inspired by Nazi-era propaganda czar, Joseph Goebbels, the model is to keep on relentlessly denouncing Chávez as a ?dictator? until the public begins to automatically accept the connections between the word and the man.
http://www.politicalaffairs.net/article/ar...view/3462/1/32/

[Snuffysmith]

===
Inflation and unemployment fall, minimum wage rises in Venezuela :

Venezuela's economic boom has continued into the first part of 2006, with consumer inflation and unemployment down and a 10 percent minimum wage hike.
http://www.sfbayview.com/052406/inflation052406.shtml

===
Poverty Rates in Venezuela: Getting the Numbers Right:

The following is a sample of statements appearing in major media or foreign policy journals that deny and/or misrepresent the decline in poverty that has taken place in Venezuela under the present government.
http://www.veninfo.org/downloads/ceprpov.htm

===
Chavez and Morales in trade deals :

On Friday, Venezuela also signed a deal - delayed by pressure from the US - for eight military patrol boats from Spain.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/5021064.stm

[Snuffysmith]

Chavez says US working for coup in Bolivia By David Mercado :

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on Sunday bluntly accused the U.S. ambassador to Bolivia of trying to stir up military rebellion against his leftist ally Bolivian President Evo Morales.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060528/ts_nm/..._usa_bolivia_dc

===
Victorious Colombian Uribe faces high expectations:

Colombia's President Alvaro Uribe on Sunday scored a landslide re-election victory that handed him a solid mandate for four more years as Washington's closest ally in Latin America.
http://tinyurl.com/ghd53

[Snuffysmith]

http://americas.irc-online.org/am/3290




After Bolivia's Gas Nationalization—Toward a New Regional Map
Raúl Zibechi | May 30, 2006

Translated from: “Despues de la nacionalización en Bolivia—Hacia un nuevo mapa regional”
Translated by: Nick Henry, IRC




Americas Program, International Relations Center (IRC) americas.irc-online.org


In a single sweep of the pen, Bolivian President Evo Morales has rearranged the continent's entire geopolitical map. The May 1st decision to nationalize hydrocarbons placed South America's second largest gas reserves under state control. Oil and gas are powerful weapons, capable of reshaping South American alliances, as evidenced by the close relationship between Venezuela and Bolivia—the continent's largest reserve holders in both sectors—who have taken the political initiative and displaced the primary regional powers.

In reality, Evo Morales had little choice. Either he nationalized his country's natural resources, or his administration faced getting caught on a one-way street to serious political crisis—the same path his predecessors Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada and Carlos Mesa found themselves on before popular pressure forced them both to step down over the issue of nationalization. The people of South America's poorest country understand that it is the last strategic resource for keeping afloat their national project.

The result is that previous alignments have been strained as new power relationships begin to form. Carlos Alvarez, President of the Permanent Commission of Mercosur, notes that it is necessary to analyze the regional map with caution because “it is reformulating.”1 In effect, Mercosur is in crisis, the FTAA cannot break its deadlock, the Andean Community is rupturing, and the South American Community of Nations (SACN) is not advancing.

Amidst the ruins of former integration initiatives, new initiatives have grown that have yet to be fully consolidated. Although many contradictions and regional conflicts have arisen, which is characteristic of periods marked by abrupt change, it seems clear that the new regional map will look very different from past decades, and present a sharp break from the one laid out by the Washington Consensus.

Mar del Plata Initiates the Change
In November of 2005, the failure of the FTAA was sealed during the Presidential Summit at Mar del Plata. At the summit, the four member countries of Mercosur (Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay) joined by Venezuela acted in unison and rejected the proposal of George W. Bush.

The failure of the FTAA accelerated events that were already unfolding. Mercosur was having difficulty navigating the always-tense relations between Argentina and Brazil, and all indicators pointed to increased difficulties with the incorporation of Venezuela (finalized in 2005) and possibly other countries. At the same time, the South American Community created by Brazil in 2004 offered a potential alternative in the face of the imminent collapse of a Mercosur that seemed unable to accommodate all the nations of the region.

After the Mar del Plata Summit, a series of acts occurred in what became a very dense month of April, replete with reunions and extraordinary events. On the one hand, the United States stepped up its offensive to sign free trade agreements with Andean countries, and as a consequence Colombia and Peru joined the free trade agreement signed by Chile in the 1990s, although their parliaments have yet to approve the measures. The tense electoral process in Peru—the result of which remains uncertain—could complicate the process of finalizing the agreement. In January, Evo Morales assumed the presidency and began a process of reforms that is being closely followed by the region's most powerful countries, in particular Brazil, Argentina, and Venezuela. At the same time, Ecuador's free trade agreement has been stymied by the powerful indigenous uprising in March. The uprising accomplished its main goal—the rejection of the free trade agreement—in a country where the political situation is being managed by a weak transitional government until the next presidential elections.

By December, the crisis in Mercosur had become critical. While Argentina and Brazil continued to tighten their alliance and seek ways to resolve the deep commercial and economic asymmetries between them, the construction of two large paper mills on the eastern coast of the Uruguay River has strained relations between Néstor Kirchner and Tabaré Vázquez. Massive grassroots mobilizations on the Argentine side of the river that block the international bridge and impede traffic have intensified the conflict and further distanced Uruguay from Mercosur.

While relations between Buenos Aires and Brasilia are visibly improving, tension is surfacing with some of the smaller member countries (Paraguay and Uruguay). These nations assert that the regional heavyweights are not giving due consideration to their interests. In this scenario, Hugo Chavez is spearheading his own plans for integration. He proposed the construction of an enormous gas pipeline, called the Southern Gasoduct that would unite Venezuela and Argentina by passing through Brazil. The project would cover over 10,000 kilometers and cost some $23 billion.

The geopolitical landscape until the month of March could be drawn, as Argentina analyst Julio Godio maintains, as two conflicting scenarios: the advance of the free trade agreements, which set up a “situation of balkanization,” and the growing alliance between what he calls “a neo-developmentalist current” composed by Argentina, Brazil, and Venezuela.2

Also during the key month of April, Venezuela's president decided to abandon the Andean Community due to Peru and Colombia's trade alliances with the United States. Chavez then began to actively support the Peruvian nationalist candidate Ollanta Humala in that country's presidential elections—a move that provoked confrontations with President Alejandro Toledo and opposing candidate Alan Garcia.

In this situation, the Venezuelan president made a risky move. On the 19th, he took part in the meeting held in Asuncion with Bolivia, Paraguay, and Uruguay and, at the Uruguayan president's request, proposed an alternative design for the Southern Gasoduct that would bypass Argentina. The fact that Venezuela is an oil exporter and the principal financier of the pipeline gives Chavez great weight. The reaction of Argentina and Brazil was immediate: they convened a meeting for April 26th in San Pablo, at which Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Kirchner first met alone, and then with Chavez. Just a few days prior to this meeting, Venezuela, Bolivia, and Cuba had signed the People's Trade Treaty, which sealed the new regional alliance. During the meeting in San Pablo, Lula and Kirchner reproached Chavez for his interference in the affairs of the Southern Cone, the former claiming that he was inciting Bolivia against the Brazilian oil company Petrobras, and the latter arguing that he should not support the demands of the smaller countries against the larger ones. The meeting ended with an important advance in the construction schedule of the Southern Gasoduct, and everyone went home satisfied.

After the May 1st decree to nationalize Bolivian gas, Lula met with Kirchner, Chavez, and Morales on May 4th in Puerto Iguazu, Argentina to discuss energy security in South America.

Consequences of Evo's Decision
The larger countries of the region have some serious energy problems. Argentina was, until recently, a self-sufficient country and exporter of oil and gas. However, the privatization of the state-owned energy company during the early 1990s led to a drop in oil and gas prospecting so that reserves declined dramatically. In 1989, when privatization of the sector began, reserves were estimated at 14 years for oil and 37 for natural gas. By 2004, they had fallen to nine and ten respectively, and 25% of the annual extraction of oil and 15% of natural gas is still exported.3 The result is that Argentina will have to begin importing its hydrocarbons in the near future, thus passing from a state of self-sufficiency to one of dependence.

Brazil recently accomplished oil self-sufficiency, but it imports half of its natural gas from Bolivia. A major portion of that goes toward powering industry in San Pablo—the economic and political heart of the country, where 40% of the GDP is concentrated. But oil self-sufficiency is no guarantee: neoliberalism privatized a good portion of the state-owned energy company to the point that 60% of the shares of Petrobras no longer belong to the state but to private capital from the United States or their front organizations.4 In Brazil, an intense debate is taking place over whether the country should continue selling bids on oil reserves to foreign companies that export it, or “save” it for the hard times to come, as the United States and China are doing.5

In a way, the large countries in the region depend on poor countries like Bolivia and middle countries like Venezuela to meet their energy needs. The flip side of the partial privatization of Petrobras is that the company has embarked on a race to acquire the continent's hydrocarbon reserves, with special attention to Bolivia (where it controls 20% of the GDP), Argentina (where it controls 15% of the fuel market), and Ecuador (where it faces serious problems with the indigenous communities). Petrobras's actions have created complications for Brazil across the region and worked against regional integration by promoting competition instead of collaboration between countries.

The reaction of Brazil and Argentina to the Bolivian gas nationalization demonstrated their dependence on this source. In the short term, the price they pay for gas will go up. Argentina is assured natural gas supply from Bolivia, but now at a higher price. Argentina also urgently needs the Southern Gasoduct to diminish its oil dependency.

Brazil's situation is different. Petrobras will lose control of reserves in the Andean country. The powerful business community of San Pablo has balked at paying more for Bolivian gas, and Petrobras's shareholders stand to lose out if the business is forced to absorb rising costs , as Lula announced it would.6 Bolivia sells between 27 and 30 million cubic meters of natural gas a day to Brazil at a price of $3.2 to $3.4 per million BTUs (British Thermal Units), and between 4.5 and 7 million cubic meters of natural gas a day to Argentina at a price of $3.18 per million BTUs, whereas the multinational corporation British Gas sells natural gas to Chile at a price of $7 per million BTUs. If Bolivia raises its price by one dollar, it stands to gain $300 million.

The most heavily affected country, Brazil, has looked on with discomfort as Hugo Chavez has carved out a leadership role in the region. Lula did not hide his displeasure with Chavez and Minister of Foreign Affairs Celso Amorim issued warnings that Chavez's attitude endangered the Southern Gasoduct project and regional integration.7 As one analyst points out, Chavez “becomes the key, predominant figure of political affairs in Bolivia.”8 For the Venezuelan government, the situation has been win-win: Chavez consolidated a new ally in the region, affirmed his political initiative, and placed Brazil in the difficult position of having to take backstage to Evo Morales in the international arena while at home the media and public opinion have hounded the government to take a harder line on its position with Bolivia.

Moreover, the Bolivian president fiercely attacked Petrobras when he claimed the company has operated “illegally” and is now “blackmailing” his country.9 For its part, Petrobras feels the necessity to protect the interests of its private investors, and has threatened to take the case to New York courts and stop investing in Bolivia.

All of this serves to aggravate the conflicts of interest between countries that have been working side by side for regional integration to create a common front in the face of the FTAA. On that point, Petrobras is in the eye of the storm. It's the second most important company in the region and generates huge revenues: in the first trimester of this year it registered a liquid profit of $3 billion, 33% higher than in 2005.10 The company behaves as any other transnational oil company would. Since the Brazilian state only has partial control over decisions, major conflicts crop up between the interests of Petrobras (ultimately defined on the New York Stock Exchange) and the interests of the Brazilian state.

An Uncertain Landscape
In the context of the huge changes taking place, it is difficult to predict the path the region will take. The free trade agreements with the United States are making headway, but they also face serious difficulties. A good example is what is taking place with Bolivian soy producers. Bolivia exports half a million tons of soy beans to Colombia, for $160 million annually. By signing on to a free trade agreement, Colombia must now import all of its soy from the United States, where farmers receive substantial government subsidies.11 Logically, Bolivian producers have strengthened alliances with opponents of the free trade agreements, like President Evo Morales, which has facilitated the formation of large fronts in opposition to the policies of Washington. “The wave of conflicts in Ecuador, Peru, and Colombia due to the free trade agreements with the United States, the closure of the Bolivian soy market, and the ensuing crisis of the South American Community, are the first economic and social impacts to be felt as a result of the trade agreement between the Andean countries and the United States, whose consequences in the medium-term are still hard to predict.”12

Opponents of this type of vertical integration, namely those who attended the Mar del Plata alternative summit to bring down the FTAA, do not have a unified project; rather, they are aligning themselves in two separate—some might even say opposing—camps. On the government side, there is a new alignment between Bolivia, Cuba, and Venezuela, based on coinciding ideologies, including rejection of U.S. policies, as well as various proposals like Hugo Chavez's Bolivarian Alternative (ALBA, by its Spanish initials), which has failed thus far to win over the main countries of the continent.

In that sense, the recent Bolivian initiative of the People's Trade Treaty signed in Havana is a novelty. It is based on a proposal by Evo Morales to design an alternative form of trade that assures a market for small producers, artisans, microbusiness-owners, cooperatives, and community-run businesses. Once in place, however, the project will—apart from its good intentions—have little impact on the regional situation.

On the other hand, Bolivia's nationalization of hydrocarbons could influence other countries in the region like Ecuador, where elections will be held in October and the government recently canceled its contract with the U.S. oil company OXY. Ecuador has been exporting oil for decades but has no refineries of its own, and consequently must import its gasoline and diesel fuel. The Bolivian project to industrialize gas could serve as a model for the region, and other countries may follow suit.

In any case, this sector's strongest agenda has been to promote the construction of the Southern Gasoduct, which faces a difficult road since it is more a political than economic initiative. The Bolivian Secretary of Hydrocarbons, Andres Soliz Rada, made it known he aims to build the pipeline with state-owned companies: “Here there is a problem for Brazil, since Petrobras gave up 60% of its shares to the private sector. The State has shares with special privileges, but the transnationals also hold weight with Petrobras. In order for the process to take place, we need Petrobras to be transparent about its relationship with foreign companies. We conceive of the Southern Gasoduct as an alliance just between state businesses.”13

This is precisely the key aspect of integration and the new regional map that is being drawn out. If things were left purely to the momentum of economic forces—the so-called logic of the market that is nothing more than the logic of the transnationals—the result would be a type of integration that would continue producing marginalization and poverty in every country and accentuating the inequalities between rich countries and poor countries. The key is the attitude Brazil adopts. If Lula gets reelected in the October elections, new possibilities arise to initiate a process in which political considerations take precedence over economic ones. Something like this is already taking place in Europe where, in order to make viable the formation of the European Union, powerful countries like Germany and France “help” the poorer countries offset asymmetries by specializing in the production of capital goods while opening their markets up to the consumer goods and raw materials of other members. As long as the powerful countries continue to scam the poorer countries and major inequalities persist, there can be no democratic integration.

With that in mind, during the neoliberal decade of the ‘90s “Petrobras embarked on a race to obtain as many reserves as possible and diversify its activities, thus positioning itself for the future.”14 If energy integration becomes the driving force behind redesigning the regional map, the logic of the market, which disdains the sovereignty of the state, will not take root. For this reason, the continent's large countries responsible for leading the process must look beyond the narrow scope of national ambitions. Thus far, Brazil has leaned on Mercosur in the South American region as a way to become a global player. It is an understandable goal, perhaps even beneficial since it has strengthened multilateralism, but limited because it causes conflicts in a region that feels used and disrespected, as evidenced by the tension it has with various countries.

In the coming months, the new regional map is bound to take a more definite shape as elections results come in for Peru and Ecuador, but also Nicaragua and Mexico. Stopping the FTAA was a tremendous feat, accomplished in part by governments and in part by social movements. But it is not enough. To prevent free trade agreements from advancing, it is indispensable to design and launch forms of integration that come from the people and not the markets. Perhaps the first test, following Bolivia's gas nationalization, will be the course of the Southern Gasoduct. If successfully constructed, it will serve as a good thermometer for measuring what type of integration lies ahead.

Endnotes
Página 12, May 12, 2006.
Julio Godio, “Las tensiones en el Mercosur y el rediseño del mapa sudamericano,” May 20, 2006, at www.alainet.org.
Félix Herrero, “Sed de petróleo y gas en el futuro inmediato,” Le Monde Diplomatique, Buenos Aires, April 2006.
According to a recent report by O Globo, Petrobras's share capital is composed as follows: common shares (the only ones with a right to vote): federal government 55.7%, National Economic and Social Bank (BNDES) 1.9%, foreign-owned 30.3%, FGTS (a worker-social fund) 4.6%, others 5.5%. The total capital (sum of the shares with and without a vote): federal government 32.2%, BNDES 7.6%, foreign-owed 39.8%, FGTS 2.7%, others 17.7%
Carlos Lessa, “Petrobrás, soberanía e geopolítica,” Valor Económico, Rio de Janeiro, May 10, 2006.
O Estado de Sao Paulo, May 6, 2006.
La Jornada, May 10, 2006.
Julio Godio, ob. cit.
La Nación, May 11, 2006.
Folha de Sao Paulo, May 12, 2006 .
Huascar Rodríguez García, “Los primeros efectos, del TLC,” May 11, 2006, at www.alainet.org.
Ibid.
Andrés Soliz Rada, interview in Página 12, an addition of Cash, May 14, 2006.
Jean Pierre Leroy y Julianna Malerba (orgs.) “Petrobras: ¿Integración o explotación?” Rio de Janeiro, Proieto Brasil Sustentavel e Democrático, 2005, p. 15.

Translated for the IRC Americas Program by Nick Henry, IRC.


Raúl Zibechi, a member of the editorial board of the weekly Brecha de Montevideo, is a professor and researcher on social movements at the Multiversidad Franciscana de América Latina and adviser to several grassroots organizations. He is a monthly contributor to the IRC Americas Program (www.americaspolicy.org).

[Snuffysmith]

Bolivia President Morales Says U.S. Seeks to Kill Him:

Bolivian President Evo Morales said the U.S. organized teams to track down and kill him, according to a note published on the Bolivian presidential Web site.
http://tinyurl.com/mxcko

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Have Bolivia, Ecuador set themselves up for a fall? :

n recent weeks, both Bolivian President Evo Morales and Ecuador's president, Alfredo Palacio, have taken a page out of Venezuelan populist President Hugo Chvez's natural resources manual.
http://www.usatoday.com/money/world/2006-0...tics-usat_x.htm

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Chavez is buying guns …:

Some AP readers are going to come away from the story with the disquieting feeling that Venezuela's going through a major military build-up, and I guess that's the point.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article13468.htm

[Snuffysmith]

Chávez in Russia deal to build gun factory:

Venezuela is to build Latin America’s first Kalashnikov factory under a deal with Russia that has stoked fears in Washington about the oil-rich country’s arms procurement plans.
http://tinyurl.com/omhzd

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Venezuela to refine Ecuador's crude:

Ecuadorian Energy and Mines Minister Ivan Rodriguez has annoucned that from July Ecuadorian crude will be refined in Venezuela.
http://www.wpherald.com/storyview.php?Stor...06-022040-8864r

[Snuffysmith]

THE BATTLE FOR LATIN AMERICA

Having aggressively consolidated power at home, Hugo Chavez, Venezuela's
president for nearly a decade, is now developing a new program to sell crude oil
on favorable terms to politically favored municipalities in the resource-poor
countries of Central America -- especially municipalities controlled by the
leftist opposition in Nicaragua and El Salvador. While some view Chavez's new
oil contracts as well-intentioned, others see it as part of an ongoing
Machiavellian effort to build political support throughout Latin America, making
many in the region uneasy, according to Carlos Sabino, an adjunct fellow with
the Independent Institute's Center on Global Prosperity.

"After achieving an almost total consolidation of his power inside the country,
this populist caudillo [strongman] has embarked on an adventure of continental
expansionism that includes his open intervention in Bolivian affairs, his
attempts to influence the elections in Peru and Mexico, his country's withdrawal
from the Andean Pact, and the bitter criticism he has directed at the two
nations that recently signed free-trade accords with the United States -- Peru
and Colombia," writes Sabino in a recent op-ed.

Moreover, reports Sabino, Chavez has joined Fidel Castro in helping Bolivia's
new president, Evo Morales, maintain power: "At present, there are hundreds of
Venezuelan and Cuban advisers in Bolivia providing advice for the new president
about a Constituent Assembly that will be set up in the near future. The
advisers are manipulating the electoral patterns the same way they did in
Venezuela to ensure their caudillo's perpetual rule."

In other Latin American news, former Peruvian president Alan Garcia has been
re-elected to his country's highest office in an election that pitted the
moderate populist against the not-so-moderate populist Ollanta Humala, an
accused human-rights violator who led a military coup against Alberto Fujimori
in 2000.

President Garcia brought hyperinflation, corruption, and abuses of power to Peru
in the 1980s. As Independent Institute Senior Fellow Alvaro Vargas Llosa
explains, in 1990 thugs close to Garcia even planned an attack on the Vargas
Llosa family (his father, prominent writer Mario Vargas Llosa was running
against Garcia in that year's election). Nevertheless, because Garcia -- not
Humala -- was the lesser of two evils in the 2006 election, Alvaro Vargas Llosa
felt compelled to cast his vote for Garcia, who seems to have curbed his
authoritarian tendencies compared to Humala, who was endorsed by Hugo Chavez.

"The disconnect between official institutions and social needs -- the legacy of
too many caudillos and the absence of the rule of law -- has thrown many people
into the hands of leaders who espouse nationalist ideologies," Vargas Llosa
writes. "The challenge is to heal the rift, not to widen it as Humala was
planning to do."

See "Venezuelan Expansionism," Carlos Sabino (6/6/06)
http://www.independent.org/newsroom/article.asp?id=1743
SPANISH TRANSLATION:
"El Expansionismo Venezolano"
http://www.elindependent.org/articulos/article.asp?id=1743

"Andean Blues," by Alvaro Vargas Llosa (6/7/06)
http://www.independent.org/newsroom/article.asp?id=1744
SPANISH TRANSLATION:
"'Blues' andino"
http://www.elindependent.org/articulos/article.asp?id=1744

THE CHE GUEVARA MYTH AND THE FUTURE OF LIBERTY, by Alvaro Vargas Llosa
http://www.independent.org/store/book_detail.asp?bookID=61

LIBERTY FOR LATIN AMERICA: How to Undo Five-Hundred Years of State Oppression,
by Alvaro Vargas Llosa
http://www.independent.org/store/book_detail.asp?bookID=55

Center on Global Prosperity (Alvaro Vargas Llosa, director)
http://www.independent.org/research/cogp/

Spanish-language Blog:
El Independent: El Blog del Centro Para la Prosperidad Global de The Independent
Institute
http://independent.typepad.com

[Snuffysmith]

http://www.counterpunch.org/

July 13, 2006

Washington Plots Regime Change
Is Venezuela the Real Target of Bush's New Cuba Plan?
By JOSÉ PERTIERRA

Cuba calls the shots; and Venezuela pays the bills. That is the major premise underlying the Report made public last Monday by the U.S. State Department concerning Cuba. Its findings are as much about the Bush Administration's plans for regime change in Cuba, as they are about the alleged threat that Venezuela poses to U.S. national security interests.

The ninety-three page Report was prepared by the Commission for Assistance to a Free Cuba, co-chaired by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez. Its recommendations were accepted by President George W. Bush. They include a budget of $80 million during the next two years to ensure a transition, rather than a succession of leadership, in Cuba. The Report also contains a classified attachment that contains a secret plan for regime change in Cuba.

Although the Commission's Report and its recommendations are ostensibly about Cuba, Venezuela is a featured star player in the drama. It mentions Venezuela at least nine different times, always emphasizing Washington's perception that the Chávez government is bankrolling the Cuban government: "Cuba can only meet its budget needs with the considerable support of foreign donors, primarily Venezuela," says the Report.



SUBVERSION IN LATIN AMERICA

Besides keeping the Cuban government afloat, Venezuelan money is allegedly also responsible for subversion in Latin America. The first paragraph of the Report boldly proclaims that "there are clear signs the regime [Cuba] is using money provided by the Chavez government in Venezuela to reactivate its networks in the hemisphere to subvert democratic governments." We are not told which countries the Bush Administration thinks Cuba and Venezuela are subverting, nor are we ever told how.

A good guess may be Bolivia. The South American country recently elected Evo Morales as President. Washington considers him to be a friend of both Cuba and Venezuela. What have Castro and Chávez been up to in the Andes?

Cuba has 719 medical doctors in Bolivia. They go where Bolivian doctors fear to tread. In the most remote areas of the Andean country, Cuban doctors have treated more than 776,000 patients and saved 326 lives. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has pledged $1.5 billion in energy investment to Bolivia. Venezuela is also investing in projects to produce organic tea, coffee, dairy and legal coca products there. The Chávez government recently also donated computers to schools in the remote Chapare region of Bolivia.

Cuban doctors and Venezuelan investments: they are a lethal recipe for subversion in Latin America according to the Bush Administration.



"THE CASTRO-LED AXIS"

The Bush Administration Commission compares the Cuba´s relation to Venezuela with its "earlier failed relationship with the Soviet Union, only this time not as the junior partner: Fidel Castro is calling the shots." It of course offers no evidence to support its thesis that President Chávez is anything other than his own man. The Report simply posits the myth as fact.

This "Castro-led axis," the Report finds, "undermines our interest in a more democratic Venezuela and undermines democratic governance and institutions elsewhere in the region. Together, these countries are advancing an alternative retrograde and anti-American agenda for the hemisphere's future and they are finding some resonance with populist governments and disenfranchised populations in the region."

From these flawed premises flows the Bush Administration's foreign policy toward Cuba and Venezuela. The Bush Doctrine is clear: in order to protect its interests in Latin America, Washington must overthrow the Cuban government and replace it with one more akin to U.S. interests. To help overthrow the Cuban government, it is necessary to cut off its money supply. That's where Venezuela comes in.

The Report that the State Department released to the public this week makes it abundantly clear that Washington considers Cuba and Venezuela to be two peas in a pod, and that their relationship constitutes an axis of evil that is detrimental to U.S. interests.



THE THREAT OF USING TITLE III OF HELMS-BURTON AGAINST VENEZUELA

One of the more troublesome of the Commission's recommendations is the threat to apply Title III of the 1996 Cuban Liberty and Solidarity Act, known as "Helms Burton", to Venezuela.

Title III gives the United States unprecedented authority over property within another nation's borders. It permits lawsuits in U.S. courts brought by individual citizens against businesses that operate on property the Cuban government nationalized after the 1959 revolution. Concerned about the chilling effect on U.S. relations with foreign governments if it were to implement it, successive U.S. Presidents have suspended Title III since Helms-Burton was enacted ten years ago.

According to the Commission's Report, the White House is now prepared to apply, for the first time, Title III to individual countries that are "engaged in a process of support for regime succession (with Cuba)." This is a not-so-veiled threat to Venezuela, as well other nations who maintain normal relations with Cuba.

Were the United States to apply Title III to Venezuela, it would have profound and long-lasting implications on U.S.-Venezuela relations. Trade between the two nations in 2005 amounted to almost $39 billion. The specter of Miami Cubans suing Venezuela over nationalized pre-1959 property will loom heavily over any future trade ventures between the United States and Venezuela.

President Chávez, reflecting on the U.S. threats against Venezuela contained in the Report, said that "there are no threats that will discourage Venezuela from supporting the Cuban revolution and the Cuban people." "Rather than thinking of a transition plan for Cuba, he added, "the United States ought to elaborate a transition plan for themselves because this is the century that will see the end of the U.S. empire."



THE BUSH DOCTRINE FOR REGIME CHANGE

The Commission for Assistance to a Free Cuba lays down the gauntlet to Latin America. Under the Bush Doctrine, Cuba's government must be overthrown. Moreover, the United States foreign policy towards other nations in the Hemisphere will be measured by whether these nations support U.S. efforts for regime change in Cuba. Governments that support Cuba risk the wrath of the U.S. government and may be overthrown as well.

The Bush Doctrine makes it clear that legal, political and military options remain at the disposal of the United States government to overthrow the government of Cuba, as well as the governments of the "friends of Cuba." Some of these options are sealed, and we can only suppose their magnitude.

We don't know whether they include another coup d'état such as the one the U.S. launched in 2002 that almost succeeded in deposing President Chávez, or whether Washington intends to activate its Miami-Cuban "assets" to carry out terrorist attacks, or whether an outright invasion is a possibility, or even whether the assassination of President Hugo Chávez is in the cards.

The Bush Doctrine is premised on arrogance and mendacity, but it is consistent with U.S. "diplomacy" in the region. Recent history tells us that it is the United States, not Cuba or Venezuela, that subverts democracy in Latin America. The United States overthrew the elected government of Jacobo Arbenz in 1954 in Guatemala and replaced it with a military dictatorship that left more than 200,000 dead and disappeared. The United States is now shamelessly promoting Guatemala as a prime candidate for a seat on the United Nations Security Council.

The Pinochet government with which the United States replaced democratically elected President Salvador Allende in Chile left a bloody trail of terror from Santiago to the streets of Washington, D.C. where Cuban-American terrorists working for the Chilean secret service murdered Chilean exile Orlando Letelier in cold blood.

Who have been Washington's friends and allies in Latin America? The Salvadoran governments that brutally murdered over 75,000 of their own citizens, the Argentinean military junta that tortured, disappeared or murdered over 30,000 men, women and children, the Uruguayan and Paraguayan dictatorships that participated in Operation Condor with zeal, even kidnapping the babies of some of the clandestine prisoners they were torturing.

To help subvert democracy, the United States recruited, trained and employed terrorists such as Luis Posada Carriles, known as the Osama Bin Laden of Latin America. He was "our man in Latin America," as he helped train the Nicaraguan Contras, as well as the Guatemalan and Salvadoran death squads. In violation of its own international legal obligations, Washington refuses to extradite him to Venezuela to stand trial for 73 counts of first degree murder in relation to the downing of a passenger plane. Instead, the Bush White House shelters Posada in Texas, as the terrorist threatens to tell how he was just following orders.

The Bush Doctrine was formulated by politicians who are not listening to the winds of change in America. The banana republics of yesterday are being replaced by independent and sovereign nations, free of U.S. interference. This continent will soon see a monumental regime change, but that change will come in Washington--not in Havana or Caracas.

José Pertierra is an attorney. He represents the government of Venezuela in Washington, D.C.

[Snuffysmith]

Bush sees Chavez as threat undermining democracy:

President George W. Bush said on Monday he sees Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez as a threat to undermining democracy but not a military threat.
http://tinyurl.com/og2bo


Caracas threatens oil cut in case of US aggression:

Venezuela will cut its oil exports to the United States if Washington takes a hostile stance toward Caracas, Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez was quoted as saying by Iran's official IRNA news agency on Sunday.
http://tinyurl.com/n7qps

[Snuffysmith]

Ortega Gets 15-Point Edge in Nicaragua:

Former head of state Daniel Ortega is the clear frontrunner in Nicaragua’s presidential election, according to a poll by Zogby International and the University of Miami School of Communication.
http://snipurl.com/wmcn


Chávez Could Get New Term in Venezuela:

Hugo Chávez maintains a high level of support in Venezuela, according to a poll by Datanálisis. 58 per cent of respondents would vote for the incumbent head of state in this year’s election
http://snipurl.com/wmco

[Snuffysmith]

Here's why Chávez is so mad:

A quick glance at recent U.S. policy and posture toward Venezuela gives us some clues as to why people in Venezuela are getting set to reelect a president who calls the United States an empire.
http://informationclearinghouse.info/article15216.htm


Chavez says he has White House informant:

Citing what he said were warnings from an alleged White House informant, Chavez told thousands of supporters at a campaign rally that President Bush has ordered him to be killed before he leaves office in 2008.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/world/4228798.html


U.S. must be more relevant in Latin America: experts:

Venezuela's Hugo Chavez has had sway over Latin America's smaller economies but could now eclipse the United States' influence over the third-largest economy, Argentina, two top former U.S. diplomats said on Tuesday.
http://www.abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=2523396


Paraguay hardens U.S. military stance:

Paraguay's decision to refuse diplomatic immunity for U.S. troops and not to renew a military cooperation pact sparked debate Tuesday, with analysts calling the developments a blow to U.S. attempts to improve regional ties.
http://informationclearinghouse.info/article15223.htm


US drops tourism bombshell: Passport decision akin to a 'category 6 hurricane' -

Stewart said it appeared that the region's flirtation with Venezuela's Chavez had triggered the US decision
http://tinyurl.com/nkrxp

[jeffmoskin]

Chavez "attacks" US :

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez accused the United States on Sunday of trying to impose a "global dictatorship". He said the US, not Venezuela, should face scrutiny by the Organisation of American States.
http://snipurl.com/feen

Chavez denies being anti-US

Wednesday 04 October 2006 1:43 PM GMT

Chavez says he wants to strengthen ties with Arab nations

Hugo Rafael Chavez Frías, the 53rd president of Venezuela, was born on July 28 1954. He came to power in 1998, promising to help Venezuela's poor majority, and was re-elected in 2000. He survived a coup in 2002 and faces a presidential election in December.

Since becoming president he has followed a policy of democratic socialism, Latin American integration and anti-imperialism.



His reforms have created much controversy in Venezuela and abroad. Most Venezuelans are split between those who say he has empowered the poor and stimulated economic growth, and those who say he is autocratic and has badly managed the economy.



Some foreign governments view Chavez as a threat to world oil prices and regional stability, while others welcome his bilateral trade and reciprocal aid agreements.



Chavez recently described George Bush, the US president, as "the devil" and says Bush has plans to assassinate him and invade Venezuela. He recently talked to Aljazeera about his relationship with the US, the Venezuelan army and why he gets only a few hours' sleep a night.



Aljazeera.net: You are strengthening ties with countries that are dissatisfied with Washington, countries such as Iran, Bolivia and Cuba. What is the end game of such an alliance?



Hugo Chavez: We are not against the US people, where there are children, women, intellectuals and students. We have investments in the US, we have eight refineries there, we have 14,000 gas stations. I have many friends there, I have played baseball there, I even have a nephew there.



What we are against is the imperial elite and that is very different. This is not a game. Do you think Iraq is a game, the aggression against Latin America for a century is a game, the toppling of Allende, the invasions of Grenada, Haiti, Panama, Jamaica, the Dominican Republic, Guatemala, is that a game?



If that's a game, then my goodness that would be awful. This is an aggression and every day more and more people are against this hegemony and trying to save the world. Look at Lebanon, the aggression against the Palestinian people, why do they do that? Because the Israelis are supported by the elite of the US. We are against that.



Some would say in order for such an alliance to stop these events and counter the power of Washington that you refer to, regional powers such as China and Russia would need to back it. You hold talks with the leaders of these countries, are they ready to come on board for such an alliance?



You insist on something that is out of my main focus. I have never said we want to build an alliance against the US, so your question is not really focused.



If you take Moscow, Iran, Vietnam, China, Malaysia, what we are doing is getting closer through integration, through energy, oil, gas, trade and respect for international law.



We are today on a campaign around the world asking for support for Venezuela to become part of the Security Council as a non–permanent member. The US is in a terrible campaign to prevent us being elected. We are defending our interests but we are not proposing an alliance against anyone, much less the people of the United States. So your question is out of focus.



In May 2005, you called for an alliance between Latin America and the Arab world. How far has that initiative gone?



Not only me, Lula [Brazil's president] has been outspoken in calling for the coming together of Latin America and the Arab countries.



In Brasilia in May we had the first ever Arab-South American summit. It was a very important meeting.



In the past, only Venezuela had strong relations with the Arab world through Opec and through links with other non-Opec countries such as Egypt.



But now Lula is convening these meetings, he is coming to the Arab world. Not long ago in Venezuela we held a meeting between senior ministers in charge of education and social matters in both Latin America and the Arab world. We have made serious progress. It is not just an individual proposal of Hugo Chavez, it is a proposal of leaders like Muammar al-Qadhafi and the amir of Qatar. As well as Lula and Eva Morales [Bolivia's president]. And we want to get our two regions together.



You have started an ambitious programme to rebuild your military, you are buying new weapons, you are trying to raise, I think, the largest standing army in the Americas. If everything goes to plan, you will have two million reserve troops. What has prompted this military build up?



Let me tell you something. I hardly have time to sleep a few hours a day, but I don't care because I've decided to devote my life to taking my people out of poverty and misery.



To make a great effort for all Venezuelans to have access to education, health, housing, to life. When we were elected, poverty in Venezuela was over 55 per cent based on UN figures, it is now between 30 per cent and 40 per cent.



We are building a system of Bolivarian schools where children can have breakfast, lunch and dinner, gain internet access and take part in sports activities.



I devote a tiny part of my time to being commander-in-chief of the Venezuelan army. The imperialists have threatened to invade Venezuela, they have already conducted a coup d'etat four years ago. Recently they conducted manoeuvres in the Caribbean. We have even captured US soldiers taking pictures of military installations and we have expelled them.



We have much evidence, proof and documents that show there is a plan to invade Venezuela. What do you want us to do? That I forget my task of minimum defence of the country?



We had old rifles, they were 60-years old. We depended almost totally on US supplies. The F16 fighters we bought 20 years ago, they refused to give us spare parts, and they were stranded on the ground. So I have bought better planes and Kalashnikovs from Moscow. We have a vast border with Colombia, we have a huge coastal line along the Caribbean. We have to defend this country. We are not going to be aggressors.



Do you feel you are still being targeted and threatened by the US? We know that some people in the US have spoken in the past about assassinating you. Do you still feel personally targeted by the US?



Yes indeed. People have publicly called for my assassination and that is a crime. However, this person is not in jail, he is a close friend of the US president.



Venezuelan terrorists who left for the US after the 2002 coup, who killed people in Venezuela, are today living in the US. The US will not extradite them. Some of them are organising actions against myself and Venezuela.



The US is protecting terrorism. They are applying state terror. President Bush has left a measure taken by a former president that authorises the CIA, like 007, with a permit to kill whoever, whenever and however. They have a green light. President Carter banned that practice and the current president has just reinstated it. I am one of the targets, no doubt about it.



If the opposition parties do take part in the forthcoming Venezuelan presidential elections will you make a move towards presidency for life?



There is no way I can adopt such a provision. We have a constitution and it is only the people who might change the constitution in this direction or any other direction. They have the power to hold a referendum to remove the power given to me. The people can collect and gather signatures to ask for a referendum to recall a government official and that is totally democratic.

Aljazeera
By

You can find this article at:
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/5BB...2F80B4D8A85.htm

[rla]

It looks like the US is well on its way to building another Middle East in
South and Central America.

[Pie]

Do you feel you are still being targeted and threatened by the US?

Sadly, this appears to be the way much of the world feels.