http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE66E7E420100715
Chavez "communes" stoke Venezuela democracy debate
Pascal Fletcher
CARACAS | Thu Jul 15, 2010
(Reuters) - Tucked into forested hills in southwest Caracas, a red-brick housing complex for the poor is a testing ground for Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's latest step to build socialism in the Latin American oil producer.
The phalanx of simple five-storey apartment blocks, some still being built, anchors the "Cacique Tiuna Commune". This is one of a network of "socialist communes" that Chavez and his supporters want to extend across the nation in a political and legislative offensive to dismantle "bourgeois" capitalism.
Not surprisingly in a country whose politics is as flammable as gasoline, the project enshrined in a package of "power to the people" laws is stoking a political firestorm.
Fueling the political debate is the proximity of legislative elections on September 26.
The government says the communes will help end poverty. But furious opponents, who already denounce Chavez as a repressive autocrat, say the initiative heralds outright communism in Venezuela and so violates its pluralist constitution.
"A barrier is being crossed ... we're passing from Chavez's tropical socialism to open and glaring communism," says Emilio Grateron, mayor of Chacao, an opposition stronghold entrenched in a more wealthy eastern neighborhood of Caracas.
Displaying colorful murals of Venezuela's 19th century independence hero Simon Bolivar, and one of Argentine guerrilla legend Ernesto "Che" Guevara, the 2,220-inhabitant Cacique Tiuna Commune is conceived as a showcase "socialist" community among the dirt-poor hilltop slums that hem in the capital.
Chavez and the laws' promoters deny the communes project is a bid to railroad the country into Soviet- or Cuban-style Marxism. They say the legislation is compatible with the 1999 Constitution and follows socialist goals of ending decades of inequality in Venezuela and giving more say to the poor in the running of their own lives and that of the country.
"We're headed for socialism here, I haven't deceived anyone," the combative Venezuelan leader told his ruling PSUV party in a meeting this week. He blasted local Roman Catholic bishops who have criticized the communes program, calling them "troglodytes" and "fascists".
Chavez says the bishops and business "oligarchs", media tycoons and foreign "imperialists" who populate his full pantheon of ideological foes are misrepresenting the communes project as a pretext to destabilize his government.
The former soldier survived a brief coup in 2002. Opponents say he is conjuring up fake threats to throw a smokescreen over his failure to turn around the deteriorating economy and put a brake on rampant violent crime.
In the upcoming elections, opponents are expected to dent the National Assembly majority of Chavez's PSUV, which has been shaken by a scandal over the discovery of thousands of tonnes of rotten government-managed foodstuffs and polls showing weak public backing for more socialism and expropriations.
Chavez is still popular in his 11th year of rule, but his support is under strain as the economy slumps. It contracted 5.8 percent in the first quarter of this year and inflation is persistently high at an annualized rate of 31 percent in June.
FRESH ASSAULT ON PRIVATE PROPERTY?
Chavez's searing leftist rhetoric and his investor-scalding track record of strategic oil, industry and mining nationalizations have made him an anti-capitalist and anti-U.S. standard bearer in Latin America and the world.
The largely pro-Chavez National Assembly has initially approved the communes bill and some related laws. A second final approval is pending, and supporters say they hope this can happen before the elections.
"We're talking about government by the people," said Ulises Daal, a pro-Chavez parliament deputy and one of the main promoters of the project. He says the legislative plan to set up self-sustaining, self-governing "socialist communes" builds on the existence of some 36,000 Chavez-inspired "communal councils" that already dot the country.
Daal said 214 communes were already "under construction". Some have introduced barter markets and their own currencies.
Grateron and other opposition mayors have launched a noisy counter-offensive. They say Chavez is trying to force through by law a shift to all-out socialism he failed to introduce in a 2007 constitutional referendum that he narrowly lost, the only nationwide ballot he has not won.
Opponents single out the Communes Law's repeated references to "social" and "collective" ownership.
"It's a clear orientation toward the reduction and disappearance of private property," said Noel Alvarez, president of the Fedecamaras private business group.
However, the Communes Law text does say Venezuelans can "possess, use and enjoy individual and family property and patrimony", and Daal insisted that private property remained unaffected by the legislation and was guaranteed.
IDEOLOGY, OR APATHY
Neither ideological nor productive fervor were much visible at the Cacique Tiuna Commune, which boasts a plastics plant, a vegetable garden, a "socialist" carpentry shop and a plant nursery.
During a visit last week, the plastics plant was idled, the irrigated garden was awaiting "refinancing" to start and at the carpentry shop only a handful of laborers worked under the stern gaze of a mural depicting the historic Indian chief Tiuna after which the commune is named.
"The Comandante (Chavez) wants this to be a showcase community," said Yamilet Ramirez, the Commune's spokesperson. "The idea is that it should be self-supporting."
But the Cacique Tiuna commune seemed some way off its intended goal as a self-sustaining, self-governing community.
"People don't seem enthusiastic, they don't want to participate, I don't know why, since it's for them," said the head of the carpentry shop, Alexis Valdiviezo.
He himself did not have an apartment in the commune but was brought in six months ago by the Basic Industry Ministry to oversee the creation of a "socialist" carpentry network.
"I'm living in a hotel," said Valdiviezo, who said he had been promised an apartment in the commune by Chavez.
But for many of the commune inhabitants, the apartments, built with a primary school, a state MERCAL grocery and a soon-to-be opened high school, represent a huge improvement on their previous slum accommodation in hilltop shanties.
"We like it, of course ... this benefits all the people," said Ines Herrera, who works as a cleaner at the primary school. "There is a bit of apathy, but that's normal".
"No one here is shouting about Marx or Lenin," said Ramirez.
"FRONTIER OF CHAOS"
In the same way that Venezuela's oil income has bankrolled Chavez's socio-political projects over the last few years, a host of government ministries and their budgets are clearly heavily engaged in supporting the emerging communes.
A clause of the Communes Law stipulates that existing state governorships and municipal mayorships should make funds available to finance projects for the communes. This has led to worries by opposition mayors that the new structures will monopolize funds, accompanied by political discrimination.
The Commune Ministry's own information sheet on the Cacique Tiuna community notes among its weaknesses: "There were commune members who hold an ideology opposed to the government".
The legislation foresees each commune having its own parliament, elected in open assemblies, and a five-member council to ensure the execution of decisions taken. A Communal Bank, and communal justice system will also be created.
Critics say the creation of these parallel systems alongside existing state and local structures will generate confusion. "It's the frontier of chaos," Grateron said.
(Additional reporting by Patricia Rondon; Editing by Kieran Murray)
Showing posts with label Caracas. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Caracas. Show all posts
Friday, July 30, 2010
Friday, December 4, 2009
Chavez threatens to nationalize Venezuelan banks
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20091129/wl_nm/us_venezuela_banks_chavez
Chavez threatens to nationalize Venezuelan banks
Walker Simon Walker Simon
Sun Nov 29, 2009
CARACAS (Reuters) – Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said on Sunday he could nationalize private banks unless they comply with the law, adding he had "no problem with that because the banks don't want to extend credit to the poor."
In a broadcast from nationalized farmland in central Venezuela, he said: "To all the country's private bankers ... (I'm saying) he who slips up loses; I'll take over the bank, whatever its size."
"You want me to nationalize the banks?" he said during the broadcast of his weekly TV show "Alo Presidente."
"I have no problem with that because the banks don't want to extend credit to the poor, they don't comply, they don't want to comply with the bank's purpose for existence, and that is the law."
Chavez said the purpose of banks was not to enrich a small group of people but "should be to collect funds and savings to help aid the country's development by making loans, extending credits for housing."
In power for a decade, Chavez has nationalized broad swathes of the economy.
His banking nationalization threats on Sunday appeared to be broader in scope than his well-publicized warnings in recent years to nationalize Spanish-owned banks in Venezuela.
He repeatedly threatened to seize Spanish bank subsidiaries in Venezuela unless Spain's king apologized for telling him to "shut up" in November 2007 at a regional summit where Chavez branded a recent ex-Spanish prime minister a fascist.
But the only major private bank, foreign or Venezuelan, to fall into state hands under Chavez's rule was Spain's Banco Santander unit Banco de Venezuela, sold to Venezuela in July for $1.05 billion.
The government's last banking takeover was on November 20, when it seized four small banks, accounting for about 6 percent of Venezuela's deposits.
Finance Minister Ali Rodriguez then said the move stemmed from concerns about credit portfolios, problems explaining the source of funds and failure to comply with some obligations.
BANKERS NOT IN COMPLIANCE - CHAVEZ
Chavez spoke Sunday from the countryside behind a table strewn with a jumble of books, maps and documents, against the background of farmland growing black beans.
Addressing the banking theme, he said unnamed bankers "are not complying, they do not want to comply with the function for which a bank should exist (such as) that is in the law.
"This is occurring right now with a group of private banks, that's a demonstration that those private banking sectors don't want to learn, they don't want to accept that there is a constitution ... and that there are laws."
Venezuela's banking sector is dominated by 10 banks that control 70 percent of the total funds.
Chavez said he ordered the nation's chief prosecutor to investigate why a state bank, Banfoandes, deposited "a giant amount of resources in private banks."
"How is it that state resources, which belong to the people ... end up being placed in private banks?" he asked in his broadcast. "This is counterrevolutionary."
The four banks seized on November 20 were Banco Confederado, Banco Canarias, Banco Provivienda and bolivar Banco.
On Friday, a court acting on prosecutors' request banned travel abroad of 16 executives -- eight from Confederado, six from Provivienda and two from bolivar Banco.
Chavez said if it were up to him, he would have jailed the 16 executives due to flight risk. "They have (their own) light aircraft and private airports and (can) leave."
Chavez also criticized what he termed as excessive spending by state entities in the private medical sector.
"We have made a gift of millions and millions of bolivares this year to the bourgeoisie, which owns the private clinics, the great insurance companies," he said. "Enough already."
He said those funds should go directly to "the people."
(Reporting by Walker Simon, additional reporting by Fabian Cambero, editing by Matthew Lewis)
Chavez threatens to nationalize Venezuelan banks
Walker Simon Walker Simon
Sun Nov 29, 2009
CARACAS (Reuters) – Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said on Sunday he could nationalize private banks unless they comply with the law, adding he had "no problem with that because the banks don't want to extend credit to the poor."
In a broadcast from nationalized farmland in central Venezuela, he said: "To all the country's private bankers ... (I'm saying) he who slips up loses; I'll take over the bank, whatever its size."
"You want me to nationalize the banks?" he said during the broadcast of his weekly TV show "Alo Presidente."
"I have no problem with that because the banks don't want to extend credit to the poor, they don't comply, they don't want to comply with the bank's purpose for existence, and that is the law."
Chavez said the purpose of banks was not to enrich a small group of people but "should be to collect funds and savings to help aid the country's development by making loans, extending credits for housing."
In power for a decade, Chavez has nationalized broad swathes of the economy.
His banking nationalization threats on Sunday appeared to be broader in scope than his well-publicized warnings in recent years to nationalize Spanish-owned banks in Venezuela.
He repeatedly threatened to seize Spanish bank subsidiaries in Venezuela unless Spain's king apologized for telling him to "shut up" in November 2007 at a regional summit where Chavez branded a recent ex-Spanish prime minister a fascist.
But the only major private bank, foreign or Venezuelan, to fall into state hands under Chavez's rule was Spain's Banco Santander unit Banco de Venezuela, sold to Venezuela in July for $1.05 billion.
The government's last banking takeover was on November 20, when it seized four small banks, accounting for about 6 percent of Venezuela's deposits.
Finance Minister Ali Rodriguez then said the move stemmed from concerns about credit portfolios, problems explaining the source of funds and failure to comply with some obligations.
BANKERS NOT IN COMPLIANCE - CHAVEZ
Chavez spoke Sunday from the countryside behind a table strewn with a jumble of books, maps and documents, against the background of farmland growing black beans.
Addressing the banking theme, he said unnamed bankers "are not complying, they do not want to comply with the function for which a bank should exist (such as) that is in the law.
"This is occurring right now with a group of private banks, that's a demonstration that those private banking sectors don't want to learn, they don't want to accept that there is a constitution ... and that there are laws."
Venezuela's banking sector is dominated by 10 banks that control 70 percent of the total funds.
Chavez said he ordered the nation's chief prosecutor to investigate why a state bank, Banfoandes, deposited "a giant amount of resources in private banks."
"How is it that state resources, which belong to the people ... end up being placed in private banks?" he asked in his broadcast. "This is counterrevolutionary."
The four banks seized on November 20 were Banco Confederado, Banco Canarias, Banco Provivienda and bolivar Banco.
On Friday, a court acting on prosecutors' request banned travel abroad of 16 executives -- eight from Confederado, six from Provivienda and two from bolivar Banco.
Chavez said if it were up to him, he would have jailed the 16 executives due to flight risk. "They have (their own) light aircraft and private airports and (can) leave."
Chavez also criticized what he termed as excessive spending by state entities in the private medical sector.
"We have made a gift of millions and millions of bolivares this year to the bourgeoisie, which owns the private clinics, the great insurance companies," he said. "Enough already."
He said those funds should go directly to "the people."
(Reporting by Walker Simon, additional reporting by Fabian Cambero, editing by Matthew Lewis)
Friday, November 28, 2008
Russian warships arrive in Venezuela
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20081125/118532892.html
Russian warships arrive in Venezuela
25/ 11/ 2008
MOSCOW/CARACAS, November 25 (RIA Novosti) - A group of warships from Russia's Northern Fleet arrived on Tuesday at the Venezuelan port of La Guaira, a Russian naval official said.
The task force, led by the Pyotr Veliky missile cruiser, is on a planned visit that follows a two-month tour of the Atlantic and the Mediterranean, which saw Russian ships visiting Libya, Turkey and France.
"The [Udaloy class destroyer] Admiral Chabanenko has docked in port, while the Pyotr Veliky missile cruiser has dropped anchor off La Guaira," said Capt. 1st Rank Igor Dygalo, an aide to the Navy commander.
Russian and Venezuelan warships will conduct live-ammunition artillery drills on December 1 as part of joint naval exercises in the Caribbean. The exercises will involve joint sea rescue operations, maneuvering, and firing drills.
Venezuela's Navy will be represented by two or three combat vessels.
The exercises will be conducted in line with bilateral agreements and in accordance with international maritime law. They will be held in an area beyond Venezuela's territorial waters, about 150 nautical miles from the South American country's coast.
All shipping in the area will be halted for the duration of the exercises, subject to special notice due at the end of November.
After its visit to Venezuela, the Russian task force is due to take part in an exercise with ships from Russia's Pacific Fleet in the Indian Ocean.
Russian warships arrive in Venezuela
25/ 11/ 2008
MOSCOW/CARACAS, November 25 (RIA Novosti) - A group of warships from Russia's Northern Fleet arrived on Tuesday at the Venezuelan port of La Guaira, a Russian naval official said.
The task force, led by the Pyotr Veliky missile cruiser, is on a planned visit that follows a two-month tour of the Atlantic and the Mediterranean, which saw Russian ships visiting Libya, Turkey and France.
"The [Udaloy class destroyer] Admiral Chabanenko has docked in port, while the Pyotr Veliky missile cruiser has dropped anchor off La Guaira," said Capt. 1st Rank Igor Dygalo, an aide to the Navy commander.
Russian and Venezuelan warships will conduct live-ammunition artillery drills on December 1 as part of joint naval exercises in the Caribbean. The exercises will involve joint sea rescue operations, maneuvering, and firing drills.
Venezuela's Navy will be represented by two or three combat vessels.
The exercises will be conducted in line with bilateral agreements and in accordance with international maritime law. They will be held in an area beyond Venezuela's territorial waters, about 150 nautical miles from the South American country's coast.
All shipping in the area will be halted for the duration of the exercises, subject to special notice due at the end of November.
After its visit to Venezuela, the Russian task force is due to take part in an exercise with ships from Russia's Pacific Fleet in the Indian Ocean.
Sunday, November 9, 2008
Venezuela offers Russians big gold projects
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N06416298.htm
Venezuela offers Russians big gold projects
06 Nov 2008
By Brian Ellsworth
CARACAS, Nov 6 (Reuters) - Venezuela plans to build mines at its largest gold deposits with Russian help, the mining minister said on Thursday, apparently killing a years-long bid by two Canadian companies to develop the projects.
The decision reflects leftist President Hugo Chavez efforts to boost ties with Russia, increase state control over a key sector and speed up stalled mining development as tumbling crude prices threaten to crimp the OPEC nation's finances.
An accord will be signed on Friday with Russian-owned Rusoro to operate the Las Cristinas and Brisas projects with Venezuela, mining minister Rodolfo Sanz told a Russian government delegation during a presentation observed by Reuters. Rusoro's share price soared after the news.
Las Cristinas, one of Latin America's largest gold projects, is currently operated by Canada's Crystallex, which waited in vain for years for an environmental license to start mining.
Nearby Brisas is operated by Gold Reserve, which has a concession for the mainly gold project but was also waiting for environmental permits.
While it appeared that Sanz will replace Crystallex and Gold Reserve with Rusoro, he did not mention their names.
He said the memorandum would not mention Las Cristinas and Brisas by name for legal reasons but assured the Russians they would have access to the projects.
"You can be sure that those will be the deposits," he told the delegation.
"We have to rescind our relationship with a company that has been working in the zone," Sanz also said, apparently in reference to Crystallex. "We have a legal problem there."
Approached after the presentation by Reuters, Sanz said Rusoro's involvement in Las Cristinas had not yet been decided.
The statements came a day after Venezuela, which frequently warns against building reserves in U.S. dollars, said it wanted to recover control over its gold to boost its gold reserves as a shield from global financial crisis.
Chavez in recent years has wrested control from the private sector of the oil, electricity and telecom industries.
Rusoro's stock jumped by as much as 38 percent to C$0.65 following Thursday's news, while shares of Crystallex edged down. Gold Reserve shares were up slightly.
A Crystallex spokesman told Reuters that Venezuelan officials have said the project remains on track. A Rusoro spokesman did not comment on the situation but said CEO George Salamis was on his way to Venezuela.
Gold Reserve did not respond to requests for comment.
HUGE GOLD MINE
"I doubt (Crystallex) will roll over and say this is the end of it, but this is confirmation of what I always thought was going to be the ultimate end game," said Barry Allan, analyst at Research Capital in Toronto.
Allan is one of several analysts who dropped coverage of Crystallex this year due to frustration over the permitting of Las Cristinas.
Bringing Rusoro into the project adds a new twist to a decades-long saga over the development of the massive Las Cristinas reserves, which have passed through the hands of three other mining companies since the 1990s.
Chavez offered Las Cristinas to Crystallex in 2002, prompting another Canadian mining company called Vannessa Ventures to file an international arbitration suit on the grounds it had the rights to operate the mine.
Vancouver-based Rusoro currently operates the Choco 10 and Isidora Mines, and processes the ore through the Choco Mill facility, according to the company's website.
Idaho-based Hecla Mining Company in June said it sold its Venezuela subsidiaries to Rusoro at a sizable loss.
(Additional reporting by Deisy Buitrago in Caracas and Cameron French in Toronto; Editing by Marguerita Choy)
Venezuela offers Russians big gold projects
06 Nov 2008
By Brian Ellsworth
CARACAS, Nov 6 (Reuters) - Venezuela plans to build mines at its largest gold deposits with Russian help, the mining minister said on Thursday, apparently killing a years-long bid by two Canadian companies to develop the projects.
The decision reflects leftist President Hugo Chavez efforts to boost ties with Russia, increase state control over a key sector and speed up stalled mining development as tumbling crude prices threaten to crimp the OPEC nation's finances.
An accord will be signed on Friday with Russian-owned Rusoro to operate the Las Cristinas and Brisas projects with Venezuela, mining minister Rodolfo Sanz told a Russian government delegation during a presentation observed by Reuters. Rusoro's share price soared after the news.
Las Cristinas, one of Latin America's largest gold projects, is currently operated by Canada's Crystallex, which waited in vain for years for an environmental license to start mining.
Nearby Brisas is operated by Gold Reserve, which has a concession for the mainly gold project but was also waiting for environmental permits.
While it appeared that Sanz will replace Crystallex and Gold Reserve with Rusoro, he did not mention their names.
He said the memorandum would not mention Las Cristinas and Brisas by name for legal reasons but assured the Russians they would have access to the projects.
"You can be sure that those will be the deposits," he told the delegation.
"We have to rescind our relationship with a company that has been working in the zone," Sanz also said, apparently in reference to Crystallex. "We have a legal problem there."
Approached after the presentation by Reuters, Sanz said Rusoro's involvement in Las Cristinas had not yet been decided.
The statements came a day after Venezuela, which frequently warns against building reserves in U.S. dollars, said it wanted to recover control over its gold to boost its gold reserves as a shield from global financial crisis.
Chavez in recent years has wrested control from the private sector of the oil, electricity and telecom industries.
Rusoro's stock jumped by as much as 38 percent to C$0.65 following Thursday's news, while shares of Crystallex edged down. Gold Reserve shares were up slightly.
A Crystallex spokesman told Reuters that Venezuelan officials have said the project remains on track. A Rusoro spokesman did not comment on the situation but said CEO George Salamis was on his way to Venezuela.
Gold Reserve did not respond to requests for comment.
HUGE GOLD MINE
"I doubt (Crystallex) will roll over and say this is the end of it, but this is confirmation of what I always thought was going to be the ultimate end game," said Barry Allan, analyst at Research Capital in Toronto.
Allan is one of several analysts who dropped coverage of Crystallex this year due to frustration over the permitting of Las Cristinas.
Bringing Rusoro into the project adds a new twist to a decades-long saga over the development of the massive Las Cristinas reserves, which have passed through the hands of three other mining companies since the 1990s.
Chavez offered Las Cristinas to Crystallex in 2002, prompting another Canadian mining company called Vannessa Ventures to file an international arbitration suit on the grounds it had the rights to operate the mine.
Vancouver-based Rusoro currently operates the Choco 10 and Isidora Mines, and processes the ore through the Choco Mill facility, according to the company's website.
Idaho-based Hecla Mining Company in June said it sold its Venezuela subsidiaries to Rusoro at a sizable loss.
(Additional reporting by Deisy Buitrago in Caracas and Cameron French in Toronto; Editing by Marguerita Choy)
Thursday, October 9, 2008
The top 5 murder capitals of the world
http://www.gadling.com/2008/10/01/the-top-5-murder-capitals-of-the-world/?icid=200100397x1210914139x1200653032
The top 5 murder capitals of the world
by Aaron Hotfelder
Oct 1st 2008
Congratulations to the remaining residents of Caracas, Venezuela! Foreign Policy has just honored your fair city as the murder capital of the world, with around 130 murders per 100,000 people.
Not only that, the actual murder rate may be much higher, because the numbers "omit prison-related murders as well as deaths that the state never gets around to properly 'categorizing.' The numbers also don't count those who died while 'resisting arrest,' suggesting that Caracas's cops-already known for their brutality against student protesters-might be cooking the books."
Also showing up on the list are Cape Town, New Orleans, Moscow, and, surprisingly, Port Moresby in Papua New Guinea, which was recently named "Worst City" in an Economist Intelligence Unit survey.
Although Cape Town is rapidly emerging as one of Africa's most appealing cities, the city's homicide rate is still off the charts, at 62 per 100,000 people. But here's something to comfort you before your next visit: "The city's homicides usually take place in suburban townships rather than in the more upscale urban areas where tourists visit."
The article adds: "According to the South African Police Service, most of the Cape Town area's violent crimes happen between people who know one another, including a horrific case last year in which four males doused a female friend in gasoline and lit her on fire."
Sweet dreams!
The top 5 murder capitals of the world
by Aaron Hotfelder
Oct 1st 2008
Congratulations to the remaining residents of Caracas, Venezuela! Foreign Policy has just honored your fair city as the murder capital of the world, with around 130 murders per 100,000 people.
Not only that, the actual murder rate may be much higher, because the numbers "omit prison-related murders as well as deaths that the state never gets around to properly 'categorizing.' The numbers also don't count those who died while 'resisting arrest,' suggesting that Caracas's cops-already known for their brutality against student protesters-might be cooking the books."
Also showing up on the list are Cape Town, New Orleans, Moscow, and, surprisingly, Port Moresby in Papua New Guinea, which was recently named "Worst City" in an Economist Intelligence Unit survey.
Although Cape Town is rapidly emerging as one of Africa's most appealing cities, the city's homicide rate is still off the charts, at 62 per 100,000 people. But here's something to comfort you before your next visit: "The city's homicides usually take place in suburban townships rather than in the more upscale urban areas where tourists visit."
The article adds: "According to the South African Police Service, most of the Cape Town area's violent crimes happen between people who know one another, including a horrific case last year in which four males doused a female friend in gasoline and lit her on fire."
Sweet dreams!
Friday, February 15, 2008
Chavez Threatens to Halt Oil Sales to US
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hRZxukC9QzFxJwtx5Oo3Ti6yT7gAD8UNN50G0
Chavez Threatens to Halt Oil Sales to US
By SANDRA SIERRA
2-10-11
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — President Hugo Chavez on Sunday threatened to cut off oil sales to the United States in an "economic war" if Exxon Mobil Corp. wins court judgments to seize billions of dollars in Venezuelan assets.
Exxon Mobil has gone after the assets of state oil company Petroleos de Venezuela SA in U.S., British and Dutch courts as it challenges the nationalization of a multibillion dollar oil project by Chavez's government.
A British court has issued an injunction "freezing" as much as $12 billion in assets.
"If you end up freezing (Venezuelan assets) and it harms us, we're going to harm you," Chavez said during his weekly radio and television program, "Hello, President." "Do you know how? We aren't going to send oil to the United States. Take note, Mr. Bush, Mr. Danger."
Chavez has repeatedly threatened to cut off oil shipments to the United States, which is Venezuela's No. 1 client, if Washington tries to oust him. Chavez's warnings on Sunday appeared to extend that threat to attempts by oil companies to challenge his government's nationalization drive through lawsuits.
"I speak to the U.S. empire, because that's the master: continue and you will see that we won't sent one drop of oil to the empire of the United States," Chavez said Sunday.
"The outlaws of Exxon Mobil will never again rob us," Chavez said, accusing the Irving, Texas-based oil company of acting in concert with Washington.
A U.S. Embassy spokeswoman did not immediately return a call seeking comment.
Venezuelan Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez has argued that court orders won by Exxon Mobil have "no effect" on the state oil company PDVSA and are merely "transitory measures" while Venezuela presents its case in courts in New York and London.
Exxon Mobil is also taking its claims to international arbitration, disputing the terms it was granted under Chavez's nationalization last year of four heavy oil projects in the Orinoco River basin, one of the world's richest oil deposits.
Other major oil companies including U.S.-based Chevron Corp., France's Total, Britain's BP PLC, and Norway's StatoilHydro ASA have negotiated deals with Venezuela to continue on as minority partners in the Orinoco oil project.
ConocoPhillips and Exxon Mobil, however, balked at the tougher terms and have been in compensation talks with PDVSA.
Chavez Threatens to Halt Oil Sales to US
By SANDRA SIERRA
2-10-11
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — President Hugo Chavez on Sunday threatened to cut off oil sales to the United States in an "economic war" if Exxon Mobil Corp. wins court judgments to seize billions of dollars in Venezuelan assets.
Exxon Mobil has gone after the assets of state oil company Petroleos de Venezuela SA in U.S., British and Dutch courts as it challenges the nationalization of a multibillion dollar oil project by Chavez's government.
A British court has issued an injunction "freezing" as much as $12 billion in assets.
"If you end up freezing (Venezuelan assets) and it harms us, we're going to harm you," Chavez said during his weekly radio and television program, "Hello, President." "Do you know how? We aren't going to send oil to the United States. Take note, Mr. Bush, Mr. Danger."
Chavez has repeatedly threatened to cut off oil shipments to the United States, which is Venezuela's No. 1 client, if Washington tries to oust him. Chavez's warnings on Sunday appeared to extend that threat to attempts by oil companies to challenge his government's nationalization drive through lawsuits.
"I speak to the U.S. empire, because that's the master: continue and you will see that we won't sent one drop of oil to the empire of the United States," Chavez said Sunday.
"The outlaws of Exxon Mobil will never again rob us," Chavez said, accusing the Irving, Texas-based oil company of acting in concert with Washington.
A U.S. Embassy spokeswoman did not immediately return a call seeking comment.
Venezuelan Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez has argued that court orders won by Exxon Mobil have "no effect" on the state oil company PDVSA and are merely "transitory measures" while Venezuela presents its case in courts in New York and London.
Exxon Mobil is also taking its claims to international arbitration, disputing the terms it was granted under Chavez's nationalization last year of four heavy oil projects in the Orinoco River basin, one of the world's richest oil deposits.
Other major oil companies including U.S.-based Chevron Corp., France's Total, Britain's BP PLC, and Norway's StatoilHydro ASA have negotiated deals with Venezuela to continue on as minority partners in the Orinoco oil project.
ConocoPhillips and Exxon Mobil, however, balked at the tougher terms and have been in compensation talks with PDVSA.
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