EU-DIGEST

Labels: Chavez, EU, Venezuela

Oil: Venezuela threatens to cut off oil supplies to US

Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez has threatened to cease supplies of oil to the US, in retaliation for the court move by US oil giant Exxon to freeze Venezuela’s assets. The news sent the crude oil price racing higher for the third day in succession, despite worries over a possible economic slowdown dampening demand for oil. Crude oil for March delivery hit an intra-day high of $94.72 in New York before easing to close at $93.59. News that Valero Energy had temporarily shut down its Delaware refinery because of a power failure on Sunday also boosted sentiment.

Labels: Chavez, Oil, US Economy, Venezuela

Chavez loses referendum and bid to rule until 2050 - by Rory Carrol

Voters narrowly rejected the proposed constitutional changes in yesterday's vote, an unprecedented defeat for a leader accustomed to landslides. After a night of political drama, election officials announced the opposition had won 51% and the government 49%, a result that slammed the brakes on Chávez's self-styled revolution.The rebuff will oblige Chávez to stand down when his term ends in 2013 rather than continuing to run for office until 2050 as he had hoped. It will also embolden the opposition and open fissures within his movement now that he has shown to be politically mortal.Three months ago an opposition victory seemed unthinkable, but a loose coalition of students, small political parties and the Catholic church gained traction. Olivia Goumbri of the Government funded Information office said: "The fact that we see that an effort Chavez proposed has not gone through, I think really is a testament to the amount of democratic processes that are going on in Venezuela".

Note EU-Digest: Chavez lost fair and square. To his benefit must be said that he did not manipulate or contest the election results. The elections were reviewed by some 100 electoral observers from 39 countries in Latin America, Europe and the US, plus hundreds of Venezuelan observers, the National Electoral Council said. EU-trade with Venezuela grew by 46.9 % last year to € 6.4 billion. The high growth was mainly due to a strong - 73.3 % - increase of imports from Venezuela.

Labels: Chavez, Democracy, EU, Venezuela

Putin and Chavez: Saviours Of Nations But At What Cost - by David Pratt

To some they are saviours of their respective countries. To others they are vilified as dictators in the making, hell-bent on consolidating their authoritarian grip on power, whatever it takes. Today is a crucial day for Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez and Russian president Vladimir Putin. This weekend, both men find themselves in elections the outcome of which many believe will reveal the true political direction in which the two leaders hope to steer their nations. Putin leads his United Russia party into today's parliamentary poll knowing that an anticipated landslide victory will cement his grip on power even after he steps down from the presidency at the end of his second term next year.

Chavez, on the other hand, is facing a much closer contest in his attempt to urge voters to back constitutional reforms he says are needed to further Venezuela's socialist revolution. Not all Venezuelans are convinced: on Friday, more than 100,000 people took to the streets to oppose Chavez's 69 proposed changes to the nation's 1999 constitution.

Labels: Chavez, Elections, Putin, Russia, Venezuela

The saga of the Joker and the King continues - Chavez now threatens Spain with sanctions

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has again threatened to impose sanctions against Spain. He says that if the right-wing Partido Popolar returns to government he will order the Spanish oil company Repsol to leave the country. On Friday he said that he will break off relations with Spain if King Juan Carlos does not apologise for telling him to shut up during a conference. The king made the comment after President Chavez referred to former Spanish prime minister and leader of the Partito Popolar Jose Maria Aznar as a fascist.Note EU-Digest: There is a Chinese proverb which says: "When you go up to the mountain too often, you will eventually encounter the tiger" - Mr. Chavez might win todays referendum, but he could also be defeated.

Labels: Chavez, referendum, Venezuela

President for Life?

For the complete report from the New York Times click on this link

Shutting Up Venezuela’s Chávez - by Roger Cohen

Awash in petrodollars — oil accounts for about 90 percent of Venezuelan exports — Chávez commands formidable resources. They are centered in the armed forces; a huge nomenklatura scattered across the bureaucracy and newly nationalized industries; the so-called Boliburgesía (Bolivarian bourgeoisie) of traders grown rich working the angles of a corrupt system; and the poor whom Chávez has helped and manipulated. Certainly, the oil money Chávez has plowed into poor neighborhoods (at the expense of an oil industry suffering chronic underinvestment) has reduced poverty. The United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America said last year that the extreme poverty rate had fallen to 9.9 percent from 15.9 percent. But more than spreading socialist ideals, Chávez has spread a form of crony capitalism, dedicated to his greater glory, that has imbued the economy with all the resilience of a house of cards. Foreign investment has plunged, scared off by nationalizations. A huge disparity between the official and black-market exchange rates has encouraged get-rich-quick schemes for favored “Chávistas” while erecting endless barriers to trade. Price controls on staples have made eggs unavailable. This week, you can’t find chickens. Chávez’s socialism delivers subsidized gasoline and glittering malls but no milk.

Most of the region has moved on, but not Chávez, who trumpets “growth from within,” whatever that is. The World Bank’s recently released “Doing Business 2008,” a ranking of the ease of conducting commerce, places Venezuela 172nd out of 178 countries. Despite this, the country does huge business with the United States, as its fourth-largest crude oil supplier and a big importer. Chávez’s “socialism” and his chumminess with Iran’s Mahmoud Ahmadinejad do not extend to cutting off the “imperialist empire.” Chávez is too shrewd to sever his lifeline.A possible conclusion would be that he’s harmless — a wily barracks-bred buffoon whose leftist rhetoric is just a veneer for a petrodollar power play.But Chávez’s grab for socialist-emperor status is grotesque and dangerous — as Fascism was — a terrible example for a region that has been consolidating democracy.

Labels: Chavez, Venezuela

King Juan Carlos of Spain

For the complete report from the Seattlepi.com click on this link

SPAIN - 'Shut up'Chavez is hit ringtone in Spain - by Mar Roman

Many Spaniards were so amused when their king told Venezuela's president to "shut up" they want to hear the words every time their phone rings. About half a million people have downloaded a mobile phone ringtone featuring the phrase "Por que no te callas?" or "Why don't you shut up?" leading Madrid daily El Pais reported on its Web site Monday. That's what King Juan Carlos told Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez during a heated confrontation at a summit in Chile last week. The ringtone is thought to have generated around $2.2 million for the companies selling it, El Pais said.

Labels: Chavez, EU, Juan Carlos, Spain, Venezuela

The European Ministers of Foreign Affairs Monday voiced their support to the talks between the Colombian government and the Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARC) to attain a humanitarian agreement to swap hostages for rebels, and showed a particular interest in the mediation efforts conducted by President Hugo Chávez, AFP reported. In a statement adopted during a meeting in Brussels, the 27 members of the European Union said the bloc "is closely watching the efforts of the Colombian government, particularly with the collaboration of the President of Venezuela, and supports the work of all the people committed to enforce the humanitarian international law in Colombia."

The statement came on the eve of Chávez's visit to Paris, where he is to inform his French counterpart Nicolas Sarkozy on the progress made in his mediation efforts.

Labels: Chavez, EU, Venezuela

Spain's king tells Chávez, 'Why don't you shut up?'

The king of Spain told Hugo Chávez, the Venezuelan president, to "shut up" over the weekend in the Chilean capital after Chávez repeatedly called a former Spanish prime minister a "fascist," ending a regional leaders' summit meeting in high tension. Chávez, who called President George W. Bush the "devil" on the floor of the United Nations last year, provoked the exchange Saturday with harsh words for former Prime Minister José María Aznar, who has in the past criticized Chávez.

Spain's current prime minister, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, a Socialist, responded during his own allotted time by urging Chávez to be more diplomatic in his words and respect other leaders.

Labels: Chavez, EU, Spain, Venezuela