EU-DIGEST

Chavez Expels Israeli Ambassador Over Gaza Conflict, Labeling It "Genocide"

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on Tuesday expelled Israel's ambassador to the country as he accused the Jewish nation of "genocide" against the Palestinian people. He described the Israeli army as "cowards." This as United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon slammed Israel's shelling of schools run by the U.N. Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) Gaza that killed 30 people and injured dozens more as he repeated his call for an immediate cessation of hostilities in the region. In a statement released by the U.N. office in Manila, Philippines, Ban said, "These attacks by Israeli military forces which endanger U.N. facilities acting as places of refuge are totally unacceptable and must not be repeated. Equally unacceptable are any actions by militants which endanger the Palestinian civilian population."

Labels: Gaza, Hamas, Israel, Venezuela

Turks stop suspicious Iran cargo for Venezuela

A Turkish customs official says a suspicious Iranian shipment bound for Venezuela contains laboratory equipment capable of producing explosives and is being held at a Mediterranean port. Mersin customs official Süleyman Tosun said military experts have been asked to examine the material seized last month and decide whether to let the shipment proceed. Tosun said authorities detected the equipment during a search of 22 containers labeled as "tractor parts." They were brought to Mersin by trucks from Iran.

Labels: Turkey, Venezuela

Venezuela welcomes Russian navy ships

Russian warships have arrived for joint exercises with Venezuela's navy, the first deployment of its kind in the Caribbean since the Cold War.The naval squadron, including a nuclear-powered cruiser, sailed into view at the port of La Guaira. The exercises will coincide with a two-day visit by Russia's President Dmitry Medvedev, which starts on Wednesday. The Russian vessels are set to begin manoeuvres in port on Wednesday, the day Mr Medvedev is due to arrive in Caracas. President Medvedev is expected to visit the ships with his Venezuelan counterpart, Hugo Chavez, before he continues on to Cuba. The Russian president's aim is to show Washington that if the US does things in Europe near Russia's borders which Moscow does not like, then Russia can pursue its own policies in a region long seen by Washington as its backyard. More important for the Russian president during his talks is boosting bilateral trade between Russia and Latin America, which could reach euro 13bn(US$15bn this year.

Labels: Latin America, Navy, Russia, Trade, Venezuela

Chavez: G20 summit a waste of time

Hugo Chavez says that G-20 summit in Washington is a waste of time, because it excluded the poor and is hosted by the people who caused the problem. "Really, I don't know what they are going to do in Washington, the host is to blame," Chavez said, referring to Saturday's meeting of the world's 20 richest countries to tackle the problems of world economy. "They are going to waste their time," Chavez said in a television speech to supporters.

Note EU-Digest: Probably not a complete waste of time. It will provide an opportunity for some of the major economic players in the world to exchange ideas, say goodbye to President Bush and to issue a positive statement. However, without the key player, President elect Obama, who is not yet sworn in as the leader of the USA, which deregulated financial system caused this whole problem in the first place, no decisions of any importance can be made. It's also interesting to see that the British PM Gordon Brown, who fought his country's participation in a common European currency and close regulatory and monetary cooperation, has now suddenly become an advocate of a more structured global financial system. In this respect, it seems that the only world leader who has come up with well thought out plan for a badly needed restructured capitalist system is Mr. Nicolas Sarkozy, the President of France, presently also holding the Presidency of the EU.

Labels: Barack Obama, EU, G20, George Bush, Gordon Brown, Hugo Chavez, Nicolas Sarkozy, US, Venezuela

Russian fleet to arrive in the Caribbean in November

A navy squadron of the Russian North Sea Fleet headed toward the Strait of Gibraltar to carry out maneuvers in the Mediterranean Sean and then sail to the Caribbean waters to hold joint exercises with Venezuela's navy, reported on Thursday the Russian Ministry of Defense. The squad, consisting of the atomic cruiser Piotr Veliki (Peter the Great), the frigate Admiral Chabanenko (an antisubmarine warfare vessel) and support vessels, sailed on September 22 from Severomorsk, a navy base in northern Russia, and will reach the Mediterranean on Sunday, said the Ministry in a statement published on its website, Efe reported.

Labels: Russia, Russian Navy, Venezuela

Russia Flexes Muscles in Oil Deal With Chávez - by Ellen Barry

Russia continued its international muscle-flexing on Friday, strengthening its ties to Venezuela through a $1 billion military loan and a new oil consortium as it announced an upgrade of its own military focusing on nuclear deterrence and permanent combat readiness.After a military exercise on Friday in the southern city of Orenburg, near the border with Kazakhstan, the Russian president, Dmitri A. Medvedev, declared that by 2020 Russia would construct new types of warships, including nuclear submarines carrying cruise missiles and an unspecified air and space defense system.On Friday, Mr. Medvedev said the conflict also proved “the acuteness” of Russia’s need to modernize its military. Defense spending will increase by 26 percent next year, bringing it to 1.3 trillion rubles ( EURO 35 billion), its highest level since the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Labels: Russia, Venezuela

Russia ships to join Venezuela naval exercises in Caribbean - Chris Kraul

The Venezuelan government announced today that four Russian naval vessels will participate in joint exercises in the Caribbean this year, a move that could heighten already strained relations between Washington and Moscow. Venezuela's naval intelligence chief, Adm. Salbatore Cammarata Bastidas, said in a statement that a task force including four Russian naval vessels and 1,000 Russian military personnel would take part in mid-November exercises with Venezuelan frigates, patrol boats, submarines and aircraft.

Labels: Russia, Venezuela

Labels: Chavez, EU, Venezuela

For the complete report from the New Statesman click on this link

The Netherlands - May it please Your Majesty - Is Curaçao used by US to spy on Venezuela and possibly invade? - by Hugh O'Shaughnessy

In open letter to the Queen of the Netherlands about Curaçao Hugh O'Shaughness writes:"I have the sinking feeling that Your ministers are not giving You the facts about one or two of Your possessions beyond the seas which, as the weeks tick by, take on the aspect of so many kegs of gunpowder. The reason for a possible conflagration is the increasing political and military pressure Washington is piling on the elected government of Venezuela from Your island of Curaçao. In Your gracious speech last Thursday (10 April), at the banquet you gave for President Lula of Brazil in The Hague, You recalled, “a part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is closely involved with events in South America”. And it is from this part, principally Curaçao, a few miles off the Venezuelan coast, that, by courtesy of Your ministers, that the US military pressure is coming. US officers have called Curaçao a “forward operating location”.

Note EU-Digest:It would be one of the most grave mistakes the US could make if they attacked Venezuela with the direct or indirect assistance from any other EU state. Mr. Chavez should be left to eventually disappear from the scene by his own incapacity to provide leadership to his people, not by a US led invasion or US inspired coup.

Labels: Curaçao, EU, Oil, The Netherlands, US, Venezuela

EU urges Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela to avoid 'escalation'

The European Union urged Colombia, Ecuador and Venezuela Tuesday to avoid any escalation amid rising tensions in Latin America sparked by a Colombian military strike against rebels in Ecuador. 'The European Union is concerned about the growing tension and the deployment of armed forces between Venezuela, Ecuador and Colombia,' the EU's Slovenian presidency said in a statement.

EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana is scheduled to hold talks Wednesday in Brussels with Colombian Vice President Francisco Santos Calderon.

Labels: EU, Venezuela

Venezuela's Sukkhoi fightr jets

For the complete report from The Seattle Times click on this link

War in Latin America ? Venezuela, Ecuador sending troops to border with Colombia after rebel leader killed - by IAN James

President Hugo Chavez ordered tanks and thousands of troops on Sunday to the border with Colombia, accusing it of pushing South America to the brink of war by killing a top rebel leader on Ecuadorean soil. Denouncing Colombia's slaying of the rebel commander in a cross-border raid into Ecuador, Chavez said Venezuela will respond militarily if Colombia violates its border. He ordered Venezuela's embassy in Bogota closed. "Mr. Defence Minister, move 10 battalions to the border with Colombia for me, immediately -- tank battalions. Deploy the air force," Chavez said during his weekly TV and radio program. "We don't want war, but we aren't going to permit the U.S. empire, which is the master (of Colombia) ... to come divide us." In protest, Ecuador withdrew its ambassador from Bogota, ordered Colombia's top diplomat expelled and ordered the mobilization of troops to the border with Colombia.

"This could be the start of a war in South America," Chavez said. He warned Uribe: "If it occurs to you to do this in Venezuela, President Uribe, I'll send some Sukhois" -- Russian warplanes recently bought by Venezuela.

Labels: Colombia, Ecuador, Latin America, US, Venezuela, War

Venezuela - Chávez, Exxon play oil-price brinkmanship - Chávez on the short end of the stick

Just two weeks after saying he hoped oil prices would "stabilize" at under $100 a barrel, Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez this week threatened to send them soaring to $200 a barrel in response to his growing dispute with Exxon. Chávez called Exxon's threat to freeze the assets of Venezuela's state oil company PDVSA part of Washington's "economic war" against his government, and vowed that Venezuela would not be intimidated. "They will never rob us again, those bandits of ExxonMobil, they are imperialist bandits, white collar criminals, corruptors of governments, over-throwers of governments, who supported the invasion and bombing of Iraq and continue supporting the genocide in Iraq," he said on his weekly TV show "Aló Presidente" Feb. 11. Last week, Exxon won temporary court orders in the UK, Netherlands, and Dutch Antilles to freeze PDVSA assets worth up to $12 billion, in a dispute over compensation for a 41.7% stake (worth $750 million) in Venezuela's Cerro Negro exploration project, which was nationalized last May. Other companies, including Chevron, BP, Total and Norway's Statoil, negotiated deals with Venezuela to remain on as minority partners in the Orinoco oil belt projects. But ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips rejected the changed terms and have been in compensation talks with PDVSA. Venezuela is the USA's fourth largest oil supplier after Canada, Saudi Arabia and Mexico. According to the latest figures from the US Energy Department, Venezuela accounted for 12% of crude imports in November, supplying some 1.23 million barrels a day.

Note EU-Digest: "Mr.Chávez might have picked on a bone which is too big to chew. Exxon's financial reserves are several times larger than that of the entire budget of Venezuela. There are also many signs that the once-mighty Venezuela Oil Industry PDVSA may be running short of cash. Since January 8th, for instance, its customers have been required to settle their bills eight days after shipment, rather than 30 days after receipt, as is customary. By the end of the month it was offering eight super-tanker loads of fuel oil at below market price for cash. PDVSA is also no longer is just an oil producer. Mr Chávez has made it into what Elie Habalian, a former Venezuelan governor of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), calls a “parallel state”. The company has transferred billions of dollars to funds controlled by the president, and directly finances and runs a range of social projects. “There's a ministry of education—but PDVSA educates too,” says Mr Habalian. “There's a housing ministry, but PDVSA builds houses, and so on.” In response to shortages of basic foodstuffs, last month, Mr Chávez ordered PDVSA to create a new subsidiary to distribute food, most of it imported. At the same time, PDVSA's investment spending has been slashed, leading to a decline in oil output, the motor of the economy, for ten consecutive quarters, according to José Guerra, a former Central Bank director. The only major weapon left in Mr. Chávez his arsenal is to cut off all the supplies of oil to the US, that is if he has another customer to pick up the slack, and one who is willing to defy the wrath of "Uncle Sam"."

Labels: Exxon, Hugo Chávez, PDVSA, 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

The government of Venezuela warned the European Union about the consequences of any statement rejecting next December 2 referendum on the changes to the Venezuelan Constitution proposed by President Hugo Chávez, right before the European Parliament addressed the issue in Brussels on Wednesday. "So far, the other European institutions have shown respect for Venezuelan sovereignty. If intervention happened, if our people were disrespected, both the Venezuelan government and the people are going to reject it," said Venezuelan Ambassador to the EU Alejandro Fleming at the European Parliament.

Note EU-Digest: "Venezuelan Ambassador to the EU Alejandro Fleming should be aware that the EU respects the right of freedom of expression and that its citizens and governments consequently are free to use that freedom any way they see fit. This includes being critical or positive about the present state of affairs in Venezuela."

Labels: EU, 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

Venezuela to quit IMF, World Bank

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez announced on Monday that his country had decided to withdraw from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank. Chavez made the announcement at an event to celebrate workers' rights.

"I want to formalize our exit from the World Bank and the IMF," Chavez said, adding that "We will no longer have to go to Washington, neither to the IMF nor the World Bank, not to anyone."

Labels: Venezuela, World Bank