Now to explain what is really going on during the crisis in Latin America is important. And it is important to have boots on the ground to understand the situation. I have written Senators Biden and Carper for the past several months to keep them appraised of the situation with help from one of Thomas Jefferson's descendants who lives in South America. But rather than listen to reason the administration seems hell-bent on listening to advisers at Halliburton and Exxon-Mobile.
It is a fact that the $300 Million in question was paid by Chavez to Nicholas Sarkozy who in turn paid it to the government of Alvaro Uribe for the release of hostages. This was not reported of course except for the fact that hostages from France were suddenly released. Do I blame Chavez? partly. Do I blame Uribe. Absolutely. His deceptive narco-government is working against the OAS and against the interest of the United States on behalf of Exxon-Mobile. see their website here: http://www.oas.org/main/english/
Here is my last letter to a friend of Senator Biden:
Please Have Dad address this with Senator Biden as fast as possible. I do not want 300$ barrel ls of oil. My uncle tells me from the front lines working with KBR and ISI that they are working on some nasty plans for us here and for Latin America that are going to derail our family's 400 year old vision of pan American Jeffersonianism....and he is very concerned it is going to cause 5-8$ per gallon of gasoline by the end of summer. He wants the people of this nation to head it off at the pass, I mean shit he was chief infantry colonel and special ops director for the HQ so he knows what he is talking about now. He and Colin Powell are both against Bush and Cheney now and are for the Democrats. So we need to get this through quickly to create conditions for peace there before an explosion of fury comes out of the administration and for Delaware's development.
Dear Senator Biden,
After discussing the situation in Latin America with Senator Carper, I have noticed that operation balboa and operation pliers two CIA run operations against Hugo Chavez and his government are not working. It is because the strategy is wrong, and does not take into account Chinese and European involvement in that hemisphere.
In fact they have dramatically increased the potential for conflict between Venezuela and Colombia. This is not a good sign. Any disruption to the territorial integrity of that nation will cause a disruption in the flow of oil to the United States. In addition, I suggest that Exxon Mobile is the primary force behind many of these maneuvers and is working against the interest of Valero and other companies like BP who want to do peaceful business with Chavez to make changes in his government and bring it into more democratic compliance and normalize relations with his nation. Exxon is in fact working hand in glove with
Halliburton now to redesign parts of Latin America in the "planning stages."
Now the root cause of this problem is conflict between President Bush and President Chavez and has very little to do with the policies of either nation. In my estimation the potential for a war between Colombia, Ecuador and Venezuela is becoming a very real possibility given the CIA's role in that nation and Uribe was on Telesur actually bragging about his relationship with the United States in a provocative and aggressive way that made Lula De Silva in Brazil along with Chavez and Argentina issue comments to the Uribe regime concerning everything from human rights violations among union workers, to the culture of hyper violence they have both created along the border in among normal workers. I suspect this will only get worse unless we intercede now with the OAS.
A peaceful solution is possible to this situation and to others in the region as long as the democrats are in charge of the congress, but excerpting democratic control over this aspect of foreign affairs is going to add to a peaceful transition in Venezuela in the year 2012 when General Baudel will win the election and begin to normalize relations with the United States and other powers in both hemispheres.
Anything you and Senator Dodd, Senator Webb and others can do to promote a peaceful solution in the region is going to make a huge impact on the ability of the normal people who really have no interest in power games but who are largely Catholic and perceive that they are working for a "more just social order" is going to be profoundly helpful in defusing this situation that is at present threatening to blow up along the western border of Venezuela as both Chavez and Uribe attempt to grapple with the leftist rebels in Colombia. Chavez's model wants to integrate them and normalize their life in Venezuela; Uribe's military plan wants to eliminate them without exception.
There was a time, when America, had a similar policy to Chavez's when after World War II toward the Nazi regime and the collapse of the Soviet Union, we accepted many of their citizens and normalized them into American life. And I would prefer that prospect of peace to the prospect of continued conflict and it is something our partners like Chile, Argentina and Brazil could be fundamental in negotiating. They will not tolerate increased conflict and will assert the Doctrine of Latin America to protect their nations collectively.
The radical militarization of and hostility in Latin America is a direct result of the Bush Administration's policies and as democrats we must reverse those to ensure the peaceful transition to a pan Americanism based on mutually agreeable principles. A President Obama will go a long way to ensuring that this occurs and the writings of my ancestor Thomas Nelson P on Diplomacy would serve as a great tool for managing these conflicts and lowering tensions in the region. The other issue that needs to be addressed, is that we as Delawareans need to get Valero to sit down at the table with the PDVSA and negotiate a minority partnership deal for the benefit of our state. These preferential deals Chavez has been doing have benefited Norway, England, and some cities across America. There is no reason why using our state assets we should not put Delaware in a position to be first in successfully negotiating a peaceful deal that excludes and may anger, Exxon, but that protects the interests of our citizens.
The one lesson I learned from all others in reading Thomas P’s work on diplomacy was that, “in dealing with conflict, the ways of peaceful resolution seem more complex and less expedient but can be driven for the self-interest of the individual states as much as for the executive branch with whom I frequently disagree.” He used this policy under Wilson to negotiate preferential deals for William P’s railroad projects from Virginia to Pennsylvania. I see no reason why we could not do the same in this case as we create a pan American community with the OAS.
I hope you can ensure that immediate action is taken on this issue within the foreign affairs community. Please do not hesitate to call me for further information and I will be sure to continue sending you my thoughts and strategy so that we can build a more peaceful pan American community in which we keep Delaware and its interests first in a global world.
And then from a relative of mine and Thomas Jefferson in Latin America:
Now down to your very interesting way of thinking. Your debate on economics and very accurate answers are of the nature that I understand and prefer. Particularly loud and clear.
After the events in Venezuela, Colombia end Ecuador, I believe you are right all the way. Lets pray to god that the future President of the US will have some thoughts on line the way you think. If not as we say in Spanish "estamos fritos" (we are fried.)
Around here many of my fellow citizens, the Media and politicians, are blaming Colombia for the attack on the terrorists in Ecuador. So they make Colombia seem as a villain attacker. My personal standpoint is that at this stage the real villain here is Chavez and Ecuador, for protecting narcoterrorists out of bounds of the Colombians forces reach, due to some stupid jungle frontier. But the US is playing a role in this that is counter productive. So good and congratulations for Colombia who eliminated a major terrorist, but this will create problems for the US in working with any of our governments. It would have been much better for Ecuador to handle the problem on its own or in conjunction with the US.
[Which they were willing to do]
Having said this I quite agree with you that the solution to the bottom line problem is a tremendous lack of pan Americanism, the way our ancestors dreamed. I Quote:
"We know the race is not to the swift nor the battle to the strong. Do you not think an angel rides in the whirlwind and directs this storm?"
Do you know who wrote this? Our Great G.G. Grand Father to Thomas Jefferson after the declaration of Independence was signed.
And this personal debate is only part of larger story about Exxon and case in the international court: http://wbztv.com/national/Venezuela.oil.exxon.2.652600.html
http://www.caribbeannetnews.com/venezuela/venezuela.php
Even on the left Ariana Huffington Weighed in:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/02/07/exxon-court-win-freezes-_n_85574.html
And on the right from Latin America:
http://espanol.news.yahoo.com/s/ap/080210/latinoamerica/ams_gen_venezuela_exxon
The bottom line this is really a struggle between two people: Hugo Chavez and George Bush. Who as far as I am concerned should go fight it out like school boys alone staring each other down across a big schoolyard and leave the people alone. But dealing with Alvaro Uribe is about as safe for the American people as handling a cobra in India without any training. How do I know this? Here is an except of tactics from Uribe's playbook: http://www.surveillance-and-society.org/Articles4(1)/colombia.pdf and an intellectual discussion of how this part of a larger culture of hyperviolence in Colombia (I hate to use that word) promoted by the right wing there and neo-conservatives here: http://www.bdp.org.ar/facultad/posgrado/archivos/Programa%20Manero%202007.doc
And how do we defuse this? Use my Jeffersonian Pan-American Strategy politically, and use my "Zen and the Art of Warfare" or Unrestricted Warfare to beat Uribe off of the center stage before Lula DeSilva sends his nuclear subs, which he bought from Sarkozy, to the Colombian Coast and the hundreds of thousands of Chinese agents working for Latin American governments- to protect Chinese business interests- get kung-fu on some body's ass. Somebody better reign Exxon in before things start to get ugly.
Here is what the Socialists are saying:
Never again will they rob us -- the Exxon-Mobil bandits. They are imperial, American bandits, white-collared thieves. They turn governments corrupt, they oust governments. They supported the invasion of Iraq." This was the response from Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez to the successful lawsuit by the world's biggest corporation (ExxonMobil), freezing $12 billion in assets of Venezuela's state-owned oil company, PDVSA -- a serious escalation in Big Oil's long running dispute with Chávez and the movement he represents.
ExxonMobil isn't suing PDVSA because it needs the money. The world's largest publicly traded corporation recorded profits of $40.6-billion (U.S.) in 2007, up three per cent from 2006's record of $39.6-billion. "If Exxon were a country, its 2007 profit would exceed output of two-thirds of the world's nations. Its 2007 revenue of $404-billion (U.S.) would place it among the 30 largest countries, ahead of such middle powers as Sweden and Venezuela."
ExxonMobil claims it is suing PDVSA because of a June 2007 deadline given by Chávez to Exxon and other Big Oil corporations operating in Venezuela, demanding they cede majority control in their heavy-crude upgrading projects in the country. ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips filed arbitration requests with the International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes, and ExxonMobil simultaneously took legal action in courts in the U.S. and Britain, which on February 7 agreed with their claim, and ordered the freeze of PDVSA assets.
But there is much more at stake than a simple legal disagreement. First -- many other Big Oil companies have agreed to Chávez' terms and not gone to court -- among them, Chevron Corp., Norway's Statoil ASA, Britain's BP PLC and France's Total SA. Second, Venezuela is not the only country to confront Big Oil and demand that old contracts be renegotiated. Here in Canada, Newfoundland's Danny Williams demanded and won an ownership share in the multi-billion-dollar Hebron offshore oil deal. Even the Tories in Alberta are forcing Big Oil to pay higher royalties. And in Russia, "both BP PLC and Royal Dutch Shell PLC have ceded control in big, lucrative Siberian projects to Russian gas monopoly OAO Gazprom."
The truth is, ExxonMobil's ultimatum has more to do with politics than economics. Russia's ruler Vladimir Putin holds office because of his ties to the secret service, his crackdown on public debate, and his commitment to pushing Russia back into the world of Big Power politics. That world of corruption and repression is comforting and familiar to the owners of ExxonMobil. Chávez, by contrast, holds office because millions have again and again been willing to put their bodies on the line against multinational corporations and their local allies. That revolutionary movement is terrifying to ExxonMobil.
So -- working with courts in the U.S. and Britain (the two biggest western imperialist powers) -- ExxonMobil is testing the water, seeing just how strong the revolutionary movement in Venezuela is. This is especially critical, given the setback faced by Chávez in the recent constitutional referendum.
And we shouldn't doubt the capacity of multinational corporations to use a legal fig leaf to pursue their "right" to pull exorbitant profits out of the Global South. "BP won an arbitration case against Libya in the 1970s ... and chased tankers of Libyan crude around the world to seize them as payment." In 2006 and 2007, "Western companies that purchased debt for unpaid construction work in the Congo have tried to seize tankers of Congolese oil to satisfy arbitration awards."
The ExxonMobil attacks have been met with defiance in Venezuela. PDVSA denies that any significant assets have been affected by the court action. "PDVSA is operating at 100 percent and is exporting oil all over the world," said Venezuelan Energy Minister Rafael Ramirez.
February 11, Chávez said that if ExxonMobil does succeed in freezing PDVSA assets, he would halt oil exports to the United States. This is a threat the U.S. has to take seriously. As well as being the fourth largest exporter of oil to the U.S., if Venezuela succeeds in certifying an additional 200 billion barrels of oil reserves to the 100 billion already certified, it will officially have the most proved reserves of oil, in the world.
With so much at stake, U.S. imperialism and its corporate allies are not at the moment in a position to launch a sequel to the failed coup of 2002. Venezuela's movement is too big, and Venezuela's oil is too important for that to happen -- for now. But we know from the bitter history of Big Oil and the Global South that this is not the last confrontation between corporate and popular power in Venezuela.
Paul Kellogg is a member of the International Socialists and blogger -- PolEconAnalyss (www.poleconanalysis.org) -- where this article was originally published.
*** Stop ExxonMobil's theft from the poor! ** * Support Venezuela's right to sovereignty! *
United States oil giant ExxonMobil Corporation has launched a major attack on the Venezuelan people's right to independence and self-determination.
Here is what Eva Gollinger a Venezuelan -American Lawyer is saying on the situation, she is very biased, but she is right about this one and I am right about how the CIA screwed this up by unifying Latin America under the Latin American Doctrine (despite my repeated attempts to let my reps in Congress know that this was coming) and this sums it up nicely:
Last night CNN en Español aired the above image, which captions at the bottom "Who Killed him?" by "accident". The image of President Chavez with the caption about killing him below, which some could say subliminally incites to assassination, was a "production error" mistakenly made in the CNN en Español newsroom. The news anchor had been narrarating a story about the situation between Colombia and Venezuela and then switched to a story about an unsolved homicide but - oops - someone forgot to change the screen image and President Chavez was left with the killing statement below.
Today they apologized and admitted it was a rather "unfortunate" and "regrettable" mistake. Yes, it was.On a scarier note, an internal CIA memorandum has been obtained by Venezuelan counterintelligence from the US Embassy in Caracas that reveals a very sinister - almost fantastical, were it not true - plan to destabilize Venezuela during the coming days. The plan, titled "OPERATION PLIERS" was authored by CIA Officer Michael Middleton Steere and was addressed to CIA Director General Michael Hayden in Washington. Steere is stationed at the US Embassy in Caracas under the guise of a Regional Affairs Officer. The internal memorandum, dated November 20, 2007, references the "Advances of the Final Stage of Operation Pliers", and confirms that the operation is coordinated by the team of Human Intelligence (HUMINT) in Venezuela. The memo summarizes the different scenarios that the CIA has been working on in Venezuela for the upcoming referendum vote on December 2nd. The Electoral Scenario, as it's phrased, confirms that the voting tendencies will not change substantially before Sunday, December 2nd, and that the SI (YES) vote in favor of the constitutional reform has an advantage of about 10-13 points over the NO vote. The CIA estimates abstention around 60% and states in the memo that this voting tendency is irreversible before the elections.Officer Steere emphasizes the importance and success of the public relations and propaganda campaign that the CIA has been funding with more than $8 million during the past month - funds that the CIA confirms are transfered through the USAID contracted company, Development Alternatives, Inc., which set up operations in June 2002 to run the USAID Office for Transition Initiatives that funds and advises opposition NGOs and political parties in Venezuela. The CIA memo specifically refers to these propaganda initiatives as "psychological operations" (PSYOPS), that include contracting polling companies to create fraudulent polls that show the NO vote with an advantage over the SI vote, which is false. The CIA also confirms in the memo that it is working with international press agencies to distort the data and information about the referendum, and that it coordinates in Venezuela with a team of journalists and media organized and directed by the President of Globovision, Alberto Federico Ravell. CIA Officer Michael Steere recommends to General Michael Hayden two different strategies to work simultaneously: Impede the referendum and refuse to recognize the results once the SI vote wins. Though these strategies appear contradictory, Steere claims that they must be implemented together precisely to encourage activities that aim toward impeding the referendum and at the same time prepare the conditions for a rejection of the results. How is this to be done?In the memo, the CIA proposes the following tactics and actions:
Take the streets and protest with violent, disruptive actions across the nation
Generate a climate of ungovernability
Provoke a general uprising in a substantial part of the population
Engage in a "plan to implode" the voting centers on election day by encouraging opposition voters to "VOTE and REMAIN" in their centers to agitate others
Start to release data during the early hours of the afternoon on Sunday that favor the NO vote (in clear violation of election regulations)
Coordinate these activities with Ravell & Globovision and international press agencies
Coordinate with ex-militar officers and coupsters Pena Esclusa and Guyon Cellis - this will be done by the Military Attache for Defense and Army at the US Embassy in Caracas, Office of
Defense, Attack and Operations (DAO)To encourage rejection of the results, the CIA proposes:
Creating an acceptance in the public opinion that the NO vote will win for sure
Using polling companies contracted by the CIA
Criticize and discredit the National Elections Council
Generate a sensation of fraud
Use a team of experts from the universities that will talk about how the data from the Electoral
Registry has been manipulated and will build distrust in the voting systemThe CIA memo also talks about:
Isolating Chavez in the international community
Trying to achieve unity amongst the opposition
Seek an aliance between those abstentionists and those who will vote "NO"
Sustain firmly the propaganda against Chavez
Execute military actions to support the opposition mobilizations and propagandistic occupations
Finalize the operative preparations on the US military bases in Curacao and Colombia to provide support to actions in Venezuela
Control a part of the country during the next 72-120 hours
Encourage a military rebellion inside the National Guard forces and other componentsThose involved in these actions as detailed in the CIA memo are:
The CIA Office in Venezuela - Office of Regional Affairs, and Officer Michael Steere
US Embassy in Venezuela, Ambassador Patrick Duddy Office of Defense, Attack and Operations (DAO) at the US Embassy in Caracas and Military Attache Richard Nazario Venezuelan Political Parties:
Comando Nacional de la Resistencia
Accion Democratica
Primero Justicia
Bandera RojaMedia:
Alberto Federico Ravell & Globovision
Interamerican Press Society (IAPA) or SIP in Spanish
International Press AgenciesVenezuelans:
Pena Esclusa
Guyon Cellis
Dean of the Simon Bolivar University, Rudolph Benjamin Podolski
Dean of the Andres Bello Catholic University, Ugalde
Students: Yon Goicochea, Juan Mejias, Ronel Gaglio, Gabriel Gallo, Ricardo Sanchez
Operation Tenaza has the objective of encouraging an armed insurrection in Venezuela against the government of President Chavez that will justify an intervention of US forces, stationed on the military bases nearby in Curacao and Colombia. The Operation mentions two countries in code: as Blue and Green. These refer to Curacao and Colombia, where the US has operative, active and equipped bases that have been reinforced over the past year and a half in anticipation of a conflict with Venezuela.The document confirms that psychological operations are the CIA's best and most effective weapon to date against Venezuela, and it will continue its efforts to influence international public opinion regarding President Chavez and the situation in the country.Operation Tenaza is a very alarming plan that aims to destabilize Venezuela and overthrow (again) its legitimate and democratic (and very popularly support) president. The plan will fail, primarily because it has been discovered, but it must be denounced around the world as an unacceptable violation of Venezuela's sovereignty.The original document in English will be available in the public sphere soon for viewing and authenticating purposes. And it also contains more information than has been revealed here.
You think Steve's posts about France are interesting, the reality is much more so. No matter how you feel about that, he is absolutely right on about France reasserting its influence. Dr. Libertarian is in the process of revealing all so all of you readers take action and call your represenatives to prevent a very big war and from facing for the first time, the Doctrina Latin America which unifies every single nation there against Colombia, Uraguay and the US.
[Good Job Senores!]
A situation that is the maximum in undesirable. Here is a Canadian site with left (mostly leftist wack job) and a few rightist opinions: http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=region®ionId=3; either way, let's hope we as a hemisphere do not need to say "estamos fritos."
More on Alvaro Uribe to follow.
It is a fact that the $300 Million in question was paid by Chavez to Nicholas Sarkozy who in turn paid it to the government of Alvaro Uribe for the release of hostages. This was not reported of course except for the fact that hostages from France were suddenly released. Do I blame Chavez? partly. Do I blame Uribe. Absolutely. His deceptive narco-government is working against the OAS and against the interest of the United States on behalf of Exxon-Mobile. see their website here: http://www.oas.org/main/english/
Here is my last letter to a friend of Senator Biden:
Please Have Dad address this with Senator Biden as fast as possible. I do not want 300$ barrel ls of oil. My uncle tells me from the front lines working with KBR and ISI that they are working on some nasty plans for us here and for Latin America that are going to derail our family's 400 year old vision of pan American Jeffersonianism....and he is very concerned it is going to cause 5-8$ per gallon of gasoline by the end of summer. He wants the people of this nation to head it off at the pass, I mean shit he was chief infantry colonel and special ops director for the HQ so he knows what he is talking about now. He and Colin Powell are both against Bush and Cheney now and are for the Democrats. So we need to get this through quickly to create conditions for peace there before an explosion of fury comes out of the administration and for Delaware's development.
Dear Senator Biden,
After discussing the situation in Latin America with Senator Carper, I have noticed that operation balboa and operation pliers two CIA run operations against Hugo Chavez and his government are not working. It is because the strategy is wrong, and does not take into account Chinese and European involvement in that hemisphere.
In fact they have dramatically increased the potential for conflict between Venezuela and Colombia. This is not a good sign. Any disruption to the territorial integrity of that nation will cause a disruption in the flow of oil to the United States. In addition, I suggest that Exxon Mobile is the primary force behind many of these maneuvers and is working against the interest of Valero and other companies like BP who want to do peaceful business with Chavez to make changes in his government and bring it into more democratic compliance and normalize relations with his nation. Exxon is in fact working hand in glove with
Halliburton now to redesign parts of Latin America in the "planning stages."
Now the root cause of this problem is conflict between President Bush and President Chavez and has very little to do with the policies of either nation. In my estimation the potential for a war between Colombia, Ecuador and Venezuela is becoming a very real possibility given the CIA's role in that nation and Uribe was on Telesur actually bragging about his relationship with the United States in a provocative and aggressive way that made Lula De Silva in Brazil along with Chavez and Argentina issue comments to the Uribe regime concerning everything from human rights violations among union workers, to the culture of hyper violence they have both created along the border in among normal workers. I suspect this will only get worse unless we intercede now with the OAS.
A peaceful solution is possible to this situation and to others in the region as long as the democrats are in charge of the congress, but excerpting democratic control over this aspect of foreign affairs is going to add to a peaceful transition in Venezuela in the year 2012 when General Baudel will win the election and begin to normalize relations with the United States and other powers in both hemispheres.
Anything you and Senator Dodd, Senator Webb and others can do to promote a peaceful solution in the region is going to make a huge impact on the ability of the normal people who really have no interest in power games but who are largely Catholic and perceive that they are working for a "more just social order" is going to be profoundly helpful in defusing this situation that is at present threatening to blow up along the western border of Venezuela as both Chavez and Uribe attempt to grapple with the leftist rebels in Colombia. Chavez's model wants to integrate them and normalize their life in Venezuela; Uribe's military plan wants to eliminate them without exception.
There was a time, when America, had a similar policy to Chavez's when after World War II toward the Nazi regime and the collapse of the Soviet Union, we accepted many of their citizens and normalized them into American life. And I would prefer that prospect of peace to the prospect of continued conflict and it is something our partners like Chile, Argentina and Brazil could be fundamental in negotiating. They will not tolerate increased conflict and will assert the Doctrine of Latin America to protect their nations collectively.
The radical militarization of and hostility in Latin America is a direct result of the Bush Administration's policies and as democrats we must reverse those to ensure the peaceful transition to a pan Americanism based on mutually agreeable principles. A President Obama will go a long way to ensuring that this occurs and the writings of my ancestor Thomas Nelson P on Diplomacy would serve as a great tool for managing these conflicts and lowering tensions in the region. The other issue that needs to be addressed, is that we as Delawareans need to get Valero to sit down at the table with the PDVSA and negotiate a minority partnership deal for the benefit of our state. These preferential deals Chavez has been doing have benefited Norway, England, and some cities across America. There is no reason why using our state assets we should not put Delaware in a position to be first in successfully negotiating a peaceful deal that excludes and may anger, Exxon, but that protects the interests of our citizens.
The one lesson I learned from all others in reading Thomas P’s work on diplomacy was that, “in dealing with conflict, the ways of peaceful resolution seem more complex and less expedient but can be driven for the self-interest of the individual states as much as for the executive branch with whom I frequently disagree.” He used this policy under Wilson to negotiate preferential deals for William P’s railroad projects from Virginia to Pennsylvania. I see no reason why we could not do the same in this case as we create a pan American community with the OAS.
I hope you can ensure that immediate action is taken on this issue within the foreign affairs community. Please do not hesitate to call me for further information and I will be sure to continue sending you my thoughts and strategy so that we can build a more peaceful pan American community in which we keep Delaware and its interests first in a global world.
And then from a relative of mine and Thomas Jefferson in Latin America:
Now down to your very interesting way of thinking. Your debate on economics and very accurate answers are of the nature that I understand and prefer. Particularly loud and clear.
After the events in Venezuela, Colombia end Ecuador, I believe you are right all the way. Lets pray to god that the future President of the US will have some thoughts on line the way you think. If not as we say in Spanish "estamos fritos" (we are fried.)
Around here many of my fellow citizens, the Media and politicians, are blaming Colombia for the attack on the terrorists in Ecuador. So they make Colombia seem as a villain attacker. My personal standpoint is that at this stage the real villain here is Chavez and Ecuador, for protecting narcoterrorists out of bounds of the Colombians forces reach, due to some stupid jungle frontier. But the US is playing a role in this that is counter productive. So good and congratulations for Colombia who eliminated a major terrorist, but this will create problems for the US in working with any of our governments. It would have been much better for Ecuador to handle the problem on its own or in conjunction with the US.
[Which they were willing to do]
Having said this I quite agree with you that the solution to the bottom line problem is a tremendous lack of pan Americanism, the way our ancestors dreamed. I Quote:
"We know the race is not to the swift nor the battle to the strong. Do you not think an angel rides in the whirlwind and directs this storm?"
Do you know who wrote this? Our Great G.G. Grand Father to Thomas Jefferson after the declaration of Independence was signed.
And this personal debate is only part of larger story about Exxon and case in the international court: http://wbztv.com/national/Venezuela.oil.exxon.2.652600.html
http://www.caribbeannetnews.com/venezuela/venezuela.php
Even on the left Ariana Huffington Weighed in:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/02/07/exxon-court-win-freezes-_n_85574.html
And on the right from Latin America:
http://espanol.news.yahoo.com/s/ap/080210/latinoamerica/ams_gen_venezuela_exxon
The bottom line this is really a struggle between two people: Hugo Chavez and George Bush. Who as far as I am concerned should go fight it out like school boys alone staring each other down across a big schoolyard and leave the people alone. But dealing with Alvaro Uribe is about as safe for the American people as handling a cobra in India without any training. How do I know this? Here is an except of tactics from Uribe's playbook: http://www.surveillance-and-society.org/Articles4(1)/colombia.pdf and an intellectual discussion of how this part of a larger culture of hyperviolence in Colombia (I hate to use that word) promoted by the right wing there and neo-conservatives here: http://www.bdp.org.ar/facultad/posgrado/archivos/Programa%20Manero%202007.doc
And how do we defuse this? Use my Jeffersonian Pan-American Strategy politically, and use my "Zen and the Art of Warfare" or Unrestricted Warfare to beat Uribe off of the center stage before Lula DeSilva sends his nuclear subs, which he bought from Sarkozy, to the Colombian Coast and the hundreds of thousands of Chinese agents working for Latin American governments- to protect Chinese business interests- get kung-fu on some body's ass. Somebody better reign Exxon in before things start to get ugly.
Here is what the Socialists are saying:
Never again will they rob us -- the Exxon-Mobil bandits. They are imperial, American bandits, white-collared thieves. They turn governments corrupt, they oust governments. They supported the invasion of Iraq." This was the response from Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez to the successful lawsuit by the world's biggest corporation (ExxonMobil), freezing $12 billion in assets of Venezuela's state-owned oil company, PDVSA -- a serious escalation in Big Oil's long running dispute with Chávez and the movement he represents.
ExxonMobil isn't suing PDVSA because it needs the money. The world's largest publicly traded corporation recorded profits of $40.6-billion (U.S.) in 2007, up three per cent from 2006's record of $39.6-billion. "If Exxon were a country, its 2007 profit would exceed output of two-thirds of the world's nations. Its 2007 revenue of $404-billion (U.S.) would place it among the 30 largest countries, ahead of such middle powers as Sweden and Venezuela."
ExxonMobil claims it is suing PDVSA because of a June 2007 deadline given by Chávez to Exxon and other Big Oil corporations operating in Venezuela, demanding they cede majority control in their heavy-crude upgrading projects in the country. ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips filed arbitration requests with the International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes, and ExxonMobil simultaneously took legal action in courts in the U.S. and Britain, which on February 7 agreed with their claim, and ordered the freeze of PDVSA assets.
But there is much more at stake than a simple legal disagreement. First -- many other Big Oil companies have agreed to Chávez' terms and not gone to court -- among them, Chevron Corp., Norway's Statoil ASA, Britain's BP PLC and France's Total SA. Second, Venezuela is not the only country to confront Big Oil and demand that old contracts be renegotiated. Here in Canada, Newfoundland's Danny Williams demanded and won an ownership share in the multi-billion-dollar Hebron offshore oil deal. Even the Tories in Alberta are forcing Big Oil to pay higher royalties. And in Russia, "both BP PLC and Royal Dutch Shell PLC have ceded control in big, lucrative Siberian projects to Russian gas monopoly OAO Gazprom."
The truth is, ExxonMobil's ultimatum has more to do with politics than economics. Russia's ruler Vladimir Putin holds office because of his ties to the secret service, his crackdown on public debate, and his commitment to pushing Russia back into the world of Big Power politics. That world of corruption and repression is comforting and familiar to the owners of ExxonMobil. Chávez, by contrast, holds office because millions have again and again been willing to put their bodies on the line against multinational corporations and their local allies. That revolutionary movement is terrifying to ExxonMobil.
So -- working with courts in the U.S. and Britain (the two biggest western imperialist powers) -- ExxonMobil is testing the water, seeing just how strong the revolutionary movement in Venezuela is. This is especially critical, given the setback faced by Chávez in the recent constitutional referendum.
And we shouldn't doubt the capacity of multinational corporations to use a legal fig leaf to pursue their "right" to pull exorbitant profits out of the Global South. "BP won an arbitration case against Libya in the 1970s ... and chased tankers of Libyan crude around the world to seize them as payment." In 2006 and 2007, "Western companies that purchased debt for unpaid construction work in the Congo have tried to seize tankers of Congolese oil to satisfy arbitration awards."
The ExxonMobil attacks have been met with defiance in Venezuela. PDVSA denies that any significant assets have been affected by the court action. "PDVSA is operating at 100 percent and is exporting oil all over the world," said Venezuelan Energy Minister Rafael Ramirez.
February 11, Chávez said that if ExxonMobil does succeed in freezing PDVSA assets, he would halt oil exports to the United States. This is a threat the U.S. has to take seriously. As well as being the fourth largest exporter of oil to the U.S., if Venezuela succeeds in certifying an additional 200 billion barrels of oil reserves to the 100 billion already certified, it will officially have the most proved reserves of oil, in the world.
With so much at stake, U.S. imperialism and its corporate allies are not at the moment in a position to launch a sequel to the failed coup of 2002. Venezuela's movement is too big, and Venezuela's oil is too important for that to happen -- for now. But we know from the bitter history of Big Oil and the Global South that this is not the last confrontation between corporate and popular power in Venezuela.
Paul Kellogg is a member of the International Socialists and blogger -- PolEconAnalyss (www.poleconanalysis.org) -- where this article was originally published.
*** Stop ExxonMobil's theft from the poor! ** * Support Venezuela's right to sovereignty! *
United States oil giant ExxonMobil Corporation has launched a major attack on the Venezuelan people's right to independence and self-determination.
Here is what Eva Gollinger a Venezuelan -American Lawyer is saying on the situation, she is very biased, but she is right about this one and I am right about how the CIA screwed this up by unifying Latin America under the Latin American Doctrine (despite my repeated attempts to let my reps in Congress know that this was coming) and this sums it up nicely:
Last night CNN en Español aired the above image, which captions at the bottom "Who Killed him?" by "accident". The image of President Chavez with the caption about killing him below, which some could say subliminally incites to assassination, was a "production error" mistakenly made in the CNN en Español newsroom. The news anchor had been narrarating a story about the situation between Colombia and Venezuela and then switched to a story about an unsolved homicide but - oops - someone forgot to change the screen image and President Chavez was left with the killing statement below.
Today they apologized and admitted it was a rather "unfortunate" and "regrettable" mistake. Yes, it was.On a scarier note, an internal CIA memorandum has been obtained by Venezuelan counterintelligence from the US Embassy in Caracas that reveals a very sinister - almost fantastical, were it not true - plan to destabilize Venezuela during the coming days. The plan, titled "OPERATION PLIERS" was authored by CIA Officer Michael Middleton Steere and was addressed to CIA Director General Michael Hayden in Washington. Steere is stationed at the US Embassy in Caracas under the guise of a Regional Affairs Officer. The internal memorandum, dated November 20, 2007, references the "Advances of the Final Stage of Operation Pliers", and confirms that the operation is coordinated by the team of Human Intelligence (HUMINT) in Venezuela. The memo summarizes the different scenarios that the CIA has been working on in Venezuela for the upcoming referendum vote on December 2nd. The Electoral Scenario, as it's phrased, confirms that the voting tendencies will not change substantially before Sunday, December 2nd, and that the SI (YES) vote in favor of the constitutional reform has an advantage of about 10-13 points over the NO vote. The CIA estimates abstention around 60% and states in the memo that this voting tendency is irreversible before the elections.Officer Steere emphasizes the importance and success of the public relations and propaganda campaign that the CIA has been funding with more than $8 million during the past month - funds that the CIA confirms are transfered through the USAID contracted company, Development Alternatives, Inc., which set up operations in June 2002 to run the USAID Office for Transition Initiatives that funds and advises opposition NGOs and political parties in Venezuela. The CIA memo specifically refers to these propaganda initiatives as "psychological operations" (PSYOPS), that include contracting polling companies to create fraudulent polls that show the NO vote with an advantage over the SI vote, which is false. The CIA also confirms in the memo that it is working with international press agencies to distort the data and information about the referendum, and that it coordinates in Venezuela with a team of journalists and media organized and directed by the President of Globovision, Alberto Federico Ravell. CIA Officer Michael Steere recommends to General Michael Hayden two different strategies to work simultaneously: Impede the referendum and refuse to recognize the results once the SI vote wins. Though these strategies appear contradictory, Steere claims that they must be implemented together precisely to encourage activities that aim toward impeding the referendum and at the same time prepare the conditions for a rejection of the results. How is this to be done?In the memo, the CIA proposes the following tactics and actions:
Take the streets and protest with violent, disruptive actions across the nation
Generate a climate of ungovernability
Provoke a general uprising in a substantial part of the population
Engage in a "plan to implode" the voting centers on election day by encouraging opposition voters to "VOTE and REMAIN" in their centers to agitate others
Start to release data during the early hours of the afternoon on Sunday that favor the NO vote (in clear violation of election regulations)
Coordinate these activities with Ravell & Globovision and international press agencies
Coordinate with ex-militar officers and coupsters Pena Esclusa and Guyon Cellis - this will be done by the Military Attache for Defense and Army at the US Embassy in Caracas, Office of
Defense, Attack and Operations (DAO)To encourage rejection of the results, the CIA proposes:
Creating an acceptance in the public opinion that the NO vote will win for sure
Using polling companies contracted by the CIA
Criticize and discredit the National Elections Council
Generate a sensation of fraud
Use a team of experts from the universities that will talk about how the data from the Electoral
Registry has been manipulated and will build distrust in the voting systemThe CIA memo also talks about:
Isolating Chavez in the international community
Trying to achieve unity amongst the opposition
Seek an aliance between those abstentionists and those who will vote "NO"
Sustain firmly the propaganda against Chavez
Execute military actions to support the opposition mobilizations and propagandistic occupations
Finalize the operative preparations on the US military bases in Curacao and Colombia to provide support to actions in Venezuela
Control a part of the country during the next 72-120 hours
Encourage a military rebellion inside the National Guard forces and other componentsThose involved in these actions as detailed in the CIA memo are:
The CIA Office in Venezuela - Office of Regional Affairs, and Officer Michael Steere
US Embassy in Venezuela, Ambassador Patrick Duddy Office of Defense, Attack and Operations (DAO) at the US Embassy in Caracas and Military Attache Richard Nazario Venezuelan Political Parties:
Comando Nacional de la Resistencia
Accion Democratica
Primero Justicia
Bandera RojaMedia:
Alberto Federico Ravell & Globovision
Interamerican Press Society (IAPA) or SIP in Spanish
International Press AgenciesVenezuelans:
Pena Esclusa
Guyon Cellis
Dean of the Simon Bolivar University, Rudolph Benjamin Podolski
Dean of the Andres Bello Catholic University, Ugalde
Students: Yon Goicochea, Juan Mejias, Ronel Gaglio, Gabriel Gallo, Ricardo Sanchez
Operation Tenaza has the objective of encouraging an armed insurrection in Venezuela against the government of President Chavez that will justify an intervention of US forces, stationed on the military bases nearby in Curacao and Colombia. The Operation mentions two countries in code: as Blue and Green. These refer to Curacao and Colombia, where the US has operative, active and equipped bases that have been reinforced over the past year and a half in anticipation of a conflict with Venezuela.The document confirms that psychological operations are the CIA's best and most effective weapon to date against Venezuela, and it will continue its efforts to influence international public opinion regarding President Chavez and the situation in the country.Operation Tenaza is a very alarming plan that aims to destabilize Venezuela and overthrow (again) its legitimate and democratic (and very popularly support) president. The plan will fail, primarily because it has been discovered, but it must be denounced around the world as an unacceptable violation of Venezuela's sovereignty.The original document in English will be available in the public sphere soon for viewing and authenticating purposes. And it also contains more information than has been revealed here.
You think Steve's posts about France are interesting, the reality is much more so. No matter how you feel about that, he is absolutely right on about France reasserting its influence. Dr. Libertarian is in the process of revealing all so all of you readers take action and call your represenatives to prevent a very big war and from facing for the first time, the Doctrina Latin America which unifies every single nation there against Colombia, Uraguay and the US.
[Good Job Senores!]
A situation that is the maximum in undesirable. Here is a Canadian site with left (mostly leftist wack job) and a few rightist opinions: http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=region®ionId=3; either way, let's hope we as a hemisphere do not need to say "estamos fritos."
More on Alvaro Uribe to follow.
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