Great speech by Chavez at the U.N.

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Chavez vs. Exxon...

Big Oil Strikes Back At Petrotyrants
February 08, 2008: To Hugo Chavez, Venezuela is a rich country and Exxon a cruel exploiter whose projects are best expropriated. But Exxon's $12 billion injunction against him over broken contracts may just show who's bigger.

Exxon Mobil, a $440 billion company with operations across the globe, has for decades dealt with crazy, corrupt governments. It routinely does business with the likes of Chad, Russia and Angola and knows all about them. But it's never run into a partner as outrageously bad as Venezuela. That's why its unprecedented move to take Venezuela all the way to international courts over Chavez's seizure of its assets is a big blow from the private sector against a dictatorship that otherwise seems to hold all the cards.

Exxon sends the message that playing within the rule of law is a far better means to succeed, win and play with the big boys than to break contracts, steal assets and violate internationally recognized norms, as exemplified in Chavez's Venezuela. Last year, the power-mad petrotyrant declared Exxon and Venezuela's other foreign investors "robbers" and vowed to conquer them like Simon Bolivar taking the Andes. He hurled leftist nationalistic rhetoric against these private companies whose only "crime" was to invest in and bring jobs to Venezuela.

Waving the flag, Chavez sent his military to the Venezuelan hinterlands last year, where Exxon had a 42.5% stake in one big project in Cerro Negro. He seized that along with the assets of five other oil companies and called it victory. Exxon's investment was worth at least $4 billion, but Chavez refused to pay market compensation. Instead, he justified his breaking of contracts as sovereign decisions and told investors they'd have to be satisfied with minority partnerships run by ideologically correct Chavista "managers."

Seeing themselves as powerless and eager to limit their losses, some of the companies caved. But not Exxon. It took a hit on its balance sheet, and decided something bigger was at stake. With operations all over the world and every other tinhorn dictator watching its moves, it knew a precedent could be set and refused to appease. In so doing, it put all petrotyrants on notice that their power extends only as far as their borders and no more. If they want to cut themselves off from the world by changing the rules, then it's off to international arbitration with them.

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Venezuela rails at Exxon asset freeze "terrorism"
Fri Feb 8, 2008 - Venezuela accused Exxon Mobil of legal "terrorism" on Friday after the giant oil company won court orders freezing $12 billion of the major crude supplier's assets in a dispute at the heart of a worldwide fight for control of natural resources.

Venezuela's oil minister Rafael Ramirez vowed to overturn the rulings, reassuring investors they had little impact on the supplies, operations or cash flow of the state oil company, PDVSA, which has close to $100 billion in assets. He said Exxon hoped to destabilize the government of anti-American President Hugo Chavez by using the legal battle over the nationalization of an Exxon project to create panic about the OPEC nation's finances.

Exxon, which last week reported the largest ever profit by a U.S. company, sought the freeze to guarantee repayment should it win arbitration over compensation for the project seized in a wave of Chavez takeovers last year. Industry analysts said the legal attack was also a tactic to establish a negotiating position over compensation. But Ramirez dismissed a $12 billion demand as "ridiculous."

Exxon "aims to subject us to a situation of judicial terrorism, of legal terrorism," Ramirez told reporters. "We are not going to back down, we are going to beat them in this battle." The escalation of the dispute between the world's largest oil company and Chavez, a leading proponent of resource nationalism, helped lift oil prices due to investors' concerns over sales from the No. 4 exporter to the United States.

More Venezuela rails at Exxon asset freeze terrorism | International | Reuters

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Chavez checked...

Exxon legal tactics could corner Chavez
Fri Feb 8, 2008 - Exxon Mobil Corp's no-holds-barred legal fight against Venezuela may force President Hugo Chavez to settle the dispute over assets that the South American leader seized from the giant U.S. oil company last year.

Exxon won temporary court orders in Britain, the Netherlands and the Caribbean freezing assets worth up to $12 billion and another order in New York locking up $315 million in funds controlled by state-run oil company PDVSA in a U.S. bank. A U.S. court will hear arguments regarding its injunction at a hearing scheduled for next Wednesday in New York, and a London court will hold a hearing on February 22.

The rulings prevent Venezuela from selling many of its assets and could damage its ability to conduct international business, since its business partners might worry they could get dragged into the dispute, legal experts and lawyers said. With Venezuela's ability now to run a major business through financial centers in New York and London in question, Chavez may be forced to take a softer stance with the largest U.S. oil company.

"It's a tremendous comfort, a security blanket, for Exxon. It also gives Venezuela an incentive to get this over with," said Anthony Sabino, professor of law at St. John University's Tobin College of Business. The aggressive legal moves by Exxon are the latest salvo in the battle between oil companies and Venezuela, which last June seized control of the oil development projects there, forcing the companies to sell it majority stakes or leave the country.

More Exxon legal tactics could corner Chavez | Special Coverage | Reuters

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Chavez in '08: The Rhetoric Continues
February 04, 2008 - Despite having lost his attempt to rewrite Venezuela's constitution to strengthen his grip on the oil-rich country, President Hugo Chavez shows little sign of easing off on his anti-American rhetoric.

On a recent edition of his weekly radio and television show, Chavez urged his regional allies to line up against "the empire" -- his standard term for the United States. "Nicaragua, Bolivia, Cuba, Venezuela and now Dominica should form a joint defense strategy, and to unite our air force, army, navy, National Guard, cooperation forces, intelligence agencies, because the enemy is the same -- the empire," he said. Close ally and fellow leftist, Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega, a guest on Chavez' show, declared that a U.S.-armed assault against Venezuela would be deemed an attack on the rest of Latin America and the Caribbean.

"Touching Venezuela is setting the region on fire," Venezuela's ABN news agency quoted Ortega as saying. "No one will stand still." Chavez frequently airs the theory that Washington is plotting against him. "Despite not having conventional or unconventional capabilities to defeat the U.S. directly, Chavez remains a serious threat to the United States," Timothy M. Snyder, a fellow at the Graduate Department of Defense and Strategic Studies at Missouri State University, said in a recent analysis.

"By expanding his influence in the region, and now the wider world, Chavez is steadily compromising U.S. security and primacy," Snyder argued. He said the U.S. could present a regional alternative to Chavez if it "even partially returns its focus" to Latin America. "Many leaders in the region have dislike Chavez and his revolutionary rhetoric, but cannot turn down his investment in their debts and his discounted energy prices," Snyder said.

According to Prof. Norberto Emmerich, political and foreign affairs specialist at the Universidad de Belgrano in Buenos Aires, the U.S. government is concerned about Chavez, "not for his concrete politics, but because of his leadership and rhetoric."

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Guess his threat kinda backfired...

Oil prices fall after Venezuela threat
Mon February 11, 2008 - Oil retreats after spiking on Venezuelan threat to cut off sales to the U.S.; Threat came after legal moves by Exxon Mobil to seize some state assets; Exxon taking action after nationalization of a multibillion dollar oil project by Chavez

Oil prices fell Monday, retreating after spiking to almost $93 a barrel on Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's threat to cut off oil sales to the United States in retaliation for legal moves by Exxon Mobil to seize some of his country's assets. Light, sweet crude for March delivery lost 37 cents to $91.40 a barrel in Asian electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange by late afternoon in Singapore, after earlier rising as high as $92.71 a barrel in the after-hours session.

The spike came after Chavez on Sunday accused the Irving, Texas-based oil company of acting in concert with Washington, and vowed that "the outlaws of Exxon Mobil will never again rob us." Exxon Mobil has gone after the assets of Venezuelan state oil company Petroleos de Venezuela in U.S., British and Dutch courts in challenges to 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, turning his words to U.S. President Bush. "Do you know how? We aren't going to send oil to the United States. Take note, Mr. Bush, Mr. Danger." The March contract on Friday had jumped $3.66 to settle at $91.77 a barrel amid other supply concerns.

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Venezuela unlikely to follow through on oil threat
Mon Feb 11, 2008 - Venezuela is unlikely to follow through on its threat to halt oil exports to the United States over the OPEC nation's dispute with Exxon Mobil (XOM.N: Quote, Profile, Research) because the move would choke off its main source of revenue.

The largest U.S. company has won court rulings in Britain, the Netherlands, the Netherlands Antilles and New York, freezing over $12 billion of Venezuela's overseas assets to fight the nationalization of a multibillion-dollar oil project last year.

But experts say Chavez, a harsh critic of President George W. Bush, would gain little by cutting off his oil-reliant nation from its main buyer.

"We do not believe that there is any real threat that Venezuela will disrupt crude and product exports to the U.S.," said Societe Generale in a research note.

"Venezuela is too dependent on oil export revenues, and the U.S. is by far its biggest market."

More Venezuela unlikely to follow through on oil threat | Special Coverage | Reuters

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Looks like he's makin' good on his threat, look for a spike in gas prices...

Venezuela breaks ties with Exxon
Wednesday, 13 February 2008, Venezuela's state oil company stops selling crude oil to Exxon Mobil, amid a legal row between the two giants.

President Hugo Chavez has said he will no longer do business with Exxon which he says is not welcome in Venezuela. Exxon wants compensation following the nationalisation of a project in Venezuela's largest oil reserve. The firm receives only about 2% of its supply from Venezuela, but PDVSA's decision could cause it problems.

Frozen assets

This is a fight between two giants - Exxon Mobil, the world's largest private oil firm, versus Venezuela's state energy company. A recent court ruling freezing some Venezuelan assets in the country's Orinoco Belt, pending arbitration has outraged President Hugo Chavez. He has accused Exxon of plundering the nation's resources, claiming their action is part of a wider economic war backed by the US government.

Mr Chavez has retaliated by cutting oil supplies to the company as well as all commercial relations. The amount is not huge. But the move does put an end to any hopes the company had of negotiating with Venezuela and returning to future projects. Meanwhile, Mr Chavez is still threatening to cut supplies to the United States if Venezuelan interests are adversely affected by legal action.

BBC NEWS | Business | Venezuela breaks ties with Exxon

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U.S. expects Venezuela to respect int'l law on Exxon
Wednesday, February 13, 2008 WASHINGTON -- The United States expects the Venezuelan government to respect international law in dealing with the court battle between Exxon Mobil Corp and the Venezuelan state-controlled oil company, a State Department spokesman said on Monday.

State Department spokesman Sean McCormack spoke after Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez threatened to cut off oil sales to the United States over the court fight.

"There's a commercial aspect to this, in that there is an ongoing legal process, between Exxon and the government of Venezuela. That should proceed and be resolved on the basis of existing and accepted international laws and standards. We would expect the government of Venezuela would respect those laws and standards in dealing with Exxon," McCormack told reporters.

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Maybe he tryin' to get all their cocoa paste?

Chavez threatens to seize control of Venezuela's largest food producer
18 Feb 2008, President Hugo Chavez threatened on Sunday to seize control of businesses caught hoarding products, and set his sights on Empresas Polar - Venezuela's largest food producer and distributor.

If officials discover that companies sit on goods for months to later sell them at inflated prices, they "should be seized and taken under government control," Chavez said. He called Polar a "clear example" of a business that could be taken over.

The Venezuelan leader's threats came as the country struggles with sporadic shortages of some basic foods, including sugar, cooking oil, milk, black beans, eggs and chicken. Chavez - a close ally of Cuban leader Fidel Castro - has made similar threats in the past. No such takeovers have occurred so far, however, and Venezuela continues to have many private supermarkets and food distributors.

Representatives of Polar could not immediately be reached for comment, and its offices were closed on Sunday. The company has denied hoarding goods in the past, saying it hopes to work with the government to fight shortages. Owned by Venezuelan billionaire Lorenzo Mendoza, Polar started out as a brewery in 1941 and gradually diversified to become the South American country's leading producer and distributor of food.

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Deflatin' Chavez's balloon...

Castro's Exit Could Impact Chavez' Anti-US Project
February 20, 2008 - Hugo Chavez, the Latin American leader who seemed to take on Fidel Castro's mantle, paid his respects Tuesday to Cuba's outgoing communist dictator, amid speculation about the future of a regional anti-U.S. alliance.

Castro's decision to stand down as president and commander-in-chief was a lesson to those who accuse "men like Fidel" of grasping to power desperately, said Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. Castro, the ailing 81-year-old, has been in power for 49 years, since seizing power in an armed insurrection. In mid-2006 he took a back seat to his brother Raul while recovering from surgery.

On Tuesday, Castro said in a statement broadcast on Cuban media that he would not be available for another term as president when lawmakers meet on Sunday to choose leaders of the ruling Council of State. His 76-year-old brother, Raul, has been caretaker president for 19 months and is expected to continue to head the government. "The people of Cuba have shown the world, and above all the Empire [the United States], that the Cuban revolution does not depend on one person," Chavez said while attending the inauguration of a hospital in northern Miranda state.

Castro would remain "in the vanguard" of the revolution, Chavez said. "Men like Fidel do not retire." Chavez, who has himself been accused by critics of trying to hang on to power - a failed referendum last December undercut his plan to end presidential term limits - has become Cuba's main economic sponsor and diplomatic ally. He has often said Castro is "like a father" to him.

Regional implications

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In Little Little Havana, Not Quite as Much of a Cuban Feel
February 21, 2008 - As might be expected, Fidel Castro’s retirement announcement on Tuesday occasioned much reflection on the past, many wistful remembrances of happier times and different eras in this town at the heart of the nation’s largest Cuban community outside South Florida.

As might not be expected, the subject was often not Cuba. It was Union City. Mr. Castro’s announcement was certainly big news for many people in what is sometimes called Little Little Havana, where at its peak more than 90 percent of the businesses on the main drag of Bergenline Avenue were Cuban-owned. And so the television trucks and reporters from as far away as the newspaper from Catalonia, Spain, descended on Pan Con Todo, Las Americas and El Artesano, local restaurants where people gather for Cuban fries, pan con bistec, cafe Cubano and dulce de leche.

These days, though, locals are as likely to be found at the Noches de Colombia restaurant or the Euro Barcelona bakery. They might wander into the Oro Italiano jewelry store where Daniel Perez, the Puerto Rican Muslim behind the counter, greeted Marcial Villanueva, who is from Peru and stopped by after leaving work. They might shop at the Chinese-owned Glory Shoes, the Shanghai Comforter Import Company or one of the many storefronts where immigrants send money back home to Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador.

Union City is still a vital, bustling center of Latin culture. Even the sign for Joe’s Pizza promises “Pollos a la Brasa.” But once dominated by Cubans, it is now a hodgepodge of the Latin, and sometimes Asian, diasporas. It’s not quite New Jersey’s answer to Little Italy, a place defined by what it once was. Still, ask Victor Bas, who owns El Waterloo clothing, the store his father opened in 1967, about things now and he shrugs: “There’s a lot of ‘used to be’ around here.”

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Chavez provoking Columbia...

Venezuela 'sends tanks to border'
Sunday, 2 March 2008, Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez orders tanks to the border with Colombia after it kills a rebel Farc commander.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is sending thousands of troops and tanks to the border with Colombia, marking a sharp escalation in regional tensions. Speaking on his weekly television show, President Chavez also said Venezuela's embassy in Colombia would close. Mr Chavez said he was reacting to the "cowardly murder" of a leading Farc rebel by Colombian forces in a raid just inside Ecuador on Saturday.

Later, Ecuador recalled its ambassador to Bogota in protest at the incursion. Raul Reyes and at least 16 other rebels were killed in the operation, which took place about 1.8km (one mile) inside Ecuadorean territory.

'Invasion'

Mr Chavez has been mediating with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia - or Farc - to secure the release of hostages the rebels hold, and six have so far been freed under this initiative.

More BBC NEWS | Americas | Venezuela 'sends tanks to border'

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Chavez warns of "war" if Colombia strikes Venezuela
Saturday, 1 Mar 2008 - President Hugo Chavez warned Colombia on Saturday it would be a "cause for war" if its forces struck inside Venezuelan territory as they did in Ecuador killing a top Colombian rebel commander there.

"Don't be thinking that you can do that here ... because it would be extremely serious and would be a causa belli, a cause for war, (if there is) a military incursion in Venezuelan territory. There's no excuse," Chavez said in his most belligerent comments to date in a diplomatic dispute with Bogota.

Colombia's military said troops killed Raul Reyes, a leader of Marxist FARC rebels, during an attack on a jungle camp in Ecuador in a severe blow to Latin America's oldest guerrilla insurgency. The operation included air strikes and fighting with rebels across the border. Chavez has been at odds with U.S.-backed Colombian President Alvaro Uribe over the Venezuelan's mediation with the FARC, or the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, over the release of hostages held by the rebels.

The outspoken, anti-U.S. Chavez has called Uribe a pawn of the United States in the superpower's plans to attack Venezuela. Colombia and the United States deny the accusation from Chavez who regularly says without providing evidence that Washington is plotting his ouster. Chavez has withdrawn his ambassador from Bogota and in recent weeks insulted Uribe during his speeches.

Chavez warns of war if Colombia strikes Venezuela | International | Reuters

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Chavez supportin' terrorists...

Colombia: Chavez Funding FARC Rebels
Mar. 3, 2008 - Colombian Police: Dead Rebel's Laptop Shows Venezuela, Ecuador Supporting Leftist Guerrillas

Venezuela and Ecuador sought Monday to make Colombia pay a high diplomatic and economic price for killing a leftist rebel leader in the Ecuadorean jungle _ expelling its diplomats, ordering troops to the border and largely halting trade at key points along the frontier. But Colombia quickly struck back, revealing what it said were incriminating documents seized from the rebel camp that suggest its neighbors have been secretly supporting the rebels' deadly insurgency.

And in a tit-for-tat move, Venezuela later displayed the laptop of a slain drug trafficker, which it said contained information implicating Colombia's national police chief in the cocaine trade. Colombia's national police chief said the documents show Venezuela recently paid $300 million to the rebels, among other financial and political ties that date back years, and that high-level meetings have been held between rebels and Ecuadorean officials.

And this shocker: Colombia says some documents suggest the rebels have bought and sold uranium. "When they mention negotiations for 50 kilos of uranium this means that the FARC are taking big steps in the world of terrorism to become a global aggressor. We're not talking of domestic guerrilla but transnational terrorism," Gen. Oscar Naranjo said at an explosive news conference.

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Peru warns Chavez...

Peru warns Venezuela against funding leftists
Mon March 17, 2008 - Peruvian Cabinet chief tells Venezuela not to fund leftist groups "under the table"; Two Peruvians involved with local pro-Venezuela groups arrested; Congressional probe into local groups concludes foreign funding likely

Peruvian Cabinet chief Jorge del Castillo is warning Venezuela against providing "under the table" funding for leftist groups in Peru. The warning on Monday comes after police arrested two Peruvians involved with local pro-Venezuela groups attempting to carry $150 million into the country from Ecuador.

Last week, a congressional investigation into local groups supporting Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's anti-U.S. regional trade bloc concluded that foreign funding for the groups is likely.

Del Castillo says Peru will not tolerate such foreign meddling and would exercise its "right to defend its sovereignty" if the accusations are confirmed.

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Granny says Hugo needs to lay off the coca paste...

Hugo Chavez Nationalizes Cement Industry
April 4, 2008 - Venezuelan Leader Says Move Necessary To Supply Materials To Solve Housing Shortage

President Hugo Chavez ordered the nationalization of Venezuela's cement industry, saying his government cannot allow businesses to continue exporting raw materials needed to help tackle a domestic housing shortage. Speaking during a nationally televised address Thursday, Chavez said the affected cement companies, which include Mexico's Cemex SAB, France's Lafarge SA and Switzerland's Holcim Ltd, will be paid fair compensation in the state takeover.

"We are going to prepare a plan to modernize these cement plants," he said. Chavez, who says he is leading Venezuela toward "21st century socialism," said the nationalization would take place in the "short term," but did not provide specific dates. Chavez spent much of 2007 promoting his revolutionary vision of a new Venezuela, and he began by nationalizing the country's electricity, telecommunications, natural gas and oil industries.

But Chavez began toning down his rhetoric after a stinging electoral defeat in December, when his opponents voted down proposed reforms that would have allowed him to enshrine his socialist agenda in Venezuela's Constitution and push forward with an agenda for revolutionary change. Thursday's takeover order represents his most radical nationalization move since then. Most of the cement market in this South American country, which has suffered from a severe housing shortage for decades, is supplied by foreign companies.

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