Venezuela Seeks Pacts With Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Others

[NNN0LHI]

http://allafrica.com/stories/200501180914.html

Venezuela has stepped up a campaign to strike deals with foreign state-run oil companies, including the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), following disagreements with private oil majors that have operated in the country for years.

Last week a 15-person delegation from the Iranian oil ministry is in the country, looking for opportunities in the natural gas and petrochemicals industry.

Next week a Venezuelan delegation will travel to Qatar for more talks on natural gas. An NNPC delegation may also visit the country seeking to strike a deal on behalf of the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC), the crude oil exploration unit of the NNPC.

According to Venezuela's Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez, years of talks with other state-managed oil firms, in particular from other Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) will bear fruit shortly. snip

Chavez envisions a "multi-polar" world free of U.S. political, economic and military dominance. Late last year he traveled to Iran, Russia, Qatar, Libya and China to expand energy relations.

more

[Leilani]

1. During the Rice hearings today, Senator Linc Chafee

criticized Bush Admin's policy towards Venezuela & Chavez. He had just returned from a trip there.

[IndianaGreen]

2. a "multi-polar" world free of US political, economic & military domination

Chavez envisions a "multi-polar" world free of U.S. political, economic and military dominance.

Chavez also dropped the dollar and adopted the Euro. These are the crimes for which Chavez has been criticized by such champions of freedom like Condi Rice and John Bolton.

[UL_Approved]

3. This is the economic distancing of the United States

This is the trend we will see in the coming months and years. The United States is becoming too great of a liability to other nations, and is being abandoned for export agreements. This is something that is going to get attention.

The part of the article that is telling:

"Chavez envisions a "multi-polar" world free of U.S. political, economic and military dominance. Late last year he traveled to Iran, Russia, Qatar, Libya and China to expand energy relations."

If the United States won't negotiate or trade, then we will be left out of the world. This is why diplomacy is so very important.

[rodeodance]

4. and is one reason why Condi/BushCo deride him-he plays hardball

with the US instead of being a puppet.

[bemildred]

5. More stunning foreign policy success for the Bushites.

Most telling is their apparent impotence to do anything about Hugo,
who is pursuing his agenda with considerable energy at this point,
no longer being distracted with internal and external attempts to
thwart his "Bolivarian Revolution". Meanwhile the Bushites, harried
within and without, tied down and bleeding in Iraq like Gulliver in
Lilliput, can do nothing except try to stir up a little feckless
trouble with Colombia, which is far more likely to bring Uribe down
than to inconvenience Venezuela.

[hector459]

6. We now know for sure that the Bush regime will try to unsead Chavez

another democratically elected So. Amer. leader just as we did with any left-leaning, anti-poverty, anti-captalist, for his own people leader in the past. I have also come to the conclusion that one reason for the US hell-bent swing to the right is that so many of the oligarchy of the countries where democratically elected leaders have come into power have fled their countries and come to the US where they can feel comfortable and privileged among the oligarchy in power here. These people are driven by self-agrandizement, disrespect for others, and disdain for the poor. Many fled EU after WWII and settled in many So. American countries as well as the US. In So. America they were able to easily subjugate the masses, take over the financial institutions, and natural resources, and establish mega food companies using native, almost slave labor. They are now the majority in this country but hidden from public view. They live in gated communities and recently developed communities throughout the west, south, and mid-west. Their money talks and controls our government. this explains, to me, why Castro, Chavez, will probably meet the same fate as Torrijos, Allende, Arbenz. Anyone who come into power, either by force or true democratic elections, who does not support the oligarchy or the US, is immediately labelled a dictator, tyrant and we begin to work to sow the seeds of dissension among the populace which keeps that country in a state of chaos.

Chavez is such a person. We tried to overthrown him twice and failed. Now he is as hated by Washington as Castro in Cuba who was able to thwart an invasion supported by us. The picture is pretty damn clear.