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April 2005
Apr 30, 2005 News
Posted: Saturday, April 30, 2005
¤ Bush Runs From A Big Fluffy Cloud
¤ N-Korea calls President Bush a 'hooligan’
¤ No one bats an eyelid when the leader gets 110 per cent of the vote
¤ The Pot, the Kettle, the Black Stuff
¤ 'Swindler on a gusher'
¤ Blast, shooting rock Cairo
¤ Vietnam remembers victory over US
¤ U.S. contracting firm accused of bilking millions
¤ Afghan airstrike kills 3 civilians, 4 militants
¤ Tsvangirai's Big Head Has No Sanity - Mugabe
¤ Jaafari's Government Falling Apart, Already?!
¤ The enemy of my enemy is my friend
¤ Fresh attacks roil Iraq; at least 11 killed
¤ Lesson from a Total Defeat for the US
¤ Gaza and the Fragmentation of Palestinian Nationhood
¤ The Bush - DeLay Axis
¤ Fox News vs. Hugo Chavez
¤ Never-Ending Double Standards
¤ Another Mad Bush Press Conference
¤ Putin Pussyfoots in Palestine
¤ Lawyer Who Told of US Abuses at Afghan Bases Loses UN Post
¤ Why Are Reporters Playing it Safe Where Bush is Concerned?
¤ Reservist killed by friendly fire, not by Palestinian taxi
¤ US and Italy clash over shooting
¤ Sudan becomes US ally in 'war on terror'
¤ 17 bombs greet new Iraqi cabinet
¤ Insurgents Unleash 17 Bombs in Iraq
¤ Sunnis barred from top ministries
¤ Oh, What a Lovely War
¤ Is is just me or ...
¤ Scores killed in Iraq blasts
¤ Buried Treasure
¤ Marine hung 'death sign' by bodies, witnesses testify
¤ Will Colombia Be the Proxy in a US Attack on Venezuela?
¤ Washington Beating War Drums
¤ Dead Iraqis
¤ Global competition for future energy supplies heats up
Apr 29, 2005 News
Posted: Friday, April 29, 2005
¤ Iraq's hostage cabinet
¤ Bush's Press Conference: Little News, One Big Problem
¤ Guantanamo interrogations 'faked'
¤ Beware mistyping Google
¤ History lost in dust of war-torn Iraq
¤ A Story from Occupied Palestine: A moment that changed my life
¤ Bush's Fixer
¤ The Blundering Actions of a Desperate Man
¤ Cuban, Venezuelan Leaders Woo Latin American Nations to Trade Pact Minus U.S.
¤ Castro, Chavez Relish 'Axis of Subversion' Label
¤ Rice in Colombia
¤ War, Aid and Public Relations
¤ Rice Calls for Acceleration of Democracy
¤ Venezulean leader: U.S. citizens oppressed
¤ Bush sees progress in Iraq
¤ Insurgents strike across Iraq, killing at least 41 people
¤ Insurgents Strike Across Iraq, Killing 50
¤ Insurgent Attacks in Baghdad Kill 20
¤ Multiple car bomb blasts rock Iraq
¤ Life 'worse' for Iraqi women
¤ Amnesty: Torture continuing in Iraq
¤ Defending the 'Good' Done in Iraq
¤ Incoming cloud forces Bush into safe bunker
¤ White farmer found guilty of throwing black worker to lions
¤ A necessary reaffirmation of ties
¤ Syria now - Israel next?
¤ 'Hello? Chavez Here, Imperialists Want Our Oil'
¤ Death sentence for US soldier who killed officers
Duped by Bush: the Persistent Vegetative State of America
Posted: Thursday, April 28, 2005
Slowly, like a person emerging from a coma, around fifty percent of the American people are dimly realizing their president is a pathological liar. Most, however, have not gleaned the whole truth and nothing but the truth—Bush is not only a pathological liar, he is also a mean-spirited sociopath, a warmonger and former executioner (who gleefully mocked the condemned), and has contempt for most people, that is to say the vast majority of Americans who are not his "base," in other words the stinking rich plutocrats who believe they have the right to steal at gunpoint (or cruise missile or bunker buster point).
Full Article : trinicenter.com
US Wants to Sell Israel 'Bunker-Buster' Bombs
Posted: Thursday, April 28, 2005
The Bush administration has proposed providing Israel with 100 "bunker-buster" bombs capable of destroying underground targets, a move seen as sending a message to Iran to halt its nuclear program.
The Pentagon on Tuesday notified Congress of the possible sale of 5,000lb GBU-28 bombs, developed during the 1991 Gulf war to destroy Saddam Hussein's hardened command centers. Congress has 30 days to object.
Full Article : commondreams.org
Apr 28, 2005 News
Posted: Thursday, April 28, 2005
¤ A Match Made in Petroleum
¤ Blix Insists There was No Firm Weapons Evidence
¤ The Draft: Between Iraq and a Hard Place
¤ Lesson of Abu Ghraib? Whatever
¤ On Abu Ghraib, the Big Shots Walk
¤ Chavez has US running scared over rise of Left
¤ Annan warns against strike on Iran
¤ Stirring the ethnic pot
¤ Democratic backlash
¤ Giuliana Sgrena Blasts U.S. Cover Up
¤ Duped by Bush: the Persistent Vegetative State of America
¤ An obvious trail of slime
¤ Venezuela's battle to aid its impoverished
¤ U.S.: Abu Ghraib Only the "Tip of the Iceberg"
¤ Blow to Bush as Bolton panel widens its inquiry
¤ Iraq insurgency gathers pace
¤ The government's secret legal advice on Iraq war
¤ Democracy in the dark
¤ Families prepare Iraq war indictment
¤ Blair accused of 'gross deception' as Goldsmith's advice is published
¤ I never lie, says Blair
¤ The Government We’re Stuck With
¤ CIA's Final Report No WMD Found in Iraq
¤ Superjumbo completes maiden flight
Apr 27, 2005 News
Posted: Wednesday, April 27, 2005
¤ Were 5 Unarmed and Wounded Iraqi's Murdered By U.S. Marines?
¤ Political stalemate returns, delays Iraqi announcement
¤ Bush's Iraq Poker Game
¤ L'Affair Bolton
¤ Falluja is emerging as the decade's monument to brutality
¤ Bush's Handholding with the Saudis
¤ Americans growing weary of Iraq war
¥ Just imagine how the Iraqi's are feeling.
¤ Iraqi death toll spirals upwards
¤ Bush Lays Out Energy Plan As Prices Soar
¤ They shoot journalists, don't they?
¤ Militarism and failed states
¤ The 'T' Word
¤ Italian journalist challenges U.S. report clearing soldiers
¤ 'Bush hides the truth about terror, torture'
¤ Is Rumsfeld responsible for torture?
¤ Iraq cabinet formed
¤ Palestinian, Israeli killed in West Bank
¤ Dead Israeli shot by his comrades
¤ Halliburton Overcharges Top $212 Million
¤ Iran 'Will Be Dealt With,' Bush Says
¤ Sri Lanka Bus-Train Collision Kills Dozens
¤ 50 killed in Sri Lanka train-bus collision
¤ US admits Iraq insurgency undiminished
¤ Another War With North Korea?
¤ Myers admits the U.S. failed to kill the Iraqi resistance
¤ Gun Control and Genocide
¤ The Mongol devastations
¤ Italy will not sign off on report
¤ Berlusconi: US-Italy inquiry not done
¤ Weapons of Mass Deception
¤ Report on shooting in Iraq angers Italians
¤ US at least seizes Zarqawi's laptop
¥ Suuuure...............
The Nature of CIA Intervention in Venezuela
Posted: Wednesday, April 27, 2005
Philip Agee is a former CIA operative who left the agency in 1967 after becoming disillusioned by the CIA's support for the status quo in the region. Says Agee, "I began to realize that what I and my colleagues had been doing in Latin America in the CIA was no more than a continuation of nearly five-hundred years of this, exploitation and genocide and so forth. And I began to think about what, until then would have been unthinkable, which was to write a book on how it all works." The book, Inside the Company: CIA Diary, was an instant best-seller and was eventually published in over thirty languages. In 1978, three years after the publication of CIA Diary, Agee and a group of like-minded journalists began publishing the Covert Operations Information Bulletin (now Covert Action Quarterly), as part of a strategy of "guerilla journalism" aimed at destabilizing the CIA and exposing their operations.
Full Article : venezuelanalysis.com
Apr 26, 2005 News
Posted: Tuesday, April 26, 2005
¤ Intervention Spin Cycle
¤ The Nature of CIA Intervention in Venezuela
¤ Rice to Discuss Democracy in Venezuela
¥ Here they go again....
¤ Dubya doesn't like them "Mexicans down in Venezuela".
¤ Magic of the Yellow Emperor
¤ Mainstream Media and Bloggers
¤ Watch Out World: Al-Jazeera Is Going Global
¤ Lack of Democracy in the U.S.
¤ Evidence that the US May Be Losing the Global War on Terror
¤ US soldiers in Iraq rushed into battle with little training
¤ Syria notifies UN of complete pullout
¤ Three Sunni MPs quit Iraqi alliance
¤ Europe Invites the United States to Observe the Law
¤ Jerusalem will never be Israels capital- Hamas
¤ Italian hostage blasts US report
¤ Italian Opposition Slams U.S. Report on Iraq Killing
¤ 'Nothing': US WMD Inspector Finishes Iraq Work
Flashback ¤ Bush confident of finding banned Iraqi weapons
Flashback ¤ BUSH CLAIMS WMD's HAVE BEEN LOOTED
Flashback ¤ Iraqi Germ Plant Active
¤ Putin bangs drum for Russia's civilising mission
¤ Syrian intelligence chief abandons base
¤ Barbary apes out of Africa
¤ US prepares for nuclear stand-off with Pyongyang
¤ US says Iraqi insurgent threat grows again
¤ Report Finds No Evidence Syria Hid Iraqi Arms
¤ Bush's War on the Press
¤ LIFTING OF INDIAN ARMS EMBARGO ON NEPAL QUESTIONED
¤ Amnesty urges Israel to stop poisoning Palestinians’ livestock
¤ US court rejects appeal by 1991 Gulf war POWs
¤ Not quite Iraq's first Shia prime minister
¤ Iraq “Uptick,” Superpower Downtick?
¤ Global terrorism rates are higher than any time since 1985. Thanks, Dubya!
¤ Palestinian, Israeli killed in West Bank
¤ Troops who killed Italian did no wrong, U.S. says
¤ North Korea Says UN Sanctions a `Declaration of War'
¤ After 29 Years, Syrians Go Quietly
Apr 25, 2005 News
Posted: Monday, April 25, 2005
¤ New York Times Minimizes Palestinian Deaths
¤ Bush's Bully
¤ Marines From Iraq Sound Off About Want of Armor and Men
¤ US Takes Brakes Off Nuke Arms Race
¤ Bush Urges Saudis to Boost Oil Production
¤ 71 Killed in Japan Train Derailment
¤ U.S. Weapons Inspector Finishes Iraq Work
¤ Syria completes Lebanon withdrawal
¤ Mbeki and Palestinians extend courtship
¤ AND HE’S THE BAD GUY
¤ The Myth of U.S. Cultural, Religious, Political, and Social Superiority
¤ Venezuela to oil firms; accept sovereignty or leave
¤ The Persecution of Mordechai Vanunu
¤ 49 killed in Japan train crash
¤ Bombs kill 22 in twin attacks
¤ Mystery of Iraq's alleged oasis of death
¤ Chavez: U.S. Spreading Negative Image
¤ Girl soldiers: the forgotten victims of war
¤ UN investigator who exposed US army abuse forced out of his job
¤ Chavez Says Americans Detained For Taking Pictures of Venezuelan Military Facility
¤ Iraqis killed in market attacks
¤ British resident details torture in Guantanamo
¤ Four militants, Afghan soldier killed in clashes
¤ All's well that's Orwell
¤ For Whom the Bells Toll
¤ New Iraqi government still on hold
¤ Lebanon security chief resigns
¤ Rice and Cheney Are Said to Push Iraqi Politicians on Stalemate
GM industry puts human gene into rice
Posted: Sunday, April 24, 2005
Scientists have begun putting genes from human beings into food crops in a dramatic extension of genetic modification. The move, which is causing disgust and revulsion among critics, is bound to strengthen accusations that GM technology is creating "Frankenstein foods" and drive the controversy surrounding it to new heights.
Full Article : independent.co.uk
Apr 24, 2005 News
Posted: Sunday, April 24, 2005
¤ The emperor is perfectly naked
¤ Four Car Bombings in Iraq Leave 21 Dead
¤ Saudi Prince, Bush to Meet, Talk Issues
¤ Bush's Most Radical Plan Yet
¤ Blasts shake Iraq amid talk of deal
¤ Moussaoui says he's guilty, but not for 9/11
¤ IS HISTORY REPEATING ITSELF?
¤ Blair blow as secret war doubts revealed
¤ Rice changed terrorism report
¤ The Cheney link to Halliburton
¤ Five children killed in bomb blast
¤ Bombs Kill U.S. Sailor, Two Soldiers in Iraq
¤ Oil-rich Venezuela and Communist Cuba deepen alliance
¤ Ramadi, Madain, and the Infamous "Baath-Qaeda" Camp
¤ Balancing the Iraq Equation
¤ Tanks, bombs and bicycles: how America was humbled
¤ War isn't ‘winding down’
¤ Ex Soviet leader Gorbachev voices concern over US, Russian nuclear arsenals
¤ Terrified US soldiers are still killing civilians with impunity, while the dead go uncounted
¤ Insurgent Violence Escalates In Iraq
¤ Goldsmith told Blair 'war could be illegal'
¤ Bombings Near Iraq Police Academy Kill 6
¤ Israeli army 'lied' about Miller death
¤ Pope 'obstructed' sex abuse inquiry
¤ Thai bomb kills police near border
¤ Blasts as stalemate halts Iraqi cabinet
¤ GM industry puts human gene into rice
¤ April fools' month
¤ Israeli government has a policy of murdering its opponents
¤ Iran accuses West of bullying over nuclear programme
¤ Syria Pullout From Lebanon Almost Complete
¤ Benedict XVI Formally Installed As Pope
Apr 23, 2005 News
Posted: Saturday, April 23, 2005
¤ U.N. Rights Body Ignores Major Abuses
¤ Time's Buried Hitler Cover
¤ Asia, Africa Pledge Closer Ties at Summit
¤ The Anti-Japanese Demonstrations in China
¤ Pakistan will never allow IAEA to inspect nuclear facilities: Musharraf
¤ St. Petersburg 5-year-old cuffed after school outburst
¤ War in Iraq go on
¤ Tsunami, Humanity and the Saga of Canadian Documentary on "Terrorism" Myth
¤ Iraq Bomb Attacks Leave at Least 16 Dead
¤ Deposed Ecuador president headed to Brazil
¤ Blast kills Iraqi guardsmen
¤ Canada's Blind Eye to 'Torture'
¤ Halliburton ends Iraq contract one-year early amid surging violence
¤ Activists denounce Bush's silence on anti-Castro 'terrorist'
¤ Nuclear power? Yes please, says Blair
¤ An Army of the Unwilling
¤ Iraq's murky corpse mystery
¤ Hostage hoax
¤ US Middle East Policy: Heedless But Unequivocal
¤ Israel Guns for Iran
¤ MPs undermine Japanese apology to China
¤ 900,000-year-old ice may destroy US case on Kyoto
¤ WAR IS A RACKET
¤ The Doomed Empire
¤ Several killed in Iraq blasts
¤ US army clears top men on Abu Ghraib
¤ Blair made a pledge to the Iraqis once
Bush Calls for Alaska Oil Drilling
Posted: Friday, April 22, 2005
Bush Calls for Alaska Oil Drilling Implying Lower Dependence on Venezuela's Oil
U.S. President George W. Bush spoke before the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Conference on Tuesday, urging them to push Congress to approve oil exploitation in the Artic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) in Alaska. Describing U.S. dependence on foreign energy as a "foreign tax on the American Dream" and as a "matter of national security," Bush proposed that the United States expand its domestic energy production.
Alluding to his concerns over U.S. energy dependence on Venezuela, Bush said that drilling in the Alaskan reserves could produce up to one million barrels of oil a day and asked, "[d]o you realize that that's more than half of what we import each day from Venezuela, for example?"
Full Article : venezuelanalysis.com
Venezuela bans US military instructors
Posted: Friday, April 22, 2005
Venezuela has ordered US military instructors to stop working with its armed forces in an abrupt cessation of a 35-year-old bilateral military exchange programme.
A US official on Friday said four American military instructors and one student in Venezuela under the bilateral programme had been told to leave the bases and schools where they were working.
"The US embassy regrets this unexpected action. The US government hopes to maintain the historical fraternal relations between the two militaries," the US embassy said.
Full Article : aljazeera.net
Apr 22, 2005 News
Posted: Friday, April 22, 2005
¤ Is Condi Rice President Bush's Pet Negro?
¤ We're There and We Can't Get Out
¤ Let a Thousand Militias Bloom
¤ Too Much Media
¤ A Bumper Crop of Government-Produced 'News'
¤ The Secret's Out
¤ What next for Lebanon?
¤ Mbeki attacks "unfairness" of globalisation
¤ 2005 interview with Dread Wilme
¤ Car Bomb Kills Eight at Baghdad Mosque
¤ Gut Check
¤ They May be Murderers, but They’re Our Murderers
¤ Reality Can't be Altered or Ignored
¤ It's terror when we say so
¤ Many killed in Baghdad mosque blast
¤ Venezuela bans US military instructors
¤ Fresh bloodshed rocks Iraq as rebels set sights on Allawi
¤ Sharon vows to defy Bush over expansion of Israeli settlements
¤ Beijing makes friends and riches in Africa
¤ Ecuador's parliament removes president after popular uprising
¤ Senate OKs $81B for Iraq, Afghanistan
¤ 1000 Iraqis dying each month: expert
¤ Britain's Absurd Election
¤ The War in Iraq's Newest, Strangest Twist
¤ Iranians Volunteer for Attacks
¤ 'Iran: The Nuclear Threat'
¥ The U.S. has until June to lie about why they HAVE to invade Iran
¤ The Sales Pitch Begins -- Iran
¤ Crisis of staff in Russian Federal Security Service
¤ Car Bomb Blast Kills 8 in Shiite Mosque
¤ Koizumi apologises for Japan's past
¤ Bush backs his man for UN job as support wavers
¤ We marched then ... but what now?
¤ Lawyers resign over oil-for-food 'whitewash'
Is Condi Rice President Bush's Pet Negro?
Posted: Thursday, April 21, 2005
One African cultural attribute that lives on in this country’s Black community is the unlimited willingness of the village to attempt to defend and protect its own. Back in 1984, personalities as diverse as Vanessa Williams and Louis Farrakhan became targets of the larger society for wildly different reasons. Williams, as the first Black Miss America, was dethroned because explicit nude photographs of her were made public. Farrakhan was universally attacked because of allegations of anti-Semitism. Notwithstanding the controversies, America’s Africans opened their arms and embraced these celebrities, providing them with enough love and support for each to re-group and move on to face new challenges.
Full Article : trinicenter.com
Apr 21, 2005 News
Posted: Thursday, April 21, 2005
¤ Blair's forgotten victims
¤ Commercial Helicopter Shot Down in Iraq, 11 Dead
¤ Canadian Among Three Contractors Killed in Iraq
¤ US Company Has Chartered the Bulgarian Helicopter Downed in Iraq
¤ Kuwait bars Iraqi paper critical of US
¤ US confirms 6 Americans killed in Iraq
¤ Iraq government hits snag
¤ Iraq: The Trail of Disinformation
¤ Evidence points to 911 was executed by Mossad
¤ Rice Announces Presidential Run by Mistake
¤ Rumsfeld Seals The Deal On Military Bases To Launch Attack On Iran
¤ Killing Arabs for Israel in Iraq making US troops barbaric
¤ Nailing the Hammer?
¤ Benedict and George - We Are Not Leaving!
¤ Are We Safer?
¤ Militarism threatens to bankrupt U.S. economically and morally
¤ The New Pope and Journalism's Crisis of Faith
¤ Bush's X-Files
¤ Sharon's 92 Percent Solution
¤ Aristide Blames U.S. for Haiti Violence
¤ Iraq War Coverage Reminds Me of Vietnam
¤ Venezuela flexes oil muscle
¤ The Evil Eye and the World on Fire
¤ Aid Worker Uncovered America's Secret Tally of Iraqi Civilian Deaths
¤ The 100 Days of Abu Mazen
¤ The Normalization of War
¤ Kremlin disputes Rice's claim on US nuclear inspections
¤ Alleged kingpin in Guinea coup plot feared killed
¤ Italian PM bows to pressure to resign
¤ Many die in India train crash
¤ Ecuador Congress ousts president
¤ The War for Oil Real Video
¤ Fourteen killed after upsurge in violence
¤ Counting the dead in Iraq
¤ Put Down Your White Man's Burden, Support Iraqi Resistance
¤ Many Venezuelans join guerrilla armies, plan to fight
¤ 57 bodies fished out from Tigris river
¤ Arnie loses his hero status with voters after string of gaffes
Apr 20, 2005 News
Posted: Wednesday, April 20, 2005
¤ Massacre at Iraq football stadium
¤ Rice opposes 3rd term for Putin
¤ The new 'axis of evil'
¤ Land Central to struggle Mugabe
¤ Zimbabwe Opposition Cuts Ties with South Africa
¤ Why China is growing so fast
¤ Zimbabwe Doesn't Need Anglo-Americans to Validate Elections
¤ Allawi escapes assassination attempt
¤ US boosts pressure on China to float
¤ The ricin ring that never was
¤ As The Globe Spins: Editorial looks tough but lacks credibility
¤ Turkey awards Israeli company contract for army drones
¤ Rice arrives with new volley of criticism for Russia
¤ 24 die in Iraq suicide bombing, attacks
¤ Four Iraqis Killed in Insurgent Attacks
¤ Pope's election draws mixed reactions
¤ Bush's UN nomination hits snag
¤ Wash. Times wrongly claimed WMD report found Bush administration "did not distort" evidence
¤ CDC: Dangers of being overweight overstated
¤ Assassination intrigue lives on after Pope
¤ Even after Time's cover story, you still don't know "the real Ann Coulter"
¤ Media repeat anti-Soros propaganda by DeLay defenders
¤ Aid worker uncovered America's secret tally of Iraqi civilian deaths
¤ Casualties of Colonial Wars: Kenya and Iraq
¤ Before You Mindlessly Tie Another Yellow Ribbon Round That Old Oak Tree
Apr 19, 2005 News
Posted: Tuesday, April 19, 2005
¤ Immaculate Evasions
¤ Before the Law
¤ The Grim Reaper, Riding a Firetruck in Iraq
¤ Benedict XVI: German cardinal elected pope
¤ Obesity Danger May Have Been Overstated
¤ Berlusconi suffers fresh setback
¤ Attacks leave many dead in Iraq
¤ Australian media debates legalisation of torture
¤ Robotic troops symbolic of U.S. attitude in Iraq
¤ Who is Iraq’s new prime minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari?
¤ Sudan says "abundant" oil found in war torn Darfur
¤ Laying the Groundwork for War With Iran
¤ The ricin ring that never was
¤ Videos expose false arrests at 2004 Republican Convention protests in New York
¤ U.S. forces abuse and torture female detainees in Iraq
¤ Iraq Attacks Kill 12, Wound More Than 50
¤ Bush's iPod: Take Two
¤ Insurgents Kill at Least Eight People in Iraq
¤ Japan emerges as America's deputy sheriff in the Pacific
¤ Italy's Berlusconi Says He's Not Resigning
¤ Iraqi president will not sign death warrant for Saddam
¤ Suicide Car Bomb Kills Three in Baghdad
¤ America's Wealthy Waging Class War Against the Rest
¤ It's the problem of Moscow that Chechens are a free nation
¤ Iraq could become 'the biggest corruption scandal in history.
¤ The Real Oil-for-Food Scandal
¤ U.S. Military's Elite Hacker Crew
¤ The CIA's Kidnapping Ring
¤ The senseless death of the woman who fought George Bush
¤ First ballot fails to pick new pope
Apr 18, 2005 News
Posted: Monday, April 18, 2005
¤ Israel women trafficking soars
¤ Soldiers who killed Rafah youths didn't aim at legs
¤ When Media Dogs Don't Bark
¤ War Crimes - Have We Learned Anything?
¤ Blair and Adams Face the Polls
¤ The Killing of Nicola Calipari
¤ Sharon may delay Gaza withdrawal
¤ The New York Times in Fallujah
¤ 'Scrubbing reality'
¤ Complete Bully for U.N. Ambassador
¤ 'November 2008: The Democrats lose'
¤ Mugabe Rejects Western-Style Democracy
¤ Black Like... Who?
¤ It’s All A Big Haze
¤ Cuba requests independent probe into Guantanamo
¤ Shame on US(A)!
¤ Bonkers at the UN
¤ UN must reform or die, says Rice
¤ A Short History Of Us Vetoes Of Un Peace Resolutions
¤ U.N. peacekeepers fail to quell Haiti violence
¤ Us Planned Fake Terror Attacks To Create Support For Cuban War
¤ China refuses apology to 'hurtful' Japan
¤ Rebels kill 10 villagers in Nepal
¤ Berlusconi fights for his coalition
¤ Allure of the blank slate
¤ Licensed to kill?
¤ When the first shot is fired
¤ Sunni rebels threaten to kill hostages
¤ Elephant-dragon dance
¤ A kick in the pants...
¤ Tehran: Israel not in a position to attack Iran
¤ Remember Tiananmen Square!!
¤ Cardinals gather to choose a new pope
Apr 17, 2005 News
Posted: Sunday, April 17, 2005
¤ Gunbattle in Haitian capital leaves at least 5 dead
¤ Battlespace America
¤ Marburg Toll in Angola Balloons to 255
¤ Sent to Rescue Shiite Hostages, Iraqi Troops Find None
¤ The BBC: apologising to torturers
¤ Did Israel Frame Qaddafi In 1986?
¤ Fake letter stirs up clashes in southern Iran
¤ Chavez Frias rejects sectarianism and warns that CIA plans to stop him winning in 2006
¤ Israel's propaganda war on U.S. campuses
¤ Myth Of US Invincibility Floats In The Persian Gulf
¤ American aid worker killed by suicide bomber in Iraq
¤ Israel plans more lands seizure in Hebron
¤ U.S. propaganda machine beating democracy drum
¤ Our presidents and prime ministers are poseurs
¤ Bush’s Vision Of Arab Democracy Vs Two Reports
¤ A wall's a wall
¤ U.S Presidents New Best Friend Boils People Alive Graphic photos
¤ Violence flares as the Chinese rage at Japan
¤ Blair deal to hand power to Brown
¤ 150 hostages and 19 deaths leave US claims of Iraqi 'peace' in tatters
¤ Bush administration 'broke its own embargo to sell arms to Haiti police'
¤ Iraqi forces raid village in hostage crisis
¤ The real issues
¤ 'The Crusaders'
¤ Newspaper Editors Serve Bush Lame Questions
¤ 'U.S. propaganda machine beating democracy drum'
¤ US, Iraqi forces fight to enter town
¤ China rejects Japan apology demand
UN Trying to Carry Out Washington’s Agenda in Haiti
Posted: Saturday, April 16, 2005
The recent posture of the United Nations appears to be one that is finally yielding to United States pressure to be more forceful and "aggressive" in its "disarmament" efforts.
On March 16th, the Washington-based propaganda arm of Haiti's right-wing elite, the Haiti Democracy Project, released their "findings and recommendations" based on a February delegation to Haiti. With respect to MINUSTAH, the HDP characterized the UN mission as too "passive" and "neither aggressive enough nor sufficiently nuanced" in their approach to the occupation and in their ability to prop up the U.S.-installed regime of de facto Prime Minister Gérard Latortue.
Full Article : trinicenter.com
Apr 16, 2005 News
Posted: Saturday, April 16, 2005
¤ UN Trying to Carry Out Washington’s Agenda in Haiti
¤ Sharon: Kleptomania in Palestine to Continue
¤ One Zimbabwe or Another: An Interview with Greg Elich
¤ Paris hotel fire called accidental
¤ Africa deserve membership of the UN Security Council
¤ Declassified: Rogue State Britain
¤ Ramsey Clark says Saddam’s rights being violated
¤ Cuba rejects UN rights resolution
¤ At least 16 killed in Iraq attacks
¤ Free Speech...With Permission Only
¤ CAFTA will Further Depress US Wages
¤ Pope TV and the New World Media
¤ Is America Going Broke?
¤ What I Didn't See in Iraq
¤ Reports undercut Iraq, al-Qaeda link
¤ Emerging nations moving away from IMF, World Bank
¤ Illegal GM maize fear sparks EU ban on US animal feeds
¤ Iraqi insurgents turn up the heat
¤ Panicked China reins in rioters as anti-Japanese protests spread
¤ An Unjust War
¤ India’s bid for UNSC seat requires more discussion: Rice
¤ U.S. Stocks tumble as investors give up hope
¤ The Fall of Saigon 1975
¤ Battle in Chechen capital
¤ Terrorists in power
¤ Paris hotel blaze: death toll reaches 21
¤ Marburg fears in Zim
¤ How The CIA Looted $40 Billion Of Military Equipment From Iraq
Apr 15, 2005 News
Posted: Friday, April 15, 2005
¤ One Zimbabwe or Another
¤ Rice Hews to Diplomatic Approach on Iran
¤ Diplomacy, Bush Style
¤ Will the Real Minutemen Please Stand Up?
¤ Zimbabwe's opposition launches appeal over poll result
¤ Terrorists don't want WMDs
¤ Snag in shooting probe
¤ Iraq: Then And Now
¤ U.S. President George W. Bush is his consistency
¤ Wall St. Suffers Worst Day in Two Years
¤ Berlusconi's coalition faces crisis
¤ MINUSTAH, US Proxy. You can't contain Haiti
¤ Paris Hotel Fire Kills at Least 20 People
¤ Baghdad hit by fresh explosions
¤ U.N. Peacekeeper Killed in Haiti Gunfight
¤ A stick to beat Cuba
¤ Democracy in danger
¤ Complete Asshole for U.N. Ambassador
¤ Who's the Real WMD Threat?
¤ Chechen Minister Addresses UN Human Rights Body
¤ Why American Politics Has Gone Nuts
¤ Forget Iraq: Mexico may be our next big problem
¤ 31 killed in Iraq car bombings, attacks
¤ Iraq violence flares
¤ Blair's Last Stand?
¤ UN group condemns Israeli settlements
¤ Citizen Reserves to Defend Against 'External Aggression'
¤ Guantanamo Detainee Suing US to Get Video of Alleged Torture
¤ Venezuela Issues Extradition Request for Terrorist in U.S.
¤ Lebanon delays its election despite US demands
Apr 14, 2005 News
Posted: Thursday, April 14, 2005
¤ The coming showdown in Iran
¤ GIS CLEARED IN ITALIAN'S DEATH
¤ Australia, US against condemning Israel
¤ Contradictions of the Anti-War Movement
¤ Bush's Vision of Arab Democracy v. Two Reports
¤ U.S. Lethal Injection Executions Condemned
¤ Peacekeepers knowingly gunned down civilians in Congo
¤ Sudan Still Trying to Stop Darfur Violence
¤ Your ancestry might surprise you
¤ UK and US blamed in Iraq oil for food scandal
¤ Now, some good news from Africa
¤ Pandemic-causing 'Asian flu' accidentally released
¤ 15 killed in Baghdad suicide bombings
¤ Twin Car Bombings Kill 18 in Baghdad
¤ Nike publishes details of abuse at Asian factories
¤ Venezuela considers taxing oil firms
¤ Israel demolishes Palestinian homes
¤ How to Deal with a Threatening Island
¤ Iraq's Stockholm Syndrome
¤ Rumsfeld warns Iraqi regime not to purge US allies
¤ Millions More for the Billionaires in Ukraine
¤ The Sales Pitch Begins -- Iran
¤ Israel says Iran a few steps from the bomb
¤ In Fallujah, U.S. Envoy Greeted by Complaints
¤ Israeli Blackjack with Iran
¤ Deterring Iran
¤ The Undead
¤ Decoy roadside bomb lures 12 Iraqi policemen to their deaths
¤ US faces new claims of jail abuse
¤ Zimbabwe buys six fighter jets
¤ China and Japan in race for gas
Apr 13, 2005 News
Posted: Wednesday, April 13, 2005
¤ Connect These Dots
¤ US Takes the Lead in Trashing Planet
¤ End of Cheap Oil is a Blessing
¤ Karami quits again
¤ Israel demolishes Palestinian homes
¤ Secret Service visits art show at Columbia
¤ The sorry mess of the media
¤ Suicide car bomb hits US military convoy in Baghdad
¤ Italian Journalist: U.S. Lied
¤ On the Wrong Side of History
¤ 3,000 Killed in Chechnya Since 2000
¤ Don't be fooled by the spin on Iraq
¤ Rumsfeld Visits U.S. Troops in Afghanistan
¤ US traders on fraud charges
¤ Poland says forces in Iraq to leave in '06
¤ 'Talibanization' fears in Pakistan
¤ George's Amazing Alphabet Book
¤ Israel plays down dispute with US over settlements as Sharon meets Cheney
¤ Rumsfeld warns Iraqi regime not to purge US allies
¤ US mercenaries spill blood over Afghan opium
Sharon: Kleptomania in Palestine to Continue
Posted: Tuesday, April 12, 2005
"Looking ahead to prospects for peace after the July pullout, Sharon also said at a news conference with Bush that negotiations on a Palestinian state could begin only after President Mahmoud Abbas mounted a 'real war' against militants." Translation: so long as Palestinians insist on self respect and harbor dreams of their own state and maintaining a cultural heritage-in other words, so long as they refuse to pack up and leave or remain behind as "hewers of wood and drawers of water" for the racist Israelis (as predicted by Lord Curzon), they will be engaging in terrorism. In essence, what Sharon is asking for is a civil war-his capo Mahmoud Abbas and his CIA-trained paramilitaries against Palestinian nationalists, or those not yet rubbed out in targeted assassinations-a cataclysmic event that would put a smile on the face of every Jabotinsky Zionist in Israel.
Full Article : trinicenter.com
Russia shocks BP with demand for $1bn in back tax
Posted: Tuesday, April 12, 2005
BP's flagship investment project in Russia suffered a major and unexpected setback yesterday after its joint venture TNK-BP disclosed it had received a back tax bill for almost one billion dollars.
Full Article : independent.co.uk
Apr 12, 2005 News
Posted: Tuesday, April 12, 2005
¤ What Democracy? A Brief Look at U.S. Foreign Policy
¤ The Stolen Election audio collection: Vote Fraud is Real- Wake Up America
¤ US appears to have fought war for oil and lost it
¤ Rumsfeld Makes Another Visit to Iraq
¤ Russia shocks BP with demand for $1bn in back tax from oil venture
¤ U.S. Trade Deficit Hits All-Time High in February
¤ 'Iran a step away from uranium enrichment'
¤ Tehran to take legal action against U.S. for funding Iran opposition
Flashback ¤ The Bush Family's Murky Dealings in Venezuela
¤ Bush warns U.S. soldiers 'your work isn't over' in Iraq
¤ Sharon rejects US settlements warning
¤ Afghan pipeline project under review
¤ Let them eat bombs
¤ Unforgivable Blackness
¤ Africa coverage 'too negative'
¤ Many Iraqis killed in US air attack
¤ An Anniversary Worth Remembering
¤ Wave of protest challenges Putin
¤ The energy ties that bind India, China
¤ Africa, Islam and the next pope
¤ US says no deadline, no concessions for North Korea talks
¤ The invisible woman
¤ Coexisting with a Rising China?
¤ John Paul II's Balkan Legacy
¤ Sharon Dismisses Bush Warning
¤ Did Vaccinations Give Fatal Marburg To Angolan Kids?
¤ Bush support for settlements decried
¤ Bush backs Sharon's plan for settlements
¤ Hopes and fears of an Asian Union
¤ Democrats try to block Bush's man for UN job
Apr 11, 2005 News
Posted: Monday, April 11, 2005
¤ Mbeki says Zimbabwe criticism unfair
¤ Pope TV and the New World Media
¤ Oil, Geopolitics, and the Coming War with Iran
¤ Democratic Occupation
¤ Are Bush & Co. War Criminals?
¤ U.S. Contractor Kidnapped in Iraq
¤ Murderous Thugs
¤ Warlords get away with murder in Afghanistan
¤ Venezuela: Revolution in Progress
¤ President Chavez Frias calls for creation of military strategy unique to Venezuela
¤ Contempt for the Rest of Us
¤ Killing of three Gaza youths puts ceasefire under strain
¤ Apartheid party bows out with apology
¤ US accused of seizing Iraqi women to force fugitive relatives to give up
¤ Stop killing Iraqis, nationalists warn religious fanatics
¤ Revolt leader shot dead after stand-off with Haiti's police
¤ The fire that's smouldering under Bush
¤ China and Korea vent their fury at Japanese rewriting of history
¤ John Prendergast: Bush mistook me for Bono
¤ Sharon's Double-Dealing In The Middle East
¤ Israel Termed A 'Nuclear Power' By US Officials
¤ Propaganda and Disinformation: How the CIA Manufactures History
¤ WMD doomsday distractions
¤ Regime Change Was an Immoral Excuse for War
¤ Public Servants, My Foot
¤ It would be great…
¤ Israeli occupation forces raid Nablus
¤ US soldiers clash with Iraqi fighters
Apr 10, 2005 News
Posted: Sunday, April 10, 2005
¤ Iraqis protest American invasion
¤ US and Iraq lock up record number of suspects
¤ Americans Increasingly Reject Bush
¤ U.S. gives democracy a bad name, speaker says
¤ Tamihere ‘sick’ of Holocaust
¤ Intelligence Deception since Afghanistan!
¤ TV news buries Iraqi civilian deaths
¤ Bush rewards his failures
¤ Iraq attacks claim at least 31 lives
¤ Rights group decries proposed military doctrine that formalizes "enemy combatant" status
¤ Mr. Magoo Flying America into Disaster
¤ Glossing Over Israel's Human Rights Abuses
¤ Four killed in clashes with police in Haiti
¤ Afghan city mourns its lost children, looks back to Taliban
¤ Washington sought to suppress UN report on progress of democracy in Middle East
¤ Haiti rebel leader killed
¤ The People's Mall Destroyed By Fire
¤ How a 'Non' from France could throw Europe's future into crisis
¤ Fire and rage in the shadow of Abu Ghraib
¤ Looks count more than skills at work
¤ US 'smuggles wounded troops home' under cover of darkness
¤ Demonstrators in Iraq Demand That U.S. Leave
¤ Jordan's Opposition parties condemn two-year US occupation of Iraq
¤ Sharon casts aside 'road map'
¤ Amazing New Evidence Emerges in Oklahoma Bombing
¤ 29 killed on 2nd anniversary of Saddam's ouster
¤ Pakistani Diplomat Kidnapped in Iraq
¤ The human faces of Iraq's ordeal
¤ Palestinians gather to defend holy site
¤ The Fight for Liberation
Apr 09, 2005 News
Posted: Saturday, April 9, 2005
¤ The Vultures of Life
¤ Israeli Troops Kill 3 Palestinian Teen
¤ Thousands rally on second anniversary of Baghdad's fall
¤ Protests on anniversary of Saddam's fall
¤ How on earth do you celebrate a civil war?
¤ Shia protest over US presence in Iraq
¤ Attacks across Iraq kill many
¤ Taking advantage of ignorance
¤ AP Hides Fact U.S. propagandists staged fall of Saddam Hussein statue
¤ Torture Air, Incorporated
¤ The Price of Oil and the Bush Dollar
¤ Close encounters of a diplomatic kind
¤ US troops 'tried to smuggle cocaine'
¤ Fury as Prince Charles shakes hands with Mugabe
¤ U.S. Holds CBS Cameraman In Iraq
¤ Thousands protest U.S. on Baghdad anniversary
¤ Insurgents kill 15 Iraqi soldiers
¤ The Real Iraqi Election
¤ America is usurping the democratic will in Iraq
¤ Thousands protest U.S. on Baghdad anniversary
¤ UK 'sexed it up', admits intelligence chief
¤ Militants kill 13 in Algeria
¤ Cardinals Prepare for Conclave in Rome
¤ Israeli Troops Kill 2 Palestinian Youths
Fake Microsoft security updates circulate
Posted: Friday, April 8, 2005
An e-mail campaign designed to lure people to a bogus Microsoft Web site is making the rounds as part of an attempt to install a Trojan horse, antivirus company Sophos said Friday.
Attackers are sending out fake e-mails that claim to come from Microsoft's Windows Update. People who click on the link in the message are steered to a site that looks like Microsoft's security update site, where they are urged to download fake patches.
Full Article : news.zdnet.com
Apr 08, 2005 News
Posted: Friday, April 8, 2005
¤ Bush Rebuffed in Venezuela (Again)
¤ US urged to probe media deaths in Iraq
¤ Many killed in Algeria ambush
¤ Iraq blast kills rubbish collectors
¤ BushMath: 1 + 1 = minus $1.7 Trillion
¤ An Introduction to American StupidSpeak
¤ 'Where is the outrage?'
¤ Torture is Terrorism
¤ Fake Microsoft security updates circulate
¤ Outsourcing public security
¤ Israel is the Key to Bush's Iraq Strategy
¤ Big Lies, Blind Spies, and Vanity Fair
¤ Iraq blast kills rubbish collectors
¤ Bomb, Bomb, Bomb, Bomb, Bomb Iran
¤ Kyrgyzstan's Clan War
¤ Arms for the Poor
¤ A pathetic case of Pentagon incompetence.
¤ Ceremonial gaffe mars appointment of Iraqi Prime Minister
¤ Soldier Tries to Bring Iraq Family to U.S.
¤ Tsunami missing list reduced
¤ It was Gorbachev, not the Pope, who brought the system down
¤ Rio's 'monster' rises again in poor suburbs
¤ $29m payout for woman belittled and excluded by Wall Street boss
¤ America-India nexus
¤ Not Guilty! By Reason Of The Presidency!
¤ Original axis of evil: Colonial empires
¤ Annan says rights body harming UN, urges reform
¤ Zimbabwe poll result attacked by US embassy
¤ Sloppy Criticisms of Zimbabwe Elections
¤ Death Toll from Cairo Bazaar Bomb Rises to Three
Bush Rebuffed in Venezuela (Again)
Posted: Thursday, April 7, 2005
What A Difference Three Years Can Make
For George Bush the news could not have been worse. Having failed, according to credible accounts, to dislodge firebrand Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez by force in an April 2002 coup d'etat, Bush now must come to terms with the fact that Venezuela has cultivated strong European ties. That point was underscored this week when Spanish prime minister Jorge Luis Rodriguez Zapatero agreed to sell ten C-295 military transport planes, two CN-235 naval patrol planes and eight coastal patrol vessels worth 1.3bn euros ($1.7bn) to Venezuela.
Though both Zapatero and Chavez stated that the military equipment would be used to peacefully patrol land and sea borders and to prevent drug smuggling, and Zapatero also announced that he would donate three troop transport planes to Colombia, a close U.S. ally, the developments could not have pleased the Bush administration. The Spanish sale follows close on the heels of Venezuela's plans to purchase 100,000 AK-47 assault rifles and 22 helicopters from Russia. The US state department has accused Venezuela of sparking an arms race.
The rifles, claim U.S. diplomats, could wind up in the hands of the FARC, Colombia's left-wing rebels. Now, the Spanish sale is adding fuel to the fire. The Spanish sale surely did not come as a surprise to the U.S. As early as January the Spanish minister of Defense, José Bono, made what Zapatero termed a "discreet" visit to Caracas where the Spanish official discussed the arms sales with Chavez. Currently, the U.S. is trying its best to deal with the diplomatic fallout from the sales. American diplomats in Spain stated the U.S. "was worried" but had not "complained" to the Spanish government about the arms transfers. When asked to clarify the U.S. position on Spanish arms sales to Venezuela, Robert Zimmerman of the State Department's Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs commented delicately, "our concerns about arms sales to Venezuela are known to all the relevant parties."
Full Article : venezuelanalysis.com
Apr 07, 2005 News
Posted: Thursday, April 7, 2005
¤ Diamonds and Apartheid
¤ The United Vegetative States of America
¤ Who Forged the Niger Documents?
¤ Good Morning, Baghdad
¤ Bush and the lies about the weapons of mass destruction
¤ Iraq's New Kurd President Sworn In
¤ Un-Embed the Media
¤ Americans Alienate Indonesia
¤ In Bushworld, the Truth Hurts
¤ Bush won't raise thorny issues with PM Sharon in U.S. visit
¤ Chechnya fighting leaves eight dead
¤ The choice is not here
¤ Spain's seated uprising
¤ Politics in red robes
¤ Poorest nations lead global growth
¤ Republican Congress leader 'paid lobbying money to his family'
¤ Officials Ask Why Iraq Details Surface Now
¤ A pope of peace and Bush's war
¤ Who’s Better Off?
¤ Are Iraq’s Insurgents Losing?
¤ Yushchenko regime accused of colluding in cover-up
¤ The intellectual impoverishment of modern academia
¤ Coups at the ballot
¤ Musharraf is America's trump card in her plan to confront Iran
¤ As many as 18 dead in US helicopter crash
¤ Blix says war motivated by oil
¤ Where’s the Outrage?
¤ Google and Yahoo! accused of click fraud collusion
¤ The myth of an Israeli strike on Iran
¤ Survey: U.S. media censors Iraq reporting
Venezuela's Chavez: 'Oil is a Geopolitical Weapon'
Posted: Wednesday, April 6, 2005
By Nikolas Kozloff, www.coha.org
Over the past few weeks there have been some signs that Venezuela's president Hugo Chavez has backed down from his earlier confrontational posture towards Washington. According to the Venezuelan foreign minister, Chavez has no intention of reducing oil exports to the United States. The economic importance of oil in terms of Venezuelan-U.S. relations cannot be overstated. Venezuela is the fifth largest oil exporter in the world and the fourth largest supplier of oil to the United States after Canada, Mexico, and Saudi Arabia. Last year, Venezuela's state owned oil company, Petroleos de Venezuela (Pdvsa) accounted for 11.8% (1.52-million barrels a day) of U.S. imports.
Tensions have been bristling between the two nations ever since April 2002 when Chavez, the democratically elected president, was briefly removed from power in a coup. Chavez, a firebrand politician and former paratrooper, accused (not without merit) Washington of sponsoring the attempted overthrow as well as supporting a devastating oil lockout in 2002-3. Never one to soften his language, Chavez bluntly referred to U.S. president George Bush with an expletive and the United States as "an imperialist power." What is more, according to Chavez, Bush had plans to see him assassinated. In a further barb, Chavez declared that if he were killed the United States could "forget Venezuelan oil."
For a time it seemed that their bilateral relations could sink no lower. Though there are many reasons for the deterioration in relations (including Chavez's ties with Washington's anathema, Cuban President Fidel Castro, the Venezuelan president's criticism of U.S.-led efforts for a free trade zone in the Americas and Chavez's opposition to the war in Iraq) oil was surely of paramount importance. When he took office in 1998 Chavez launched a reform of Venezuela's oil policy, seeking to reestablish a predominant role for the presidency in the design and implementation of an oil strategy through the Ministry of Energy and Mining. This move challenged vested interests in Pdvsa, a powerful, almost autonomous, company with total assets estimated at $100 billion. The company's executives, who earned between $100,000 and $4,000,000 a year, had grown accustomed to taking the lead in defining the oil policy of their virtual fiefdom. While Chavez did not deny the role of the private sector in the oil industry, his reform process aimed at curbing the trend toward the privatization of Pdvsa. On the international front, Chavez worked to achieve a higher price for oil through OPEC, the oil cartel of which Venezuela was a founding member. He also worked to increase the profile and power of OPEC world wide. Chavez additionally sought to guarantee that the state collected a greater share of oil revenues. He imposed royalties on oil output which was applied on foreign producers operating in the country, chief among them U.S. giant Exxon-Mobil. Last year, Venezuela raised royalty taxes on heavy crude projects in the Orinoco oil belt from 1% to 16.6%. Irate Exxon-Mobil representatives say that the company is paying the new rate "under protest."
PDVSA Serves the Nation
Keeping Pdvsa under firm government control was politically important. In recent years, Chavez has sought to utilize oil revenue to carry out an ambitious social agenda. In a recent study it was estimated that over 60 percent of Venezuela's 24-million people live in poverty and make less than $2 a day. Accordingly, as a result of record high oil revenues, Chavez has been able to carry out an impressive array of programs promoting literacy, job training, land reform, subsidized food, and small loans. Perhaps most ambitiously, Chavez has used the nation's oil wealth to extend health care and import Cuban doctors.
As Chavez began to export cheap subsidized oil to Cuba, Fidel Castro sent over 13,000 doctors to Venezuela. Today, the doctors are spread throughout the Andean nation and have access to over half the population, a first in Venezuela's history. Chavez's move to bring in Cuban doctors was one of many factors regarding his rule that provoked Washington. In May 2004, the U.S. State Department's Commission for Assistance to a Free Cuba-the administration's propaganda office on Cuban issues-issued a report stating that Venezuelan oil shipments to Cuba needed to be halted if political change on the island was to occur which was tantamount to calling for a de facto embargo against the Castro regime.
Are there any signs that the confrontation between the two antagonist nations will soon abate? Recently, Chavez has publicly stated that he wanted to mend relations with the United States. "We want to continue to send 1.5 million barrels of oil to the United States on a daily basis and to continue doing business," he said. What is more, Chavez added that although "we have said things, sometimes, very harsh things, it has been in response to aggressions." Chavez explained that, "what I have said is that if it occurs to the United States, or to someone there, to invade us, that they can forget about Venezuelan oil." He clarified that this is just "a theory that we of course do not want, and I hope that the United States does not want it either."
Chavez turns on the Charm
Chavez's recent conciliatory statements have brought little slack from Washington as the Bush administration's harsh anti-Chavez rhetoric continues to boil over whether its splenetic utterances coming from Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld or routinely from the White House and State Department press offices. On one level, Venezuelan imbroglio seems to be heading towards deeper water. Chavez has repeatedly stated his determination to reduce his country's dependency on oil sales to the United States. Accordingly, he has begun exploring the sale of parts of Citgo, Pdvsa's marketing and refining affiliate in the U.S. Citgo owns eight refineries and almost 14,000 gas stations located primarily in the eastern part of the country. Chavez has complained that Citgo, whose refineries are especially adapted to process heavy crude oil from Venezuela, sells oil to the U.S at a discount of two dollars a barrel. "We are subsidizing the U.S. budget," griped Chavez, who says Citgo contracts were signed before he assumed office in 1999. According to Citgo's 2004 financial reports, the company paid $400 million in dividends to Venezuela but paid almost as much in U.S. taxes. Energy Minister Rafael Ramírez, who also serves as Pdvsa's president, has announced a freeze on plans to expand Citgo. Meanwhile, though Citgo CEO Félix Rodríguez notes that" the government does not plan to sell off the company's assets," specialists suggest that Chavez may very well consider such a move after evaluating the profitability of each refinery. Alberto Quirós, a former executive at Royal/Dutch Shell in Venezuela, commented that selling the refineries would not be a bad idea right now. Chavez, he says, could get a decent price for the refineries because oil prices and demand are high. Were such facilities to be sold, however, the process would probably take at least a few years to be finalized.
Caracas Looks to Asia
In order to diversify the Venezuelan market for oil, Chavez made plans to begin shipping Venezuelan crude to China, the world's second-largest energy consumer after the United States. "Reaching China is a strategic question," says Ramirez. "It would be a mistake not to have a presence there. They are switching over from coal to more efficient fuels." In Beijing last December, Chavez remarked "We have reached agreements with China to begin to exploit 15 mature oilfields in eastern Venezuela that have more than one billion barrels in reserves, and a large part of that oil will come to China." What is more, Chav | |
