US Sanctions on PDVSA - Latest Imperialist Provocation Posted: Friday, May 27, 2011
By Jorge Martín May 27th 2011
On Tuesday May 25, the US imposed penalties against Venezuelan state-owned company PDVSA, and another 6 companies from other countries, for conducting business with Iran. The sanctions are part of an attempt by Washington to step up the pressure against Iran in relation to its nuclear program. They are also an act of blatant bullying directed against Venezuela. Full Article : venezuelanalysis.com
Television in Venezuela: Who Dominates the Media? Posted: Thursday, December 16, 2010
By Mark Weisbrot and Tara Ruttenberg - CEPR December 14th 2010 - venezuelanalysis.com
It is commonly reported in the international press, and widely believed, that the government of President Hugo Chávez controls the media in Venezuela. For example, writing about Venezuela's September elections for the National Assembly, the Washington Post's deputy editorial page editor and columnist, Jackson Diehl, referred to the Chávez "regime's domination of the media. . . ."[1] In an interview on CNN, Lucy Morillon of Reporters Without Borders stated, "President Chávez controls most of the TV stations."[2] And on PBS in November 2010, former Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Roger Noriega stated that the Venezuelan media is "virtually under the control of Chávez."[3] Such statements are made regularly in the major media and almost never challenged. Full Article : venezuelanalysis.com
The Venezuelan Economy: Media Sources Get It Wrong, Again Posted: Tuesday, September 14, 2010
By Mark Weisbrot September 13, 2010
The bulk of the media often gets pulled along for the ride when the United States government has a serious political and public relations campaign around foreign policy. But almost nowhere is it so monolithic as with Venezuela. Even in the run-up to the Iraq War, there were a significant number of reporters and editorial writers who didn't buy the official story. But on Venezuela the media is more like a jury that has twelve people but only one brain. Full Article : truth-out.org
Colombia and Venezuela Rattle Their Sabres: Uribe's Parting Shot Posted: Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Outgoing Colombian President Álvaro Uribe dropped a figurative bomb in the Andes on Thursday, July 22, just weeks before the scheduled inauguration of President-elect Juan Manuel Santos, Uribe's former Defence Minister. At the behest of Bogotá, an extraordinary session of the Permanent Council of the Organization of American States (OAS) was convened to hear Colombia's accusations that there are "1,500 guerrillas and dozens of encampments of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and the National Liberation Army (ELN) in Venezuela," both groups deemed to be "terrorist" organizations by Colombia and the United States. Full Article : venezuelanalysis.com
Venezuelan Court Issues Arrest Warrant for Globovision Owner Posted: Thursday, June 17, 2010
Venezuelan courts have issued an arrest warrant for Guillermo Zuloaga, president and 70% owner of the opposition news channel Globovision, in connection with irregularities with his car dealership. In reaction, the U.S. government and international and national private media are accusing the Venezuelan government of suppressing the right to free speech. Zuloaga has refused to turn himself in and is rumoured to have fled the country.
Attorney General Luisa Ortega announced on Friday that the court has issued arrest warrants for Guillermo Zuloaga and his son, Guillermo Zuloaga Siso, for conspiracy and generic usury. Full Article : venezuelanalysis.com
Venezuelan Government Takes over Eighth Largest Bank Posted: Thursday, June 17, 2010
Venezuela's Superintendent of Banks (Sudeban) announced on Monday that it will temporarily close and investigate the privately owned bank Banco Federal for failing to comply with minimum liquid asset provisions and productive sector investment quotas established in the banking law.
"Banco Federal's operations are suspended and its offices are closed until further notice," said Sudeban director Edgar Hernandez. An investigative commission will have 60 days to present a report on the bank, and determine whether it will be liquidated or rehabilitated. Full Article : venezuelanalysis.com
Venezuelan Ambassador to the U.S. Dismisses Congressional Hearing on Freedom of Press Posted: Thursday, June 17, 2010
The ambassador of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela to the White House, Bernardo Álvarez, called a congressional hearing held today on freedom of the press in the Americas "a sad spectacle." The hearing took place in the House Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere.
The hearing was dominated by House Republicans that have made attacks on Venezuela a sort of modus vivendi of their political action in that country, said Ambassador Álvarez. Full Article : venezuelanalysis.com
Venezuela is Not Greece Posted: Friday, May 7, 2010
Given the Venezuelan government's low public and foreign debt, the idea the country is facing an 'economic crisis' is plain wrong
by Mark Weisbrot
With Venezuela's economy having contracted last year (as did the vast majority of economies in the Western Hemisphere), the economy suffering from electricity shortages, and the value of domestic currency having recently fallen sharply in the parallel market, stories of Venezuela's economic ruin are again making headlines.
The Washington Post, in a news article that reads more like an editorial, reports that Venezuela is "gripped by an economic crisis," and that "years of state interventions in the economy are taking a brutal toll on private business."
There is one important fact that is almost never mentioned in news articles about Venezuela, because it does not fit in with the narrative of a country that has spent wildly throughout the boom years, and will soon, like Greece, face its day of reckoning. That is the government's debt level: currently about 20% of GDP. In other words, even as it was tripling real social spending per person, increasing access to healthcare and education, and loaning or giving billions of dollars to other Latin American countries, Venezuela was reducing its debt burden during the oil price run-up. Venezuela's public debt fell from 47.5% of GDP in 2003 to 13.8% in 2008. In 2009, as the economy shrank, public debt picked up to 19.9% of GDP. Even if we include the debt of the state oil company, PDVSA, Venezuela's public debt is 26% of GDP. The foreign part of this debt is less than half of the total.
Compare this to Greece, where public debt is 115% of GDP and currently projected to rise to 149% in 2013. (The European Union average is about 79%.) Full Article : commondreams.org
China Offers Largest Credit to Venezuela Posted: Monday, April 19, 2010
Yesterday government representatives from Venezuela and China signed seven agreements in Caracas, six energy based ones and one around petroleum. China also offered US$20 billion in financing, the largest offer it has made in the last fifty years.
Chinese president Hu Jintao's planned visit to Venezuela was cancelled due to the recent tragic earthquake in China, but Jintao and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez talked by telephone and Chavez also met for two hours with a delegation from China.
The two governments agreed to exploit the Junin 4 section of the Orinoco Oil Belt together and as part of this they established a joint company between state owned Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) and state owned China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), to carry out the initiative. They also established some economic and tax conditions. Full Article : venezuelanalysis.com
Eight Colombians Arrested on Suspicion of Spying in Venezuela Posted: Thursday, April 8, 2010
Eight Colombian citizens have been arrested in Venezuela on suspicion of carrying out espionage against the country's national electricity system Venezuelan Interior Minister Tarek El Aissaimi announced on Tuesday.
Among the equipment seized from the suspects was a camera with images of various electricity substations around the country, transmission lines and national transport infrastructure, as well as satellite communications equipment, documents in English and Spanish, a vehicle, a number of cell phones and "other items of interest," El Assaimi said. Full Article : venezuelanalysis.com
Uruguay's new leader strengthens ties with Chavez Posted: Thursday, April 8, 2010
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez offered Wednesday to help Uruguay expand a refinery and supply it with crude oil.
Chavez and visiting Uruguayan President Jose Mujica, popularly known as "Pepe," signed accords pledging to deepen trade and energy ties between the two South American nations.
Venezuela's president expressed admiration for the 74-year-old Mujica, a former leftist guerrilla leader who took office last month. Chavez embraced Mujica when he arrived at the presidential palace, affectionately calling him "a mentor." Full Article : news.yahoo.com
Cuba, ALBA send aid directly to Haiti Posted: Wednesday, April 7, 2010
By W. T. Whitney Jr.
At a recent 136-nation UN conference, focused on reconstruction in Haiti, pledges from 59 nations and organizations came to $5.3 billion due within two years and $9.9 billion in ten years. The United States promised $1.15 billion, the European Union, $1.6 billion. The eight ALBA nations (Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America) pledged aid worth $2.42 billion over six years, most of it from Venezuela. Full Article : peoplesworld.org
Hugo Chavez rocks Moscow
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez brings the house down with his multi-talented performance on stage in front a group of university students in Moscow. --russiatoday.com
