Morales nationalises fuel supplier

[bemildred]

Source: al Jazeera

Bolivia's president has brought the local unit of British aviation fuel supplier Air BP under state control.

Evo Morales announced the decree at a rally to mark international workers' day on Friday, and ordered troops to take control of the company's operations.

"I want to ask the Bolivian armed forces along with YPFB to gain control of Air BP, the multinational that sells jet fuel. With this decree, Air BP is now nationalised," he said in a speech.

Shortly afterwards, local PAT television broadcast images of unarmed troops at Air BP facilities in the eastern city of Santa Cruz.

Read more: http://english.aljazeera.net/news/americas/2009/05/20095210122777600.html

[Lucky Luciano]

1. I was going to say that is outright theft, but apparently they will be compensated. nt

[primavera]

2. Hopefully at the same bargain basement prices BP got it for

People talk about nationalizing as if it were theft, yet we tend to forget that many of these industries were nationally owned to begin with and were then sold off to big multinationals for a tiny fraction of their value under extortionary pressure from Friedmanian market "reform" proponents in organizations like the IMF and World Bank. If BP bought a multi-billion dollar asset for a six pack of Bud and a quart of pork fried rice and got to enjoy the profits from it for decades, I'm not going to feel too sorry for them if they have to give it back now.

[bemildred]

3. "All property is theft."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Property_is_theft!

[EFerrari]

5. Historically, the theft goes in the other direction. n/t

[Vidar]

4. Well done, Evo.

[EFerrari]

6. bemildred: remember you said the plot against Morales could get interesting?

It just did. This is a report from Jean-Guy Allard translated by Machetera. I checked the translation and it's fine:

May 1, 2009 – Granma (Habana)

Armando Valladares’s CIA Group Linked to Plot Against Evo Morales

Jean-Guy Allard
English translation: Machetera

On Thursday, April 30, the Bolivian Public Prosecutor identified Hugo Achá Megar, identified by AFP as the Bolivian representative of the U.S. NGO, Human Rights Foundation (HRF), as the main funder of the terrorist gang taken apart on April 16 in Santa Cruz, while it was hatching the plan to assassinate President Evo Morales.

The HRF is a New York organization known for its interventionist activities and its links with the CIA, and whose Secretary General is the terrorist of Cuban origin, Armando Valladares.

Prosecutor Sosa, who is directing the investigations in this case, identified Achá, a.k.a. “Superman,” along with Alejandro Melgar, a.k.a. “El Lucas” as members and financiers of the plot.

From the United States, where he is presently, in statements to a La Paz television station, Achá rejected the claims against him but admitted that he had met “four or five times” with the leader of the murderous gang, the Hungarian-Bolivian Eduardo Rózsa-Flores.




http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=405x14696

[bemildred]

7. You have to look forward to the extradition of those clowns to Bolivia. nt

[EFerrari]

8. Our friend DUer rabs says these people also have a branch in Quito

and I know they're active in Venezuela. About as subtle as a baseball bat.

[bemildred]

9. Dwyer linked with neo-Nazi group: claim

The Bolivian authorities have claimed that Michael Dwyer, the Tipperary man shot dead by police two weeks ago, was heavily involved in a neo-Nazi terror group Szekler.

Last week the Bolivian government released pictures of Mr Dwyer and other members of the group posing for photographs surrounded by guns. The group is also suspected of planting a bomb at the home of a Catholic cardinal in Bolivia, the day before he and two Hungarian terrorists were shot dead.

The same terror group which the Bolivians say Mr Dwyer (24) joined last October was suspected of carrying a series of attacks on the homes of Bolivian cabinet ministers, civil servants and politicians since 2006 when its leader, Eduardo Rozsa-Flores, sneaked into the country.

One of Rozsa-Flores' closest associates, also a Hungarian, is living in Ireland and met Michael Dwyer when they worked together for the security firm I-RMS during its contract with Shell. I-RMS was making no comment on the affair but sources in the security industry said the Hungarian they employed had proper credentials and has no known criminal record in Hungary or elsewhere.

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/dwyer-linked-with-neonazi--group-claim-1727348.html

[EFerrari]

11. He had SS insignia tattooed on his arm:

"Despite repeated claims that Dwyer was a fun-loving young man with an interest in cars he had a Nazi SS insignia tattooed on his arm. The tattoo was disguised in an elaborate, larger design but is clearly visible on his arm. He joked about it with associates on his Facebook page.

Gardai are now investigating the activities of the neo-fascist Hungarians and Romanians in Ireland who have come here in recent years.

Links between the eastern European fascists and South America date from the end of the Second World War when many Nazis and fascists escaped there."

It's also the case that white South Africans who didn't want to live in a post Apartheid country were actively recruited to settle in Santa Cruz. What a charming place that must be now.

That's the other funny thing that rabs noticed. Why does Human Right Foundation have an office in Santa Cruz but not in La Paz . . . .

[BunkerHill24]

10. Congrats to the Bolivian people

K&R