Venezuela Foreign Minister Responds to U.S. "Worries"Thursday, Feb 03, 2005
Venezuelan Foreign Relations Minister Ali Rodriguez responded to U.S. government “worries” about Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, expressed by White House spokesman Scott McClellan at a press conference on Tuesday.In response to a question about Venezuela, a topic now frequently mentioned at U.S. officials’ press conferences, McClellan said the U.S. government has “serious concerns.”
Minister Rodriguez responded by saying that many countries around the world have reasons to be concerned whenever the U.S. expresses worries about other countries.“Speaking of worries, I think in the case of the United States, the worry is not only for Venezuelans but for many other countries in the world that have come to know the consequences of such concerns,” Rodriguez told reporters.
Minister Rodriguez highlighted the multiple electoral processes in which President Chavez, officials from parties that support him or his policies submitted for citizen approval through several referenda, have resulted victorious. “If it is related to the Venezuelan opposition movement, the concern of the U.S. surely should be about the people of Venezuela, who have defeated the opposition through nine electoral processes and have given a firm and growing support for President Chavez,” Rodriguez said.
“What U.S. officials should examine is the reasons for that constant support that is ratified every time there is an electoral event in Venezuela. When they do it, they will find that, for the first time in our country, the abundant resources that our country has are being oriented towards solving what constitutes the main enemy of our country, which is poverty,” he added.
more
http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/news.php?newsno=1490 ====
US Fingerprints on Venezuelan CoupBy Calvin Tucker
April 22, 2002
On Friday 12th of April, only hours after Venezuelan army generals had seized elected President Hugo Chavez and closed down parliament, the White House's official spokesman Ari Fleicher, declared triumphantly; "Now the situation will be one of tranquillity and democracy". But unknown to Fleicher, by the time the Bush regime's official seal of approval was to make it into print, the coup was already being defeated on the streets.
The US has now been forced to admit that a steady stream of business, military, and media leaders had been visiting their embassy in Caracas to discuss a possible coup. However, there is compelling evidence that US complicity went much further than giving a "nod and a wink" to the plotters.
For several months, the coup plotters had been making secret trips to the White House to meet with Elliot Abrams, the head of the National Security Council, and Otto Reich, the key policy maker for Latin America. Both men are veterans of Reagan's "dirty wars" of the Eighties and were linked to the death squads in Central America. Sources from the Organisation of American States confirmed to the Observer (21 April 2002) that, "the coup was discussed in some detail, right down to its timing and chances of success, which were deemed to be excellent."
White House visitors included coup leader Pedro Carmona, who was installed as head of the junta, and General Lucas Romero Rincon, head of the Venezuelan military, who met with Pentagon official Rogelio Pardo-Maurer, a former close associate of the US sponsored Contra forces in Nicaragua. Opposition legislators were also brought to Washington in recent months, including at least one delegation sponsored by the International Republican Institute, an integral part of the National Endowment for Democracy, long used by the CIA for covert operations abroad.
http://www.trinicenter.com/world/venez/calvin/tucker2.shtml=====
For the record:"US declares Iraqis can't save seeds"-Pay Monsanto or die"As part of sweeping "economic restructuring" implemented by the Bush Administration in Iraq, Iraqi farmers will no longer be permitted to save their seeds, which include seeds the Iraqis themselves have developed over hundreds of years. Instead, they will be forced to buy seeds from US corporations. That is because in recent years, transnational corporations have patented and now own many seed varieties originated or developed by indigenous peoples. In a short time, Iraq will be living under the new American credo:
Pay Monsanto, or starve ."
www.globalresearch.ca/articles/KHA501A.html
Guess who wins the elections?
Monsanto World Headquarters
800 North Lindbergh Boulevard
St. Louis, Missouri 63167
Phone:1-314-694-1000
=====
Venezuela: Chavez dumps MonsantoJason Tockman, Caracas
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez Frias has announced that the cultivation of genetically modified crops will be prohibited on Venezuelan soil, possibly establishing the most sweeping restrictions on transgenic crops in the western hemisphere.
Though full details of the administration’s policy on genetically modified organisms (GMOs) are still forthcoming, the statement by President Hugo Chavez will lead most immediately to the cancellation of a contract that Venezuela had negotiated with the US-based Monsanto Corporation.
Before a recent international gathering of supporters in Caracas, Chavez admonished genetically engineered crops as contrary to interests and needs of the nation’s farmers and farmworkers. He then zeroed in on Monsanto’s plans to plant up to 500,000 acres of transgenic soybeans in Venezuela.
“I ordered an end to the project”, said Chavez, upon learning that transgenic crops were involved. “This project is terminated.”
Chavez emphasised the importance of food sovereignty and security — required by the Venezuelan Constitution — as the basis of his decision. Instead of allowing Monsanto to grow its transgenic crops, these fields will be used to plant yuca, an indigenous crop, Chavez explained. He also announced the creation of a large seed bank facility to maintain indigenous seeds for peasants’ movements around the world.
http://www.greenleft.org.au/back/2004/581/581p17.htm ====
Associated Press
80 McDonald's Ordered Closed in Venezuela 02.05.2005, 08:19 PM
Venezuela's tax agency ordered the three-day closing of all 80 McDonald's restaurants in the country as a penalty for failing to follow tax rules, the state news agency reported.
Tax officials found inconsistencies between the company's purchases and sales records, the state-run Bolivarian News Agency reported late Friday.
Tax official Lucila Ascanio told the news agency the action was part of the tax agency's "zero evasion" effort to make sure individuals and businesses are in compliance with the law.
The closing apparently took effect immediately and was to last through the weekend. McDonald's employees were seen standing about and sweeping the walkway outside one closed restaurant in Caracas.
http://www.forbes.com/business/healthcare/feeds/ap/2005/02/05/ap1807481.html=======
Venezuela's Oil Company Registers Profit02.07.2005, 01:45 PM
Venezuela's state-run oil company Petroleos de Venezuela, or PDVSA, registered profits of $6.6 billion from January through November last year, an 88 percent increase over the same period in 2003, according to the nation's oil minister.
Rafael Ramirez, who also serves as PDVSA president, said the company has an "extraordinary financial situation," according to a report published Monday in the daily El Universal.
PDVSA, one of Latin America's largest state-run oil companies, registered profits of $3.5 billion in 2003, a 15 percent increase from 2002.
Ramirez said PDVSA was unable to boost crude production in 2004, leaving total oil output close to 3.1 million barrels per day. He said it would take at least five years for PDVSA to completely recover from a devastating two-month strike that ended in February 2003, after failing to oust Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez as intended.http://www.forbes.com/work/feeds/ap/2005/02/07/ap1809771.html
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