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Bolivia takes control of its own oil and gas resources
BillieTheBot
Posts: 8,721 Bot
http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,,1768875,00.htmlOn May 1, Bolivia's recently elected president, Evo Morales, the country's first indigenous leader, put on a tin hat and made the declaration that much of the country had been waiting to hear. "The time has come," he said, announcing "a historic day in which Bolivia retakes absolute control of our natural resources". Mr Morales spoke of "looting by foreign companies" and said it was time the armed forces "occupy all the energy fields in Bolivia"
While foreign governments and the 25 foreign energy companies in Bolivia - including BP and BG from the UK, France's Total, Spain's Repsol, Brazil's Petrobras and ExxonMobil from the US - expressed their "consternation" at Mr Morales' "sad and worrying" decision, really only the timing should have taken them by surprise. For the president was doing that most unfashionable of things, delivering on a campaign promise.
Throughout the campaign, Mr Morales and his running mate said they wanted to renegotiate foreign ownership of Bolivia's natural resources. This would not be appropriation, they said, it would not be nationalisation, it would be a renegotiation of existing contracts on terms that would provide a greater share of the revenues for the state.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,1769720,00.htmlWith the nationalisation of Bolivia's natural gas and petroleum resources President Evo Morales, the country's first indigenous president, is dramatically reshaping his country's destiny. On May 1 he proclaimed "a historic day has arrived. Now the gas and oil that flows from our land will no longer belong to foreigners". This came just after his return from Havana, where he signed what was called the people's trade agreement with Fidel Castro and Venezuela's Hugo Chávez.
Good on them. There is a very pleasant breeze of fresh air blowing from Latin America at the moment.
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Comments
Obviously you are ideologically motivated to think this is a good thing but this has already led to the withdrawal of investment from Bolivia, has soured international relations and given the long history of govt incompetence at running business around the world and the corruption associated particularly with natural resources appropriation I wouldn't hold out for much success from this.
If they do manage to get more governemtn revenue, create more jobs and use the money well then there may be some positives however, but those are big ifs........
Our US "anti-terrorism" Czar, Negroponte, is an old hand at fomenting such covert operations in Latin America.
How long before this chap, together with Chavez and Castro are declared to be part of a new 'axis of evil' by that bastion of goodness and democracy the US government?
They should carefully consider their futures if they embark on stealing the resources that belong to the oil companies - history shows they have a habit of ending up dead meat - remember Allende?
Id remind you that Castro is nothing compared to the prior beloved US puppet Batista and his death squads.
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True that.
He should do al ittle research. Cuba has been nought but better off since the US led regeime there went.
It is just a shame the young in Cuba, the ANti-Castro groups, don't know what it was like when America was in charge... maybe they'd think better, and not want it back then.
Chavez and Castro are scum. Castro operates a totalitarian regime ruthlessly persecuting ‘dissidents’, free elections and a free press are non-existent – and you can forget free speech. No supporter of democracy can possibly defend scum like Castro. Meanwhile his buddy Chavez is talking of seeking an indefinite re-election - in other words establishing a dictatorship. Press censorship and political persecution aren’t uncommon in Venezuela, the sooner Chavez is disposed of by some coup or whatever the better. The same goes for that populist peasant in Bolivia.
its almost as if they haven't got round to the fact that a left-win dictator can be as bad as a right-wing one!
He's hardly perfect.
But you can't call him worse than the way the US run Cuba, can you? And he still has popular support, which is more than you can say for alot of dictators.
They don't exist over here anymore really either, which is a shame. Gotta miss them, too!
Yeah, god forbid the people have a leader they want. Crazy talk I say!
it resulted in free health care ...every child going to school ...every child having a pair of shoes ...regeneration of infrastructure ...and the wrath of the west.
AND he has a Shopping Centre in Solvenia named after him, next to lake Bled.
The Locals call it "The Gadafi Centre". 'Cos he visited there or something.
Yes it is the evil capitalist west and the satanic corporations to blame for all the worlds ills not those nice cuddly stalinist dictators, innit?
Ever heard of Pan Am Flight 103? What about Gaddafi's funding of the Black September movement which carried out the 1972 Munich Olympics massacre? The 1986 Berlin disco bombing? The animal incurred the ‘wrath of the west’ for good reason.
werd
Chavez is infinitely better than the ultra corrupt, lying, cheating, murdering war criminal president of the US you hold in such high regard. And you know it.
You are advocating, not for the first time, that a democratically elected elected leader is overthrown illegally by a coup d'etat. And you dare to speak of democratic values in the same breath? LOL!
As for Castro, there is little to speak of about his regime but it is still a trillion times preferrable to the fascist right wing dictatorships your beloved US government support and arm with impunity.
Confirmation at last!
You think Cuba is great because it is an enemy of the US, admit it........
You don't care about the nature of the regime, authoritarian dictatorship supported by the US =evil, one that is enemy of the US = super... :rolleyes:
As for Chavez, he isn't a dictator by any means whatsoever.
Any intelligent person is insulted and bemused in equal terms by right wingers' claims that any left-of-centre democratic leader from Allende to Chavez who refuse to dance to the tune of US foreign policy is a dictator, a tyrant or a dirty commie.
That shit might have washed with a few fools in the 50s and 60s. It doesn't wash with anyone, anymore.
Please show me...
Being preferable to someone far far worse doesn't mean it is acceptable.
Does it?
Try to grasp the context of the thread if you will. I was responding to the rather amusing double standards displayed by Disillusioned, who bangs about certain dictatorships censuring the press and persecuting dissidents while completely ignoring if not supporting far worse dictatorships that happenned to be allies with the US government.
Inflammatory language is used against those that are friends of the US, it is absent when discussing its enemies eg Castro, Ahmadinejad, Saddam in the past etc.
Maybe people don't mean to but it is easy to see why people could be accused of hypocricy and anti-americanism
Foolish post. You are quite silly.
How can you compare Gadafi and Castro to fucking Stalin? What are you, stupid? God, you'll say we all have Pol Pot posters on our walls next.
Thankyou for showing some idocy.