Monthly Archives: April 2011

Apr
1
2011
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In Case You Missed It… Weekly Roundup: 4/1/2011

In this week’s roundup…from a controversial accolade to serious allegations of involvement in drug trafficking and his friendship with the embattled Iranian leader, President Chávez always makes for some interesting headlines.  To check out more on our musings find us on Twitter @whatsnextvz or via StumbleUpon.

U.S. Losing Big Drug Catch The Wall Street Journal
At the height of his power, Makled, a Venezuelan citizen of Syrian descent, smuggled 10 tons of cocaine a month into the US from Venezuela, according to officials. He controlled Venezuela’s most important port and allegedly added to his transport empire by, in effect, stealing an entire airline, according to a lawsuit in Venezuela filed by the airline’s former owner.

Debating the merits of a press prize for Venezuela’s Chávez Christian Science Monitor
Prompting an international debate on journalism philosophy appeared exactly what an Argentine university wanted when it awarded a prestigious press prize this week to Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez.

Venezuela Aims To Pay Less Than $2.5B In Exxon, Conoco Case – PDVSA, The Wall Street Journal
CARACAS (Dow Jones)– Venezuela aims to pay less than $2.5 billion to Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) and ConocoPhillips (COP) for assets that the government expropriated nearly four years ago, a spokesman at the country’s state oil company confirmed Thursday.

Williams Files Arbitration Claim After Venezuelan Seizures, Bloomberg
Williams Companies Inc. filed for international arbitration against Venezuela, seeking compensation for two natural-gas compression facilities taken by President Hugo Chavez in 2009. Williams filed for arbitration with the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes on March 25, said Jeff Pounds, a spokesman for the Tulsa, Oklahoma-based pipeline operator. He declined to comment on how much the company is seeking in compensation.

Chavez and Gaddafi — best friends forever?, The Washington Post
I recently wrote an article on the likely exile destinations Col. Moammar Gaddafi would have to choose from if he decides to flee Libya. Venezuela made the list, if for no other reason than President Hugo Chavez has been so outspoken in his support for the Libyan dictator. Even as Gaddafi revealed himself as a murderous tyrant willing to mow down his own citizens in order to cling to power, Chavez continue to voice his support for his “friend.”

Obama freezes out Chavez, while Iran comes courting, The Washington Times
During his five-day tour of Latin America, President Obama covered just about every hot-button topic – Libya, drug violence, immigration, trade – but not once did he publicly mention Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. The omission stands in stark contrast to the danger that analysts say Mr. Chavez poses to U.S. foreign policy with his ever-deepening ties to Iran and continued support for guerrilla groups across Latin America.

 
Apr
1
2011
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WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING

Senate and House Foreign Relations Subcommittees on Western Hemisphere
March 31, 2011 Hearings

“We should immediately focus on replacing the oil from autocrats like Hugo Chávez in Venezuela for that of stable and trustworthy allies like Canada… [The dependence on Venezuelan oil] makes the State Department a hostage when they should be denouncing the Chávez regime for its broad violations of human rights and its support of terrorism.”
Florida Congressman Connie Mack

“My own view and the figures and statistics I have read suggest an explosive growth in the movement, the transit, principally of cocaine and coca-related products through Venezuela on their way to market, a growth of somewhere between 500% and 1,000% over the last seven or eight years. Logic and geography suggest that much of that pushing out through Venezuela heads through Eastern Caribbean and then across the Atlantic to West Africa and to markets in Europe…”

“It is my opinion, which I believe has been expressed by a number of senior U.S. government officials across the last two or three years, that a substantial amount of the senior FARC leadership, three members of its seven-member secretariat, do in fact have near-permanent presence on the Venezuelan side of the border.”
Assistant Secretary of State William Brownfield
U.S. Ambassador to Venezuela (2004-2007

“Venezuela, for example, reportedly has maintained an unofficial friendship with Colombia’s FARC guerrillas who have sustained their struggle to overthrow the Colombian government mostly through drug trafficking. In 2010, much of the suspect air activity departing South America to Central America and the Caribbean came from Venezuela’s southwest border with Colombia, as tracked by the U.S. Joint Interagency Task Force South. Currently, a Venezuelan businessman is being held in Colombia in connection with 5.5 tons of cocaine that turned up in Campeche, Mexico, in 2006.”
Steven Johnson, Director of the Americas Program,
Center for Strategic and International Studies

 
Apr
1
2011
Posted by
admin
Comments

WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING

Senate and House Foreign Relations Subcommittees on Western Hemisphere
March 31, 2011 Hearings

“We should immediately focus on replacing the oil from autocrats like Hugo Chávez in Venezuela for that of stable and trustworthy allies like Canada… [The dependence on Venezuelan oil] makes the State Department a hostage when they should be denouncing the Chávez regime for its broad violations of human rights and its support of terrorism.”
Florida Congressman Connie Mack

“My own view and the figures and statistics I have read suggest an explosive growth in the movement, the transit, principally of cocaine and coca-related products through Venezuela on their way to market, a growth of somewhere between 500% and 1,000% over the last seven or eight years. Logic and geography suggest that much of that pushing out through Venezuela heads through Eastern Caribbean and then across the Atlantic to West Africa and to markets in Europe…”

“It is my opinion, which I believe has been expressed by a number of senior U.S. government officials across the last two or three years, that a substantial amount of the senior FARC leadership, three members of its seven-member secretariat, do in fact have near-permanent presence on the Venezuelan side of the border.”
Assistant Secretary of State William Brownfield
U.S. Ambassador to Venezuela (2004-2007

“Venezuela, for example, reportedly has maintained an unofficial friendship with Colombia’s FARC guerrillas who have sustained their struggle to overthrow the Colombian government mostly through drug trafficking. In 2010, much of the suspect air activity departing South America to Central America and the Caribbean came from Venezuela’s southwest border with Colombia, as tracked by the U.S. Joint Interagency Task Force South. Currently, a Venezuelan businessman is being held in Colombia in connection with 5.5 tons of cocaine that turned up in Campeche, Mexico, in 2006.”
Steven Johnson, Director of the Americas Program,
Center for Strategic and International Studies