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US President George W Bush has welcomed a reconciliation agreement among Iraqi leaders, but warned that much work remained to quell sectarian violence.
By Greg Sheridan
JOHN Howard and George W.Bush will focus on Iraq during intensive discussions in the days leading up to the APEC meetings in Sydney.
Venezuela is one of a few resource-rich countries attempting to renationalize the property of multinational corporations (AP Images/Fernando Llano). In early 2007, Venezuela’s president Hugo Chavez gave some of the world’s biggest oil companies a choice (HChron): turn over majority control of their projects to a state-owned company and remain as minority partners, or face a complete nationalization of operations in Venezuela’s Orinoco River basin. The region’s reserves may rival those of Saudi Arabia, so for major oil companies the stakes were huge. Ultimately, Exxon and ConocoPhillips opted to leave, while BP and Norway’s Statoil decided to stay. The move proved especially costly for Conoco, which reported a 94 percent drop in the year’s second quarter earnings—a direct result of losing its Orinoco holdings (FT). Exxon said it was too early to gauge the impact of the seizure. Venezuela is among a small but growing number of resource-rich countries to put the squeeze on international corporations. Russia early this year pressed both BP and Shell (Guardian) into turning over majority stakes in Russian gas operations to state-owned Gazprom. Bolivia nationalized gas and oil fields (NPR), and Ecuador used troops (Forbes) to take over Occidental Petroleum’s holdings. It is not just the oil and gas sector facing renationalization. Zimbabwe’s government said in June it would nationalize the country’s uranium (Reuters) as well as its coal and methane projects. To the resource-rich developing states involved in such moves, it is an important signal of sovereignty. In an op-ed, Venezuela’s ambassador to the United States, Bernardo Alvarez, asserts that the benefits from the developing world’s natural resources “can no longer flow (HChron) in only one direction.” And though sometimes clothed in populist rhetoric, this trend seems less like the state seizures of the past because international companies are not entirely left out in the cold. Bolivian Vice President Ãlvaro GarcÃa Linera told the Christian Science Monitor that his country practices a “21st century-style nationalization.” Russian President Vladimir Putin stressed that his country remained open to investment (NYT), pointing out that all of the world’s largest companies are represented in Russia. Still, the reemergence of state-controlled resources has raised concern in some quarters. An internal study prepared by the U.S. military’s Southern Command last year obtained by the Financial Times says resource nationalism in Latin America’s energy sector will likely increase inefficiencies and “hamper” efforts to increase supply and production. According to the UN Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, though foreign direct investment in the region has increased in terms of dollar amounts, its global share of money flowing into developing countries is shrinking, as transnational corporations lose ground (PDF) to state-owned companies. Rigoberto Lanz, a senior adviser for Venezuela’s Ministry of Science and Technology, acknowledges that in the “short-term” his country will not be “an attractive market (WashPost)” for foreign investment, as businesses wait to see exactly the kind of economic model the country develops. Yet corporate experts note that with the right approach companies can be competitive and profitable in countries experiencing upswings in nationalized resources. August 13, 2007 Prepared by: Toni Johnson of CFR On behalf of UndisputedAndUnbiased.Blogspot.com Allan Leznikov Thanks CFR.ORG for this article Read the rest of this entry
By Stephen Lendman
The Wall Street Journal’s main Hugo Chavez antagonist is its self-styled Latin American “expert” Mary Anastasia O’Grady who makes up for in imagination and vitriol what she lacks in knowledge and journalistic integrity. She, however, wasn’t assigned to write the May 1 Journal attack piece reporters David Luhnow in Mexico City and Peter Millard in Caracas got to do titled “How Chavez Aims to Weaken US.” Of course, when it comes to Venezuela, the issue is oil and Chavez’s having the “audacity” to want his people to benefit most from their own resources, not predatory foreign oil companies the way it used to be when the country’s leadership only served the interests of capital ignoring essential social needs. No longer.
By SHARI FELD
Buy foreclosure, fix it, rake in the dough, right? It’s not always that easy. Arm yourself with research
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