Posted on 12/14/2001 12:10:36 PM PST by Cincinatus' Wife
Russian-Venezuelan trade totals $100 million a year. The Russian delegation, including Oil Vice Minister Leonid Tropko, was expected to sign pacts on tourism, Russian investment and exploring the possibility of a commercial satellite launching facility in Venezuela. They will depart Saturday.
Russia to Maintain Oil Status
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) - The prime minister of Russia said Friday his country's petroleum production policy would be decided independently of other nations and that the world's second-largest supplier of crude is in favor of a price range between $22 and $25 per barrel.
``The position of the Russian government is clear. We have an independent policy,'' Mikhail Kasyanov said Friday at a news conference with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. ``We don't sign agreements with organizations in this sphere. (But) we take into consideration projections and recommendations in this area.''
``We are in favor of a fair price of between $22 and $25,'' Kasyanov said.
The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries has warned it will reverse its decision to remove 1.5 million barrels of oil a day from the market if non-OPEC (news - web sites) producers, such as Russia, fail to cut production. Such a scenario could provoke a price war, OPEC Secretary-General Ali Rodriguez warned Wednesday.
To stabilize slumping world oil prices, which have fallen more than 30 percent in recent months, OPEC wants to cut 1.5 million barrels a day on Jan. 1. It wants nonmembers to cut another 500,000 barrels per day. So far this year, the 11-member cartel has reduced its production by 3.5 million barrels a day.
Russia Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov, left, looks at Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez during a news conference at Miraflores Presidential palace in Caracas, Venezuela, Friday, Dec. 14, 2001. Kasyanov and Chavez signed various cooperative agreements between Russia and Venezuela. (AP Photo/Leslie Mazoch)
Russia, the world's largest producer after Saudi Arabia, has said it will cut exports by 150,000 barrels per day on Jan. 1. Non-OPEC member Oman has agreed to cut 25,000 barrels a day, Mexico by 100,000 barrels and Norway by somewhere between 100,000 and 200,000 barrels.
Russia's production decision came after weeks of talks among OPEC and Russian officials and oil barons whose companies have stimulated Russia's economy and are loath to lose market share. Russia's government isn't eager to lose tax revenues.
Venezuela's Chavez is a price hawk. Since his 1998 election, he has worked to strengthen OPEC and to keep it committed to prices between $22 and $28 a barrel. But after the Sept. 11 terror attacks in the United States, the price of a barrel of Venezuelan crude has slid to $14.27 a barrel, compared to an average price of $25.91 last year. Oil accounts for roughly 80 percent of exports of OPEC member Venezuela.
Russian-Venezuelan trade totals $100 million a year. The Russian delegation, including Oil Vice Minister Leonid Tropko, was expected to sign pacts on tourism, Russian investment and exploring the possibility of a commercial satellite launching facility in Venezuela. They will depart Saturday.
The move by Russia raised speculation that China would now take the lead in covert operations on the island. The Chinese are alleged to have built an identical eavesdropping facility in Cuba known as Bejucal.[End Excerpt]
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(May 2000)Aerospace Technology GUYANA SPACE LAUNCH FACILITY [from the story]
In May 2000, Beal Aerospace signed an agreement with the government of Guyana, to develop the world's first commercial space launch facility.
WHY GUYANA?
A major advantage of the Guyana site for the spaceport is its proximity to the Equator. This makes it easier to launch satellites, as the satellites can use the centrifugal force of the Earth to get into orbit. According to the company, a rocket launching a satellite into geosynchronous orbit from a site on the equator uses about 10-20% less fuel than rockets launched from Cape Canaveral.
The country has two other geographical advantages. It has large remote areas suitable for an incredibly noisy activity like launching rockets. The second reason is the expanse of ocean to the east and north, which is important for safety reasons. All rockets carrying satellites into geosynchronous orbits will be launched to the east, and all other satellites will be launched to the north. Beal's rocket, like all current rockets capable of launching satellites, will have multiple stages. As these stages fall off, they can fall into an uninhabited area. Similarly, if a rocket has to be aborted, it is important that it can fall to earth without incurring any safety obstacles.
Other reasons cited by Beal are the site's location in an english-speaking country with a legal system not dissimilar from that of the USA. The country is also politically stable. [End of Excerpt]
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(May 29, 2000)--Beal Enters Into Agreement To Develop Spaceport Guyana [Excerpt] The launch facility will be designated as a port of entry, both by air and sea and Beal will operate docks on the Waini River for access to the 'primary' and 'remote sites' and will be licensed under the Agreement to do so and may, with the Government's approval, establish docks outside of these sites.
The deal with Beal will not be considered closed until the Guyana Environmental Protection Agency issues an environmental permit for the operation. Beal has retained ICF Consulting to do an environmental impact assessment, and the results from this are expected in a year to 18 months. ICF was the company which did the assessment for Sombrero. Beal is applying for an interim permit to drain and clear the area on the coast between the Waini River and the Atlantic Ocean. [End]
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Space and Technology--(March 27, 2000) Beal Use of Guyana Launch Site Protested by Venezuela--- [Excerpt] Guyana's cabinet has given preliminary approval to Beal's proposal to build a spaceport in the remote northern Waini District of Essequibo County. Premier Samuel Hinds expects final approval by the end of March. Venezuela has claimed the mineral-rich Essequibo, which is in the west of Guyana, since the 1940s. Venezuela's President, Hugo Chavez, has voiced his country's objection to the Beal Aerospace Technologies spaceport development plans, though he has declared that Venezuela is willing to reach "a peaceful accord" with Guyana over Essequibo. Venezuela also disputes Guyanan concessions for mineral extraction and oil production in Essequibo.
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******Beal Aerospace didn't get to build their spaceport. But Hugo Chavez has began making noise that the treaty with Guyana about Esequibo is "null and provocative." Will this be where Russia plans to put it's new launch facility? Or is it where they'll set up their new U.S. eavesdropping site. Perhaps both?******
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July 23, 2001)--sohu.com--Venezuela calls for end to Guyana border dispute--[Full text]-- Pro-government Venezuelan lawmakers have called for a peaceful end to a century-old border dispute with neighboring Guyana, under which it claims some three-quarters of the former British colony.
The legislators visited settlements on the border with Guyana on Saturday to sign a declaration supporting President Hugo Chavez' position that a 1899 treaty giving a mineral-rich region called Esequibo to Guyana was "null and provocative."
The declaration also urged both nations to work for a swift solution to the dispute which would be "just, long-lasting and acceptable."
"We held a special session of the parliamentary Defense Committee and then we signed the document," legislator Saul Ortega told Reuters on Sunday.
Over the past two years, Chavez's nationalist administration has revived the border controversy over Esequibo, a sparsely inhabited jungle region of some 63,600 square miles (159,000 square km) in eastern Guyana.
During his weekly radio talk show "Hello President" on Saturday, Chavez pledged cooperation "with Guyana and with all the people which live in that immense territory."
"This cannot remain in limbo for much longer, we have to solve this situation," said Chavez, after talking by telephone with National Assembly President William Lara who headed the delegation.
Lara, a staunch Chavez supporter, insisted that "we do not have a hostile stance. This is not an unfriendly gesture toward Guyana or anyone."
In recent weeks, Chavez has also strongly defended Venezuela's sovereignty over a tiny island, the Isla de Aves, amid criticism from eastern Caribbean nations.
The desert island, which is only inhabited part of the year, lies some 350 miles (565 km) north of Venezuela's coast. [End Text]
As for Venezuela, Caracas has a ``huge interest'' in political, economic and technological cooperation with Russia, Chavez responded. He praised Putin for what he called ``the revival'' of Russia.
``We're described in the world in a similar way,'' Chavez told Putin later, according to the ITAR-Tass news agency. ``We're called people of democracy, with our own vision of democracy.''[End Exceprt]
Question is, if Chavez attacks, would we do anything?
WSJ: WHILE CARACUS BURNS Sen. Dodd's petulance threatens national security --[Excerpt] Yet while Caracas burns, the top U.S. policy maker for the region can't assume his post for reasons of petty ideological revenge. Otto Reich--President Bush's nominee to be Assistant Secretary of State for the Western Hemisphere--still can't get a hearing in Connecticut Senator Chris Dodd's subcommittee. Mr. Dodd's petulance has gone beyond the usual Beltway payback and is now creating a leadership vacuum damaging to U.S. national security.
It's hard to recall reading today's headlines, but 10 years ago Latin America's future looked bright. Democracy was on the rise, economies were growing and the era of military coups seemed to be over. The countries did this mostly on their own, but U.S. leadership was crucial. The U.S. nurtured free-market economic ideas and helped against Marxist rebels. That trend stopped during the 1990s, as the Clinton Administration mostly ignored the region for more glamorous priorities. The result today is a region threatened by repression, violence and economic decline.[End Excerpt]
FREE OTTO REICH--[Excerpt] While the eyes of the world focus on the Middle East, the war on terror has its targets in this hemisphere, too. Unfortunately, President Bush's designated envoy to the Americas must fight this country's shadowy enemies with both hands tied behind his back. Otto Reich, Bush's nominee for assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere affairs, is being held hostage by Sen. Christopher Dodd (D., Conn.) who refuses to hold a confirmation hearing on Reich's candidacy. Dodd apparently would rather brood over Reich's performance in the Reagan administration than permit him to address these clear-and-present dangers today:
Venezuela. Hugo Chavez, the increasingly erratic president of this key U.S. oil supplier, has declared himself "a Maoist" and befriended pro-terrorist dictators. A Caracas-based, anti-Chavez group called the National Emergency Coalition published a veritable Chavez photo album in the September 25 Washington Times. In one picture, Chavez rides in Saddam Hussein's Mercedes with the Iraqi thug at the wheel. During an August 2000 visit, Chavez called Iraq "a model" for Venezuela.
In another snapshot, Chavez hugs Iranian President Mohammed Khatami and says, "We have sister revolutions with equal struggles and the same destiny." Elsewhere, Chavez embraces Muammar Qaddafi and calls Libya "a model of participatory democracy." Chavez greets Fidel Castro as well and says that Cuba and Venezuela are "swimming together toward the same sea of happiness."
Chavez also appears to be arming Colombia's Marxist FARC rebels. Colombian defense officials say that between January 1998 and July 2000, they captured 470 clandestine FAL rifles stamped with the insignias of Venezuela's military and its arms manufacturers. [End Excerpt]
We should have dusted it off when the Soviets aka Russians, moved into Cuba.
I agree ...
But Dodd is just playing by the Hillary-Dashle-etc. leftist obstruction playbook which is both preventing executive office nominations but Judicial nominations as well.
I have it on good authority from vannrox that Bush has a plan in place that will work out fine. Ashcroft's closing down investigation of Clinton misdeeds and Bush EO's are all just a methodical and incremental approach to getting things to work out.
Perhaps we will see an across-the-board embarassment of the Dims strategy by the ever-cunning Bush? About now would be good, vannrox.
Hmmmm...
Did you see Powell's UK interview transcript? He was dealing with the OAS during the 9-11, BTW. Here's a quote:
Thanks for this ping C. W. let me review all of this - lots of news tonight huh.
BTTT
BTTT
Chinese soldiers in the Panama Canal! LIVE Webcam! - Thread #5
I don't know if the timetable works out on that. Usually when things finally hit the news, the plans have been in the works for a long time. I think it is possible that Putin was holding this as an ace in the hole, because he knew Bush was going to withdraw from the treaty.
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