Hugo Chavez – Page 2 – Infinite Unknown

Hugo Chavez: US Wants To Destroy OPEC

December 16, 2011 by Infinite

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. Photo: EPA

– US wants to destroy OPEC – Chavez (Voice of Russia, Dec. 14, 2011):

The United States wants to destroy the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) said Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on Tuesday.

He pointed out that such was the case as proven by Washington carrying out aggression against Iraq and Libya, and speaking of threats against Venezuela, Ecuador and other countries of the Organization.

Chavez demanded that Washington cease all threats against Iran and other countries.

The leader of the Bolivarian revolution advised U.S. President Barack Obama and Americans to “devote themselves to managing their own country and leaving the rest of the world alone.”

TASS

Flashback:

– U.S. General Wesley Clark (Ret.) (Video), explains that the Bush Administration planned to take out 7 countries in 5 years:

Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Iran.

The New World Order Attack On Venezuela … Failed: The Revolution Will Not Be Televised – Chavez Inside The Coup (BBC Documentary) – Now It’s Libya’s Turn!

August 28, 2011 by Infinite

Sounds very familiar, doesn’t it?!!!

This is off topic, but regarding the US economy you better watch this:

– Argentina’s Economic Collapse (Documentary)

Part 1

–YouTube:

This video explains the United States involvement with the attempted coup of Hugo Chavez of Venezuela in April 11, 2002. How many people were lied to about what really happened. Watch the Truth unfold on cameras that the United States had no clue they would catch the Truth on film, which is opposite of what the United States Government told the media to report. Stop Listening to the lies of corporate media. The United States have been doing these types of “Coup” attempts through the CIA and many Nations have suffered at their hands.

A television crew from Ireland’s national broadcaster, Raidió Teilifís Éireann happened to be recording a documentary about Chávez during the events of April 11, 2002. Shifting focus, they followed the events as they occurred. During their filming, the crew recorded images of the events that they say contradict explanations given by Chávez’s opposition, the private media, the US State Department, and then White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer. The documentary says that the coup was the result of a conspiracy between various old guard and anti-Chávez factions within Venezuela and the United States.

Part 2:

YouTube

How To Get $12 Billion Of Gold To Venezuela (Reuters)

August 24, 2011 by Infinite

From the article:

“I put the ever-resourceful Nick Rizzo on the task, but he came up with little more: the market in physical gold is tiny, and largely comprised of nutcases.”

Yeah, right only nutcases (= individuals still using their brain, shaking their head in disbelief at the unlimited stupidity of society) invest in physical gold and silver!

Here is the performance of investing in physical gold and silver ( I’ve told everybody to invest in physical gold and silver since 2000 and from the first day of setting up Infinite Unknown):

Gold in 10 Years: +567,62%

Silver in 10 Years: +899,05%

And please take a close look at all those billionaires and world famous investors that are heavily invested in physical gold and silver.

The Rothschilds who own Reuters are heavily invested in physical gold and silver. (Obviously nutcases, all of them!)

It is difficult for the elitists to destroy the middle class, if the people hold physical gold and silver.

Got gold and silver?

– How to get $12 billion of gold to Venezuela (Reuters, Aug 22, 2011):

Ever since the news broke last week that Hugo Chávez wanted to transport 211 tons of physical gold from Europe to Caracas, I’ve been wondering how on earth he possibly intends to do such a thing.

There are 99 tons already being held at the Bank of England; according to the FT, the plan is to transfer other gold to the Bank of England from custodians such as Barclays, HSBC, and Standard Chartered; then, once it’s all in one place, um, well, nobody has a clue what might happen. Here’s the best guess from the FT:

Venezuela would need to transport the gold in several trips, traders said, since the high value of gold means it would be impossible to insure a single aircraft carrying 211 tonnes. It could take about 40 shipments to move the gold back to Caracas, traders estimated.

“It’s going to be quite a task. Logistically, I’m not sure if the central bank realises the magnitude of the task ahead of them,” said one senior gold banker.

I put the ever-resourceful Nick Rizzo on the task, but he came up with little more: the market in physical gold is tiny, and largely comprised of nutcases. The last (and only) known case of this kind of quantity of gold being transported across state lines took place almost exactly 75 years ago, in 1936, when the government of Spain removed 560 tons of gold from Madrid to Moscow as the armies of Francisco Franco approached. Most of the gold was exchanged for Russian weaponry, with the Soviet Union keeping 2.1% of the funds in the form of commissions and brokerage, and an additional 1.2% in the form of transport, deposit, melting, and refining expenses.

Read moreHow To Get $12 Billion Of Gold To Venezuela (Reuters)

The Battle Is Almost Over: Destroying Libya To Steal 144 Tons Of Gold

August 22, 2011 by Infinite

– The Battle For Libya Is Almost Over… As Is The Battle For Its 144 Tons Of Gold (ZeroHedge, Aug, 21, 2011):

Following a 6 month stalemate in which neither side had attained any advantage, it suddenly took just a few days for the Libyan rebel forces to steamroll unopposed into Tripoli. While we are confident that the political aftermath of this outcome will be very much comparable to what is happening in Egypt right now, many wonder why it is that the Libyan situation has progressed with such speed. Perhaps the answer can be found in the 143.8 tons of gold held by the Libyan Central Bank. Granted it is nowhere near close the 366 tons of gold that Venezuela supposedly has per the WGC, most of it likely held offshore and not being repatriated, the question of where the global gold cartel may find some of the much needed physical to satisfy Chavez’ demands has been now answered. Of course we assume that said gold has not already departed Libya in direction Caracas over the past 6 months. Which, in retrospect, we probably should, as it would explain why gold is now at $1875 and rapidly rising.

Hugo Chavez To Nationalize Venezuela’s Entire Gold Industry

August 17, 2011 by Infinite

– Hugo Chavez Announces He Will Nationalize Venezuela’s Entire Gold Industry (ZeroHedge, Aug 17, 2011):

The first (of many) 21st century expropriations of the only true money begins today, after Hugo Chavez just announced that he will “nationalize the gold industry, including extraction and processing, and use its output to boost the country’s international reserves.” And who can blame him: he is merely doing what FDR did so well back in 1933 with executive order 6102. Our only advice is that he should wait before he sells: with the only option for the central planners now that we are reentering the downslope of the depression, being, as always, to print more money (it can be called anything, but at the end of the day the principle is clear), there is little probability of gold declining substantially for the foreseeable future. As for foreign investors in Venezuela who opened gold mines, we can only hope they were not all that surprised: “The move follows a dispute between his government and foreign miners who say the rules limiting the amount of gold that can be exported from the South American nation hurt their efforts to secure financing and create jobs. The gold industry will be just the latest part of the economy to be put under state control by the socialist leader, who said he would issue the necessary decree in the coming days and called on the military to help control the sector.” The good news: gold may finally dip modestly which will simply provide yet another entry point for everyone (increasingly more and more) who has taken Jeremy Grantham’s advice and is now fighting the Fed.

From Reuters:

Toronto-listed Rusoro, owned by Russia’s Agapov family, is the only large gold miner operating in Venezuela. It produced 100,000 ounces last year.

“I have here the laws allowing the state to exploit gold and all related activities … we are going to nationalize the gold and we are going to convert it, among other things, into international reserves because gold continues to increase in value,” Chavez said in a phone call to state television.

Read moreHugo Chavez To Nationalize Venezuela’s Entire Gold Industry

President Hugo Chavez Pulls Venezuela’s Gold From JP Morgan (Is The Great Scramble For Physical Starting?)

August 17, 2011 by Infinite

– As Chavez Pulls Venezuela’s Gold From JP Morgan, Is The Great Scramble For Physical Starting? (ZeroHedge, Aug 17, 2011):

In addition to the nationalization of his gold insutry, Chavez earlier also announced that he would recover virtually all gold that Venezuela hold abroad, starting with 99 tons of gold at the Bank of England.

As the WSJ reported earlier, “The Bank of England recently received a request from the Venezuelan government about transferring the 99 tons of gold Venezuela holds in the bank back to Venezuela, said a person familiar with the matter.

A spokesman from the Bank of England declined to comment whether Venezuela had any gold on deposit at the bank.” That’s great, but not really a gamechanger.

After all the BOE should have said gold. What could well be a gamechanger is that according to an update from Bloomberg, Venezuela has gold with, you guessed it, JP Morgan, Barclays, and Bank Of Nova Scotia. As most know, JPM is one of the 5 vault banks.

The fun begins if Chavez demands physical delivery of more than 10.6 tons of physical because as today’s CME update of metal depository statistics, JPM only has 338,303 ounces of registered gold in storage. Or roughly 10.6 tons.

A modest deposit of this size would cause some serious white hair at JPM as the bank scrambles to find the replacement gold, which has already been pledged about 100 times across the various paper markets.

Keep an eye on gold in the illiquid after hour market. The overdue scramble for delivery may be about to begin.

From the CME:

Hugo Chavez Critical? Adrian Salbuchi on RT: ‘Regime Change Flu Coming To Latin America’ To Establish ‘World Government’

June 28, 2011June 28, 2011 by Infinite

Chavez Critical? “Regime change flu coming to Latin America”

Added: 27.06.2011

Adrian Salbuchi – Members of the Global Elite who would love to see Hugo Chavez go

Added: 26.06.2011

Former Governor Jesse Ventura on Government Cover-Ups . . . 9/11, the Reality of HAARP and Making Government Better

April 11, 2011 by Infinite

Amazon.com: 63 Documents the Government Doesn’t Want You to Read

Amazon.de: 63 Documents the Government Doesn’t Want You to Read

Introduction: Jesse Ventura is the former Independent Governor of Minnesota. He is also a former U.S. Navy SEAL, professional wrestler, movie actor, a visiting fellow at Harvard Kennedy School of Government, and the New York Times bestselling author of five books. He is currently the host and executive producer of TruTV’s Conspiracy Theory with Jesse Ventura. He has a reputation as the ultimate non-partisan truth-seeker; he has no qualms about questioning authority. Daily Bell: Thanks for sitting down with us. You’ve written another very interesting book, “63 Documents the Government Doesn’t Want You To Read.” Tell us about it.

Jesse Ventura: This is a book I collaborated on with Dick Russell, and I would like to give him the credit for doing all the research. That’s why we make a good team. I just don’t have the patience to do the research he does. It was our publisher, SkyHorse – it was their idea to do this book. Dick and I started searching for these documents, which are all documents released by the US government. WikiLeaks started releasing information right before we started, so naturally we used some of their stuff too. We started by going back to World War II, and we picked out 63 documents that we thought were very important. We choose 63 because that was the same year that President John F. Kennedy was murdered. That was when everything went bad. If you can murder the president and get away with it, you can do anything.

Daily Bell: Do you use original sources?

Jesse Ventura: Absolutely. The documents are original, not opinion. We reprinted the documents, so the reader has the ability to read all of them.

Daily Bell: What was the most shocking thing you learned.

Gaddafi’s forces battle rebels – Yemeni president says US and Israel behind unrest – Venezuela President Chavez: US distorting situation in Libya ‘to justify an invasion’ – Destroying Libya

March 2, 2011 by Infinite

– Gaddafi’s forces battle rebels (Aljazeera):

Forces loyal to Muammar Gadaffi, the Libyan leader, are battling rebels in control of cities both close to the capital, Tripoli, and far away from it.

Reports said on Monday that fighter jets bombed an ammunition depot in the eastern city of Ajdabiya, while a resident of Az Zawiyah, 50km west of Tripoli, told the Associated Press news agency by telephone that fighting started on Monday evening and intensified after sundown when troops loyal to Gaddafi attacked the city from the west and east.

“We were able to repulse the attack. We damaged a tank with an RPG. The mercenaries fled after that,” said the resident of Az Zawiyah, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of government reprisals.

– Yemeni president says US and Israel behind unrest (AP):

However, on Tuesday, Saleh seemed to be turning on Washington. In a speech to about 500 students and lecturers at Sanaa University, he claimed the U.S., along with Israel, is behind the protest movement.

“I am going to reveal a secret,” he said. “There is an operations room in Tel Aviv with the aim of destabilizing the Arab world. The operations room is in Tel Aviv and run by the White House.”

Saleh also alleged that opposition figures meet regularly with the U.S. ambassador in Sanaa. “Regrettably those (opposition figures) are sitting day and night with the American ambassador where they hand him reports and he gives them instructions,” Saleh said.

– Chavez: U.S. distorting situation in Libya ‘to justify an invasion’ (CNN):

(CNN) — Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez claims U.S. criticism of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi has a clear aim: military invasion.

“Let’s not get carried away by the drums of war, because the United States, I am sure that they are exaggerating and distorting things to justify an invasion,” Chavez said Monday, according to Venezuelan state media.

At a Monday meeting of the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the United States was exploring “all possible options,” and that “nothing is off the table so long as the Libyan government continues to threaten and kill Libyan citizens.”

– Destroying Libya (Activist Post):

The Anglo-American “globocrat” establishment is no longer hiding its support for the now admittedly armed rebellion spreading across Libya. The rebellion has been met by a defiant Qaddafi who may have more support than the corporate owned media has revealed and the rebels may need “extra” assistance from their Western sponsors, lest they end up in a “Bay of Pigs-like” scenario.

While Libyan opposition leader Ibrahim Sahad leads the rhetorical charge from Washington D.C., his National Front for the Salvation of Libya (NFSL) on the ground is armed to the teeth, as it has been throughout its 20 year history of attempted CIA backed rebellions against Qaddafi. In 1984, the NFSL tried to overthrow Qaddafi in a failed armed coup. The Daily Globe and Mail also recently confirmed that the NFSL along with the Libyan National Army, both under Sahad’s new National Conference of Libyan Opposition (NCLO), had both “attempted coups and assassinations against Col. Gadhafi in the 1980s.”

Chavez: Venezuela’s Oil Reserves Surpass Those of Saudi Arabia

January 17, 2011January 17, 2011 by Infinite

Hmmh.

Venezuela says its oil reserves surpass Saudi Arabia’s.

Venezuela has overtaken Saudi Arabia as the world leader in oil reserves with certified deposits leaping to 297 billion barrels at the end of 2010, President Hugo Chavez’s government said Saturday.

Energy Minister Rafael Ramirez told Reuters that the new reserves, which pushed the total 41 percent higher than the previous year, were booked in the South American OPEC member’s vast Orinoco extra heavy crude belt.

A jubilant Chavez told parliament that Venezuela’s reserves now surpassed those of Saudi Arabia.

“We have enough for 200 years,” the former soldier said in a speech in which he denied he was a dictator, complained that he was being unfairly “demonized” and offered to give up much-criticized decree powers a year ahead of schedule.

There are suggestions that countries, including Saudi Arabia and Venezuela, have exaggerated their oil reserves in the past, though the producers deny doing so.

Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez Defends State Takeovers of Apartments

November 12, 2010 by Infinite

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Facing a wave of criticism from business leaders, President Hugo Chavez is defending his order for government officials to seize control of residential complexes.

Chavez promised Sunday to crack down on construction and real estate companies that he accused of unjustly boosting prices, which he labeled “housing fraud.”

The president, a self-proclaimed revolutionary who idolizes Cuba’s Fidel Castro and is currently on a visit to Havana, called his decision last week to order the expropriation of six residential complexes and “the temporary occupation” of eight gated communities in Caracas and other cities “an act of justice.”

Venezuela’s consumer protection agency and state prosecutors are investigating complaints that construction companies and real estate firms are illegally charging buyers high interest on unfinished apartments, even though the buyers settled on a price years ago and made down payments.

“We have decided to put an end to this type of organized crime,” Chavez wrote in his weekly newspaper column.

Companies accused of violating consumer-protection regulations deny any wrongdoing.

Apartment owners affected by the measures have had mixed reactions.

Venezuela’s President Chavez: ‘Genocidal’ Israel will be put in its place

June 28, 2010 by Infinite

Related video: UK Jewish MP: Israel acting like Nazis in Gaza

Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez speaks during a meeting with his Syrian counterpart Bashar al-Assad at Miraflores Palace in Caracas June 26, 2010. (REUTERS)

CARACAS (Reuters) – Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez described Israel on Saturday as a genocidal state that acted as an assassin for the United States, predicting the Middle East nation would one day be “put in its place.”

The socialist Chavez is a harsh critic of both Israel and the United States and cut relations with Israel after accusing it of “holocaust” for its 2009 offensive in the Gaza Strip.

“It has become the assassin arm of the United States, no one can doubt it. It is a threat to all of us,” Chavez said, during a visit by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Chavez said he supported a peaceful struggle for the return to Syria of the Golan Heights, captured by Israel in 1967.

“The territory will one day return to the Syrian hands,” Chavez said. “Of course we want it to be peaceful because we don’t want more war.”

“But one day the genocidal state of Israel will be put into its place, and let’s hope that a really democratic state emerges there, with which we can share a path and ideas.”

Venezuela To Nationalize US Firm’s Oil Rigs

June 25, 2010 by Infinite

* Rigs were idled for months in PDVSA payments dispute

* Minister said idled rigs opposition ploy against Chavez

* Socialist government has nationalized many industries

* Giants Halliburton and Schlumberger also in Venezuela

CARACAS, June 23 (Reuters) – Venezuela will nationalize a fleet of oil rigs belonging to U.S. company Helmerich and Payne, the latest takeover in a push to socialism as President Hugo Chavez struggles with lower oil output and a recession.

A former soldier inspired by Cuba’s Fidel Castro, Chavez has made energy nationalization the linchpin in his ‘revolution’. He has also taken over assets in telecommunications, power, steel and banking.

The 11 drilling rigs have been idled for months following a dispute over pending payments by the OPEC member’s state oil company PDVSA. Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez said on Wednesday the rigs, the Oklahoma-based company’s entire Venezuelan fleet, were being nationalized to bring them back into production.

President Hugo Chavez Threatens to Nationalise Gold Mines

April 27, 2010 by Infinite

President Hugo Chavez threatened to nationalise gold mining concessions in Venezuela.

The socialist leader accused mining companies of destroying the environment and violating workers’ rights.

Mr Chavez harshly condemned the holders of gold mining concessions, calling them “crazy people” driven by capitalist greed who laid waste to Venezuela’s pristine jungles and exploited employees.

He suggested mining concessions could be revoked.

Mr Chavez has nationalised businesses in the steel, telecommunications, electricity, cement and oil sectors.

America’s Impending Master Class Dictatorship!

February 1, 2010January 23, 2010 by Infinite

This article is a MUST-READ!

This is not a conspiracy. This is politics and economics.

Wake up America! You will lose everything, if you do not act NOW.

Prepare yourself for a complete controlled meltdown. The greatest financial collapse in world history.

A hyperinflationary depression. THE Greatest Depression.

The Fed and the US government are destroying America!

(More information at the end of the following article.)

“The people no longer have elected representatives; they have elected traitors.”

By Stewart Dougherty

Stewart Dougherty is a specialist in inferential analysis, the practice of identifying historic and contemporary patterns and then extrapolating their likely effects upon the future. Dougherty was educated at Tufts University (B.A., magna cum laude), and Harvard Business School (M.B.A. and an academic Fellow).

FOREWORD: At certain times, focusing on the big picture is important not just for investment success, but for personal welfare, and even survival. We believe such times are here. It is estimated that 98% of Americans have never held a gold coin in their hands. Yet 100% of Americans regularly handle Federal Reserve Notes. From a contrarian standpoint, the financial message from those two statistics is clear. Even so, gold is much more than money or an investment medium; it stands for liberty and throughout history has facilitated escape and ensured freedom. Never having touched a gold coin is the monetary equivalent to never having breathed fresh air, felt the warmth of sunshine, looked up at the stars or risen from the gutter. Fiat Federal Reserve Notes are becoming nothing more than sewage decomposing in the vast, toxic septic tank of predatory Washington politics, epic Federal Reserve arrogance and error, blatant Wall Street fraud and outright Master Class plunder. Below, we outline America’s troubling and compounding predicament, and urge you to think about how to protect yourself from its consequences, both financially and personally.

Thanks to the endless barrage of feel-good propaganda that daily assaults the American mind, best epitomized a few months ago by the “green shoots,” everything’s-coming-up-roses propaganda touted by Federal Reserve Chairman Bernanke, the citizens have no idea how disastrous the country’s fiscal, monetary and economic problems truly are. Nor do they perceive the rapidly increasing risk of a totalitarian nightmare descending upon the American Republic.

One stark and sobering way to frame the crisis is this: if the United States government were to nationalize (in other words, steal) every penny of private wealth accumulated by America’s citizens since the nation’s founding 235 years ago, the government would remain totally bankrupt.

According to the Federal Reserve’s most recent report on wealth, America’s private net worth was $53.4 trillion as of September, 2009. But at the same time, America’s debt and unfunded liabilities totaled at least $120,000,000,000,000.00 ($120 trillion), or 225% of the citizens’ net worth. Even if the government expropriated every dollar of private wealth in the nation, it would still have a deficit of $66,600,000,000,000.00 ($66.6 trillion), equal to $214,286.00 for every man, woman and child in America and roughly 500% of GDP. If the government does not directly seize the nation’s private wealth, then it will require $389,610 from each and every citizen to balance the country’s books. State, county and municipal debts and deficits are additional, already elephantine in many states (e.g., California, Illinois, New Jersey and New York) and growing at an alarming rate nationwide. In addition to the federal government, dozens of states are already bankrupt and sinking deeper into the morass every day.

The government continues to dig a deeper and deeper fiscal grave in which to bury its citizens. This year, the federal deficit will total at least $1,600,000,000,000.00 ($1.6 trillion), which represents overspending of $4,383,561,600.00 ($4.38 billion) per day. (The deficit during October and November, 2009, the first two months of Fiscal Year 2010, totaled $296,700,000,000.00 ($297 billion), or $4,863,934,000.00 ($4.9 billion) per day, a record.) Using the GAAP accounting method (which is what corporations are required to use because it presents a far more accurate and honest picture of a company’s finances than the cash accounting method primarily and misleadingly used by the U.S. government), the nation’s fiscal year 2009 deficit was roughly $9,000,000,000,000.00 ($9 trillion), or $24,700,000,000.00 ($24.7 billion) per day, as calculated by brilliant and well-respected economist John Williams. (www.shadowstats.com) Fiscal Year 2010’s cash- and GAAP-accounting deficits will likely be worse than 2009’s, given government bailout and new program spending that is on steroids and psychotic.

Putting Fiscal Year 2009’s $9,000,000,000,000.00 ($9 trillion) deficit another way, 17% of America’s private wealth, accumulated over a period of 235 years, was wiped out by just one year’s worth of government deficit spending insanity.

Given this, is it any surprise that Treasury Secretary Geithner has announced that the release of the nation’s FY 2009 supplemental GAAP financial statements has been delayed? Remember, this is the same Secretary Geithner who bullied people to cover up the sordid details of the AIG, or more accurately, the taxpayer-funded, multi-billion dollar, Santa Claus bailout and bonus bonanza for Goldman Sachs. Do you really think this government, characterized as it is by fiscal and monetary secrecy, lies, chicanery, cronyism and stonewalling, wants the people to know what is actually happening? Obviously, it does not, so it hides from the public the inexcusable facts.

Pentagon: US forces in Haiti to number 33,000; Hugo Chavez: US weapon test caused Haiti earthquake

June 21, 2017January 22, 2010 by Infinite

33,000 US troops! Can we call it a invasion now?

– Haitians Receive Little Help Despite Promises From World Leaders; US Doctors Are Desperate

– French minister criticizes US aid role in Haiti: ‘This is about helping Haiti, not about occupying Haiti.’

– Ex-minister warns of US ‘takeover’ of Haiti

I am not saying that Hugo Chavez is right, but I know that the US and the Russians have weapons that could easily cause such an earthquake.

Chavez: US weapon test caused Haiti earthquake

Added: 20. Januar 2010

Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez has once again accused the United States of playing God. But this time it’s Haiti’s disastrous earthquake that he thinks the U.S. was behind. Spanish newspaper ABC quotes Chavez as saying that the U.S. navy launched a weapon capable of inducing a powerful earthquake off the shore of Haiti. He adds that this time it was only a drill and the final target is … destroying and taking over Iran.

I also know that the elite plans to invade Iran within the next 3 years to cause WW III. The elite constantly changes their plans and adapts them to the ‘environment’ very quickly. Call me a conspiracy nutcase, I don’t care. I know it. So maybe Chavez is right.

A major part of the Haitian disaster operation is providing security for victims and rescuers.

About 20,000 U.S. troops are expected to support relief efforts in Haiti by next week in addition to the 13,000 American military personnel already there, according to Pentagon spokesman John Kruzel.

Those men and women to be deployed are members of the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit, the 82nd Airborne Division’s 2nd Brigade and other units. Thousands of other troops are operating afloat off the Haitian coast and on shore, distributing provisions, assisting in medical operations and helping to maintain security. Some 2,200 Marines of the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit are slated to arrive within 48 hours, Kruzel reports.

“The 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit is a huge part of enabling us to extend our reach to places around the country that may need our assistance but we just haven’t been there yet,” Army Lieutenant General P.K. Keen, the top U.S. commander in Haiti, said on Thursday during a segment aired on The Pentagon Channel.

The additional forces come as international aid continues pouring into Haiti following a magnitude 7 earthquake that struck Jan. 12, creating what an official called one of the greatest humanitarian emergencies in the history of the Americas, reports Kruzel, in a statement obtained by the National Association of Chiefs of Police.

Venezuela Currency Devaluation: Government Inspectors And Soldiers Shut Shops Accused Of Profiteering

January 12, 2010 by Infinite

– US Sellers Suffer Venezuela Hit (Wall Street Journal)

venezuela-soldiers-shut-shops-accused-of-profiteering

State television was on hand to show the alleged rises in prices

Government inspectors backed by soldiers have shut more than 70 shops in Venezuela accused of trying to cash in on last week’s currency devaluation.

Soldiers have been on the streets to check prices as people queue to buy imports, fearing prices could rise.

Devaluing the bolivar by at least 17% will aid competition and cut reliance on imports, President Hugo Chavez says.

On Sunday he warned that businesses engaging in what he called speculation would be shut down or taken over.

As soon as trading started again after the president’s comments a series of supermarkets and other businesses across Venezuela were taken over by government tax inspectors.

State-run news agency ABN said food, car parts and other businesses were temporarily closed “for changing the price of products and for speculation”.

The National Guard stepped in at three superstores belonging to the Exito supermarket chain.

State television showed the alleged rises in prices on everything from plasma television screens to packets of cereal.

The bolivar’s official exchange rate, which is set by government decree, had been held steady at 2.45 to the US dollar since the last devaluation in March 2005.

Chavez said the devaluation would limit unnecessary imports

But on Friday, President Chavez announced that it would now have two rates – 2.60 to dollar for “priority” imports, and 4.30 to the dollar for other items considered non-essential – a 50% devaluation.

The BBC’s Will Grant, in Venezuela, says that since the devaluation was announced long queues have formed outside outlets selling electronic goods and technology.

Customers fear that significant price rises are on their way.

Venezuela already has the highest rate of inflation in Latin America – currently at about 25%.

President Chavez says that these measures will rein it in but many economic analysts predict that it will only get worse in the short term.

Oscar Meza, director of a Venezuelan economic think tank, Cendas, predicted the move would push annual inflation above 33%.

‘Irresponsible policy’

“It’s impossible for prices not to be adjusted,” he told the Associated Press. “If they aren’t adjusted, they’ll disappear.”

President Chavez dismissed the criticism on Sunday on his weekly television and radio programme, Alo Presidente, saying there was “no reason for anybody to be raising prices”.

President Chavez: US Spy Plane in Venezuela’s Airspace

December 21, 2009 by Infinite

President alleges drone came from Colombia, flew over military base

Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez on Sunday during his weekly radio and television show.

CARACAS, Venezuela – President Hugo Chavez on Sunday accused the U.S. of violating Venezuela’s airspace with an unmanned spy plane, and ordered his military to be on alert and shoot down any such aircraft in the future.

Speaking during his weekly television and radio program, Chavez said the aircraft overflew a Venezuelan military base in the western state of Zulia after taking off from neighboring Colombia. He did not elaborate, but suggested the plane was being used for espionage.

“These are the Yankees. They are entering Venezuela,” he said.

“I’ve ordered them to be shot down,” Chavez said of the aircraft. “We cannot permit this.”

Chavez has accused Colombia of allowing the United States to use its military bases to prepare a possible attack against Venezuela.

Both the U.S. and Colombia have denied such allegations in the past, saying the U.S. military presence is for the sole purpose of combating drug trafficking.

Latin American leaders agree on new currency, sanction Honduras

October 18, 2009 by Infinite

ALBA members are Venezuela, Bolivia, Cuba, Ecuador, Nicaragua, Honduras, Dominica, Saint Vincent and Antigua and Barbuda

COCHABAMBA, Bolivia — Leftist Latin American leaders have agreed on the creation of a regional currency to scale back on the use of the US dollar as well as economic sanctions against Honduran coup leaders.

Nine countries of ALBA, a leftist bloc conceived by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, met Friday in Bolivia where they vowed to press ahead with a new currency for intra-regional trade to replace the US dollar.

“The document is approved,” said Bolivia’s President Evo Morales, who is hosting the summit.

The new currency, named the Sucre after Jose Antonio de Sucre, who fought for independence from Spain alongside Venezuelan hero Simon Bolivar in the early 19th century, will be rolled out beginning in 2010 in a non-paper form.

That move echoes the European Union’s introduction of the euro precursor, the ECU, an account unit designed to tie down stable exchange rates between member states before the national currencies were scraped.

ALBA’s member states are Venezuela, Bolivia, Cuba, Ecuador, Nicaragua, Honduras, Dominica, Saint Vincent and Antigua and Barbuda.

In a resolution on Honduras, members of the group agreed “to apply economic and commercial sanctions against the regime that came to power as a result of a coup.”

President Chavez: Prepare for war

August 17, 2009 by Infinite

– Deal: United States soldiers will deploy to Colombia (The Raw Story/AFP)

Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez
‘We do not want war, we hate it. But we must prepare for it.,’ Mr Chavez warned. (AFP)

CARACAS – PRESIDENT Hugo Chavez on Sunday bridled at US plans to use military bases in Colombia, asserting that Venezuela was the top US target in the region and that Venezuelans should prepare for war.

Speaking in his weekly live radio and television broadcast, Chavez also chided US President Barack Obama for accusing leftist Latin leaders of ‘hypocrisy’ for demanding that Washington intervene more forcefully to reinstate Honduras’ ousted President Manuel Zelaya.

On the Edge with Max Keiser (07/03/09)

July 4, 2009 by Infinite

Special guest, Paul Craig Roberts.

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Venezuela bans Coke Zero, cites “dangers to health”

June 13, 2009 by Infinite

ECUADOR/

CARACAS, June 10 (Reuters) – The Venezuelan government of U.S.-critic President Hugo Chavez on Wednesday ordered Coca-Cola Co to withdraw its Coke Zero beverage from the South American nation, citing unspecified dangers to health.

The decision follows a wave of nationalizations and increased scrutiny of businesses in South America’s top oil exporter.

Health Minister Jesus Mantilla said the zero-calorie Coke Zero should no longer be sold and stocks of the drink removed from store shelves.

“The product should be withdrawn from circulation to preserve the health of Venezuelans,” the minister said in comments reported by the government’s news agency.

Despite Chavez’s anti-capitalist policies and rhetoric against consumerism, oil-exporting Venezuela remains one of Latin America’s most Americanized cultures, with U.S. fast-food chains, shopping malls and baseball all highly popular.

Mantilla did not say what health risks Coke Zero, which contains artificial sweeteners, posed to the population.

Russian warships set sail for manoeuvres near US waters

September 22, 2008September 22, 2008 by Infinite

MOSCOW (AFP) – A fleet of Russian warships led by a massive missile cruiser set sail from their Arctic base on Monday for naval exercises off Venezuela near US waters that have not been seen since the Cold War.

“They left at 10:00 am (0600 GMT). It’s the nuclear-powered guided missile cruiser Peter the Great, the anti-submarine warship Admiral Chebanenko and other accompanying ships,” Russian navy spokesman Igor Dygalo told AFP.

Dygalo said he could not reveal how many ships were involved in the deployment or when they would arrive. The exercises in the Caribbean Sea are expected to take place in November or December, officials said.

The deployment follows the arrival of two Russian Tu-160 nuclear bombers in Venezuela earlier this month also for exercises, an event that Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez branded a “warning” to the US “empire.”

Bolivia’s President Morales declares martial law in rebellious state

September 15, 2008 by Infinite

Supporters of Bolivia’s President Evo Morales burn dolls representing Leopoldo Fernandez, governor of the opposition state of Pando, in La Paz, Monday, Sept. 15, 2008. Several opposition provinces are seeking greater autonomy from Morales’ government and insist on the cancellation of a Jan. 25, 2008 referendum on a new constitution that would help him centralize power, run for a second consecutive term and transfer fallow terrain to landless peasants. At least 30 people have been killed in clashes this week, according to authorities (AP Photo/Juan Karita)

SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) – South America’s presidents converged on Chile for an emergency summit Monday aimed at preventing the collapse of Bolivia, whose leftist president has lost control of about half the country and said bloody unrest there amounts to an attempted coup.

Evo Morales said he would explain to his fellow presidents how his political foes in Bolivia’s rich eastern lowlands have mounted a “civic coup,” inciting “crimes against humanity by groups massacring the poorest of my country.”

At least 30 people were killed in political violence last week, prompting Bolivia’s first indigenous president to declare martial law in the rebellious state of Pando – where Morales says thugs used machine guns against his supporters – and seek the arrest of its governor.

Gov. Leopoldo Fernandez denied any responsibility for the deaths, calling it an armed clash between rival groups and accusing Morales of “mounting a farce.”

Morales has lost control over most of eastern Bolivia, where protests have blocked highways and closed border crossings and pipeline sabotage has forced a cutoff of nearly half his nation’s natural gas exports to Brazil.

Venezuela’s Chavez says US ambassador must leave

September 11, 2008 by Infinite

CARACAS, Venezuela – President Hugo Chavez said the U.S. ambassador has 72 hours to leave Venezuela and that he’s recalling his ambassador from Washington.

Chavez said Thursday night that he is asking U.S. Ambassador Patrick Duddy to leave in part to show solidarity with Bolivian President Evo Morales, who expelled Washington’s envoy in La Paz.

“They’re trying to do here what they were doing in Bolivia,” Chavez said.

“That’s enough … from you, Yankees,” he said, using an expletive.