Chavez signs decree to nationalize foreign oil companies
Americas News
Feb 27, 2007, 5:27 GMT
Older Talkback
page: 1 2
This idiot is 20 years out of date, socialist system’s don’t work,hasnt he learnt from the USSR?,all he has to do is look around and him see that these kind of policy’s sound good but in practice they fail, but then again, its not about economics is it?, its about POWER, power for him self over everything and every one, his idea’s and agenda’s forced onto every one else under the pretend 'tempory rule by decree', do you realy think a man so intoxicated with power will give it all up when the time comes?, he will find some other excuse to extend it and before you know, he will make sure that in any future elections, IF there are any at all, he will always retain power.
Why did those who had him in their hands several years ago let him live? What kind of incompetents is the CIA plotting with these days? I guarantee that Chavez would have no compunction about shooting his rivals for political power if that was easiest. Fortunately for him playing to the extreme ignorance of the majority in Venezuela was the simpler course, and is something that his isn't about to let any one else have a chance at.
Macca says Chavez is 20 years out of date ... i say Chavez is looking out for the welfare of his people ... yes, macca, it may indeed be about power, but not as you define it. kudos to chavezz for standing up to the rapaciaous international oil giants.
As for Robert, i can only assume you are american with the comment 'why did those who had him in their hands several years ago let him live?' Only an american (or an israeli) has sufficient arrogance to think they had the right to even ask that question ... and you wonder why you're hated around the world ... and yes, chavez is fortunate that the majority in venezuela elected him to do what he said he would; take back ownership of venezuela's resources from greedy corporations.
Oh dear Chris, your letting your true feelings of hatred and racism towards any other race or religion slip through there, are you muslim by any chance?, regardless of what ever name you stick on the power he craves, its negative and wrong because the power he wants is selfish and for his own ego, its not for the greater good., all dictators are the same, “I do this for the good of the people”, is their common defence, even if its wrong.
macca, thank you for a polite response.
no, i am not muslim, though i did once consider abandoning my anglican/romanian orthodox/judaic heritage for islam. instead, i decided to keep my faith personal and not follow any particular crowd.
however, macca, chavez was ... was ... elected by the people of venezuela on the platform that he would recoup control of the countries assets ... he cannot therefore be a dictator ... the venezuelan parliament voted in the majority to give him these temporary powers ... why is it america cries democracy but when a democratically-elected government does somethng which america does not agree, they cease to be truly democratic? is this narrow-minded arrogance a result of the jewish lobby, or just something that evolved through america's narcissistic navel-gazing?
Chris, i agree with you, he was elected by the people, at this stage in his life his lust for power was germinal, but even then, his sole aim was for power, now he`s got it, he isn’t going to let go, when a man rules by decree, its dictatorship, it has to be because he doesn’t take any one else’s opinion into consideration, what he says and wants go, the state, or rather, him 'retaking' businesses from private companies which were legally bought from the state in the first place is only going to have a negative effect on the economy of that county, and sooner or later the people, because its blatantly obvious that when the state runs every part of every day under dictatorship, every one suffers, in 25-30 years time, this country, when Chavez has gone, will be knocking on the door of western countries with a begging bowl asking for economical aid because theirs was ruined by ideas of the heart and not the head.
Socialism doesn’t work, it never did, it never will, its been, and is being proven through the world.
Macca, I also agree with you in so far that communism doesn't work (though I do admire Cuba's efforts); socialism could work under the right conditions, but i agree that these conditions of cooperation over competition are utopian ... yet, capitalism works, but look at the cost ... i find capitalism to be absolutely ethically and morally bankrupt; a corporation can ruin entire communities and thousands of lives solely to improve the 'bottom line' by a meagre percentage point ... an entire ecosystem (eg, the grand banks, the amazon basin) can be ruined in the pursuit of 'profit' ... faced with this, i find it extremely difficult, whatever chavez's motives, to find issue with his decisions, which if i may reiterate, were the political platforms he was originally elected on.
peace, and thanks for the discussion.
Chavez has had enough with big business pushing his country around. In the US, corporations and gov't are merely quid-pro-quo whorehouses sold to the highest bidder. When the gov't needs illegal wire-taps, Verizon and Sprint allow them secret rooms to listen in on calls. When Haliburton (and KBR) need more revenue, the gov't hands out no-bid contracts. When the gov't dislikes literature, Wikipedia bans the book 'America Deceived'. We The People had our gov't sold out from beneath us. In Venezula, Chavez is fighting back, he's not using the right method but his countrymen are fed up with big business plundering their resources.
Final link (before Google Books caves to pressure and drops the title):
http://www.iuniverse.com/bookstore/book_detail.asp?&isbn=0-595-38523-0
Macca,
GWB was APPOINTED by his fathers buddies and is ignoring his own governments call not to escalate...
Chavez was ELECTED by the people and is doing what his government and people asked for .....
Nuff said.
It may be perceived anachronistic to nationalize industries these days.
It seems to belong to a different age, when people in earnest discussed the merits of socialism.
Nationalization might not be smart, neither economically nor politically.
But it is not illegal, provided that fair compensation is paid.
Political Risk Guarantees/Investment Guarantees issued by the US and by MIGA do not protect the investor against nationalization of his investments as such, they protect him against financial losses, which might result from inadequate compensation when nationalization takes place.
I am sure that the present administration would be prepared to nuke compassionate Chavez for less than this, but dear readers, before accepting this reaction as 'fair and balanced' please remember that the very same US administration warned Bayer that it might invoke its legal right to compulsory licensing of CIPRO unless Bayer cut its price in half!
Compulsory licensing which is a special case of nationalization is an option under most countries' laws. And I believe that it should be, not only for the US.
In case you hadn't noticed, the U.S. president has been ruling 'by decree' through the use of signing statements.
to the capitalist/corporate/usa/uk/israHELL shills such as Mecca here... sorry... 'socialism' DOES in FACT work! the best forms of social systems that provide for the best quality of life are in FACT 'socialist democracies'.
simply look to northern European countires to see the facts. nice to see U R a PAID shill posting usa BS!
what ya gonna do next? say usa is the most free and richest counrty on earth?
bwahahahahah!
get a clue ohhhh sheeple!
I thnk it funny that so many here post about the 'evil corporations' with out having a clue about international investments. Good old Chavez has done nothing less than make sure that the corporate world will never invest another penny in the area. Right now you are all patting him on the back for bravely hitting back at the evil US even the though the US had record trade with Ven last year and this years going to be even bigger. Dont you socalist types ever get tired of having the wool pulled over your eyes by dancing little despots like Chavez? So now your free press has gone, Bush still hasnt attacked as Chavez has been saying he would, in 6 months hes going to hand over the oil to his cronies who will most likely milk it all the way to ruin. After hes acheived all these glorious 'socailist dreams' he will then tell you all the good reasons not to have elections again before calling himself El President for life. Nice way to screw yourselves Venezula.
When are you people going to wake up? It's all about control of the natural rescources of the planet. All governments are inherently evil, our founders knew and taught us that; that which is not being taught to this generation in the government indoctrination centers (public schools). Chavez is no angel, but he is doing everything in his power to counteract the influence of the US in his sphere influence.For God's sake, all Castro wanted from us was to get rid of the donkey shows in the mob controlled casinos, and the US said fuck you, Look at the later years of General Smedley Butler; he had it up to his eyeballs doing the bidding of the corporations (United Fruit) etc, ad infinitum,in Central America using the Marines to do the bidding of US corporations. We are given a choice of anointed candidates all who are in thrall to the ruling elites. If you believe there are no ruling elites, open your eyes, you are so naive. Look around you; surveilence cameras, checkpoints, mandatory random drug tests at schools, National ID cards which will be law in 2008. We are living a blooming police state. The control grid is being out in place post haste because a significant number of persons are waking up. May we not go Quietly into the night.
Should say Being put in place, My Bad
Grom L
'For God's sake, all Castro wanted from us was to get rid of the donkey shows in the mob controlled casinos, and the US said fuck you'
The perfect example of socialist magical thinking. So what happened after the US left? Paradise or are all those tiny rafts and boats just coming to Florida for the sun?
Chavez is a populist dictator, whats funny though is when I was posting this 12 months ago everyone condemned my thoughts...now after hes closed the press, victimised opposition voters, took 'emergency power' (presumably to defend against the evil Darth Bush), buddied up to some of the worst tyrants and terror states in the world, its getting harder for intelligent people to keep excusing him.
Yeah, 'socialism is a hideous failure! Ya know, Norway, Sweden, Denmark,
Finland, Holland, Belgium, Switzerland, etc. Yeah, those countries are a
real blight on the world, arent they?!? I, for one, would never want to
live in a country that levels the playing field for families and workers.
Why would I want to limit 'corporations' greed-filled stranglehold. 'They'
really care about us all! Mussolini did'nt like the term 'Facism' He
proscribed to a life of 'Corporitism' I'll be glad when the 'corporitists'
blow up the world. Then I won't have to think about those terrible Socialists!
Wake the F' Up America!
Capitalism, as practiced by American multinational corporations is an abomination. Over the past 40 years I have watched healthy capitalism, that which I wholeheartedly support, descend into an abyss of greed, corruption, economic wars against weaker countries in exploitation of their natural resources, financial maneuvering to enslave nations by the world banking organizations and premptive war against Iraq for its oil. The citizens of the United States have, by virtue of inattention and political laziness, allowed our country to become dominated by the most corrupt political regime in its history. The U.S. is a nation today comitting atrocities worldwide for which, in 1948, we were convicting and executing German leaders.
Bravo, Chavez! It's your country's oil . . . use it to advance the welfare of your people. Educate them in the real history of the world. Put them to work on peaceful projects. Never underestimate your enemies.
As others have wrtten, the overall standard of living of a nation coorelates positively with degree that those countries have 'socialist' policies.
As far as the so-called socialist 'failures' we really don't know how well they would have done. The instant any nation, (usually quite democratically) attempted to give socialism a try, they faced instant hot war, cold war, economic war and blockades, covert subversion and sabotage; coups and assassination of their leaders, at the hands of the USA. Millions have died at the hands of the US in this way.
But usually, countries werent even allowed to even get to the 'give socialism a try' stage - as the CIA supervised the murder of literally millions, from Indonesia, to the Arab states, to Central America, to Argentina and Brazil - for merely their party affiliation or trying to organize a labor union.
So, if socialism is so bad, why didn't the US allow it to succeed or fail on it's own merits and popular appeal? Isn't that what your beloved 'free market' philosophy is all about?
It always seemed to me that the USA is terribly frightened that socialism just might work, and goes practically apoplectic with fear that a 'good example' may appear in the great swaths of the planet that it claims as it's own.
If you don't believe that the US has killed millions in it's anti-socialism mania, please study history. I recommend the latest edition of 'Killing Hope -US Military and CIA Interventions Since World War II' by William Blum.
Great point, Paul D. Pro-business supporters who rail against socialism seem to forget that it's never been allowed to fully take root. Russia wasn't socialism in any meaningful sense; and one has to remember that they were being systematically crushed by the U.S. economic system and the cold war. Imagine if Cuba, a country that has survived the worst, harshest, longest embargo (the only one that bans medicine and food, illegal under national law) were allowed to operate and trade normally; they'd almost definitely be a smashing success, if they could survive this long without breaking. And that is the real purpose of U.S. foreign policy; to stifle any possible challenge to the 'free market' system, which benefits the few and no one else.
And perhaps Venezuala doesn't even want western investment anymore. I'm sure China and other non-aligned countries could keep their coffers fully loaded. Capatilism is coming apart at the seams (look at the dollar since Bush took office, and the debt) and Chavez is doing something different. Privitization is suicide; look at Argentina! It's time to move on from the fantasy of capital, and I posit that the only solution is to learn to share, not take. We've gotten away with that too long, and it's time to pay.
page: 1 2
Latest Headlines in Americas
- 1. Protests end peacefully in Nicaragua (Roundup)
- 2. Thousands demonstration against Nicaragua's Ortega
- 3. Peru shocked by claim of murders to collect human fat
- 4. Chavez says destruction of walking bridges to Colombia "routine"
- 5. Managua braces for demonstrations for, against President Ortega
News from Other Sites
Your Talkback on this Story