Chavez's march to Socialism

[blueplanetii]

Chavez to nationalize U.S.-based utility
POSTED: 7:07 p.m. EST, January 8, 2007


CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) -- Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez announced plans Monday to nationalize Venezuela's electrical and telecommunications companies, pledging to create a socialist state in a bold move with echoes of Fidel Castro's Cuban revolution.

"We're moving toward a socialist republic of Venezuela, and that requires a deep reform of our national constitution," Chavez said in a televised address after swearing in his Cabinet. "We are in an existential moment of Venezuelan life. We're heading toward socialism, and nothing and no one can prevent it."

Chavez, who will be sworn in Wednesday to a third term that runs through 2013, also said he wanted a constitutional amendment to eliminate the autonomy of the Central Bank and would soon ask the National Assembly, solidly controlled by his allies, to give him greater powers to legislate by presidential decree.

The nationalization appeared likely to affect Electricidad de Caracas, owned by Arlington, Virginia-based AES Corp., and C.A. Nacional Telefonos de Venezuela, known as CANTV, the country's largest publicly traded company.

"All of that which was privatized, let it be nationalized," Chavez said, referring to "all of those sectors in an area so important and strategic for all of us as is electricity."

"The nation should recover its ownership of strategic sectors," he said.

Before Chavez was re-elected last month with nearly 63 percent of the vote, he promised to take a more radical turn toward socialism.

Chavez said that lucrative oil projects in the Orinoco River basin involving foreign oil companies should be under national ownership. He didn't spell out whether that meant a complete nationalization, but said any vestiges of private control over the energy sector should be undone.

"I'm referring to how international companies have control and power over all those processes of improving the heavy crudes of the Orinoco belt -- no -- that should become the property of the nation," Chavez said.
Partnerships sought

In the oil sector, Chavez didn't appear to be ruling out all private investment. Since last year, his government has sought to form state-controlled "mixed companies" with British Petroleum PLC, Exxon Mobil Corp., Chevron Corp., ConocoPhillips Co., Total SA and Statoil ASA to upgrade heavy crude in the Orinoco. Such joint ventures have already been formed in other parts of the country.

Chavez threatened last August to nationalize CANTV, a Caracas-based former state firm that was privatized in 1991, unless it adjusted its pension payments to current minimum-wage levels, which have been repeatedly increased by his government.

After Chavez's announcement on Monday, American Depositary Receipts of CANTV immediately plunged 14.2 percent on the New York Stock Exchange to $16.84 (€12.95) before the exchange halted trading. An NYSE spokesman said it was unknown when trading might resume for CANTV, the only Venezuelan company listed on the Big Board.

Investors with sizable holdings in CANTV's ADRs include some well-known names on Wall Street, including Deutsche Bank Securities Inc., UBS Securities LLC and Morgan Stanley & Co.

But the biggest shareholder, according to Thomson Financial, appears to be Brandes Investment Partners LP, an investment advisory company in California. Also holding a noteworthy stake is Julius Baer Investment Management LLC, a Swiss investment manager.

Chavez's nationalization announcement came in his first speech of the year, a fiery address in which he used a vulgar word roughly meaning "idiot" to refer to Organization of American States Secretary-General Jose Miguel Insulza.

Chavez lashed out at Insulza for questioning his government's decision not to renew the license of an opposition-aligned TV station.

"Dr. Insulza is quite an idiot, a true idiot," Chavez said. "The insipid Dr. Insulza should resign from the secretariat of the Organization of American States for daring to play that role."
Shades of Cuba

Cuba nationalized major industries shortly after Castro came to power in 1959, and Bolivia's Evo Morales moved to nationalize key sectors after taking office last year. The two countries are Chavez's closest allies in Latin America, where many leftists have come to power in recent years.

On Wednesday -- hours after Chavez is sworn in for another term -- former revolutionary Daniel Ortega returns to the presidency in Nicaragua.

In Managua, Venezuelan Ambassador Miguel Gomez indicated Monday that the two countries planned to work closely together, and said Nicaragua could eventually become Venezuela's top aid recipient -- getting even more help than Cuba and Bolivia, which benefit heavily from Venezuela's petro-diplomacy.

The United States remains the top buyer of Venezuelan oil, which provides Chavez billions of dollars for social programs aimed at helping the poor in countries around the region.

Gomez said Chavez and Ortega planned to sign an agreement on Thursday providing Nicaragua with resources -- he described them as loans -- for infrastructure, health, education, agricultural development and the construction of 200,000 houses, as well as energy and debt forgiveness.

Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

[blueplanetii]

Ecuador leftist vows big changes

QUITO, Ecuador (AP) -- Rafael Correa, the leftist nationalist headed to victory in Ecuador's presidential race, already is planning radical changes when he takes office in January.

Such moves would put Correa on a fast track to a confrontation with the country's opposition-controlled Congress -- a body he has referred to as a "sewer" but needs to carry out his reforms.

"We receive this triumph with deep serenity and humility," said the 43-year-old Correa, who calls himself a "personal friend" of Venezuela's anti-U.S. President Hugo Chavez, at a news conference Sunday night.

With 52.3 percent of the ballots counted, Correa had a 67 percent to 33 percent lead over banana tycoon Alvaro Noboa, Ecuador's Supreme Electoral Tribunal said Monday.

Final results may not be known until Tuesday, but Correa's followers took to the streets in caravans with musicians to celebrate a victory that few question except Noboa, who says he will await the end of the official count.

Correa said his victory "is a clear message to our traditional political class of the profound changes that our citizens want. This country doesn't need being patched up. It needs a new constitution in tune with the times."

Correa, who has a doctorate in economics from the University of Illinois, surged in voter support as a fresh-faced outsider determined to overhaul Ecuador's political system.

His view of Ecuadorean democracy as a "partydocracy" designed to benefit parties rather than people is shared by many voters fed up with corruption, greed and incompetence in the political establishment.

During the campaign, Correa attacked Ecuador's Congress as a "sewer" of corruption and ran no candidates for the legislature. He now faces a Congress in the hands of his opponents -- but said that's not important.

"Let's stop worrying so much about Congress. Let them scrutinize what they want. We're not afraid," he said. "What we won't tolerate is any attempt at instability or blackmail."

Correa said his first act after being sworn in as president on January 15 will be to call for a national referendum on the need to elect a special assembly that could rewrite the constitution and even shut down Congress.

That puts him on a collision course with the legislature, which has dismissed Ecuador's last three elected presidents, violating impeachment proceedings in the process, after huge street protests demanding their ousters.

Jaime Duran, a public opinion analyst who was chief of staff in a previous government, noted that the congressmen elected in October were just as legitimately elected as Correa.

"They have the same right to serve as Correa does," he said.

Correa's problem is that Congress would have to approve a constitutional reform to allow creation of a constituent assembly. And it has blocked attempts by the last two presidents to rewrite the constitution.

Correa has vowed to rally street protests if lawmakers don't agree to a new constitution that trims the power of the traditional parties.

Many of the reforms he proposes would make politicians more responsive to voters. For example, congressmen would represent districts instead of being elected with a national vote. He also supports allowing recall of all elected officials.

But he risks violating the constitution if he tries to organize an election for a constituent assembly without Congress' approval.

He argues "the voice of the people" as reflected in a national referendum takes precedence over Congress or the constitution -- a position challenged by most legal experts.

Insistence on forcing electoral authorities to convene an election for the assembly could put him in risk of impeachment, experts said.

"That immediately creates a conflict with Congress," said Benjamin Ortiz, head of a think tank in Quito.

Since Correa has no congressmen to defend him, "for the first time there would be sufficient votes to impeach a president without resorting to the murky maneuvers of the past," Ortiz said.

[upfromsumdirt]

the projects is a socialist country too with empire aspirations...

[blueplanetii]

I know its why I feel at home here. ...Only thing is we need maybe a pot of beans or Arroz con Pollo to complement the greens and sweet potato pie..And some tortillas...Si bueno..


but really on to the sweeping changes in Latin America..This is a huge movement spreading throughout the region. I beleive because there moreso then here..The divide between rich and poor have become so extreme. You cannot have mulitudes in poverty while only the fat gatos are eating.. Its doesnt work. And then add to that the ideas the US is no longer some sacred cow to bow down too or sell out your country too..its a recipe for drastic change. I almost hope we see one country do socialism right...maybe a hybrid..can some socialist ideas exist well within a capitalist framework?? I say yes!!