Venezuela: nationalization and lack of freedom of expression

So Chávez is giving more security to foreign companies:

President Hugo Chavez ordered by decree on Monday the takeover of oil projects run by foreign oil companies in Venezuela’s Orinoco River region.

Chavez had previously announced the government’s intention to take a majority stake by May 1 in four heavy oil-upgrading projects run by British Petroleum PLC, Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM), Chevron Corp. (CVX), ConocoPhillips (COP) Co., Total SA (TOT) and Statoil ASA. (STO)

He said Monday that has decreed a law to proceed with the nationalizations that will see state oil company Petroleos de Venezuela SA, or PDVSA, taking at least a 60 percent stake in the projects.

«The privatization of oil in Venezuela has come to an end,» he said on his weekday radio show, «Hello, President.»»This marks the true nationalization of oil in Venezuela.»

By May 1, «we will occupy these fields» and have the national flag flying on them, he said.

You can also read: Blue Crab Boulevard.

The Devil’s Excrement writes about the lack of freedom of speech in Venezuela:

In the short span of a week, the ugly head of censorship and disregard for the basic right of freedom of expression guaranteed by the Venezuelan Constitution, surfaced in Venezuela, this time in two cases covered by this blog before. First, Teodoro Petkoff’s newspaper Tal Cual was found guilty of violating the privacy of the President’s daughter and fined (Posts here, here and here on this case). Then, physicist Claudio Mendoza was punished by the Board of Directors of the Venezuelan Institute of Scientific Research (IVIC) for daring to express his opinions (posts here, here and here on that topic) and refusing to back down or apologize for what was considered as «a disrespectful article» by the authorities.

But in both cases, what we are seeing, once again, is simply an attitude ingrained in Chavez’ Government, that they are the holders of the truth and anyone who dares step over the line will be punished sufficiently to induce fears in others, thus limiting freedom of expression in a very broad way. Either you are with them, or you are punished, they know the truth and you have to adapt to it, as easy as that. [Continue reading: it’s very interesting].

He also explains both cases. About Tal Cual:

Ironically, it was Chavez himself who violated his daughter’s privacy by telling a nationwide TV audience how she had advised him on changing the country’s coat of arms. This led to a humorous and very non-intrusive piece by Laureano Marquez, which, if anything, treated Chávez’ daughter with a certain level of endearment. This led to a fine against Tal Cual and Marquez by a judge’s decision, which is so confusing an unprofessional, that the Prosecutor is asking for clarification of what it implies.

About Claudio Mendoza:

[He was punished because] «He can not say that the country is on its way to manufacture nuclear weapons. If that is said by a physicist from a scientific institution it is something serious and one cannot be deaf or mute. He (Claudio) placed Venezuela together with Iran and North Korea, something that would question the country internationally«.

[…] But the truth is that there is no valid reason today to make Nuclear Physics or its uses a priority in Venezuela and it certainly collides with the broad outlines of that absurd contraption called «Mision Ciencia». But in the back of the minds of ignorant military officers, a nuclear weapon is the ultimate power trip, a toy to beat and replace all military toys, a sublime ego booster, a possible geopolitical catapult for the all-mighty leader.

Lastly, did Argentina send a nuclear reactor to Iran in a Venezuelan vessel?

La presunta participación argentina en el envío a Irán de un reactor nuclear de última generación mediante una triangulación Buenos Aires-Caracas-Teherán -cuyo destino final no habría sido ignorado por el gobierno argentino- se inició en 2005 mediante las primeras conversaciones que sostuvieron en tal sentido Hugo Chávez y Néstor Kirchner, las que contaron además con los buenos oficios de la entonces embajadora argentina en Venezuela, Nilda Garré, quien por su parte había cultivado la amistad del mandatario venezolano. A propósito -y detalles al margen- es conocida la afición de un «galán» como Chávez por conquistar la amistad de las últimas embajadoras argentinas en su país, primero Nilda Garré y ahora Alicia Castro.
La razón inicial de esas conversaciones había sido la propuesta de Chávez de adquirir un reactor nuclear para Venezuela, a lo que rápidamente asintió el presidente argentino. Después, el tema fue girando hacia el envío del reactor a Irán. No se sabe aún si ésa era en realidad la idea de Chávez desde un comienzo o si fue tomando consistencia luego de las charlas con su amigo Ahmadinejad, o incluso ante un pedido directo de éste, ya poco proclive a depender exclusivamente de los rusos. Tampoco se sabe aún si Kirchner ignoraba inocentemente el destino final del reactor o si, conociéndolo, se hizo el distraído.
Lo cierto es que el reactor argentino ya estaría en Irán desde el año anterior, y que habría viajado probablemente en uno de los barcos venezolanos que habían sido traídos a los astilleros de Río Santiago para su reparación. Su traslado hacia Irán, en cambio, fue dejado a la imaginación combinada de Chávez y el presidente Ahmadinejad.

«Firstly, the conversations had begun with Chávez’s proposition of buying a nuclear reactor for Venezuela, proposition which was inmediately accepted by the Argentinian President. Afterwards, the conversations changed to send the reactor to Iran. […] Also, we cannot know if Kirchner ignored the final destination of the reactor or, if knowing it, he just played the distracted man«.

Lastly, Venezuela is spending huge quantities of money in weapons. Some months ago, I wrote about the Kalashnikov rifle factory which was going to be built in Venezuela. After that, I also wrote that Venezuela could possibly be the most important buyer of weapons of the decade. And it is not going to be because Chávez is not trying to. Thanks to Etimologías (SP):

Venezuela’s arms spending has climbed to more than $4 billion in the past two years, transforming the nation into Latin America’s largest weapons buyer and placing it ahead of other major purchasers in international arms markets like Pakistan and Iran.

Venezuelan military and government officials here say the arms acquisitions, which include dozens of fighter jets and attack helicopters and 100,000 Kalashnikov assault rifles, are needed to circumvent a ban by the United States on sales of American weapons to the country.

They also argue that Venezuela must strengthen its defenses to counter potential military aggression from the United States.

[…]

Since 2005, Venezuela has signed contracts with Russia for 24 Sukhoi fighter jets, 50 transport and attack helicopters, and 100,000 assault rifles. Venezuela also has plans to open Latin America’s first Kalashnikov factory, to produce the Russian-designed rifles in the city of Maracay.

A report in January by the Pentagon’s Defense Intelligence Agency pegged Venezuela’s arms purchases in the past two years at $4.3 billion, ahead of Pakistan’s $3 billion and Iran’s $1.7 billion in that period.

In a statement before the House Intelligence Committee, Lt. Gen. Michael D. Maples, the director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, called attention to Mr. Chávez’s «agenda to neutralize U.S. influence throughout the hemisphere,» contrasting Mr. Chávez with the «reformist left» exemplified by President Michelle Bachelet of Chile.

This is normal and just, taking into account how some Venezuelan citizens die.

In German: Die Zeit.

Oh, and take a look at the new mark in the belly that Mercal supermarkets are making to see if you have bought only the meat you are allowed to [la noticia en español aquí]:

«We were going to buy meat, and they wanted to put a mark on us. When we were informed that the mark was going to be made on the belly’s skin, we refused. They insulted and scratched on us. Eventually the state police came and took us to the Police Station, where they opened an enquiry. They put handcuffs on us and we were forbidden to see our families. In the end, the Prosecutor’s office released us«.

Lastly, Elephants in Academia underlines that Venezuelan Bolivar has the dubious distinction of being «the world’s worst-performing currency» as it has plunged 16% against the dollar so far this year.

Básicamente, Chávez va a NACIONALIZAR todos los proyectos petrolíferos que pertenezcan a compañías extranjeras. Como ha dicho «la privatización de petróleo en Venezuela ha terminado. Esto marca la verdadera nacionalización del petróleo en Venezuela«.

The Devil’s Excrement escribe sobre la falta de libertad de expresión en Venezuela refiriéndose a dos casos recientes: en primer lugar, el periódico Tal Cual ha sido multado por «violar» la privacidad de la hija de Presidente y el físico Claudio Mendoza ha sido castigado por el Consejo de Administración del Instituto Venezolano de Investigación Científica, por atreverse a dar su opinión y luego no retractarse ni pedir perdón. Pero «aquí sólo vemos, otra vez, la actitud del Gobierno de Chávez, que se ha instituido en el poseedor de la verdad y cualquier que se atreve a dar un paso adelante pasando la raya será castigado suficientemente para inducir miedo en otros«.

El pecado del físico había sido poner juntos, a la hora de producir armas nucleares, a Venezuela, junto con Irán y Corea del Norte. Pero algo de razón tiene que tener el científico, cuando se le ha retirado de esa manera de su puesto, cumpliendo a partir de ahora, funciones netamente adminsitrativas. Eso sí, al parecer Argentina mandó un reactor nuclear a Irán en un barco venezolano…

Por último, Venezuela va camino de convertirse en el mayor comprador de armas de la década. ¿El pretexto? Una supuesta invasión de EEUU…

Technorati : Chávez, Venezuela, freedom of expression
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Evo Morales thinks that the causes of floods in Bolivia are…

… ta …cha cha … tchan…

the climate change, and the rich countries, and the fault to comply with Kyoto:

The floods have killed nearly 40, with tens of thousands of people forced from their homes. Health officials have also reported outbreaks of dengue fever.

While aid has arrived, landslides are delaying the evacuation of flood zones.

President Evo Morales blames the floods on developed states failing to tackle climate change. Meteorologists say the El Nino phenomenon is the root cause.

Issuing an appeal for $9.2m, the UN described the flooding as the country’s most devastating disaster ever, warning that water supplies and sanitation conditions have been severely contaminated.

The first shipment of international aid has now started arriving in Bolivia from Venezuela and neighbouring Peru, with Argentina, the United States and others also lending assistance.

The International Red Cross says that more than 350,000 people have been affected, many of them poor indigenous people in remote areas of the country.

«One of the main difficulties we’re facing is actually to help proper access to the most forgotten and most affected areas,» said Giorgio Ferrario, the head of the regional delegation for South America of the Red Cross.

Health officials have reported more than 1,600 cases of dengue fever and 1,400 cases of malaria since the current crisis began.

Speaking about the devastation, Mr Morales, an outspoken critic of the US, accused wealthy countries of ignoring the Kyoto Protocol which seeks to halt climate change.

He said poorer nations were being made to bear the brunt of what he described as the uncontrollable quest for industrial growth by richer ones.

This type of action, he said, demonstrated a lack of concern on the part of the developed world in altering climate change and the fate of the planet.

However meteorologists say the extensive rains are connected to El Nino, the periodic phenomenon which begins with a warming of waters in the eastern Pacific.

In its 1997 incarnation, El Nino brought drought to parts of Asia and Australia, and heavy rains and floods to Latin America.

It is not thought likely to reach the same strength this year.

So, he is wrong: this is said to be a consequence of El Niño phenomenon, nothing to do with Kioto or climate change.

This comes to complicate even more the Bolivian situation: last week, some Bolivian miners were to defend their mine with shots and dynamite.

Also the new Parliamentary Regulation obliges MAS (Movimiento al Socialismo, that is Movement to Socialism, Morales’ Party) to seek agreements with the opposition. Another opposition’s conquest is that two thirds of all the Parliament seats are going to be needed to approve the new constitution. Debates for this will begin on Monday.

Bolivian Exterior Minister is going to declare in the Parliament about Evo Morales’ party and government’s relationship with terrorist groups’ such as ETA. The opposition says is very worried about the prespective of their country being converted into a terrorists’ sanctuary.

Resumiendo: ha habido una serie de inundaciones en Bolivia (podeis leer el Mundo), que pueden producir una catástrofe humanitaria porque hay dengue (400 casos confirmados y 1.300 sospechosos) y malaria (1.500 enfermos) y no hay suficientes infraestructuras para que puedan llevarse los medicamentos apropiados. Tampoco están ayudando los corrimientos de tierra, que dificultan o impiden el tránsito hacia Beni, la zona más afectada.

Los metereólogos han señalado que es una consecuencia de El Niño, pero Evo Morales ha echado la culpa a la «búsqueda incontrolable de crecimiento económico por los países ricos y la negativa de éstos a controlar sus emisiones«.

Por cierto, que mañana empiezan los debates para la nueva constitución, para cuya aprobación será preciso los 2/3 del Parlamento en una conquista de la oposición. La otra conquista importante es que el nuevo Reglamento Parlamentario obliga al MAS a buscar acuerdos con la oposición.

Asimismo el Ministro de Exteriores Boliviano deberá declarar en el Parlamento sobre la relación del partido y el Gobierno de Evo Morales con grupos terroristas (entre ellos ETA).

Related posts:

1. So after Al Gore.

2. Al Gore, the climate change and the new Prestige.

3. Now Morales asks for some shares.

4. Chávez to build a Kalashkov Rifle Factory in Venezuela.

5. Morales and his weapons.

6. Chávez and Evo: Videogames and Foreign Interventions of … Chávez.

7. And it won’t be the last.

8. More about Spain-Bolivia crisis.

9. German FM impressed by Evo.

10. Morales accuses Zapatero of breaking aid promise.

Technorati : Bolivia, Climate Change, El Niño, Evo Morales, Kyoto
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Last call for

this afternoon’s event at Plaza de Colón:

Thanks to La Resistencia a ETA.

Technorati : AVT, ETA, Foro de Ermua, Spain, Zapatero, terrorism
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Today is a sad day for bloggers

Some days ago I wrote about him, because of an alert my friend FFE sent me. Well, he has been finally sentenced to 4 years in jail for insulting Islam and President Hosni Mubarak and inciting sedition (¡!).

Abdel Kareem Nabil, a 22-year-old former student at Egypt’s Al-Azhar University, an Islamic institution, had pleaded innocent to all charges, and human rights groups had called for his release.

Nabil, who used the blogger name Kareem Amer, had sharply criticized Al-Azhar on his Web log, calling it «the university of terrorism» and accusing it of suppressing free thought. He also often criticized Mubarak’s regime on the blog.

In one post, he said Al-Azhar University «stuffs its students’ brains and turns them into human beasts … teaching them that there is not place for differences in this life.»

He was a vocal critic of conservative Muslims and in other posts described Mubarak’s regime as a «symbol of dictatorship.»

The university threw him out last year and pressed prosecutors to put him on trial.

The judge issued the verdict in a brief, five-minute session in a court in the Mediterranean city of Alexandria. He sentenced Nabil to three years in prison for insulting Islam and inciting sedition and another year for insulting Mubarak. Nabil had faced a possible maximum sentence of up to nine years in prison.

Nabil, wearing a gray T-shirt and sitting in the defendants pen, gave no reaction and his face remained still as the verdict was read. He was immediately taken from the pen and put in a prison truck and did not comment to reporters.

Egypt arrested a number of bloggers last year, most of them for connections to Egypt’s pro-democracy reform movement. Nabil was arrested in November, and while other bloggers were freed, Nabil was put on trial – a sign of the sensitivity of his writings on religion.

Hafiz Abou Saada, head of the Egyptian Human Rights Organization, described the verdict as «very tough».

Even his family has disowned him some days before the trial:

His father, a retired mathematics teacher, has demanded applying the Sharia [Islamic law] ruling on him by giving him three days to repent, followed by having him killed if he does not announce his repentance.

The verdict can be appealed at the Alexandria Appealing Tribunal, but his lawyers are not very hopeful. This sentence was the appeal.

There have been a lot of reactions to this men’s sentence:

Big Pharaoh [by the way, he is leaving the blog and he says that he does not when he will be posting again. I am very sorry to hear that, it is a great loss for the blogosphere]:

What really upsets me is the fact that Abdel Kareem enjoys very little sympathy in the Egyptian street because of what he said about Islam and religion in general. Some are calling for his execution.

Abdel Kareem will enjoy sympathy in the Egyptian street once Islam gets reformed. Once cussing Mohamed, Allah, whatever does not send you to prison or the gallows. If Abdel Kareem was living 500 years ago in Europe and he would have wrote the same thing about Christianity, he would have been burned at stake. Luckily Christianity got reformed, Christians in Europe understood that God would not be a very happy person if they imprisoned or killed someone who wrote/said something they considered offensive to the Christian faith. This is the reason why Dan Brown and Tom Hanks are still alive today.

Sandmonkey has announced that he will be writing a report for Pajamas Media and that he will be speaking about this in BBC.

Patrick from Clarity and Resolve expresses his concerns about Kareem’s survival in prison.

Eye-on-the-world writes that:

The London-based rights group Amnesty International said in a statement: «This is yet another slap in the face of freedom of expression in Egypt.» The group considers Suleiman to be a prisoner of conscience, jailed solely for peacefully expressing his opinion, the statement added.

The Paris-based press freedom organisation Reporters Without Borders said the sentence was «a disgrace» and the United Nations should respond by disqualifying Egypt from hosting an Internet Governance Forum in 2009.

[…]

One of Suleiman’s articles said that al-Azhar in Cairo, one of the most prominent seats of Sunni Muslim learning, was promoting extreme ideas. Another article, headlined «The Naked Truth of Islam as I Saw it», accused Muslims of savagery during clashes between Muslims and Christians in Alexandria in 2005.

He has also described some of the companions of the Muslim prophet Mohammad as «terrorists», and has likened Mubarak to dictatorial pharaohs who ruled ancient Egypt.

«I was hoping that he would get a harsher sentence because he presented to the world a bad image of Egypt. There are things that one should not talk about, like religion and politics. He should have got a 10-year sentence,» said lawyer Nizar Habib, who attended the trial as a member of the public.

More reactions at Global Voices.org, that also informs that there will be rallies protesting this in several cities:

There are also petitions online and a support site.

If you want to take part in the international campaing to support Kareem insert this logo on your blog:

and link it to the support site. Thanks.

Also read Morphemetales, MNM, Freethoughts, Pub Philosopher, The Moderate Voice, Michael van der Gälien. Iain Dale has also commented upon it.

Also read Gateway Pundit: Iranian student activist Ahmad Batebi who has been imprisoned since the Student Protests in July 1999 suffered a second stroke this week…

Batebi had several seizures on Friday night and was in a coma for a few hours. Yesterday, Batebi had a second brain stroke and was taken to the Evin Prison’s clinic, where doctors began monitoring his condition.

Batebi’s colleagues in prison contacted outside sources to announce that Batebi had a brain stroke on Friday and had spent 3 hours in a coma.

Ahmad Batebi, who was first arrested in the aftermath of the 1999 student uprising, was taken back to jail this summer and lived under deplorable prison conditions. It was reported that prison officials had confiscated and taken away all of Batebi’s personal belongings after his second stroke.

Lastly, Spanish digital newspaper Libertad Digital reports that SGAE (Sociedad General de Autores y Escritores, that is, General Society Authors and Writers) wants a «driving licence» to surf the web, as they want to end the anonimity on the Net. Pedro Farré, the SGAE’s lawyer, has based this on the lack of responsibility the actions in the web have. [HT: Caballero ZP]

Later, there have been a lot of campaigns on the Internet against SGAE’s taxes, imposed on MP3, computer memories, even printer memories, etc, supposedly because public was using this for copying music CDs and DVDs. A lot of blogs took part on those campaigns. So, are they willing to see who are their critics?

Related posts: Censorship «made in Spain» is coming?

Hace unas semanas ya escribí que a Abdelkarim le podían caer hasta 9 años, por criticar insultar al Islam y al Presidente Mubarak y contar la verdad sobre el régimen egipcio e incitar a la sedición. Le han sentenciado a 4, por acusar a la universidad en la que estudiaba de ser un centro de terrorismo que suprimía la libertad de expresión y por tratar a sus alumnos como bestias sin permitirles considerar las diferencias en la vida. También calificó de dictador a Mubarak.

Sin embargo, con todo y con eso no es esta la peor sentencia. Su propio padre ha pedido que se le aplique la Sharia y que «se le debería matar si no se arrepiente«. Cariño paternal que tienen algunos…

Algunas personas han expresado su preocupación por la vida y la integridad de este blogger en prisión.

Como veis hay una campaña internacional en su apoyo. Así que los que teneis blog, por favor, poned el logo de arriba enlazado con la dirección http://www.freekareem.org.

Los grupos de Derechos Humanos habían protestado pero, como se ve, no ha surtido efecto la amenaza.

En español podeis leer a: Disculpen las Molestias, Resolutivos, Carmelo Jordá, Luz de las Naciones. También a El Opinador Compulsivo, Juan Carlos Hidalgo, En Defensa de Occidente.

Además, el activista iraní de los Derechos Humanos Ahmad Batebi, que lleva en prisión desde los disturbios de 1999, ha sufrido hoy su segundo infarto cerebral. Los médicos han dicho que sufre por múltiples problemas tanto físicos como psíquicos, y que debe ser tratado fuera de prisión. Sin embargo, está en la clínica de la prisión.

Y en España, la SGAE quiere que para circular por la Web, nos saquemos un carnét de conducir, porque, dicen, que «el anonimato es malo porque, claro, la gente no se hace responsable de lo que escribe…«. La campaña por el canon no les ha gustado nada, pero nada, ¿eh?

Technorati : Abdel Kareem Nabil, Ahman Batebi, Egypt, Iran, Islam, Mubarak, freedom of expression
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Spanish soldier killed in Afghanistan

Idoia Rodríguez Buján was killed this morning after a high-explosive mine exploded in Shindand (south of the Afghan province at Herat, see map below), while they were giving assistance to an Italian convoy. She is the first Spanish woman killed in foreign military missions. She was born in Friol, Lugo and belonged to the Light Aerotransported Brigade placed in Figueirido. Her father Constantino Rodríguez has said that no one could imagine the pain, as she was an only child.

Everything happened at 12:00 in the morning (Spanish hour) where they were travelling in an armoured millitary ambulance as shown below:

In the attack another two army men were hurt: César Muñoz Pantoja and Jorge Riaño del Río.

All of them will be flown back to Spain tomorrow.

As a tribute (from Tecnoliberal):

Others remembering Idoia: Elentir, En defensa de Occidente, Es la libertad de expresión, idiotas, Liberales Irredentos, Por España me atrevo, Sueños de un estudiante.

Other MSM: Libertad Digital, BBC, Breaking News.

Technorati : Afghanistan, GWOT, Idioia Rodríguez Buján, Spain
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Maverick News Media

I have been writing in this new blog for 2 days. It is the natural evolution from Infidel Bloggers Alliance, as its founders Pastorius from Cuanas and Pamela Geller from Atlas Shrugs, want to begin a multimedia network against Islamist and Islamization.

So, everyone is invited to it.

Traducción: He empezado a escribir en el blog Maverick News Network, que se convierte así en la evolución natural de Infidel Bloggers Alliance. Sus fundadores, Pastorius y Pamela Geller, quieren comenzar una red multimedia contra los peligros de la Islamización.

Así que todos estais invitados.

[para los que no sepais inglés, siempre queda el recurso de traducirlo mediante cualquiera de los traductores on-line…]

Technorati : Maverick News Media

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AVT will be demonstrating next Saturday

During the act the victims of De Juana Chaos will be remembered and people will ask that at least he fullfills the full term of the punishment after a sentence from the Supreme Tribunal diminished his imprisonment from 12 to 3 years. His victims are:

Vicente Romero
Juan García
Esteban del Amo
Fausto Escrigas
Eugene Kent Brown
Juan Carlos González
Vicente Javier Domínguez
Juan Catón Vázquez
Juan Mateos Pulido
Alberto Alonso Gómez
Ricardo Sáenz de Ynestrillas
Carlos Vesteiro Pérez
Francisco Casillas Martín
Jesús Marída Freixes
Santiago Iglesias Rodino
Carmelo B. Álamo
Miguel A. Cornejo Ros
José Calvo Gutiérrez
Andrés José Fernández Pertierra
Antonio Lancharro Reyes
José Joaquín García Ruiz
Jesús Gimeno Gimeno
Juan Ignacio Calvo Guerrero
Javier Esteban
Ángel de la Higuera López

A video for the demosntration:

The video features the words spoken by De Juana Chaos about the victims: «I love to see the faces of their relatives, twisted by grief, in their funerals. Here in prison their sobs are our laughters. We end laughing heartedly«.

Spanish Interior Minister Mr Rubalcaba have stated today that the photos published by the British newspaper The Times, were taken by the terrorists’ lawyers. After the Police Unions considered that there was a favour treatment for De Juana in the hospital, the Minister has denied that, assuring that the decissions about the imprisoned are taken by the competent civil servants.

Also yesterday, when PP asked the Government why the were not going to illegalise PCTV (Partido Comunista de las Tierras Vascas, something like, Communist Party from the Basque Countries), the Government answered that «not condemning terrorism [1]is not reason enough to illegalise it«. Remember that this was precisely the reason why Batasuna was illegalised. So being the case they can present themselves to next Local and Autonomous Communities’ elections.

Zapatero, when asked about the PP pproposed measures, denied any support (HT La Frase Progre):

«No one will be surprised that we will not be favourable by a reason of principles, because we maintain the philosophy and the spirit of the Antiterrorist Pact, which stated that the iniciatives regarding antiterrorist policy must be the result of consensus«

The problem is: who he has that consensus with? And by the way, the Antiterrorist Pact was the cause of some measures, one of which was the Political Parties Law, which lets the Government begin the process to illegalise a party if they do not condemn terrorism…

Yesterday, the French cook Alain Ducasse announced that he had abandoned the hotel-restaurant he had in Biarritz (French Basque Country), after menaces from the band and the explosion of 2 bomb in the restaurant, once last June and another on December. The decision has been taken with joy by Batasuna who has said «this decision by Alain Ducasse should serve as an example for all the others speculators that rob and folk the Basque Country with their turistic projects».

Alain Ducasse is of the leading French cooks, having won at the age of 33 years, three star in the Michelin guide -the first to achieve that- and being also the first to be in charge of three restaurants (Paris, Montecarlo and New York) which also won the three stars.

This is the real result of terrorism: a magnificent cook is obliged to go from his business just because some foolisf terrorists call him an speculator!!! This is certainly, not the way to make a country stronger.

[1] They have not condemned any of the ETA terrorist attacks, last one being against T4, December 30th, 2006, in which 2 citizens from Ecuador were killed/murdered.

Others blogging about this: Elentir, Ignacio Arsuaga, A la Calle que ya es hora, La Avalancha,

Technorati : AVT, Alain Ducasse, De Juana, ETA, Rubalcaba, Spain, Zapatero, terrorism
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Le Pen: "the 9/11, no more than an incident"

The President of the National Front, Le Pen, has minimised 9/11 terrorist attacks in an interview which will be published on Wednesday,21st in «La Croix». When the journalist is surprised by the expression used, he replies:

the 3.000 dead in N.Y attacks is the number we see in a month in Iraq and much less than the bombings on Marseille or Dresde at the end of WWII«.

He also said that Muslims are dangerous when they are in command and that Islam is a religion of conquer, while Christianity is not.

He has made today a call to all his supporters because he does not have enough signatures for presenting himself to the Presidency [here, in French, video from Le Monde].

Let’s hope/pray that there are not sufficient…

Traducción: Le Pen considera que el 11-S fue un incidente, porque «mueren tantos en Iraq en un mes y porque muchos más murieron en los bombardeos de Dresde o Marsella al final de la Segunda Guerra Mundial«. Añadió que los musulmanes sólo son peligrosos cuando mandan.

Su candidatura a la Presidencia tiene problemas: no le han dado suficientes firmas para presentarse a la Presidencia. Así que ha pedido las firmas en una rueda de prensa a sus seguidores.

Esperemos que no haya…

Technorati : 9/11 terrorist attacks, Le Pen
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London is going to get foreign aid

From Chavez (FT):

President Hugo Chávez’s «21st century socialism» reached the UK yesterday when Venezuela signed an agreement to subsidise the fuel bill for London’s buses by up to $32m (£16m) a year to fund cheap travel for the capital’s poor.

Ken Livingstone, the city’s mayor, said the 20 per cent discount would fund half-price rates on buses or trams for 250,000 Londoners who receive income support.

«This arises on the suggestion of President Hugo Chávez and builds on the work his government is doing around the world in tackling the problems of poverty,» he said.

In return, the controversial Labour mayor will in April dispatch his transport chief, Peter Hendy, to set up an office in Caracas, where British officials will impart to the Venezuelan capital London’s expertise in traffic management and urban planning.

[…]

Mr Livingstone acknowledged that the cost of his mission to Caracas will be substantially lower than the value of the fuel subsidy, prompting critics to ask why a developing Latin American nation was offered cash to support a global financial centre.

Richard Barnes, deputy leader of the opposition Conservative group in the London Assembly, said: «For the mayor to develop a foreign policy of his own is a nonsense. We are a G8 [Group of Eight] capital city and we are getting foreign aid.»

[…]

As part of the original deal with Mr Livingstone, which has been in the works for at least a year, the mayor of London’s office had pledged to «actively and efficiently promote Venezuela’s image in the UK».

At the same time, people die in extreme poverty in Venezuela, without any medical asistance, and only get a meal from the Government. The story of Yudeisy Zamora, who had Human Papilome Virus (I think that it is translated like that, in Spanish: Virus de Papiloma Humano) which degenerated in a cancer, and who died in the most extreme poverty. No asistance, no early diagnosis, no Government help. She leaves 4 sons.

During these last days in which Venezuela has known her suffering, thanks to her mother, the Asociación Civil Radar de los Barrios (which can be translated as Civil Association Radar of the Districts) writes in the blog post above [translated]:

Recently, USA scientifics have discovered a vaccine against HPV. This vaccine has only a problem: it’s expensive. But why Chávez does not expend the money in curing these poor people instead of building a pipeline throughout South America, send a Chinese satellite to space, has bought recently 2 firms who were going OK -CANTV and Electricity of Caracas.

Yudeisy Zamora

Do Londoners need cheap petrol more than this woman medical assistance?

Others blogging about this: Alek Boyd, Fausta.

Traducción: El alcalde de Londres ha llegado a un acuerdo con Hugo Chávez para usar petróleo barato en el transporte público londinense (32 Millones de dólares al año) y a cambio ayudar a Caracas a mejorar en la ordenación del tráfico y del planeamiento urbanístico.

La oposición conservadora ha protestado porque dice que Londres es la capital de un estado perteneciente al G8 y que está recibiendo ayuda extranjera…

Y eso ocurre mientras personas como Yudeisy Zamora mueren por no tener asistencia sanitaria ni la vacuna necesaria porque ¡¡¡es muy cara!!!

Technorati : Chávez, Ken Livingstone, London, energy crisis, international aid
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Of supposed friends and enemies

The dialogue does not produce any result for Iranian nuclear problem:

Iran’s foreign ministry on Sunday dismissed talk of immediate suspension of uranium enrichment ahead of this week’s UN Security Council deadline despite a recent flurry of Iranian diplomacy that had raised hopes of a compromise.

Intensifying US pressure on Iran, particularly over Tehran’s alleged support for Shia militias in Iraq, has led Tehran’s political elite to call on the leadership to exercise caution on the nuclear issue, fearing it would be used by Washington as a justification for military action.

[…]

The International Atomic Energy Agency, the UN nuclear watchdog, will report on Wednesday on Iranian compliance with a December UN Security Council resolution. That decision imposed sanctions on Iran’s trade in sensitive nuclear technology and material to force it to stop uranium enrichment, a process that can produce fuel for nuclear reactors or atomic weapons.

Analysts in Tehran say that while discussion of «suspension» is no longer taboo, the proposals it is considering fall short of the full, unconditional halt that the UN is demanding.

According to Mohammed ElBaradei, United Nations’ chief nuclear, Iran has mastered crucial nuclear technology since August and could be as little as six months away from being able to enrich uranium on an industrial scale.

In an interview with the Financial Times, Mohamed ElBaradei, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said Tehran was overwhelmingly likely to miss a UN deadline on Wednesday to suspend enrichment, which can produce both nuclear fuel and weapons grade material.

[…]

Since August last year Iran has been using centrifuges at a pilot plant in the town of Natanz to enrich uranium. Although Tehran insists its purposes are purely peaceful, it has refused to halt the process. Both the US and Israel have warned that Iran might reach a «point of no return» in its nuclear programme by mastering the technology of uranium enrichment.

Mr ElBaradei added that US and British intelligence estimates said that Iran was still five to 10 years away from developing a nuclear bomb and warned against «hype» over Tehran’s nuclear progress.

He argued that even if the concern that Tehran might acquire technical knowledge about uranium enrichment was «relevant six months ago, it is not relevant today because Iran has been running these centrifuges for at least six months».

The UN inspector added, however, that «there’s a big difference between acquiring the knowledge for enrichment and developing a bomb».

He said Iran could install an industrial scale capacity of 3,000 centrifuges – enough to begin producing fissile material for a bomb – within months.

So, the problem now is when Iran will have the nuclear bomb, not if he will have it.

At the same time, Russia has announced that they will be delaying the Iran atomic power plant start-up, as Iran is behind payments.

A source in Russia’s nuclear power agency Rosatom told Reuters it was obvious the timetable for the Bushehr plant needed to be «corrected» because Tehran had not made payments for the work for more than a month.

Moscow had been due to start nuclear fuel deliveries for the plant in March, ahead of the reactor’s planned September start. It was unclear how long the delay would be. Moscow has already pushed back completion several times, citing technical reasons.

Iranian nuclear plant in Bushehr

Atomstroiexport, the Russian state company in charge of the Bushehr work, said existing U.N. sanctions against Iran were also contributing to the delays because of a trading ban on certain atomic equipment.

«There are certain obstacles affecting our work in Bushehr,» said spokeswoman Irina Yesipova. «Because of the embargo a number of third countries declined to supply equipment (to Iran). That’s why Russian producers have to provide all the equipment all of a sudden. It’s a tough situation.»

Washington wants Moscow to stop building the Bushehr plant altogether, believing it is encouraging Iran’s bid to master uranium enrichment technology, the issue at the heart of Tehran’s nuclear dispute with the West.

ElBaradei told a London conference on Monday that Western powers needed to reassure Tehran over its own security rather than just ratchet up international sanctions.

If I am not mistaken, no one had menaced Iran. In fact, it was Ahmadinejad the one who menaced Israel. And NOW is supporting several rebellions and terrorist groups. US has evidence that now they are sending weapons to Iraq.

Iran is also planning to destroy ancient archaeological sites. Of course, no MSM has said nothing. Stephania in The American Thinker tells all about this:

Not yet satisfied with ruling Iran by Shari’a, radical Islam is set to wipe out all traces of an ancient civilization deemed as «un-Islamic». On January 22, 2007, the Islamic Republic’s Minister of Energy announced the decision to flood the Sivand Dam, which will destroy the ancient archeological sites of Pasargad and Bolaghi Gorge, where the mausoleum of Cyrus is located. The sad event is scheduled to take place during the days marking the anniversary of the second Islamist invasion of Iran – that is, the Khomeinist «revolution».

Iranian people demonstrating against this measure

From the Guardian: Once George Bush has got hold of a bad idea -referring to the possibility of invading Iran-, he just can’t let it go. In the article, the author considers that US is taking the same steps the took with Iraq, and insists on the bad situation this country is now.

Anyway, even more dangerous is Saudi Arabia:

These countries for the most part have been passive and disengaged. They have declined to provide debt relief or substantial economic assistance to the Iraqi government. Several Iraqi Sunni Arab politicians complained that Saudi Arabia has not provided political support for their fellow Sunnis within Iraq. One observed that Saudi Arabia did not even send a letter when the Iraqi government was formed, whereas Iran has an ambassador in Iraq. Funding for the Sunni insurgency comes from private individuals within Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States, even as those governments help facilitate U.S. military operations in Iraq by providing basing and overflight rights and by cooperating on intelligence issues.

Saudi Arabia AND Jordan, both united in supporting the terrorists insurgents:

The Americans have also been coy about the threat to their helicopters. At least six are now admitted to have been downed by hostile fire, and the number could be as high as 50, including a Chinook loaded with dozens of troops. Who is doing this and how, the Americans will not say – for obvious security reasons. But the chances are that at least some of the helicopters have been downed by those Sunni extremist pals of Saudi Arabia and Jordan – which hardly helps the case for war against Iran. [HT: Le Conservateur].

And Al-Qaeda is reuniting in Pakistan, having set a band of training camps in the tribal regions near the Afghan border, according to American intelligence and counterterrorism officials. American officials said there was mounting evidence that Bin Laden and his deputy, Zawahri had been steadily building an operations hub in the mountainous Pakistani tribal area of North Waziristan. (HT A Tangled Web).

Lastly, Austria sold rifles to Iran that are used by Iraqi terrorists insurgents. [image below]

More than 100 of the.50 calibre weapons, capable of penetrating body armour, have been discovered by American troops during raids.

The guns were part of a shipment of 800 rifles that the Austrian company, Steyr-Mannlicher, exported legally to Iran last year.

The sale was condemned in Washington and London because officials were worried that the weapons would be used by insurgents against British and American troops. [The Astute Bloggers].

With these allies, who needs enemies????

________________

Lastly, Pakistan could have agreeded to give Saudi Arabia the nuclear bomb…[Gateway Pundit]

Also Russia considers unilateral repudiation of nuclear weapons treaty [La Russophobe] and has menaced Poland and Czech Republic with Russian missiles if they agreed to host a U.S. missile shield, according to Nikolai Solovtsov, Russia’s Strategic Forces commander said, but added it was for the Kremlin to decide [Noisy Room.Net]

Others blogging about this: Captain’s Quarters, Noisy Room.Net, FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog,

Básicamente, Irán va a tener una capacidad industrial para hacer una bomba en menos de 1 año, aunque se necesitará, para hacerla, entre 5 y 10 años, según El Baradei. Eso sí, lo que está claro es que Irán va a tener la bomba, el problema es cuándo. El Baradei ha justificado a Irán diciendo que hay mucha inseguridad entre sus vecinos, pero sin comentar por supuesto que Irán amenazase a Israel.

Eso sí, van a destruir -inundándolos- uno de los valles más importantes arqueológicamente hablando [Pasargad y Bolaghi Gorge] que contienen la tumba de Ciro el Grande. Los medios de comunicación internacionales no han dicho nada, como ya pasó con los Buda de Afganistán. Porque la razón de esta decisión no es si no festejar el aniversario de la revolución iraní destruyendo lo que no es islámico…

Mientras The Guardian está inquieto porque dice que Bush, si se le mete algo en la mollera -hablando coloquialmente-, no le hace nadie cambiar de opinión y que no está por el diálogo. La oportunidad de este comentario es para troncharse porque hoy han dicho los iraníes que el diálogo no va a pararles el enriquecimiento de uranio… aunque sí les va a parar el no pagar lo acordado a Rusia que, ha anunciado hoy que paraba de construir Bushehr hasta que Irán cumpla lo acordado, reconociendo eso sí que tienen problemas también debido al embargo de materiales nucleares.

Pero más preocupante aún son las últimas noticias de que Arabia Saudí y Jordania han estado entrenando a los terroristas que luego comenten atentados en Iraq y mandándoles armamento, así como que Al-Qaeda ha establecido su centro de mando en Pakistán, donde tiene varios campos de entrenamiento operativos.

También Austria ha vendido rifles a Irán, que han sido utilizados por terroristas insurgentes en Iraq contra las tropas aliadas.

Así que, con estos amigos, ¿quién necesita enemigos?

Technorati : Bushehr, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, nuclear crisis
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