Saxon, Those oil companies developed and invested hundreds to millions of dollars into those field. They also brought in the expertise and man power to make it even possible. Now, I'm not sure about you but when you invest so much into a BUSINESS, I suppose you even want the profit when it is a success. What Chavez is doing is basically robbing another man of their business.
Ahmadinejad (Iran), Chavez (Venezuela) and Ortega (Nicaragua) may be friends. http://iran-daily.com/1385/2758/html/ President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was greeted by his Venezuelan counterpart Hugo Chavez at the Miraflores Presidential Palace in Caracas on Jan. 13, and by his Nicaraguan counterpart Daniel Ortega in Managua, Jan. 14. MANAGUA, Nicaragua, Jan 14--President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, striving to win new allies in Latin America, arrived late Saturday in Nicaragua, where leftist leader and staunch US critic Daniel Ortega has just returned to power. Ortega, who was the Marxist leader of the leftist Sandinista National Liberation Front that ousted US-backed dictator Anastasio Somoza in 1979, was sworn in as president last Wednesday, promising generous anti-poverty programs, AFP reported. Analysts believe Iran, flush with oil money, is in a position to help Ortega with his plans. âWe will try to expand and strengthen ties in our visit to this country and talks with him,â Ahmadinejad said of Ortega before leaving Tehran. Despite the late hour, Ahmadinejad was met at the airport by Ortega himself and other top Nicaraguan officials. The Iranian leader began his Latin American tour Saturday in Caracas, where he met with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, hailing him as an ideological ally. Tehran and Caracas, said the Iranian president, had the task of âpromoting revolutionary thought in the worldâ. âThe reason for all the current problems is the erroneous direction of the powerful countries, where there is poverty, hate, enmity and war,â he said. According to the Iranian leader, western powers were responsible for âdiscrimination and injusticeâ and their only concern is âto reap their economic benefitsâ. âAs two brother peoples and governments, we have the responsibility to promote this clear idea about the world situation,â he said to Chavez. Chavez, who has been a vocal advocate of Tehranâs nuclear program, said Venezuela and Iran will âcontinue to act as always with one voiceâ. Venezuela remains Iranâs main supporter of its peaceful nuclear program. Following their talks, the two presidents of oil-rich countries announced a joint effort to obtain new OPEC oil production cuts that would stop the slumping oil prices, which have fallen 14 percent since January 1. The announcement eclipsed the signing of 11 bilateral agreements, including a deal to create an international oil company. âWe agreed this afternoon to coordinate our forces within OPEC,â said Chavez, the president of the only Latin American member of the 11-nation Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. âToday we know that there is too much crude in the market, thatâs why we support, we will support the decisions that have been taken to reduce production and protect the price of oil,â he said. In an earlier speech to the Venezuelan Parliament, Ahmadinejad praised his host as a âfighter for just causesâ, âbrotherâ and ârevolutionaryâ. The Iranian presidentâs visit, the second to Venezuela in five months, was the first stop in a tour aimed at strengthening ties with anti-US leaders in the region. On Monday, Ahmadinejad and Chavez will attend the inauguration of Ecuadorâs new president Rafael Correa, who has pledged to forge stronger ties with Venezuela and allow a lease for a US military airbase on the countryâs Pacific Coast to lapse. The Iranian president will also meet other South American presidents, including Boliviaâs Evo Morales, on the sidelines of the ceremony in Ecuador, before finishing his tour on Tuesday.
The majority of oil revenues should go to the country and not to the pockets of the oil companies 5 % is a joke ,so , yes thumbs up for Chavez with the example of Norway in mind.
Very insightful - but the recent promise to "nationalize" assets by the new Ecuadorian President - well maybe he did not say nationalize - but debt restructuring and less US involvement sure sound the same to me, leads me to think that we really may have bigger problems to the South than anyone can imagine. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6262555.stm
Here is a list what the British communist governments nationalized through the years: United Kingdom The following companies were created following the nationalization of one or more companies in the given year: 1875 Suez Canal Company - The Egyptian share in the company was bought out by the British Government. 1916 Nationalisation of pubs and breweries in Carlisle, apparently as a means of restricting alcohol consumption by armaments factory workers. They remained nationalized for decades.[1] 1926 Central Electricity Board introduced under The Electricity (Supply) Act 1926 founded National Grid UK and set up a national standard for electricity supply in the UK. 1927 British Broadcasting Company (a privately owned company) became British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), a public corporation operating under a Royal Charter. 1933 London Transport 1938 Nationalisation of UK Coal Royalties [2] 1939 BOAC later to become British Airways (BA) - combining the private British Airways Ltd. and the state owned Imperial Airways 1946 British Coal, Bank of England - had had private shareholders who were bought out by the state. 1947 Central Electricity Generating Board, Cable & Wireless was nationalised and became part of the GPO 1948 National rail, water transport, some road haulage, passenger transport and Thomas Cook & Son under the British Transport Commission. Separate elements operated as British Railways, British Road Services, and British Waterways, also National Health Service taking over a mixture of previously Local Authority, private commercial and charitable organisations. 1949 British Gas 1951 Iron and Steel Industry (denationalised by the following Conservative Government) [3] 1967 British Steel 1971 Rolls-Royce (1971) Ltd - The strategically-important aero-engine part of the recently-bankrupt Rolls Royce Limited. 1973 Water companies of England and Wales 1976 British Leyland Motor Corporation - became British Leyland upon nationalization 1977 British Aerospace - combining the major aircraft companies British Aircraft Corporation, Hawker Siddeley and others. British Shipbuilders - combining the major shipbuilding companies including Cammell Laird, Govan Shipbuilders, Swan Hunter, Yarrow Shipbuilders 1997 Docklands Light Railway - John Prescott while trying to deflect demands that Railtrack be renationalised boasted to the 1997 Labour Party Conference that he had nationalised this (it was broadcast at the time in BBC TV coverage so there must be a citable reference to it somewhere). 2001 Railtrack - although not nationalised as such the takeover by Network Rail of the railway infrastructure in 2002 following the liquidation of Railtrack, which although not a state owned company has no shareholders and is underwritten by the State. In addition prior to this the government began to make use of a residual shareholding of 0.2% (including voting rights) in Railtrack Group Plc leftover from the original sale. [4] Oh, you say there were no communist governments in the UK? Sorry, my bad....
Nobody is denying any corporation its due profit. However, there is a very big difference between profit and exploitation. what the big oil companies had been doing in places like Nigeria, Bolivia, Ecuador and Venezuela is to totally exploit the natural resources, pay off the local dictators and get billion dollars in revenue. Well, for years that was the modus operandi of doing business. The corporations were getting rich, the local elites were accumulating $$$$$ and depositing them in Switzerland and the 98% lived in total misery and poverty. Now Chavez comes to Power along with Morales and Ortega and they all want to change that and all of the sudden people are crying socialism and are worried how the big companies will survive now that they will have to pay the true cost of oil and no longer be able to have record profits. Maybe, just maybe they too would like to pursue a Norwegian model where the profits are distributed in a fair fashion, and the overall well being of a whole society is more important than whether Shell or Exxon will have a record year of earnings ... yet again. Try to think outside the box. It will immensely benefit your trading and will surely allow you to understand the world for what it is not for what big media corporations are trying to portrait.
Saxon22, Right on target ! As long as the standard of living of the local, common people is not improved by this oil business, there is something wrong. The worldwide trend is that the richest are still getting richer and the poorest getting poorer, the gap increases every day,definetely time for some true socialism
Saxon, So you think Chavez won't be another corrupt money hungry dictator like the rest of them in the past? And a fair payout will be for everyone in that country? Hey, I hope you are right, but history has not been kind to your line of thinking. Yes, it is possible, but highly improbable. We shall see. But like any sensible trader, my odds of winning is much higher than your. I'll take you up on that trade any day of the week. But I reckon if this is real money on the line, you wouldn't even take that sucker's bet.
...is best when you know it! "Chávez was sworn in as president on February 2, 1999. Among his first acts was the launching of Plan Bolivar 2000, which included road building, housing construction, and mass vaccination.[27] Chávez also halted planned privatizations of, among others, the national social security system, aluminum industry holdings, and the oil sector.[28] Chávez also overhauled the formerly lax tax collection and auditing system â especially regarding major corporations and landholders â by increasing its fairness and efficiency." "By the end of the first three years of his presidency, Chávez had successfully initiated a land transfer program and had introduced several reforms aimed at improving the social welfare of the population. These reforms entailed the lowering of infant mortality rates; the implementation of a free, government-funded healthcare system; and free education up to the university level. "