. âBrazil's first astronaut readies for space launchâ By Meg Clothier Reuters - Wed Feb 9, 2006 STAR CITY, Russia (Reuters) - Brazil's first astronaut is ready for his voyage into space next month despite the challenges of the Russian language, the Moscow winter and hungry Siberian bears. Marcos Pontes, 42, will fly to the International Space Station with a Russian-U.S. crew, returning with the outgoing crew some 10 days later to what is sure to be a hero's welcome at home. "If Brazil was a person, I would embrace it," Pontes, a former test pilot, told a news briefing at Russia's space training center near Moscow on Wednesday. "I am a religious person and I am taking religious symbols on the flight. But most important is what I have in my heart," he said. Pontes, who speaks good English, seemed to understand questions in Russian but answered in his own language: "We can communicate. Of course in three months it's not possible to master a rich, complex language like Russian." But he has warmed to the weather -- Moscow's coldest winter in a generation. "I have adapted well to the cold, I even like it. I am lucky I got to experience a real Russian winter," he said. The deal taking Pontes into space, signed while Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was visiting the Kremlin in October, could earn Russia as much as $20 million. He will fly with the Russian Commander Pavel Vinogradov and U.S. Flight Engineer Jeffrey Williams, who will become the station's 13th live-aboard crew. "I am not superstitious: the number 13 is lucky for me. It just goes between 12 and 14," Vinogradov said. Another man -- European Space Agency astronaut Thomas Reiter -- should join them in orbit with the launch of NASA's next space shuttle flight, targeted for May. NASA grounded its shuttle fleet in July after failing to fix a technical problem that killed seven astronauts in 2003. Now Russian spacecraft bear the responsibility for shipping crew and supplies to the station. The crew, dressed in identical bright blue overalls with their national flags stitched to their left shoulders, are now nearing the end of an intense period of training. "Literally 20 minutes ago we finished training on the Soyuz simulator, where we analyzed lots of emergency situations," said Vinogradov. One reporter wondered whether the crew were prepared for a crash landing in eastern Siberia -- what would they do if a bear attacked? "The training includes all eventualities ... even the sort you describe," countered Pontes. "But I still haven't seen a single bear here." .
. May 16, 2006 SouthAmerica: Chavez warns US about $ 100 a barrel of Oil. ********* BBC News â May 14, 2006 âChavez warns US over Iran policyâ Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has warned the US that any attack on Iran will have devastating consequences and send oil prices soaring. Mr Chavez, on a two-day trip to the UK, called for a socialist new world order and said nations were cowards for not standing up to the "American empire". The US has not ruled out military action against Iran over its nuclear programme but is pursuing diplomacy. Hundreds of supporters gave Mr Chavez a rapturous welcome in north London. Packed ballroom The president told the meeting in Camden, hosted by Mayor of London Ken Livingstone, that a US military attack on Iran would lead to Tehran cutting off its oil supply. "If the United States attacks Iran... oil could reach $100 (£52) a barrel or more," he said. "Moreover, Iran has said it would attack Israel, and I know they have the wherewithal to do so. "This would be a terrible escalation and I do not know where it would end and I do not know who would get out the first nuclear bomb or how many people would die. No-one would be safe from this madness." Mr Chavez said the US "doesn't know what to do" in Iraq, which he called "the Vietnam of the 21st Century". Jubilant supporters cheered him, many clad in Venezuela's red, blue and yellow and banging drums, while hundreds more were left outside the packed ballroom. Mr Chavez said capitalism was a "destructive" system and that "socialism is the way forward". Mr Chavez called unrestricted free trade "a trap by the world's most powerful so they can keep the weakest in slavery". Britain and a number of other countries have criticised Mr Chavez's moves to exert greater control over his country's oil reserves - the world's fifth largest. On Friday Prime Minister Tony Blair urged Venezuela to use its energy resources responsibly. The president's trip has been described as a private one - he has made no request to see Mr Blair or any government officials. On Monday Mr Chavez will have lunch with Mr Livingstone, and will deliver a lecture in the evening. BBC Americas analyst James Painter says Mr Chavez's strategy for this trip is similar to the one he used when visiting the US in September last year. He does not meet government officials but rather appeals over their heads to appear as a man of the people. He says Mr Chavez does not want a "European flank" opening that would support the critical comments made of his regime by the US. .
. May 17, 2006 SouthAmerica: Another example of United States declining influence in South America. This is no longer a small wave â this has become a major âTSUNAMIâ in South America. ************* REUTERS âEcuador moves against major U.S. oil companyâ Tue May 16, 2006 By Alonso Soto QUITO, Ecuador, May 16 (Reuters) - Ecuador began on Tuesday to take over operations of U.S. oil company Occidental Petroleum Corp, the latest move in Latin America against foreign energy producers after nationalization in Bolivia and growing state intervention in Venezuela. Ecuador revoked Occidental's contract on Monday after accusing the company, in a long-run legal dispute, of violating its operating contract. Occidental says it has complied with its obligations and still hopes to settle. Occidental share prices fell by 2.35 percent on Tuesday as company executives held talks with Ecuadorean energy officials, who were escorted by police into the company's Quito headquarters. President Alfredo Palacio has been under pressure from Indian groups in the oil rich Amazon to expel Occidental, who accuse the firm of exploiting natural resources with no benefit for Ecuadoreans. Occidental, Ecuador's largest investor, had also become a lightening rod for criticism of U.S. "imperialism". The surprise contract cancellation came a little more than two weeks after leftist President Evo Morales of Bolivia, the country's first indigenous president nationalized the industry and ordered the military to occupy natural gas fields. The United States said Ecuador had now damaged its chances of reaching a free trade agreement. "We are very disappointed at the decision of Ecuador, which appears to constitute a seizure of the assets of a U.S. company," said Neena Moorjani, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Trade Representative's office. Bolivia's move sparked Wall Street fears that leftist Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, a self-styled revolutionary famous for his anti-U.S. rhetoric, was pushing his neighbors in a campaign to tighten state control over natural resources. Analysts warned against pointing the finger at Chavez as the culprit in Ecuador and said moves against foreign producers were often due to high energy prices worldwide. "Each country has its own reasons to do what it is doing," said Rob Cordray, director of Houston consulting group PSC Energy. "This is something that is happening everywhere, not only in Latin America. Oil companies are profiting a lot and the governments want to get a bigger part of it." Ecuador on Tuesday ruled out any nationalization of the oil industry. Officials say the country will receive an extra $100 million per year in oil revenues due to the Occidental contract cancellation. Energy Minister Ivan Rodriguez said Ecuador is studying the possibility of a joint venture with other Latin American state oil companies to operate Occidental's oil fields. Occidental is Ecuador's largest investor and extracts 100,000 barrels of oil per day, about 20 percent of Ecuador's total production. ANDEAN TREND? Locked in a growing dispute with the United States, Chavez has promoted his brand of socialism as an alternative to U.S. free-market policies. He has led a campaign to secure more government control over energy revenues and has actively backed Bolivia's Morales in his nationalization move. Washington has branded the former soldier a negative influence in the region, accusing him of using his oil wealth to undermine democracy. Chavez dismisses the charges as "imperialist" propaganda. Five months ahead of the next presidential election, Ecuador's government has faced increasing pressure indigenous groups to act over Occidental. "Ecuadorean politicians believe that Occidental did something illegal," said Leo Goldstein sovereign analyst at Stamford, Connecticut-based Finisterre Capital. "Many of them wanted to negotiate a settlement but there were social pressures, increased by what happened in Bolivia, that added to the pressure to cancel the contract," he added. Ecuador is also seeking more benefits from high oil prices by introducing a law that forces companies to hand over a bigger share of windfall oil profits to the state. Experts say the law may crimp much-needed investment in the energy sector. "One can expect growing nationalism in the energy sector in Latin America, but this is not a start of a wave of expropriations," said Cynthia Arnson, director of the Latin American Program at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington. "You may see a push in Peru, for example, to revise the terms of the bargain with foreign mining companies, in which the government tries to negotiate a greater percent of profits," she said. .
Disconnecting the United States and South America Make that commie Spaniard-born, Fidel Castro, the emperor of South America.
. May 17, 2006 SouthAmerica: Reply to nonnonsense The Brazilians are getting screwed in Bolivia by the new Bolivian president Evo Morales. They took over the Petrobras investments in Bolivia â almost $ 2 billion dollars â and now they are going to take away the land of Brazilian farmers valued at more than $ 1 billion dollars. These are Brazilian farmers who bought the land in Bolivia and created a nice soybean industry for that country. This is why Brazil should not waste time with these losers in South America and Brazil should focus its trade policies instead towards developing new markets in Asia, the Middle East and other new markets around the world. .
. July 28, 2006 SouthAmerica: Quoting from a Reuters article published in January 2006: âEmbraer finds itself in an unwanted spotlight over the potential sale of surveillance planes to Venezuela. The Venezuelan government has expressed interest in buying Super Tucano patrol planes from Embraerâ¦..â After the US government blocked the sell of over 30 airplanes from Embraer in January 2006 â a contract worth millions and millions of dollars for Embraer which would have created new jobs in Brazil and a nice profit for this Brazilian company â Instead Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez is giving this nice aircraft contract to Russian companies with the compliments of the United States. Thanks a lot. Now the US government is not only completely powerless in trying to stop this transaction with the Russians â but on top of that Hugo Chavez is going to acquire much more advanced military aircrafts which are a lot more dangerous than the ones he was buying from Brazil. Brazil lost a substantial aircraft contract because of US interference and Hugo Chavez ended up with a much more powerful arsenal. What a bunch of âFOOLSâ we have in Washington today. **************** âBrazil Embraer suspends plans for Florida factoryâ Reuters - Fri Jan 13, 2006 By Todd Benson SAO PAULO, Brazil, Jan 13 (Reuters) - Brazilian jet maker Embraer said on Friday it had suspended plans to build a factory in Jacksonville, Florida, after the U.S. Army canceled a contract for a new spy-plane program. Embraer, short for Empresa Brasileira de Aeronautica, was a key member of a consortium led by defense contractor Lockheed Martin Corp. that in August 2004 won an $879 million contract to develop the new spy plane, known as the Aerial Common Sensor. But the program's future was thrown into question in September, when the army determined that the Embraer jet -- a modified version of its 50-seat commuter plane -- was too small to carry all the required technology. To salvage the contract, Lockheed offered four alternative aircraft, including a larger regional jet made by Embraer that has yet to be tested by the military. But on Thursday the army terminated the contract, which was potentially worth $8 billion over several years. The decision was a blow to Embraer's plans to break into the lucrative U.S. defense market. The company had planned to assemble the planes in Jacksonville, Florida, where it was preparing to turn a defunct military base into a factory. MILITARY PLANS ON HOLD Embraer said it would now put those plans on hold, at least until it obtains another Pentagon or Homeland Security contract in the United States. "Embraer still considers the Cecil Commerce Center, in Jacksonville, Florida, as the chosen site for its defense initiatives in North America," the company said in a statement. The cancellation of the Pentagon contract comes as Embraer finds itself in an unwanted spotlight over the potential sale of surveillance planes to Venezuela. The Venezuelan government has expressed interest in buying Super Tucano patrol planes from Embraer, the same model that the Colombian military recently agreed to purchase. But Brazilian officials and Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez have said that the United States was trying to block the sale since the planes included U.S. technology. Chavez, a former paratrooper who staged a failed coup in 1992, has tense relations with the George W. Bush administration. The United States also tried to stop Spain from selling military planes to Venezuela on similar grounds. But on Friday the Spanish government said it intended to go ahead with the deal without Washington's support and would sell 12 transport and maritime surveillance planes to Venezuela. Chavez said this week he would wait to see if Brazil could solve the problem over the Embraer planes. If not, he suggested Venezuela could buy similar aircraft from China. Embraer, the world's fourth-largest producer of commercial aircraft, has declined to comment on the potential deal with Venezuela. **** Note: Embraer is the third-largest producer of commercial aircraft in the world behind Europe's Airbus and Boeing. ***************** Chavez, Ex-USSR: A New Axis? Investor's Business Daily - USA July 25, 2006 Russian Challenge: Moscow's $1 billion sale of top-flight military aircraft to Venezuela's erratic dictator isn't just business. It's unfriendly to the U.S. and a sign of a revived Cold War. There isn't any doubt Russia's $1 billion contract to sell Venezuela 30 Sukhoi jet aircraft and 33 helicopters will be trouble. Hugo Chavez's malice toward the U.S. is growing. He's now loudly broadcasting it as he tours the world to drum up support for a seat on the U.N. Security Council, wooing potential allies by promising to counter the U.S. His latest recruit was Belarus, where he signed an "anti-U.S. pact" Monday with this Russian satellite, praising Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko, who admits to having a soft spot for Stalin. "Our countries must keep their hands at the ready on the sword," Chavez said. Now he's signed a deal in Moscow for some of Russia's most advanced aircraft. The 30 Sukhoi Su-30MK2 fighters are comparable to U.S. F-15Es, not just in high-speed flight and performance, but in one area where the U.S. has consistently trumped the Russians â electronics and avionics. They are among the best in Russia's arsenal. These aircraft can do a number of things that Venezuela has never had a need for, such as long-distance flights, land warfare and sea operations. They can fly long distances with a large array of bombs and missiles, and operate at night and in bad weather. While these new aircraft don't have Russian-made missile warheads (yet), and still can be countered by U.S. stealth flight technology, they are likely to be used to menace Venezuela's U.S.-allied neighbors, like Colombia and the Netherlands Antilles, both of which are already familiar with Chavez's threats. "Su-30s are intimidators," said Joe Katzman, editor in chief of Defense Industry Daily. "They are used for strikes and for establishing dominance. The military question is always whether you can follow that up." Meanwhile, of the 33 new armored day-night helicopters for Chavez, 20 are Mi-17V-5 assault/transport choppers, and 10 are Mi-35M2 Pinana armored attack helicopters â the successors to the Russian Hinds used in Afghanistan. Three are MI-26Ts, supergiant transport copters. All are perfect for internal repression against dissent and against "color revolutions" (read: the Orange, Denim, and probable future Venezuelan and Cuban colored-coded democratic revolutions), the very idea of which Chavez slammed in Belarus this week. This Russian aircraft purchase represents a nasty new level in the continuing confrontation between Chavez and the U.S. Venezuela is just 1,400 miles from Miami. So Chavez's military aircraft menace us, threaten our allies, undercut emerging democracy movements, and, knowing what we know about the mind of Chavez, are more likely to escalate into something, than mellow out into a non-problem. Why Russian President Vladimir Putin would do this to us, given all the considerations the G-8, the West, and the U.S. have shown to Russia in the wake of its transition from communism leaves us aghast, and ought to change our perceptions. But that is hard to do, given the difficulty of reading the mind of Putin. On the one hand, it's likely to be all about money. Russia has little use for military aircraft right now, and for that reason needs foreign buyers to keep its assembly lines open. The $1 billion deal is no ordinary deal for Russia, and for that reason, is looked on as a lifesaver by Moscow. But Putin also seeks to project Russia's power, and he resents the growing democracy movements on Russia's periphery â in U.S.-supported countries like Georgia, Ukraine and Belarus â just as Russia cracks down. His move to sell advanced military aircraft to Venezuela on our periphery is a message to Washington to stop supporting democracy revolutions, or he'll retaliate, using dodgy actors like Chavez, whom Putin's spokesman yesterday called "a key partner." It's a dangerous trend. "He's building a nuclear reactor for Iran," said Katzman. "Do you think he is going to stop at fighter planes for Venezuela?" We wonder the same thing. .
2 somewhat simplistic remarks: As of now, were the US economy to fail, I don't know who it would hurt the most, but it'd hurt everyone (well, at least the G7): sure, the US borrows 2 billions a day from its partners, but then its partners also benefit from this state of affairs: who would Japan, Germany and China sell their stuffs to, if the US were gone? Regarding oil, considering the global warming, and if one reckons that we can do something about it, there is too much oil available, so a $100+ price tag wouldn't be a bad thing... Next we would need Chinese coil to evaporate...
. September 15, 2006 SouthAmerica: I guess these people from the Morales government in Bolivia has realized that they donât know how to run the business, and they need Petrobras to do it. ********* âBolivia Halts Oil Nationalizationâ PL â September 15, 2006 La Paz, sep 15 (PL) The Bolivian government suspended indefinitely state control of oil and its derivatives to make negotiations with Petrobras more viable for the strict execution of the nationalization decree of hydrocarbons. Vice President Alvaro GarcÃa made this announcement after a ministerial meeting in charge of negotiations with foreign oil companies that analyzed Brazil s reaction to state control, moving conversations set for this Friday, to October 9. GarcÃa, acting president while Evo Morales is abroad said the meeting was moved to create a climate for negotiations with Brazil, freezing the ministerial resolution that had put internal and external trade in oil and its derivatives in the hands of the State. The talks refer to Petrobras acceptance of the nationalization, an increase in export gas to the neighboring country and transference to state owned Yacimientos PetrolÃferos Fiscales Bolivianos (YPFB) of half plus one actions in two privatized refineries in favor of the Brazilian company. He added that the measure, openly questioned by Petrobras, will be on hold waiting for the evolution of negotiations on which application will depend on the decision suspended. GarcÃa assured, however, that the nationalization decreed last May continues and only its application is under negotiation during a period that expires October 31, after which it will be fully in force. He said that talks were satisfactory with Total of France and British of England and that the government expects to close the deal with acceptable terms also for Petrobras, on the bases of strict compliance with nationalization. .
. November 28, 2006 SouthAmerica: I was watching Lou Dobbs on CNN last night and it seems that Americans are surprised that South America is moving to the left. Over the weekend another South American country â this time Ecuador â elected a leftwing candidate as its president. The Financial Times published an article on Monday, November 27, 2006 âLeftwing candidate ahead in Ecuador election exit polls.â â And the article said: âA leftwing radical allied to Hugo Chavez, the anti-American Venezuelan leader, will be Ecuadorâs next presidentâ¦. â¦It will also affect the Andean countryâs relationship with Washington. Mr. Correa has vowed to close down the US military base at Manta, the only one in South America, and to shelve permanently talks on trade deal with the US. ***** I have been writing about that trend for a long time, and most people who did read my articles they thought that I was full of hot air. Today Americans are so disconnected from reality that even when you try to bring to their attention what it is obvious for other people â most Americans still choose to continue living in La La Land. And that it does happen often - time after time. Today Americans donât have a clue even about what is going on right on its own backyard and some people expect that Americans can grasp what is happening in Iraq, in the Middle East, and in Afghanistan. The truth is the Bush administration was not able to grasp even what was happening inside the United States during the Katrina calamity. It is a lot of wishful thinking to expect that this group of completely incompetent people it would grasp what is happening anywhere outside the United States. .