With so much going on in Asia, Europe, and Africa these days, South America tends to fall off the media radar. So here's a rundown on some big news down south:
A pipeline to move gas from Venezuela to Brazil and Argentina is in the final stages of planning. A committee of economists and engineers are working out the details of putting the pipe through the Amazon, while energy ministers of the countries involved pound out the political balance. Venezuela stands to gain a lot from selling gas to the two biggest SA countries. Bolivia is annoyed at being left out in the cold, after trying to make a deal with Brazil too, and is now arguing that Venezuelan gas will be too expensive after the cost of building a 5,000 mile pipeline.
Venezuela is, in fact, doing pretty well these days, thanks to increasing production of natural gas. However, most countries remain suspicious of its newfound wealth and generosity (President Chavez is tossing money around freely, from Uruguayan hospitals to Hurricane Katrina victims), if not due to its plans to cut a swathe through the Amazon rainforest, then for its enthusiasm in such an expensive project.
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So where did you get this info from?
I'm not surprised at Chavez though. He is actually using the money for things which will actually bring prosperity for Venezuela in the long run.
The truth is that Chavez is spending away the country's future just to consolidate his power over the people ignorant enough not to recognize what he's doing. He's no longer reporting finances to the SEC (required if you want to trade in the US) and he's driving away future investments in Venezuela by appropriating private property from businesses and allowing unproductive squatters to take over the land. In addition, he's forcing foreign companies to turn over controlling interests in their businesses to Chavez. Meanwhile, his cronies who run the election commission have publicized the names of people who voted against him for the purpose of retaliation. Chavez's latest plan is to change their constitution to guarantee he'll stay in as president until 2031 instead of leaving after two terms in 2013. So much for their "democratic" elections which fellow traveller Jimmy Carter approved of. If you like Castro's Cuba, you'll love Chavez's Venezuela.
I ran across the news on BBC's website first, then hunted a bit more down on other news websites. I do need to work on citing my sources, don't I?
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