"Nice blueprint!!"

[Raya @ REAL CONSERVATIVES]

“It’s a wonderful day
in the neighborhood.. ....hmmm...

NICE BLUEPRINT!"

December 14 , 2010

Chavez says decree powers may last 18 months

(Reuters) - President Hugo Chavez sought to outflank Venezuela's rejuvenated opposition on Monday by vowing to assume decree powers for up to 18 months in a move bound to heighten criticism he is stifling democracy.

The charismatic socialist leader and U.S. critic (hey! ...That’s our own BOMAMA) justifies the measure as an emergency response to floods that have made 130,000 people homeless -- but it is also clearly a preemptive step before a less compliant parliament convenes on January 5.

Chavez accepted the results of a September vote that gave opponents about 40 percent of seats in the 165-member National Assembly. Opposition parties had feared he would simply bypass parliament rather than face a brake on power.

"We'll show them what we're capable of!" Chavez said, waving a copy of the special "Enabling Law" his Cabinet is preparing to submit to the outgoing parliament on Tuesday.

Opposition parties were furious.

"This is madness, a lack of respect for the popular will and a coup d'etat against the constitution," opposition politician Pastora Medina told Reuters.

"He's consolidating himself as a dictator."

Minutes before his announcement, Chavez took state TV cameras on a walkabout in his presidential palace, interviewing homeless women sheltering there and showing children playing around an ornate fountain in a cobbled square.

The unashamedly populist president, who has inherited Fidel Castro's mantle as Latin America's leading opponent of Washington, still has a strong power base among Venezuela's poor whom he says were ignored by past right-wing governments.

Currently dominated by the ruling Socialist Party, the National Assembly is sure to pass the law, giving Chavez the decree powers he has exercised three times before in his rule.

He announced plans to raise sales taxes using the decree powers, saying he needs extra funds for the disaster. That move will please holders of Venezuela debt, keen to see signs of fiscal strength in the recession-hit oil exporter.
POWERS COULD LAST 18 MONTHS

Opposition parties have said it would be illegitimate to extend the measure beyond January 5, but Chavez taunted them as "crazy" and "in need of Valium" during a live TV address.

"These are signs of a desperate opposition, a desperate bourgeoisie and ultra-right movement," Chavez said.

He said the powers would last a minimum of 6 months and up to 18 months. "They could be 20 years too," he added, laughing as he jibed at opponents and read reports of their criticism.

"RED PRINT, BARAK, RED PRINT"

...."I'll uphold that!!"

"....should I let

my moustache

grow?"

....REMEMBER THIS?

....Venezuela to nationalize U.S. firm's oil rigs

CARACAS | Thu Jun 24, 2010 8:36am EDT

CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuela will nationalize a fleet of oil rigs belonging to U.S. company Helmerich and Payne, the latest takeover in a push to socialism as President Hugo Chavez struggles with lower oil output and a recession.
A former soldier inspired by Cuba's Fidel Castro, Chavez has made energy nationalization the linchpin in his 'revolution'. He has also taken over assets in telecommunications, power, steel and banking.

The 11 drilling rigs have been idled for months following a dispute over pending payments by the OPEC member's state oil company PDVSA. Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez said on Wednesday the rigs, the Oklahoma-based company's entire Venezuelan fleet, were being nationalized to bring them back into production.

Ramirez said companies that refused to put their rigs into production were part of a plan to weaken Chavez's government,

"There is a group of drill owners that has refused to discuss tariffs and services with PDVSA and have preferred to keep this equipment stored for a year," Ramirez told reporters in the oil producing state of Zulia. "That is the specific case with U.S. multinational Helmerich and Payne."

The company was not immediately available for comment.

Chavez, who faces legislative elections in September, often pushes ahead with radical plans during election campaigns.

The 55-year-old leader is having a hard time in his 11th year in power. Venezuela's economy is the worst performing in Latin America this year, a problem exacerbated by a drop in oil output since 2008, power outages and soaring inflation.

NO SURPRISE

The takeover of Helmerich and Payne's rigs was not a surprise, considering Chavez penchant for nationalizations and the company's refusal to work before being paid the $49 million it has invoiced PDVSA.

Helmerich and Payne is a small player in the drilling industry, but global giants like Halliburton, Schlumberger and Baker Hughes also have a presence in Venezuela.

Halliburton and Schlumberger have avoided public spats with the government.

Chavez has kept pressure up on the private sector in recent months, blaming a "parasitic bourgeoisie" for Venezuela's recession and 30 percent annualized inflation,

He has threatened to nationalize Polar, the top brewer and food processor in the country of 30 million. The government has also seized a bank belonging to an owner of the leading opposition TV station and put an arrest warrant out for his partner, who is now on the run.

Chavez in 2007 nationalized multi-billion dollar projects in Venezuela's vast Orinoco oil region, persuading companies such as BP Plc, to accept minority stakes in facilities they had built.

JUST A BUNCH OF COMMIES