Re: SC25

Micheal Rupper writes from Venezuala.

http://fromthewilderness.com/members/091206_venezuela_caracas.shtml

VENEZUELA
Caracas, Part I

September 12th 2006, 2:25PM [PST] - CARACAS – Now I begin to write about one of the most important and influential countries in the world today, Venezuela. It is certainly the most influential nation in the Western Hemisphere outside of the United States, and it doesn’t take a great many tea leaves to see that perhaps the greatest battles over its sovereignty are yet to come; battles in which the United States is no longer a superpower but evenly matched against a rising people, a rising region, and a leader who have been besting it both internationally and inside the country since 1998.

The outcome of these battles may in part decide the future course of human history. They will determine whether the Empire can secure the energy it needs to keep up the internal appearance and external semi-reality of control for just a little while longer. The longer the Empire stays in some form of control, the worse the chances are for the rest of the world. And that much further down the path of “consume rather than conserve” will we have ventured as a species.

The stakes are higher now. With Peak Oil dominating foreign policy, five areas of the world are emerging as critical: The Middle East, West Africa, Canada’s Alberta tar sands, The Caspian Basin, and Venezuela’s Orinoco belt. In all five regions US hegemony and influence have been successfully challenged, even in Canada where China has secured portions of the paltry one million barrels a day of production and has plans to build a pipeline to Canada’s Pacific coast.

The United States alone consumes 22 million barrels per day so the production numbers from these very expensive and hard-to-develop regions will never come close to even offsetting a global decline rate now estimated at six to eight per cent a year. The species is already fighting over scraps.

In three regions (sans West Africa and the Middle East) are the heavy and extra heavy, “sour” oils that, while not permitting global economic growth to continue, will serve as very expensive parachutes for some passengers on the bright, shiny and ever-more-rickety airplane of human civilization. It is now clear that the airplane will not be brought in for an early safe landing, far from its destination of infinite global economic expansion. The strategies pursued by the world’s dominant economic and military power, the US, before and since 9-11 have pre-destined that the airplane will crash and that those without parachutes will go down with it.

It is against this backdrop that the government of Hugo Chavez is seeking re-classification of its extra heavy Orinoco bitumen (not previously counted as oil) as part of its official reserves. On paper at least, this would give Venezuela larger reserves than Saudi Arabia. This does not mean that the world’s energy crisis is suddenly, magically solved. In fact, it may actually indicate that the Peak Oil crisis is far worse than most have suspected.......

Hugo Chavez spoke at the UN this week, I watched his speech, you can view the transcript of it here:
http://www.commondreams.org/views06/0920-22.htm

Refreshing to see a world leader saying what needs to be said, about the errant course this countries administration is on. Chavez is a very aware, well spoken leader, Bush is an impudent fool. Do you now hear the constant drum beats about " the threat " that Iran poses to us, as outlined by this adminstration's propoganda machine? Did you see the " eyes rolling " of other world leaders as Bush uttered his continued diatribe of nonsense at the UN? The signs are everywhere to be seen, that the Lion's share of the rest of the world's countries are fed up with the lies and deceipt of this countries current leaders. Rest assured, they are making plans, and they will not sit idly by while Bush and crew try to remake this world, according to thier wishes and designs. Do you see less troops in Iraq? Of course not, because this administration has no intention of giving up the oil, or the military bases put there to control this region of key energy resources. Troop reductions are always " just around the corner, over the next hill, so to speak ". Remember what they, Bush and crew said when we attacked Iraq? It was to be a " quickie " war, a " cheap " conflict, with the Iraqies singing our praises as we triumphantly came down the streets of Bagdad, with thier great oil wealth paying for everything. We would be in and out in a flash. Five years later, the whole thing is a complete friggin mess, a corporation " Fraud Fest ", all conveiniently " very far away " from the eyes of the american public. Now the question of whether Iraq is in a full blown Civil War, is an idiotic game of semantics, with this adminstration, implying that everything is " really getting better ", when anyone else with more than a few neurons, see's the reality of Iraq's continueing meltdown. So they are sending everybody they have over there, cutting time off for troops, putting our american people in harms way, because now Bush says, Bagdad will " make or break " the future of world civilization, if Bagdad falls, " WE ARE DOOMED ". Does anyone really think, that 145,000 troops can control a country as big as Iraq, in a full blown " in truth " Civil War? Chavez has it right, Bush is a sick man, and we all must be very concerned, about what things he will do, between now, and the time his " Travesty Of Leadership " is over. Bush and his un-ethical bunch of oil baron's and corporation greed mongers are trying to corral the world's energy supplies, because that will bring them power, and control, if they can accomplish thier planned objectives for the " New American Century ". But countries with the meaningful energy supplies, are more and more, not inclined to let themselves get pushed around. Venezuala is one of them, Iran is another. So as we saw in Cuba last week, leader's are meeting, discussing stratagey, of how to control " The Empire ", that shows so little concern, for other countries and thier people. Time and time again I see, these other countries, and thier citizens, actively not choosing a course of blaming the american public for what is happening, but truthfully in the end, we, should make it our business to see, that our leaders represent us, with reasonable and ethical standards, we after all, are responsible for letting our leaders, do what they do. We have the ability to control them, if we have the will, and demand change, when change is needed, like now.