Yep, the Bush administration, through the CIA of course, was heavily involved in trying to oust Chavez. It is an interesting situation to keep an eye on. The Bush administrations aggressivness against Chavez is very telling about how they view the world and their policies.
There is a lot going on down there right now.
Chavez wants to sell oil to China but " "The US will not look
favourably on Panama aiding Venezuela to sell its oil to a competitor of the
US" said one US official familiar with the issue." (so much for free trade.) :roll:
Colombia also had one rebel leader kidnapped out of Venezuela and flown to the US.
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US to look into Venezuela oil supply reliance
By Andy Webb-Vidal in Caracas
Financial Times, January 14 2005
The US is investigating the risk of potential Venezuela oil supply
interruptions as the government of Hugo Chávez, Venezuela's president, seeks
to steer exports away from the US towards China.
A team is being assembled by the Government Accountability Office (GAO),
Congress's nonpartisan investigative agency, to study the issue at the
request of Richard Lugar, Republican chairman of the Senate Foreign
Relations committee.
US oil imports from Venezuela, the world's fifth-largest oil exporter, were
stopped in late 2002 and early 2003 due to a strike at Petroleos de
Venezuela (PDVSA), the state-owned oil company.
Although another strike is not seen as likely, Mr Chávez has since warned
several times he would send "not one more drop" of oil to the US if
Washington sought to oust him. "We must make sure that all contingencies are
in place to mitigate the effects of a significant shortfall of Venezuelan
oil production, as this could have serious consequences for our nation's
security and for the consumer at the pump," Mr Lugar said in a letter to the
GAO, obtained by the FT.
Venezuela supplies almost 15 per cent of the US's oil imports. Citgo, which
has about 15,000 filling stations in the US, is owned by PDVSA.
Another concern has emerged in recent weeks. Mr Chávez has begun to court
China as a potential buyer of Venezuelan oil, either in addition to the US
or, as some officials fear, as a replacement market.
Ali Rodriguez, Venezuela's foreign minister, said recently his country was
not seeking to deny oil to the US but was diversifying its markets.
Venezuela is currently studying how it can ship oil to China, either through
the Panama Canal or via a pipeline across the Panamanian isthmus. Washington
does not appear to be pleased by the prospect. "The US will not look
favourably on Panama aiding Venezuela to sell its oil to a competitor of the
US," said one US official familiar with the issue.
In practice, however, analysts say that in the short- to medium-term it will
be difficult for Venezuela to ship its oil to China instead of the US for
technical and economic reasons. Refineries in China are not configured to
take Venezuelan oil, which is particularly heavy, and China would need
probably two years to adjust. Furthermore, because China is far further from
Venezuela than the US east coast, additional shipping costs would have to be
assumed by either China, as the buyer, or Venezuela, as the seller.
* Venezuela has recalled its ambassador to Colombia, accusing the
neighbouring country of bribing Venezuelan authorities to participate in the
capture of a Colombian rebel in Caracas, AP reports from Caracas.
José Vicente Rangel, vice-president, said Colombia's government paid "a
bribe" to Venezuelan security officials to capture Rodrigo Granda, a leader
of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC."
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