Latin America backs Venezuela at summit in new defeat for US

[Judi Lynn]

Latin America backs Venezuela at summit in new defeat for US
Saturday, April 18, 2015
By Lucas Koerner

The seventh Summit of the Americas, held in Panama City on April 10 and 11, was widely hailed as a victory for left-leaning and progressive forces in the region, particularly Venezuela and Cuba.

The summit involved all nations in the region, with this year's marked by the historic presence of Cuba for the first time. Cuban President Raul Castro addressed the summit and held face to face talks with hues US counterpart Barack Obama ― the first Cuban leader to do so since the socialist nation's US-imposed expulsion from the Organization of American States in 1962.

However, the much anticipated rapprochement between the two nations was largely upstaged by regional leaders' near uniform rejection of Obama's March 9 executive order labelling Venezuela a “national security threat”.

This move has been condemned by all 33 nations of the (Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, which unites all nations in the hemisphere except the US and Canada) and other regional bodies.

More:
https://www.greenleft.org.au/node/58786

[99th_Monkey]

1. Good!

The sooner the US gets over it's Cops-of-the-World Complex, the better.

Let's rebuild America, and not be bombing and killing our South American neighbors,
nor needling in their democratically elected officials, nor conspiring with their military
elites to engineer CIA-inspired coups.

[Judi Lynn]

2. Comments on the sanctions from Latin American leaders at the Summit:

Obama's executive order was further denounced by many other heads of state, who also called for its repeal.

Ecuador's President Rafael Correa said the order “fragrantly violates international law”.

“The regional response has been overwhelming, rejecting the executive order and calling for its repeal,” Correa said. “Our peoples will never accept more tutelage, nor intervention.”

Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff said “unilateral measures of isolation” were no longer tolerable in this “new moment of hemispheric relations”.

She added: “We reject the adoption of sanctions against Venezuela.”

Argentine President Cristina Fernandez also denounced the order as “ridiculous”.

She said: “It's ridiculous … that not just Venezuela but any country on our continent could be some kind of threat to the huge country that is the US.”

During his speech before the summit, Bolivian President Evo Morales slammed US imperial intervention in the region.

“We don't want more Monroes in our continent, nor more Truman doctrine, nor more Reagan doctrine, nor more Bush doctrine. We don't want any more presidential decrees nor more executive orders declaring us threats to their country.”

Recently elected Uruguayan President Tabare Vasquez added his voice to the resounding chorus condemning the White House's executive order.

“As we've already expressed in other bilateral and multilateral spheres such as the Union of South American Nations and the Organization of American States, we reject the executive decree of the US government,” he said.

Daniel Ortega and Salvador Sanchez Ceren, the presidents of Nicaragua and El Salvador, also slammed Obama's decree.

“This is a blow to our America,” remarked Ortega.
Sanchez Ceren, from the left-wing FMLN, demanding the rescinding of the order by “appealing to the principle of self-determination of peoples”.

[yeoman6987]

3. The timing of this is odd

These countries just asked President Obama for money to help them out and our President is sending one billon. I understand that maybe calling Venezuela a bad country was probably not the greatest but to embarrass our President well I don't like it.

[Judi Lynn]

4. They were responding to a real problem he raised.

You don't get control over countries when you offer them aid, or at least, in a decent world you don't. You don't get to do things which are harmful or disrespectful to them, and to their sovereignty just because you gave them money. A nation is NOT a prostitute. It's pretty likely a prostitute would even insist the client doesn't own him/her, cannot make demands outside the exact agreement between the two.

[yeoman6987]

8. Holy cow. I never looked at it that way.

Thanks for the dose of reality and I mean that sincerely. Sometimes I reply with emotion and not factual especially concerning the President. Your reply really had me thinking about this.

[roody]

6. If our president was embarrassed, he

did it to himself.

[Bacchus4.0]

9. Obama is proposing 1 billion dollars in aid for El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras

to aid economic development in the countries. Other countries in the region get various amounts of funding depending on their need and relationship with the US.

This aid comes with conditions on how it can be used. If countries don't want to use the funds according to those conditions, then they have the option of not taking the money.

[Judi Lynn]

5. Worldwide solidarity with Venezuela against U.S. statement and sanctions

Worldwide solidarity with Venezuela against U.S. statement and sanctions
by: Emile Schepers
April 15 2015

The massive international outpouring of petition signatures and other public acts in response to, and rejection of, U.S. President Barack Obama's executive declaration of an emergency on March 9, in which the situation in Venezuela was characterized as an "unusual and extraordinary threat" to U.S. interests and foreign policy, and which was accompanied by economic sanctions against seven Venezuelan officials, has reached unprecedented proportions.

On Friday, Venezuelan President Nicholas Maduro announced that more than 10 million people in his country, whose total population is 30 million, had signed the main petition. Up to three million people signed in other countries.

At the Summit of the Americas in Panama City, Panama, organized by the venerable Organization of American States (OAS) over the weekend, speaker after speaker rose to denounce the Obama statement and demand its retraction. Previously, most of the national governments in the Western Hemisphere, including major U.S. allies, had expressed themselves similarly, as had China, Russia and many poorer countries around the world. Regional organizations including the Bolivarian Alliance of the Peoples of our America (ALBA), the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) which includes all Western Hemisphere states except the United States and Canada, voted to condemn the March 9 statement and call for its retraction.

Although many speakers also praised President Obama's opening to Cuba and the celebrated handshake at the summit between Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro, the controversy about the statement of Venezuela as a threat undercut what could have ended on a very upbeat note for the United States. From 1962 on the United States had kept Cuba out of the OAS and prevented it from attending previous Summits of the Americas, but in 2012 the Latin American states, including key U.S. ally Colombia, had flatly stated that if Cuba continued to be excluded, there would be no more summits.

More:
http://peoplesworld.org/worldwide-solidarity-with-venezuela-against-u-s-statement-and-sanctions/

[bemildred]

7. I guess the Cuban head-fake is not working.

I don't know if we are willing to make any more concessions just to get Venezuela. Normally it's "You get nothing" and they punish you for asking, so to speak. The opening with Cuba will not be taken back, too many people want it, and the war lovers are going to be enraged for a long time about that. And personally I am OK with that, the effect of their machinations so far has been the liberation of most of Latin America and a sharp decline is US capabilities and influence in the region, a very good thing. But at a steep price. Some of that is due to the Neocons and Neolibs habitual over-reaching and faith-based foreign policy approach, and the long-running debacles in the Middle East (a very important region, and very far away) and elsewhere.

"He whom the Gods would destroy, they first make mad."

[hack89]

10. We have reached a point where we don't actually have to do anything to "get" VZ

they have reached a tipping point that I doubt they will recover from and it was done purely through their own incompetence. They will keep blaming the US as they collapse but that is to be expected.

Better relationships with Cuba is certainly a positive for both us and Cuba - regardless of the motivation I am glad it is finally happening.

[Judi Lynn]

11. Outstanding summary, and true. Too many people surely support the move toward the opening. n/t

[libdem4life]

12. They have lots of oil...could that possibly be a reason, other than they have a Leftist govt.?

[Judi Lynn]

13. They would have been left completely alone if Chavez had allowed the multinationals to continue

making off with incredible profit from their resources, at the total expense of the people, with the exception of the dirty elites who had been arranging for them to pay fantastically low taxes on their haul from Venezuela in "sweetheart deals." Hugo Chavez reworked the tax structure to allow the people of the country to start benefiting from the sale of their country's oil, rather than only the oligarchs who controlled the government.

Money started flowing to the poor people for housing, education, medical treatment, food assistance, etc., and it has driven the dirty elites insane with rage. They have never had any intention to improve the "living" conditions of the masses of the poor, as proven by Venezuelan history up to the time Hugo Chavez took office in February, 1999.

[libdem4life]

14. Yes, now I remember. The nerve of him...that happened with Ortega, too, as I recall. They tried

hard to topple him, too. Just because he was leftist and had been elected. Wonder if this is kind of the same situation in Greece? Seems the people are beginning to arise and throw off the bonds of their 1% and vulture creditors. We'll be there some day, I believe, but it will have to get a lot worse to get better, I fear.

I'm still undecided on the nominee, but thinking about the three ... O'Malley, Sanders and Clinton ... I'd have to weigh in on Bernie's side at present. He's got the passion and the charisma and the experience the other two don't have.

[hack89]

15. We can get all the oil we want from VZ

it is not like they can be picky about who they sell to - they are desperate for money. We are also their biggest trading partner.

They would actually like us to buy more - our imports from them have fallen as US oil production has skyrocketed. We are now the largest oil producer in the world and are pretty much self sufficient.

[libdem4life]

16. Actually, I just looked it up and we're just about tied with China. And China is loaning them even

more money. Apparently, we just like to pick on them for the heck of it. Hugo got in one President's face...think it was Bush. How dare he. International relationships taken for granted for decades are starting to shift. That's why Obama is being forced into this terrible TPP. He knows that without it, we slip behind. IMO, of course.

[hack89]

17. Those sanctions are meaningless to the VZ economy

we are not really picking on them - we are just voicing our displeasure at a handful of government officials complicit in violence against peaceful demonstrators.

[libdem4life]

18. There'a a Long List that meet that description...including the USA...ask Occupy...so many people

love to hate them after Hugo got "uppity" and threw out some of the International garbage. Then he got some money for his people. That's in the recorded, mainstream, history of Venezuela.

Edit: Good post by Judi Lynn upthread says it better than I can.

[hack89]

19. Hugo "got some money" by running up the credit cards

and now the bill has come due. Their problems are self inflicted. Here is a good description of what happened:

Venezuela's bond ratings have also decreased multiple times in 2013 due to decisions by President Nicolás Maduro. One of his decisions was to force stores and their warehouses to sell all of their products, which may lead to even more shortages in the future.[54] President Maduro also created "a freeze on commercial rents at rates more than 50 percent lower than they had been at some malls" which resulted with Venezuela's malls and retail industry losing 75% of their incomes.[55] Venezuela's outlook has also been deemed negative by most bond-rating services.[56] According to a Johns Hopkins University professor, Venezuela had a 297% implied inflation rate for 2013.[57]
Shortages leave empty store shelves in a Venezuelan store.

As of early 2014, many companies have either slowed or stopped operation due to the lack of hard currency in the country. Ford Motor Co. is one of the largest companies that has slowed production in Venezuela due to its lack of foreign currency for supplies. Because of recent economic uncertainties, Ford also believes that there will be a significant devaluation of the bolívar as well.[58] In January 2014, many airlines, including Air Canada, Air Europa, American Airlines, Copa Airlines, TAME, TAP Airlines, and United Airlines, suspended international flights operating in Venezuela because the government has been restricting access to the U.S. dollar.[59][60] There are talks among airlines of canceling even more international flights out of the country since Venezuela still owes foreign airlines nearly $3.3 billion USD.[61] Venezuela has also dismantled CADIVI, a government body in charge of currency exchange. CADIVI was known for holding money from the private sector and suspected to be corrupt.[62] In February, Toyota, the largest automobile manufacturer, has stopped production indefinitely in Venezuela due to an 87% drop in automotive sales.[63] General Motors Company has also suspended production after losing $162 million USD and stated that they "saw no horizon or resolutions to business operations in Venezuela".[64] In February 2014, doctors at University of Caracas Medical Hospital stopped performing surgeries due to the lack of supplies, even though nearly 3,000 people require surgery.[65] The government's currency policy has made it difficult to import drugs and other medical supplies.[66] The Venezuelan government stopped publishing medical statistics in 2010 and does not supply enough dollars for medical supplies; doctors say that 9 of 10 of large hospitals have only 7% of required supplies with private doctors reporting many patients that are "impossible" to count are dying from easily treated illnesses due to the "downward sliding economy".[67]

In March 2014, the executive director of the Venezuelan Association of Hospitals and Clinics explained how in less than a month, shortages of 53 medical products rose to 109 products and explained how the CADIVI system is to blame since 86% of supplies are imported.[68] Both public and private sector hospitals have only about 2 months of supplies with private sector hospitals claiming they owe suppliers US$15 billion in order to pay for debts.[69]

In April 2014, the International Monetary fund said that activity in Venezuela is uncertain but may continue to slow saying that "loose macroeconomic policies have generated high inflation and a drain on official foreign exchange reserves". The IMF suggested that "more significant policy changes are needed to stave off a disorderly adjustment".[70] Venezuela was also the only country in the world that the International Monetary Fund predicts will experience a drop in GDP. They predicted Venezuela's GDP to contract at a rate around -.5% for the year 2014.[71] Coca-Cola Company announced that Venezuela's currency controls created "adverse impact" on its operations expecting a "negative impact of 7% in their overall performance this year from the impact of currency exchange".[72] El Tiempo reported that some goods in Venezuelan stores had a 114% to 425% premium due to "under the table" negotiations between the Venezuelan government and traders.[73] El Nuevo Herald reported that SEBIN has cut down its work due to the lack of money limiting their work to the monitoring of "potential external threats" and asking for Cuban intelligence agents to return to Venezuela.[74]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Venezuela#2013_-_present

[libdem4life]

20. When an economy is dependent on one market...oil, in this case...and the price goes way down, uh, it

kind of explains things. We can print our own money and sell out to TPP. They don't have that choice. Nobody is harrassing Greece (oops, they are white skinned) for the same damn thing. In fact, if Greece exits, Italy and Spain and Portugal are ready to give some thought to following. I think it's highly unlikely, but being forced to starve their populace and sell off national treasures...especially Greece...is downright blackmail.

It's those tacky Leftist governments. Yes, I know, they have their problems, too. But the Rightwingers have No Love or Thought for The People. That's global fact.

[Bacchus4.0]

21. Your post is all over the place. Venezuela can print their own money too, its worthless though

And yes, the chavista government has done nothing to diversify the economy. Everything they have done has made it worse. At least in previous downturns the supermarkets were full and hospitals functioned. They never had the violence like they do now. And in the previous good times in the 60s and 70s they invested in their infrastructre. The subway, telefericos, and building sector flourished. Its a disaster now.

Venezuela can participate in free trade agreements too, if they wanted to. They are in Mercosur and ALBA which are ostensibly trade agreements. For whatever reason though, if an FTA involves the US, it is considered bad.

The EU is certainly harrassing Greece. Greece will have to do what is best for it though, as will Spain.

[libdem4life]

22. Any printing press can print money, duh, not dollars. I was sure you knew what I mean. And about

being "all over the place, that's just your opinion...and it doesn't sound like discussion...just insufferable superiority.

I'll simplify it. We have used Venezuela as a punching bag ever since they got a Leftist government, as we regularly do in the Americas south of us. Hugo made sure that Regime Change did not make it into Venezuela by The Empire and it's minions...of which Venezuela is not one.

[Bacchus4.0]

23. I'd say the converse. Venezuela under the chavistas has tried to make the US a punching bag

as the cause of all their problems which are numerous. No other country in the region, except maybe Haiti, is failing like Venezuela.

[libdem4life]

24. And this is news? And they are the only one blaming the US? And they have no right or

reason to do so? I noticed we're running scared...oh, just sanctions, I know on 7 people. Pretty sure we don't have US agents over there any more...at least not identifiable ones.

Peace out.

[Bacchus4.0]

25. Your posts are erratic but they, the chavistas, are to blame.

Of course they won't do that as they are under the illusion, as are the chavistas on DU, that chavismo is a holy crusade.

[libdem4life]

26. Congratulations. My first Ignore.