Venezuela
Basic Political Developments
· Venezuela's armed forces have discovered a camp set up by a Colombian militia group inside the country and arrested four of its members, Spain's EFE news agency reported April 30 quoting a top military official.
· The US State Department released a report April 30 indicating that Venezuela’s association with other terror states is one of the top concerns for the US.
National Economic Trends
· Venezuela's central bank raised interest rates on credit cards and savings deposits from 32 percent to 33 percent in a bid to curb spending and help slow Latin America's fastest inflation.
Business, Energy or Environmental regulations or discussions
· Venezuela’s government declared Argentine-owned steelmaker Sidor a “social interest public utility” late April 29.
· Crystallex International said Venezuela April 30 has denied the company's permit to continue exploration at the Las Cristinas deposit, which would become the country's largest gold mine.
Activity in the Oil and Gas sector (including regulatory)
· A power outage that hit wide swathes of Venezuela caused some oil output problems in the crude producing state of Zulia, Energy Minister Rafael Ramirez said April 30.
· Venezuela will not abandon the dollar as a currency for oil sales, Energy Minister Rafael Ramirez said April 30, despite the country’s trend toward asking for payments in euros for certain contracts.
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Basic Political Developments
http://in.news.yahoo.com/indiaabroad/20080430/r_t_ians_wl_us/twl-colombian-militia-camp-found-inside-903abaa.html
Colombian militia camp found inside Venezuela
Caracas, April 30 (IANS) Venezuela's armed forces have discovered a camp set up by a Colombian militia group inside the country and arrested four of its members, Spain's EFE news agency reported Wednesday quoting a top military official.
The secret camp of the outlawed United Self-Defence Forces of Colombia, or AUC, was found last Thursday in the western state of Zulia near the Colombian borders, General Jesus Gonzalez said, adding that the camp was set up to train the right-wing paramilitaries.
He also said that several documents, 19 uniforms with AUC insignia, weapons, munitions, explosives and 80 kgs of cocaine were found from the site.
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez had earlier warned about the infiltration of Colombian paramilitaries in his country, as part of a plan to destabilise his leftist government.
The AUC, blamed by the UN for 80 percent of the war crimes in Colombia's internal conflict, demobilized more than 31,000 of its fighters between 2003 and 2006 amid negotiations with the administration of Colombian President Alvaro Uribe.
Made up of rural defence cooperatives formed more than 20 years ago to battle leftist rebels, most of the AUC militias degenerated into death squads, carrying out massacres of peasants, journalists and trade unionists suspected of having sympathy for the leftists.
http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/americas/04/30/terror.report/index.html?iref=newssearch
U.S. terror report cites Venezuela, Iran
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Venezuela's associations with other terror states, Iran's meddling in Iraq and the resurgence of al Qaeda in Afghanistan top the concerns in a new State Department report on terrorism threats in countries around the world.
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is not cooperating with U.S. anti-terror efforts and has "deepened Venezuelan relationships with state sponsors of terrorism Iran and Cuba," the annual report says.
The report notes Chavez's "ideological sympathy" for the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia and the Colombian-based National Liberation Army, which "regularly crossed into Venezuelan territory to rest and regroup."
While the report says it "remained unclear to what extent the Venezuelan government provided support to Colombian terrorist organizations," it notes that Venezuelan weapons stocks have turned up in the hands of Colombian terrorist organizations.
It also notes that Iran and Venezuela began weekly flights between their capitals and the passengers were not subject to proper checks. Among the passengers was a suspect in the plot to bomb New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport.
"Venezuelan citizenship, identity, and travel documents remained easy to obtain, making Venezuela a potentially attractive way station for terrorists," the report says.
Once again, the report says, Iran "remained the most active state sponsor of terrorism."
"Elements of its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps were directly involved in the planning and support of terrorist acts throughout the region and continued to support a variety of groups in their use of terrorism to advance their common regional goals," it says, citing the group's support for Hezbollah, Hamas, Iraq-based militants, and Taliban fighters in Afghanistan.
The report says that despite promises to stabilize Iraq, Iran "continued to provide lethal support, including weapons, training, funding, and guidance, to some Iraqi militant groups that target coalition and Iraqi security forces and Iraqi civilians."
"In this way, Iranian government forces have been responsible for attacks on coalition forces. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Quds Force continued to provide Iraqi militants with Iranian-produced advanced rockets, sniper rifles, automatic weapons (and) mortars that have killed thousands of coalition and Iraqi Forces," it says.
The report says that Iraq "remained at the center of the war on terror," with al Qaeda in Iraq and other insurgent groups battling coalition and Iraqi forces.
It also criticizes Syria, another U.S.-designated state sponsor of terrorism, for allowing foreign fighters into Iraq, citing U.S. government reports that found "nearly 90 percent of all foreign terrorists known to be in Iraq had used Syria as an entry point."
"The Syrian government could do more to stop known terror networks and foreign fighter facilitators from operating within its border," it adds.
Although it notes that no Syrian official has been implicated in bombing attacks in Lebanon, the report says that Damascus "continued to undermine Lebanon's sovereignty and security through its proxies," including Hezbollah.
Syria is also criticized for its weak treatment of terrorist financing and its continued support of Palestinian terror groups such as Hamas, including providing safe haven to its leader, Khalid Mishal. It notes that "Palestinian groups with leaders in Syria have claimed responsibility for anti-Israeli terrorist attacks."
The report notes that the Sudan, North Korea and Cuba, all designated as state sponsors of terror, had not actively supported terrorist groups inside their countries over the past year.
The report once again found al Qaeda and its affiliated networks "remained the greatest terrorist threat to the United States and its partners" last year, reconstituting some of its pre-9/11 operational capabilities in Pakistan's tribal areas. It also found a resurgence of the Taliban in Afghanistan and voiced concern about a rash of bombings by militants, including the one that killed former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto last year.
"Despite the efforts of both Afghan and Pakistani security forces, instability, coupled with the Islamabad brokered cease-fire agreement in effect for the first half of 2007 along the Pakistan-Afghanistan frontier, appeared to have provided AQ leadership greater mobility and ability to conduct training and operational planning, particularly that targeting Western Europe and the United States," the report says.
The report again notes that al Qaeda continued to exploit local grievances for larger terrorist purposes and "seeks weapons of mass destruction in order to inflict the maximum possible damage on anyone who stands in its way, including other Muslims and/or elders, women, and children."
Al Qaeda operatives in East Africa and al-Shabaab militants in Somalia once again posed "the most serious threat to American and allied interests in the region," the report says.
Somalia's weak central government and the lack of rule of law "make Somalia a permissive operating environment and a potential safe haven for both Somali and foreign terrorists already in the region," it found.
"Somalia remains a concern, as its unsecured borders and continued political instability provide opportunities for terrorist transit and/or organization. AQ is likely to keep making common cause with cells of Somali extremists in an attempt to disrupt international peacemaking efforts in Somalia," it adds.
The report also voices concern about insurgent terror tactics in Algeria over the last year and calls Yemen's counterterrorism efforts last year "mixed" with "significant setbacks," including releasing all returned Guantanamo detainees and instituting a surrender program for terrorists with "lenient requirements." It also criticizes Yemen's weak counterterrorism laws and an "ineffective" justice system.
The report notes that human rights organizations have accused China of using counterterrorism in the run-up to the Olympics as a pretext to suppress ethnic Uighurs in the Xinjiang Autonomous Region. Although the Chinese have claimed they are terrorists, the report found no concrete evidence of that.
It also notes a spread of radical Islam in Europe, where several "significant terrorist plots" were foiled.
National Economic Trends
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601086&sid=a4ZYSxvjdtq0&refer=news
Venezuela Raises Interest Rates to Curb Inflation (Update2)
April 30 (Bloomberg) -- Venezuela's central bank raised interest rates on credit cards and savings deposits in a bid to curb spending and help slow Latin America's fastest inflation.
Starting tomorrow, the maximum annual rate banks can charge on credit cards will increase to 33 percent from 32 percent. The minimum interest rate on savings deposits will be set at 15 percent, up from 13 percent, according to a statement on the bank's Web site. The bank also raised rates on time deposits, the discount rate and cash injection and absorption operations.
Policy makers in Venezuela, the fourth-biggest supplier of oil to the U.S., are trying to rein in consumer spending after more than four years of economic growth fueled by surging crude prices. Annual inflation in March quickened to 29.1 percent, as consumer demand outstripped supply, causing food shortages.
``There's a gap between the supply of goods and the internal demand, and evidently as the imports are unable to bridge that gap, an inflationary problem is created,'' Milton Guzman, chief economist at Santander Investments in Caracas said in a phone interview. ``If in the medium term inflationary pressures increase, there will be no fundamental change.''
Rates, Wages
The new minimum interest rate for timed deposits is 17 percent, up from 14 percent, according to the statement.
Rates for central bank operations designed to inject cash into the economy rose 3 percentage points. The interest rate for 14-day injection operations rose to 23 percent, and for 28-day operations to 24 percent. The central bank will also begin offering seven-day injection operations, at an interest rate of 22 percent.
For liquidity absorption, the bank raised the rate on 28-day operations by 1 percentage point to 13 percent, and by 1 percentage point to 14 percent on 56-day operations.
The discount rate charged on loans to banks rises one percentage point to 33.5 percent.
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez last week said he would announce an increase in the minimum wage, already the highest in Latin America, as he has done in previous years on May 1.
This is the second time this year the central bank has raised rates. The minimum interest rate on savings deposits continues to be lower than annual inflation.
``Raising interest rates periodically doesn't necessarily resolve inflationary problems,'' Guzman said. ``The theory of `save more to consume less' still doesn't apply in Venezuela.''
Business, Energy or Environmental regulations or discussions
http://english.eluniversal.com/2008/04/30/en_eco_art_venezuelan-congress_30A1547963.shtml
Venezuelan Congress declares Sidor a public utility
Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez advised his negotiators to reach a settlement with the representatives of Ternium Sidor, Venezuela's largest steelmaker
While the Venezuelan government was negotiating with Argentinean steelmaker Ternium Sidor to set the sum it would pay to nationalize the company, the National Assembly moved to declare the steelmaker a public utility.
In a decree reviewed by the Venezuelan Parliament on Tuesday afternoon, steelmaker Siderúrgica del Orinoco (Sidor) "was declared a social interest public utility. This company is oriented to strengthen the strategic national industrial sector transforming iron into different steel products such as plates, blocks, bars, flat plates, induction coils, wire rods, reinforcing bars, among others. It also deals with distribution and marketing, as well as the creation and protection of jobs."
The move -a prerequisite for expropriation- also included declaring Sidor shares as public utility. The lawmakers loyal to President Hugo Chávez stated that their move was also aimed at advocating the workers', retired people's, and pensioners' rights.
Regarding these aspects, in one of the decree points, the Venezuelan Parliament argued that the move met "the state's duty, which is to promote the strengthening of the industry and activities favoring endogenous development. This creates and protects sources of employment with an additional high national value."
The decree added that Sidor was one of the country's largest conglomerates, stressing that its activities were very important to foster industrial development, as the steelmaker transforms iron into steel to provide food, construction, and automobile sectors with products.
The National Assembly pointed out that Sidor productive activities have been affected by the labor conflicts caused by the collective bargaining agreement currently under discussion. Despite the Venezuelan government's participation in such negotiations, a harmonious environment has not been created to solve the conflict yet.
Consequently, it is "the state's duty to guarantee the continuity of productive processes of the national industry and ensure their interconnection to strengthen strategic areas."
The Venezuelan Congress' move came parallel to a meeting in the Vice-President's Office to set the compensation to be paid for Ternium shares.
The meeting ended late Tuesday with no agreement. Another meeting was scheduled for next week.
Earlier on Tuesday, President Chávez advised his negotiators to reach an agreement with Argentina's Ternium Sidor based on "consensus, and a win-win proposal."
Consequently, he added that "a negotiating delegation is discussing financial and economic issues and other aspects. We have always wanted to make decisions in good terms, to reach agreements and consensus. That is our motto and that is how it worked with state-run telecommunications company Cantv."
During the cabinet meeting Tuesday, Chávez highlighted the need to reach consensus. Last Sunday, however, he warned Sidor executives he would expropriate the plant if no accord on the company's price was reached by Tuesday.
According to Venezuelan authorities, Chávez's government is prepared to pay USD 800 million for 60 percent of Sidor shares.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601082&sid=aQ9aJPyk6.WE&refer=canada