Clipmarks | brazilnut72's Latin America collection

Chavez wants Anti-US Military Alliance

Tue, 29 Jan 2008 02:24:34 GMT

clipped by: brazilnut72
clipper's remarks: Yeah...this guy's not a threat.

Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez has called on other Latin American and Caribbean countries to form a military alliance against the United States.

The vehemently anti-US leader says Nicaragua, Bolivia, Cuba and Dominica should create one united force.

Mr Chavez has urged them to draw up a joint defence policy and create a united military force against US imperialism.

This Explains A Lot

Mon, 21 Jan 2008 18:06:36 GMT

clipped by: brazilnut72
clipper's remarks: It is not what drugs do to your biceps that is the problem--it is what they do to your mind.

Clip Source: www.miamiherald.com

Venezuela's controversial President Hugo Chávez has revealed that he regularly consumes coca -- the source of cocaine -- raising questions about the legality of his actions.

''I chew coca every day in the morning . . . and look how I am,'' he is seen saying on a video of the speech, as he shows his biceps to the audience.

Naomi and Hugo, Sitting in a Tree...?

Tue, 15 Jan 2008 13:07:40 GMT

clipped by: brazilnut72
clipper's remarks: I think Naomi has being a bull confused with being full of bull.

Clip Source: www.topnews.in

Supermodel Naomi Campbell and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez are seeing each other, claim newspaper reports in the South American country.

According to respected El Universal journalist Nelson Bocaranda, the 53-year-old president fell ‘head-over-heels’ in love with the catwalk queen after their interview.

Campbell is quoted in El Universal, calling Chavez as ‘not a gorilla, he is more a bull’.

Tags: latin america, hugo chavez, naomi campbell

Brazil, the Original America?

Mon, 17 Dec 2007 18:41:07 GMT

clipped by: brazilnut72

Clip Source: news.bbc.co.uk

The map is thought to have been drawn exactly 500 years ago by a monk in the present-day French region of Lorraine.

The word America - said by many scholars to be derived from the explorer's name - appears however not where the modern US is but where Brazil now is.

For whatever reason, the map-makers had replaced the word America with a term which both thrilled and terrified explorers of the 16th Century.

It had become "terra incognita" - unknown land.

Current situation in Brazil

Thu, 13 Dec 2007 14:08:36 GMT

clipped by: brazilnut72
clipper's remarks: This article is a great analysis of the current economic and social situation in Brazil. The whole thing is worth a read. The clipped portions offer just a taste of the author's observations.

Clip Source: www.reportonbusiness.com

Brazil is an emerging powerhouse, but will its potential ever be realized? Older Brazilians are reminded of the maxim "Brazil is a country of the future, and always will be."

Progress may well grind to a halt unless the dead weight of the old socialist bureaucracy is lifted. Brazil's infamous red tape is known locally as custo Brazil. Opening a business takes 27 procedures averaging half a year. Complying with all regulations is essentially impossible.

Brazil's infrastructure renewal has fallen impossibly behind economic growth. Government cannot fund the necessary improvements, yet the public/private partnership solution continues to be ideologically resisted. But ideology in Brazil has been overcome by reality in the past, so expect to see private infrastructure opportunities as the pressure builds.

Goodbye CPMF!

Thu, 13 Dec 2007 13:50:20 GMT

clipped by: brazilnut72
clipper's remarks: This is a hopeful sign indeed.

Clip Source: www.forextv.com

BRASILIA (Thomson Financial) - Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's goverment has been defeated by the Upper House of the Senate over a vote to extend the tax on financial transactions (CPMF) that would have earned 22 bln usd for state coffers in 2008.

Arthur Virgilia, leader of Brazilian Social Democracy Party (PSDB), said the end of the CPMF makes true fiscal reform all the more pressing.

Tags: brazil, brazilian, cpmf

Hugo's Gag Order

Wed, 25 Jul 2007 15:06:33 GMT

clipped by: brazilnut72
clipper's remarks: Isn't this the same Hugo Chavez that went to the US and publicly criticized George Bush--even calling him the devil? Are there no limits to his hypocrisy?

I guess if I ever want to go to Venezuela, I should hope he or his goons NEVER read my blog.

Clip Source: www.coxandforkum.com

President Hugo Chavez said Sunday that foreigners who publicly criticize him or his government while visiting Venezuela will be expelled from the country.

"How long are we going to allow a person — from any country in the world — to come to our own house to say there's a dictatorship here, that the president is a tyrant, and nobody does anything about it?" Chavez asked during his weekly television and radio program.

Tags: hugo chavez, gag order, venezuela, latin america

Israel Concerned about Iran's Latin America Ties

Sun, 22 Jul 2007 20:08:58 GMT

clipped by: brazilnut72
clipper's remarks: With good cause...

Clip Source: www.kyw1060.com

The expansion of Iran's diplomatic and consular presence in Central and South America is causing serious concern to Israel.

Iranian embassies or consulates have been opened recently in Nicaragua, Ecuador and Chile and the staffs of the existing missions to Uruguay, Colombia, Venezuela and Mexico have been enlarged, according to the foreign ministry here.

Venezuela and its robust leader, Hugo Chavez, are being singled out by Israeli officials as Iran's staunchest ally in the Western Hemisphere.

They are worried about reports in the international news media that Venezuela intends to sell uranium to Iran and has been concocting false documents to conceal its shipments of equipment intended for the Iranian nuclear development program.

The Israelis suspect that the Iranians again will engage in terrorism under the cover of diplomacy.

Tags: latin america, hugo chavez, islam, terrorism, terror

Brazil and Venezuela Joint Military Excercises

Mon, 02 Jul 2007 22:48:44 GMT

clipped by: brazilnut72
clipper's remarks: Call me crazy, but I really hate to see my adoptive country involved in any way with Madman Hugo and his military

Clip Source: www.plenglish.com

Two ships of the Venezuelan Navy will take part in the joint Venbras 2007 operation, to be held in Brazilian waters August 28-September 11, the institution informed on Monday.

The maneuvers will comprise training to respond to crisis situations and application of guidelines to update operational doctrines in the multilateral use of joint forces.

Tags: brazil, venezuela, latin america

US Less Dependant on Venezuelan Oil

Sun, 13 May 2007 11:26:39 GMT

clipped by: brazilnut72
clipper's remarks: Or...what happens when you bite the hand that feeds you.

Clip Source: www.washingtonpost.com

When the state oil company recently took over the last privately run oil fields in Venezuela, President Hugo Chávez declared it a victory against Washington and a giant leap toward a new energy policy that would diversify the market for Venezuelan crude to include rising powers like China.

"Down with the American Empire!" shouted Chávez

But new study of trade and oil consumption data shows that Venezuela appears ever more dependent on selling its oil to the country Chávez calls "the cruelest, most terrible, most cynical, most murderous empire that has existed."

And U.S. government energy trade data show the United States is slightly less dependent on Venezuela,

The world's fourth-largest oil exporter a decade ago, Venezuela is now seventh, according to the BP Statistical Review of World Energy.

Tags: venezuela, latin america, hugo chavez, oil

Statistics from Brazil

Sat, 12 May 2007 21:17:57 GMT

clipped by: brazilnut72
clipper's remarks: Occasioned by the popes visit.

Clip Source: www.ctv.ca

Brazil is the second-largest consumer of cocaine after the United States, according to the U.S. State Department, and big cities across Latin America's largest nation are plagued by drug violence.

Driven by gangs that control street-corner dealing, the problem is particularly acute in the teeming slums of Rio de Janeiro, where gangs lure children into lives of violence and engage in near-daily shootouts with police that kill innocent bystanders.

Brazil's census shows the percentage of citizens characterizing themselves as Catholics plunged to 74 percent in 2000 from 89 percent in 1980, while those calling themselves evangelical Protestants rose to 15 percent from 7 percent.

Tags: brazil, brasil, brazilian, pope, religion, catholicism, churches, christianity, protestantism

Freedom of Speech, Chavez Style

Mon, 23 Apr 2007 19:01:26 GMT

clipped by: brazilnut72
clipper's remarks: Can you imagine if Bush tried to shut down every major media outlet that opposed him? Of course, that would mean shutting down basically every major media outlet.

Clip Source: news.bbc.co.uk

Thousands of Venezuelans have taken to the streets of Caracas in protest at the president's decision to close the country's oldest private TV network.

Tags: venezuela, hugo chavez, latin america

Bolivia Tightens the Screws

Sat, 21 Apr 2007 21:23:57 GMT

clipped by: brazilnut72
clipper's remarks: The article goes on to say that this was the result of "protests". It is no secret, however, that the policy of the current Bolivian government is to pressure her neighbors (at Hugo Chavez' insistence) to cough up as much money as possible to fund her socialist revolution.

Clip Source: sg.biz.yahoo.com

Bolivia cuts gas supplies to Argentina, Brazil amid protests

Bolivian authorities announced Friday a drastic rationing of natural gas supplies to Argentina, and smaller cuts in exports to Brazil after protesters seized control of three gas installations.

Supplies to the Brazilian cities of Sao Paulo and Santos will be reduced from 24.6 million cubic meters (869 million cubic feet) a day to 24 million cubic meters (847 million cubic feet,) while exports to the the eastern Brazilian region of Cuiaba, which received 1.2 million cubic meters (42 million cubic feet) a day, will be cut off entirely, the minister said.

Tags: bolivia, brazil, argentina, latin america, latin, evo morales, hugo chavez

Where is the Abraço?

Mon, 12 Mar 2007 13:29:44 GMT

clipped by: brazilnut72
clipper's remarks: Brazil is a "huggy" society, and the US is a "keep your distance" society, which makes this picture very interesting. Here it is the American who looks far more at ease with the hug. The expression on Lula's face is one I have seen on many Americans' faces as they are unexpectedly hugged by a Brazilian.

So what gives? I really think Lula did not expect to be (and did not want to be) in the position of being Bush's favorite Latin president. He has Hugo Chavez and Co. to thank for Bush's affections.

Clip Source: www.publiuspundit.com

Tags: brazil, lula, hugo chavez, bush, latin america

Bush Doesn't Say Chavez' Name

Sat, 10 Mar 2007 12:46:28 GMT

clipped by: brazilnut72
clipper's remarks: That has got to drive a megalomaniac like Chavez crazy.

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

Bush administration officials have sought to play down Mr. Chávez, contending his influence is overblown by the news media and noting that South American polls show him with regional ratings no better than Mr. Bush’s. President Bush refuses even to mention his name.

At the rally Friday night, Mr. Chávez said he had watched Mr. Bush on television in Brazil and concluded that “he is afraid to say my name” because Mr. Chávez’s vision of “21st century socialism” is advancing in the region.

Tags: hugo chavez, bush, latin america, brazil