South America Watch Thread

[wjfox]

Great. Another war coming.

[caltrek]

From that article:

The referendum came at a time of heightened tension between Guyana and Venezuela after the 2015 discovery of oil in the waters off Essequibo's coast by US oil giant ExxonMobil.

More on that:

ExxonMobil Wants to Start a War in South America
by Vijay Prishad
December 6, 2023

Introduction:

(Counterpunch) On December 3, 2023, a large number of registered voters in Venezuela voted in a referendum over the Essequibo region that is disputed with neighboring Guyana. Nearly all those who voted answered yes to the five questions. These questions asked the Venezuelan people to affirm the sovereignty of their country over Essequibo. “Today,” said Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, “there are no winners or losers.” The only winner, he said, is Venezuela’s sovereignty. The principal loser, Maduro said, is ExxonMobil.

In 2022, ExxonMobil made a profit of $55.7 billion, making it one of the world’s richest and most powerful oil companies. Companies such as ExxonMobil, exercise an inordinate power over the world economy and over countries that have oil reserves. It has tentacles across the world, from Malaysia to Argentina. In his Private Empire: ExxonMobil and American Power (2012), Steve Coll describes how the company is a “corporate state within the American state.” Leaders of ExxonMobil have always had an intimate relationship with the U.S. government: Lee “Iron Ass” Raymond (Chief Executive Officer from 1993 to 2005) was a close personal friend of U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney and helped shape the U.S. government policy on climate change; Rex Tillerson (Raymond’s successor in 2006) left the company in 2017 to become the U.S. Secretary of State under President Donald Trump. Coll describes how ExxonMobil uses U.S. state power to find more and more oil reserves and to ensure that ExxonMobil becomes the beneficiary of those finds.

Walking through the various polling centers in Caracas on the day of the election, it was clear that the people who voted knew exactly what they were voting for: not so much against the people of Guyana, a country with a population of just over 800,000, but they were voting for Venezuelan sovereignty against companies such as ExxonMobil. The atmosphere in this vote—although sometimes inflected with Venezuelan patriotism—was more about the desire to remove the influence of multinational corporations and to allow the peoples of South America to solve their disputes and divide their riches among themselves.

Read more here: https://www.counterpunch.org/2023/12/0 ... america/

[Xyls]

^Bullshit.

[firestar464]

How so?

[caltrek]

Former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori Freed from Prison on Humanitarian Grounds
Updated December 6, 2023

Introduction:

(AP via NPR) LIMA, Peru — Peru's former President Alberto Fujimori was released from prison Wednesday on humanitarian grounds, despite a request from a regional human rights court to delay his release.

Fujimori, 85, was serving a 25-year sentence in connection with the slayings of 25 Peruvians by death squads in the 1990s. Peru's constitutional court ordered his immediate release on Tuesday, but the Inter-American Court of Human Rights asked for a delay to study the ruling.

Fujimori, who governed Peru from 1990 to 2000, was sentenced in 2009 on charges of human rights abuses. He was accused of being the mastermind behind the slayings of the 25 Peruvians while the government fought the Shining Path communist rebels.

Read more here: https://www.bing.com/search?q=Alberto+ ... vfirst=14

[erowind]

There is no justifiable reason for Venezuela to annex any part of Guyana. Imperialism is imperialism is imperialism.

I worry that this will cause another war where Venezuela foolishly attacks its neighbor and then America swoops in to play world police and invades Venezuela in turn completely destabilizing the entire region and creating even more refugees.

A Venezuelan invasion wouldn't be justified even if this weren't the case but it especially disturbs me because Guyana is a social democracy and in theory should be an ideological ally of Venezuela. It really shows the nature of the so-called "socialist" government there they they're playing revanchist nationalist games.

[caltrek]

^^^I have that same worry. Still, I wonder if you are jumping the gun a little bit. What if the idea is to ally with the neighboring country governed by a social democratic party in order to strengthen the collective bargaining position in relation to ExxonMobil?

No guarantees, just one possibility for which I will be looking out.

[caltrek]

US Involvement in a War Between Venezuela and Guyana Must Be Opposed
by Dan La Botz
December 11, 2023

Introduction:

(Common Dreams) The United States has taken the first steps in becoming involved in a potential war between Venezuela and Guyana. President Nicolás Maduro of Venezuela is claiming the territory of the oil-rich Essequibo region of neighboring Guyana, a claim recently backed by a referendum. Maduro then produced a new Venezuelan map that includes Essequibo as a new state. A 1996 agreement between the two countries gives the United Nations International Court of Justice the power to resolve disputes, but Maduro has rejected its involvement. All of this is seen as a prelude to military action to take over the province and its petroleum wealth.

President Irfaan Ali of Guyana declared, “Essequibo is ours, every square inch of it,” and sent troops to reinforce the country’s border with Venezuela. Brazil, which is a neighbor of both countries has also sent armed forces to the area. Brazilian President Luiz Inacio “Lula” da Silva expressed his concern about the situation, saying, “We are going to treat it very carefully because what we don’t want here in South America is war.” St. Vincent and Grenadines President Ralph Gonsalvez and UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres have persuaded Maduro and Ali to meet to discuss the issue, but Ali says he will not discuss the country’s borders and Maduro reiterates his claim to Essequibo.

Why is Maduro claiming Essequibo at this time?

Conclusion:

Since the discovery of enormous off-shore oil fields in Guyana, American and other foreign petroleum companies, such as Esso Exploration & Production Guyana, a descendant of ExxonMobil and Standard Oil, already have operations in Essequibo, and the oil companies have always played a large role in U.S. foreign policy.

War? Not yet. But the left must be watching, prepared to oppose U.S. involvement.

Read more here: https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/u ... a-guyana

[caltrek]

Here is a news article from earlier this year that I missed. It may be of relevance in discussing more recent developments in Venezuela as discussed above:
Iran to Help Venezuela Overhaul Major Refinery Complex
by Julianne Geiger
February 3, 2023

Introduction:

(OilPrice.com) Venezuela’s Paraguana refinery complex is soon to begin a 100-day overhaul to reclaim its crude distillation capacity, anonymous Reuters sources suggested on Friday, with work set to be completed as a joint effort by Venezuela’s PDVSA and National Iranian Oil Refining and Distribution Company (NIORDC).

Iran’s assistance with Venezuela’s Paraguana Refining Center—the nation’s largest—looks to ease Venezuela’s reliance on U.S. refinery technology.

Over the past decade, Venezuela’s oil industry has crumbled due to mismanagement, corruption, and a lack of investment in maintenance, and U.S. sanctions on Venezuela’s oil industry and exports, enacted by former President Donald Trump, helped to cripple the industry and discouraged foreign operators from working in the country.

Additional extract:

Venezuela’s refining woes have led to shortages in gasoline supplies in the country, triggering hours-long waits on the retail side.

Venezuela sits atop the largest crude oil reserves in the world but has for years been unable to keep its crude oil and refining sectors operating normally.

Read more here: https://oilprice.com/Latest-Energy-New ... lex.html

[40lightyears]

Wow, saw the news about Castillo declaring victory in Peru. Talk about making a bold move before the count's even done! Exciting times ahead for Peru, curious to see how it all plays out.