corrente

Surprise!

Washington has been channelling hundreds of thousands of dollars to fund the political opponents of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez - including those who briefly overthrew the democratically elected leader in a coup two years ago.

Documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act reveal that, in 2002, America paid more than a million dollars to those political groups in what it claims is an ongoing effort to build democracy and "strengthen political parties". Mr Chavez has seized on the information, telling Washington to "get its hands off Venezuela".

Jeremy Bigwood, a Washington-based freelance journalist who obtained the documents, yesterday told The Independent: "This repeats a pattern started in Nicaragua in the election of 1990 when [the US] spent $20 per voter to get rid of [the Sandinista President Daniel] Ortega. It's done in the name of democracy but it's rather hypocritical. Venezuela does have a democratically elected President who won the popular vote which is not the case with the US."
(via Indpendent)

Say, Venezuela's got oil, right?

Yep, the ol' Hubbert Curve does seem to have predictive value.... It's kinda funny that Bush is trying to "solve" our energy problems by grabbing as much oil as he can using our troops, instead of figuring out how to conserve energy, develop alternative sources, fund Amtrak.... Instead of pulling stuff like giving tax breaks to buy SUVs. Yep, kinda funny. Makes you think ....