Foreign Affairs Sep 19, 2008

Gazprom, Total agree to develop gas fields in Bolivia

MOSCOW (Bloomberg) -- OAO Gazprom agreed to explore for natural gas in Bolivia with France’s Total SA as Russia strives to regain influence in Latin America.

The two companies may spend as much as $4.5 billion developing deposits with Bolivia’s national energy producer YPF Bolivianos, Russian state broadcaster Vesti-24 reported on Friday.

Bolivia President in Panama

Panama, Sep 19 (Prensa Latina) The signing of bilateral accords and a tour of the Panama Canal Zone are among the aims of Bolivian President Evo Morales' visit to this country Friday, official sources reported.

The agenda of Morales, who will stay here five hours, also includes a meeting in private with his Panamanian counterpart Martin Torrijos.

Russia Builds Ties in Latin America to Challenge U.S.

Sept. 18 (Bloomberg) -- Russia is in talks to build a space center in Cuba as it forges closer ties with Latin American countries opposed to the U.S. in the wake of Cold War-era tensions sparked by the Georgia conflict.

The head of the Russian Federal Space Agency, or Roscosmos, Anatoly Perminov, who visited Havana with Russian Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin earlier this week, made the announcement in a statement posted today on the agency's Web Site.

Russia may attempt to extend Arctic control: Canada

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper has suggested that Russia may disregard international law and try to extend its control over the Arctic.

He says Canada has increased its military presence in the region in response.

Canada concerned about Russia's Arctic intentions

TORONTO (AP) — Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Friday that his government was taking steps to bolster Canada's presence in the Arctic amid concerns about Russian intentions in the frigid zone.

Harper charged that Russia has been showing signs of flaunting international norms in the region.

Venezuela says oil reserves now at 142.31 billion bbl

LOS ANGELES, Sept. 18 -- Venezuela's ministry of energy and petroleum has added 7.43 billion bbl to the country's oil reserves, raising them to 142.31 billion bbl.

The ministry said the new proved reserves are in the Junin, Junin Block 1, Campos Iguana Zuata, and Zuata North areas in the Orinoco belt, which covers 53,314 sq km around the northern section of the Orinoco River.

Venezuela-Russia ties deepen despite US pressure

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuela and Russia are strengthening their strategic alliance with new plans to cooperate on oil production, weapons and even wireless technology, the governments said as two visiting Russian Tu-160 bombers left for home on Thursday.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, traveling to Moscow next week at the invitation of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, is planning new oil projects with Russian companies and joint military exercises with Russian warplanes and ships in the Caribbean by December.

Bolivia province under martial law

Police stood guard at the US embassy in La Paz as protesters gathered outside [Reuters] The Bolivian government says it has declared martial law in an eastern province where at least eight people have been killed in clashes between pro- and anti-government activists. On Friday, troops took control of the airport in the capital of Pando province and fired shots to disperse protesters, according to an Associated Press report. Earlier, Evo Morales, the president, said he had ruled out the use of force to clampdown on pro-autonomy protests that have raged across the country for several days. More...

Things I Found September 11, 2008

September 11: Today In History.

News
Russian bombers will return in days from Venezuela: Two Russian long-range bombers capable of carrying nuclear weapons will return to base from Venezuela in four days, the Air Force was quoted by Interfax news agency as saying on Thursday.

US expels Bolivian ambassador: The US has ordered the expulsion of the Bolivian ambassador in an escalating diplomatic row after Washington's envoy to Bolivia was expelled by Evo Morales, the president.

Venezuela expels US ambassador: Hugo Chavez, the Venezuelan president, has ordered the US ambassador to leave the country amid a series of tit-for-tat diplomatic expulsions between Bolivia and the US.

Weather
Hurricane Ike takes aim at Texas coast, Houston: GALVESTON, Texas (Reuters) - Hundreds of thousands of people fled coastal areas in the path of Hurricane Ike on Thursday as the storm gathered strength on a collision course with the Texas Gulf Coast, threatening to swamp populous areas around Houston under a massive wave of water.

Economy
Small Fannie, Freddie Holders Take Issue With Washington: Adam Freid, a general contractor in Thousand Oaks, Calif., says he was through day-trading stocks and instead looking for a promising long-term investment when he read some of Henry Paulson's recent comments about Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Lehman in sale talks as survival questioned-sources: NEW YORK (Reuters) - Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc was forced into talks about a possible sale after the Wall Street investment bank's shares plunged more than 40 percent on Thursday, raising questions about its survival.


Commentary
The American secessionist streak: In a recent poll, one in five agreed that states have the right to peacefully secede from the Union.

Stop the Bailout: It was the singular achievement of Murray Rothbard's America's Great Depression to have demonstrated that the Great Depression was a crisis manufactured and prolonged by the attempts to stop an inevitable downturn. The policy response – creating more money, propping up prices, ginning up employment, and a host of other devices – took a stock-market price collapse and a banking liquidation and spread the mess throughout every sector of the economy. What might have lasted a year to 18 months instead lasted 16 years.

More to come...