Oil price weakness pressures Iran, Venezuela: CIA [but not so much Russia]

Reuters via Yahoo News ^ | Jan 15, 2009 | Randall Mikkelsen

[ETL]

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Weak global oil prices threaten to destabilize major oil producers Iran and Venezuela, but Russia is better able to manage because of its sovereign investments, CIA Director Michael Hayden said on Thursday.

"Here's one (event) that's destabilizing, but it could be positive," Hayden told reporters.

He said global prices hovering around $40 per barrel could increase the bite of sanctions aimed at persuading Iran to give up its nuclear program, and could shake the government of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who has been an irritant to U.S. policy in Latin America.

[ETL]

From the Russian News and Information Agency:
July 27, 2006
"'I am determined to expand relations with Russia,' Chavez, known as an outspoken critic of what he calls the United States' unilateralism, told the Russian leader, adding that his determination stemmed from their shared vision of the global order.":
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20060727/51913498.html
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Venezuela's Chavez welcomes Russian warships
Nov 25, 2008
LA GUAIRA, Venezuela – Russian warships arrived off Venezuela's coast Tuesday in a show of strength aimed at the United States as Moscow seeks to expand its influence in Latin America. The deployment is the first of its kind in the Caribbean since the Cold War and was timed to coincide with President Dmitry Medvedev's visit to Caracas — the first ever by a Russian president.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081125/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/lt_venezuela_russia;_ylt=Aubowfbe9_MUlOufaFqMD.OMwfIE
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Venezuela Set to Develop Nuclear Power With Russia
September 29, 2008
CARACAS, Venezuela — President Hugo Chavez said Sunday that Russia will help Venezuela develop nuclear energy — a move likely to raise U.S. concerns over increasingly close cooperation between Caracas and Moscow.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,429441,00.html
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Russian nuclear bombers in Cuba?
July 23, 2008
The media has been abuzz today at the prospect of Russian nuclear bombers being stationed in Cuba if the US goes ahead with plans for missile defense bases in Eastern Europe.

The story has riled the US enough that a US general has been wheeled out to tell the world’s press that any Russian attempt to build another nuclear base in Cuba would cross US “red line”.

The story broke earlier this week, when Russian newspaper Izvestia quoted an un-named source from within the Russian military. He told the Russian daily:

“While they are deploying the missile shield in Poland and the Czech Republic, our strategic bombers will already be landing in Cuba.”

The quote hasn’t been independently confirmed, but the Russian Defense Ministry added fuel to the fire when they refused to comment on the story.

The prospect of Russian nuclear forces being stationed in Cuba - which is, after all, only 90 miles from the US coast - would bring back some rather unpleasant memories for the US of the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962, where the Soviet Union under Nikita Kruschev launched an audacious and foolhardy bid to station nuclear missiles on the Caribbean island.

http://www.siberianlight.net/2008/07/23/russian-nuclear-bombers-cuba/
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"the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the [20th] century" -Russian leader Vladimir Putin on the collapse of the Soviet Union...
"World democratic opinion has yet to realize the alarming implications of President Vladimir Putin's State of the Union speech on April 25, 2005, in which he said that the collapse of the Soviet Union represented the 'greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the century.'
http://www.hooverdigest.org/053/beichman.html

[ETL]

Ping.

[ETL]

Code Pink 'Bundles' for Barack, 4/14/2008

Cindy Sheehan, Jodie Evans, Hugo Chavez,
Medea Benjamin [co-founder Code Pink]

"The co-founder of the radical anti-war group Code Pink [Jodie Evans] has “bundled” more than $50,000 for Sen. Barack Obama’s presidential campaign, and pro-troops groups are demanding that he return the money."

http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=25997

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Revolution interview with ("Peace Mom") Cindy Sheehan: October 29, 2005:
['Revolution' is the official newspaper of the Revolutionary Communist Party]
http://rwor.org/a/021/cindy-sheehan-interview.htm
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From National Public Radio (NPR), August 29, 2006:
"Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has been visiting countries such as China, Iran and Russia as part of an effort to build a 'strategic alliance' of interests not beholden to the United States. He considers the United States his arch enemy.":
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5729764
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From CBS-News:
July 29, 2006
"Chavez pledged that his country would 'stay by Iran at any time and under any condition,' state television reported. Ahmadinejad said he saw in Chavez a kindred spirit." "'We do not have any limitation in cooperation,' Ahmadinejad was quoted as saying. 'Iran and Venezuela are next to each other and supporters of each other. Chavez is a source of a progressive and revolutionary current in South America and his stance in restricting imperialism is tangible.'":
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/07/29/world/main1847331.shtml

[Thunder90]

The economic downturn may make countries like Russia and China much more aggressive as militarism is their only solution to the crisis.