Free Republic

Prehistoric engravings of giant snakes along South America's Orinoco river are among the largest examples of rock art we know of anywhere in the world, with some stretching for more than 40 metres.The Orinoco is one of the world's largest rivers, flowing through Venezuela and along its border with Colombia. "There's an outstanding record of rock art along the Orinoco, especially on the Venezuelan side," says José Oliver at University College London. "Usually, they are paintings found in rock shelters."Engravings are common in many open-air sites along the river, he says, but not all of them have been officially recorded...Since...

Energy: Venezuela's Hugo Chavez is spoiling for a fight, but the Bush administration won't give it to him. So now he's trying to provoke U.S. oil firms. This time, he may be in for a surprise. Even Chavez's own energy officials are getting nervous about the dictator's new bid to start a confrontation with the U.S. through its oil firms. Last week, for the 10th time, Chavez announced his plan to confiscate four Orinoco Belt extra-heavy-oil projects run by six Western companies — Exxon Mobil, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, the U.K.'s BP, France's Total and Norway's Statoil. "We are taking back our...

Excerpt - Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez is planning a new assault on Big Oil, potentially taking a major step toward nationalization of Venezuela's oil industry that could hurt oil-company profits, reduce production and put further pressure on global oil prices. Venezuela's Congress, made up entirely of Mr. Chávez's allies, is considering sharply raising taxes and royalties on foreign companies' operations in the Orinoco River basin, the country's richest oil deposit. Major oil companies like Exxon Mobil Corp. and ConocoPhillips of the U.S. and Total SA of France have invested billions of dollars there to turn the basin's characteristically tar-like oil...