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Hugo's Mirror - The Growing Similarities between Russia and Venezuela

Posted on by Tailgunner Joe

The striking speed of the wave of nationalization sweeping through the oil extraction sector in Venezuela, as a result of which by May 1 the national flag will wave proudly over oil fields that have been developed by foreign companies, is the latest in a long line of surprising similarities and parallels that are increasingly leading experts to compare President Hugo Chavez's Bolivar Republic with Russia under Vladimir Putin.

The companies that have been left empty-handed in Venezuela, which include British Petroleum, Statoil, and ExxonMobil, must share with Chevron Corp bitter memories of the misfortune that befell international investors on Sakhalin after they had rushed a little too quickly to the conclusion that the Russian shelf was the new hydrocarbon Klondike. They have all paid for their arrogance.

The theme of the "Venezuelization" of Russia, ...is quickly taking on a host of concrete meanings. ...For example, the formula of a "rigid power vertical" and the "dictatorship of law," which was first heard in Russia out of the mouth of Vladimir Putin, was actually first uttered by Hugo Chavez. This particular bit of political know-how belongs to the Venezuelan president, though he was more than happy to share it with his Russian counterpart. Because the more "dictatorships of law" and "power verticals" that exist in the world, the fairer, more stable, and more dynamically developing that world will be.

Having dealt with fallen oligarchs, clamped down on "antigovernment" media, and imposed order in parliament, where the president enjoys an overwhelming majority, Hugo Chavez has equally decisively thrown himself into battle on the foreign front, with speeches attacking a unipolar world under the leadership of the United States. Vladimir Putin's America-bashing speech in Munich, like the "dictatorship of law" in Russia, comes much later than the Venezuelan version.



(Excerpt) Read more at kommersant.com ...

TOPICS:

Foreign Affairs

News/Current Events

KEYWORDS:

energy

multipolar

russia





To: Tailgunner Joe

Actually, I think Venezuela is becoming more like Zimbabwe.



by 2 posted onby thackney (life is fragile, handle with prayer)

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