Protesters in Bolivia take over 7 oil fields

[Lori Price CLG]

Protesters in Bolivia take over 7 oil fields :bounce:

LA PAZ Indigenous protesters demanding the nationalization of the gas and oil industry took over seven oil fields belonging to British Petroleum and the Spanish company Repsol operating in eastern Bolivia, officials said here.

Guarani Indians took over four fields belonging to Repsol and located north of the eastern city of Santa Cruz and 900 kilometers, or 560 miles, east of La Paz, said Ronald Fessy, a spokesman for the group representing the 20 foreign energy concerns operating in Bolivia.

<snip>

Lori Price

[burrowowl]

1. Viva! Viva! Viva!

la Gente!
Viva! Los Guaranis!
Viva!

[Carolab]

2. Fanf*ingtastic! n/t

[Sandpiper]

3. Libertad, Si!!!

Imperialismo Yanqui, No!!!

Power to the people!

[Lori Price CLG]

4. Yes, and please come here, next!!

Too bad US protesters don't go 'full court press...'

Lori Price

[Selatius]

7. Most Americans have not been pushed into that level of poverty/desperation

People are too comfortable to do anything. This isn't the case in places like Bolivia and Venezuela. The poverty is painful, and people will do anything to stop the pain.

[Vladimir]

19. Too right n/t

[evlbstrd]

5. Don't forget how the British reacted to the Falkland/Malvinas revolt.

And only sheep were at stake.

[gordianot]

48. At the time yes, but there was oil and it was an oil war.

Also think Vietnam oil. Gee is there a pattern here?

for link: http://www.falklands-oil.com/

[KeepItReal]

6. Is BIG OIL & GAS gonna let this ride??

I don't think so. This could get very ugly....

[Geo55]

11. TERRRROISTS !

Damn people wanna benefit from their OWN oil !

Call in the "Freedom & Democracy" spreaders....oh , wait , their "busy"

[Lori Price CLG]

13. The actual terrorists are the oil companies and their defenders,

the Bush regime.

Lori Price

[Dulcinea]

59. So when do we invade?

Oh wait...

[tk2kewl]

45. You did hear about the Universal Adversary, didn't you?

[Geo55]

47. Universal Adversary ?

[tk2kewl]

49. did you see the "Orwellian Senarios" thread?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=3804290

[Geo55]

57. Oh....jeezusss !

I'm a "Universal Adversary " !!! , oh well nice to belong to a "group"....Thanks, now I get it.

If there is universal justice , Georgie & crew are payin' BIG TIME.

"

[Supersedeas]

25. Poppy Bush and the boys at Carlyle won't like this much at'all

[punpirate]

8. Umm... any more news on the...

... "joint training exercises" with US troops in Paraguay? As I read, that order was agreed to by the Paraguayan Congress in secret session, and was effective June 1st. Which means that US troops are already there, I would guess.

What happens if the landowners in the east make a general appeal to the Bolivian government for either protection or separatism? Does Roger Noreiga get his way, one way or another?

[Lori Price CLG]

10. Ah, there they are... the words 'US troops' and 'Bolivia.' It was only

a matter of time...

Lori Price

[punpirate]

14. Ah, well...

... sometimes 2+2 does equal 4. *sigh*

It just struck me as too convenient that the US was scheduling joint military exercises in a country bordering one of the most contentious spots in Bolivia today....

[go west young man]

9. Go Bolivia! South America has been Enron and raped by the rich and greedy

for too long. Its good to see these countries taking back what is rightfully thiers from the companies and governments that are beholden to them. If only Americans were as brave.

[Selatius]

12. If Americans suffered as much as these poor people...

they'd lash out as well. Desperate conditions make people do desperate things. If Americans are made to endure the kind of poverty and strife and misery that has been inflicted on the billions of the world's poor by multinational corporations and hegemonic world powers, they will be more likely to "rise up" than with the current conditions most US citizens exist in right now.

[donsu]

24. agree

Viva!

[Emillereid]

15. Is Bush giving speeches about the blossoming of people power in

Bolivia? Is he waxing poetic about the deep democratic impulse emerging after centuries of oppression. What's that I hear -- the sound of silence?

Vive the people's revolution!

[Lori Price CLG]

20. Let's let these protesters loose on Halliburton's offices...

...for starters. :)

Lori Price

[Emillereid]

55. I'll gladly join them. People of the world unite!

[JohnLocke]

16. Kick (nt).

[Massachusetts]

17. A different scenario?

The "people" are beginning to understand the Value and Power of Oil.

A government that WAS CONCERNED for their society and didn't want their "people" held hostage to this, WOULD think of ALTERNATIVE STRATEGIES. HMMMMMMMM

[Jose Diablo]

18. A dangerous precedent

The indigenous people of Bolivia are making a dangerous precedent. They believe that the 1.9 trillion cubic meters of natural gas laying below them belong to them. By seizing these resources, they are in-effect saying to a world that has assigned 'ownership' of these resources to elites and other power people that 'might makes right'. The truth is, it does.

All these notions of populous beliefs seem to be centered around Chavez in Venezuela and of course Castro. Mexico, Venezuela, Paraguay, Columbia and now Bolivia; there is a populous uprising well underway in Central and South America. I doubt the corporation 'police' will be able to suppress it.

The globalists and corporatists are gonna lose this one. It could even spread to Africa and even further. Notice the rejection of the globalist/corporatist agenda in the recent voting on the European Union Constitution?

To bad, we in America cannot help in this spread of democracy now underway.

Edit: Maybe we in America can help. You know in the globalist/corporatist never ending greed for more, they are squeezing the middle class and pushing them into the poor. In the past, a large middle class has made our society very stable. Without a complacent large middle class, there would have been a rejection of capitalism long ago. But these folks now in control want it all. They don't want to share the wealth with a middle class. It never ends, they get enough power to take it all, then they try and get beat back. The elites never learn. I guess power does that, makes people blind to the reality of this world.

The people in Europe know this to be true. History is not linear, it is a cycle caused by class warfare. First one, then the other is on top. A never ending cycle. We in America are too young to have experienced this first hand like Europe has.

I would submit that this latest round of problems has at it source the destruction of history lessons taught to the youth, so the cycle started again when the youth became adults and made decisions without a firm grip on history.

[Jack Rabbit]

21. To paraphrase Patrick Henry

If this is socialism, let us make the most of it.

That natural gas belongs to the people. The IMF, World Bank or any other arm of corporate tyranny has no right to assign it to any one else.

The tyrants should lose more than just this one. The world would be a better place without transnational corporations lording it over the rest of us.

And behold, thrones were kingless, and men walked
One with the other even as spirits do . . .
--Shelley, Prometheus Unbound (4.4.131-32)

[Jack Rabbit]

22. BBC (Thursday): Bolivia on edge for crucial vote

From the BBC Online
Dated Thursday June 9 09:28 GMT (2:28 am PDT)

Bolivia on edge for crucial vote

Legislators in Bolivia are due to meet later on Thursday in Sucre to decide whether to accept the resignation of President Carlos Mesa.

They may call early polls to calm recent violent protests that have been taking place in the main city, La Paz.

Congress will also debate whether Mr Mesa should be replaced by Senate Speaker Hormando Vaca Diez.

President Mesa, who offered to resign on Monday, has warned the mounting unrest could spark civil war.

Read more.

[David__77]

23. Oil should always be a public industry.

It should not be a private thing. This is a NATIONAL asset, one belonging to the people not to the few.

[Jose Diablo]

27. A case could be made that anything in the "commons"

should be under control and regulation of the government, with the people controlling the government through voting for representatives.

The "commons" could be thought of as water, waste, communication, timber or any resource on public land, transportation and yes, energy.

But this idea is a 'dirty commie pinko idea' according to the elites. Because you see, the elites want for their own profit, those things that are on the "commons".

Edit: Taken to the limits, even the 'means of production' could be considered on the "commons". After all, the money produced to make the 'means of production' were produced by the 'people', not the elite.

Think of the elites as drones, for the most part, parasites.

[Jack Rabbit]

29. What the elites won't say

If they were to disappear, the resources would still be there and the need to use them for our benefit would still be there. Industrial production would simply be ordered some other way.

We don't need them to organize production for us.

[Jose Diablo]

30. Yep Jack, you got it. n/t

[Coexist]

26. if you believe in God, pray for them

[Javaman]

28. Ahhh, it's so clear now. This is why we sent 1600 soldiers there...

It was reported here, LBN, that the US had sent 1600 soldiers to Bolivia. Now we know why! It's all about oil! I'm shocked and surprised, I tell ya, just shocked, SHOCKED! :sarcasm:

[barbaraann]

31. Bush said that Iraqi oil belongs to the Iraqi people, so why

wouldn't Bolivian oil belong to the Bolivian people?

"And all Iraqi military and civilian personnel should listen carefully to this warning. In any conflict, your fate will depend on your action. Do not destroy oil wells, a source of wealth that belongs to the Iraqi people..."

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2003/03/20030317-7.html

[Jack Rabbit]

32. Bush says a lot of things, doesn't he?

He doesn't very often mean what he says.

[barbaraann]

34. Everything is Orwellian.

Or just an out-and-out lie.

[Jose Diablo]

33. I wonder if the Iraqi people are profiting from their oil?

Or is someone else profiting from the Iraqi oil?

Edit: Last time I looked, we here in the USA are not profiting one bit from Iraqi oil. Look at the prices at the pumps.

[barbaraann]

35. I'm not sure but I think the profit has disappeared.

I think they are keeping the books with some sort of "combat accounting," which means suitcases of cash being thrown around with no recordkeeping.

[Vladimir]

36. I think combat accounting has a more literal

meaning in Iraq... after all, the oil ain't flowing to Bushco cos the Iraqi freedom fighters are being damn succesful at attacking the pipelines and infrastucture.

[Jack Rabbit]

37. Oil prices are going because demand outstrips supply

That has nothing to do with invading Iraq. Saudi Arabia and other OPEC members have increased production to record levels, but this still can't keep up with demand. Much of the increased demand comes from China, a nation that has developed into an economic giant and needs the petroleum to fuel its own industrial output, as does the US.

The only thing that will bring energy costs down is the development of alternate sources of energy. The fossil fuel industry has resisted this and has allied with politicians to assure that government policy will favor the continued use of fossil fuel.

Thus, we are experiencing the approach of peak oil, compounded with increased demand from economies transitioning from developing to developed and the fact that nothing is being done about it in a way that benefits established industry while the needs of consumers are not being met.

As I said in post 29, we don't need the elites to organize production for us. The present situation in energy production is a good example of why the old order, based on the private self-interest of elites, is a poor way of organizing production. Perhaps production based on a democratic model would do better.

[Jose Diablo]

51. Then why did the price at the pump drop

a few months before the last election, then after the election go right back up.

I think the prices are rigged. As for if demand is outstripping supply, thats the kind of stuff we hear all the time. But is it true about supply. Why did the price drop then, when it did.

You will also notice the petroleum industry is vertically integrated. This used to be against the anti-trust laws to have a completely controlled delivery all the way from the source to the outlet, because in a vertically integrated industry, it is impossible to tell the profit and or loss at each point. There are tremendous opportunities to price gouge the consumers by saying there is not enough supply, when another part of the same company restricts that supply.

This is why I say they prices are fixed. Look at the reported profit picture this last year of the oil companies. Now compare this to the profit picture of an industry of one of their largest users, the airline industry. And the airline industry will respond how? By going to a bankruptcy judge to get permission to raid the workers pensions.

All of this is a set-up to screw the workers of their savings.

Edit: It is the mercantile monopoly of the robber baron days, all over again.

[Jack Rabbit]

52. There we disagree

I filled my tank about an hour ago for less than I've paid in a long time.

There have been fluctuations in the price of world oil in the last year. Bush was trying to get it down in conjunction with the election; he was pushing the Saudis for more production. However, most of these fluctuations have nothing to do politics.

The reason that you will always hear, when prices rise, that demand outstrips supply is a very good one: the law of supply and demand in economics is as firmly established as the law of gravity in physics. This does not mean that their can't be some kind of market manipulation; I live in California and I can tell you about the effects of energy market manipulation.

Nevertheless, it is a very natural phenomenon and shouldn't be discounted in favor of sinister conspiracy theory without due consideration.

What this means is we can nationalize every oil company in the world and we'll still have a problem. We are not going to see inexpensive gasoline again, no matter how it is produced and distributed. The only thing we can do to bring overall energy costs down is to produce energy from alternative sources. The age of renewable energy sources is at hand.

Of course, there are other benefits to developing energy from renewable sources that make it an attractive idea. However, even laying that aside, developing new energy sources in order to supplement and then replace fossil fuels is now an imperative.

[Vladimir]

56. If every oil company was nationalised

prices might well rise, as the countries sought to get as much money from their natural resources as possible into development programmes. I agree with you 100% on renwables Jack, btw., and I think its a crying shame that our governments are not putting more money into them, particularly into fusion.

[Lori Price CLG]

38. barbaraann, that is a brilliant comment. BTW, whatever...

happened to the oil that the US stole from Iraq?

Lori Price

[barbaraann]

41. Thanks.

The media never talks about where the oil profits are going, do they?

[aneerkoinos]

42. Follow the money

Is the good old journalist motto.

So where does the big money go? To the corporate media, among others. There's your answer! :D

[Lori Price CLG]

43. Nope. There's that missing 900 $million from the whackjob...

Coalition Provisional Authority (more?)

:)-Lori

[aneerkoinos]

39. Link to the previous thread

The meaning of US troops in Paraguay
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x3820014

[aneerkoinos]

40. Narconews latest

Congress flown to Sucre delays session until afternoon, Morales says Vaca Diaz will declare martial law the minute he gets power, mayors of most cities tell Vaca Diaz to refuse power...

http://narcosphere.narconews.com/story/2005/6/9/113434/2587

[stevedeshazer]

44. Kick for greatest page

:kick:

[Lori Price CLG]

46. Thank you, Steve! n/t

[GirlinContempt]

50. ¡La espada de Bolivar está viajando a través de América latina!

[Jack Rabbit]

53. New thread based on latest development

BBC (late Thursday): Bolivia suspends Congress session started by Jack Rabbit at today at 3:53 pm PDT.

[Chicago Democrat]

54. Well done.

Patria o Muerte

[Judi Lynn]

58. Repsol says occupation of Bolivia oil fields ended

Repsol says occupation of Bolivia oil fields ended
By MarketWatch
Last Update: 1:28 PM ET June 10, 2005

Radical farmers early Friday started to leave several oil fields they had occupied in eastern Bolivia of Spanish-Argentine energy firm Repsol-YPF (REP) and local oil firm Chaco, in which BP PLC (BP) holds a minority stake, Repsol and industry sources said.

"The farmers left in early morning hours. The fields are returning to work normally," a Repsol press official in Buenos Aires told Dow Jones Newswires over the telephone.

An official of the Hydrocarbons Chamber in the eastern Bolivian city of Santa Cruz, which represents foreign oil firms, also confirmed that farmers have started to leave occupied oil sites.

A representative from an energy firm in Santa Cruz said occupying farmers also left oil fields from Chaco after Rep. Evo Morales, the leader of the opposition Movement Toward Socialism party, or MAS, has ordered protests across Bolivia to halt and occupations to end.

It was not immediately clear, however, whether protesters would also give up road blockades and protests in and around La Paz, the country's administrative capital and the epicenter of unrest in recent weeks.
(snip/...)

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story.asp?guid=%7B299AE8E1-3F7D-43BE-9FD1-B448F1B997FD%7D

[Lori Price CLG]

63. 'Repsol says occupation of Bolivia oil fields ended'

:grr:

Lori

[JNelson6563]

60. We should move in any time now....

Oil ripe for the stealin'.....

I wish the "rebels" luck, I fear they'll all be shot.

Julie

[malaise]

61. All this chaos in Bolivia

is about grabbing more oil. These people are sick.
Viva the indigenous people.

[lonestarnot]

62. woah... this is an example of People Power