Venezuela Approves $9 Billion Dollar Oil Windfall Profit Law!

[Better Believe It]

Tuesday
April 15, 2008
CARACAS (Reuters)

Venezuela approves $9 bln oil windfall profit law

Venezuela's parliament passed a law obliging oil companies to give windfall earnings to the leftist government when world prices are above $70 a barrel, a legislator said on Tuesday.

Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez said the new law would bring in an estimated $9 billion annually at today's prices.

President Hugo Chavez, who has for years squeezed more revenue from oil companies operating in the OPEC nation and nationalized all foreign-run oil fields, wants the funds to be spent immediately on social programs in this election year.

The government will take in about 92 cents for every extra dollar when world prices are above $70 a barrel and then 97 cents when they are above $100 a barrel, his oil minister, Rafael Ramirez told reporters.

Please read the entire article at:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080415/wl_nm/venezuela_windfall_income_dc_1

[BobbyVan]

1. now watch the money line the FARC's back pockets...

[Better Believe It]

2. Is That What The Bush Government Will Be Claiming?

Damn .... why do we hear so much right-wing bull shit regarding Venezuela on DU?

[smiley_glad_hands]

3. Undoubtedly.

I'm no fan of chavez per se, but he was democratically elected, and I say let the Venezuelans be Venezuelans.

As long as he keeps the oil in the market, I don't care what he does with it. It is Venezuela's oil and not Exxons, and if they want more of the profits from their oil, good for them. Just keep it flowing. Exxon doesn't want to compromise like all the other oil companies. They want to stir the markets up so they can say: hey--chavez is causing the price of oil to go up, lets bomb them.

If you don't like it, burn something else (preferably something with less carbon).

[Winterblues]

5. From what I read it was the Parliament that voted this in , not Chavez

He is not a Dictator you know....They have an elected Parliament that actually makes the Laws....in fact I would venture to say Venezuela is even more democratic than the USA currently is...

[BobbyVan]

4. Why does everyone on DU subscribe to the "enemy of my enemy is my friend" BS

"The virulent rhetoric employed by official and quasi-official sources is also widely seen as tacitly approving violence against government opponents. Threats, intimidation, and physical harm to numerous persons, as well as accusations by the political opposition of illegal wiretapping of the telephones of private citizens who are members of anti-Chavez groups, are well documented."

http://www.freedomhouse.org/template.cfm?page=140&edition=7&ccrcountry=141§ion=72&ccrpage=31

Seems like an even worse version of Bush to me. Why do people here love him so much?