NEWS,23.07.2012

Hugo Chavez: Mitt Romney, Henrique Capriles Share An Agenda

 

Venezuela's Hugo Chavez has signaled a preference in the U.S. presidential campaign by comparing Mitt Romney to his own challenger.Chavez, who is up for re-election a month before U.S. President Barack Obama, has in recent weeks expressed a clear preference for the man currently in the White House.In a campaign speech Saturday night, Chavez equated the agenda of his challenger, Henrique Capriles, with that of Romney, saying both men represent the callously selfish capitalist elite.Chavez claims Capriles, a moderate former governor, is trying to trick Venezuelans into believing he genuinely cares about the poor, the core of Venezuelan president's constituency."I believe the person to best explain the loser's agenda isn't Barack Obama but rather Romney, because it's the extreme right-wing agenda that borders on the fascism of the United States," Chavez told tens of thousands of supporters in the western city of Maracaibo."In the end, it's the same project," Chavez said, referring to Obama as "a good guy."He alleged that the 220,000 families he says his government has provided with homes risk losing them if Capriles wins, while banks would make obtaining credit impossible for lower-income homebuyers. Chavez also says Capriles would eliminate the social programs that have been a hallmark of his 13 years in office a charge Capriles denies.Chavez's comments follow Romney's criticism of an Obama statement July 11 regarding the relative danger to U.S. interests of Chavez's deepening of ties with Iran.Obama said his "overall sense is that what Mr. Chavez has done over the past several years has not had a serious national security impact on us."Romney responded by saying it was "simply naive" to think Chavez does not pose a threat to the United States.Chavez denies his crusade to create a socialist Venezuela poses any threat to the United States, the chief purchaser of Venezuelan oil.He said in a July 13 television interview that "today's Venezuela doesn't present any kind of threat to anyone."In the same interview, Chavez said Obama "deep down is a good guy, if you remove him from the context of being president of an empire."Michael Shifter, president of the Inter-American Dialogue think tank in Washington, said he thinks U.S. voters generally perceive Chavez as a "nuisance" rather than a threat to U.S. national security."They believe Romney's more hardline stance will only boost up the verbal sparring with Chavez, and end up bolstering him, as has often been the case in the past."Romney could make points, however, with conservative Cuban-Americans who despise Chavez's close friend Fidel Castro as well Venezuelan exiles concentrated in Florida, a tightly contested state in the U.S. presidential election.

Trillions hidden in tax havens – report

 

The world's wealthiest individuals have stashed $21 trillion worth of assets in offshore tax havens, equivalent to the combined GDPs of the United States and Japan, a tax transparency report said on Sunday.The report commissioned by campaign group Tax Justice Network drew data from a wide range of sources including the Bank of International Settlements and the International Monetary Fund.Report author James Henry, former chief economist at consultancy McKinsey, said that the headline figure was conservative, adding that up to $32 trillion may have found its way into havens such as the Cayman Islands and Switzerland.According to Henry, these assets are "protected by a highly paid, industrious bevy of professional enablers in the private banking, legal, accounting and investment industries taking advantage of the increasingly borderless, frictionless global economy". The report found that the top 10 private banks managed more than $6 trillion in 2010, up from $2.3 trillion five years earlier.Tax expert and British government adviser John Whiting said he was doubtful of the figure. "There clearly are some significant amounts hidden away, but if it really is that size what is being done with it all?" he asked.The Tax Justice Network campaigns for tax transparency and against tax havens.

Spanish region denies seeking aid

         

Spain's eastern region of Murcia denied on Sunday that it has decided to tap a recently created emergency loan fund set up by the central government to help cash strapped regions.Earlier on Sunday regional daily newspaper La Opinion de Murcia quoted the president of the regional government of Murcia, Ramon Luis Valcarcel, as saying his government would seek "some €200m or €300m" from the fund.The regional government of Murcia would formally make the request in September, he added according to the newspaper.But in a statement the regional government of Murcia said it "roundly denies" that it has decided to request money from the fund worth up to €18bn that was set up last week by Madrid."Regarding the liquidity fund made available by the state, the regional government has said on numerous occasions that it is studying it, but there is no decision with respect to this," the statement added. Valcarcel was referring to the need to quickly set up "hispanobonds" - bonds backed jointly by all regions in order to meet debt and deficit payments - during his interview with the newspaper and was not talking about the liquidity fund, the statement said.The heavily indebted region of Valencia said Friday it would apply for aid from the fund because it cannot find the funds to meet its financial obligations, making it the first Spanish region to decide to tap the fund.The Valencia regional government did not say how much money it would seek from the fund but daily newspaper El Pais reported Sunday that the amount would be over €2bn.Spain's 17 regional governments, which fund education and health, are crucial to the country's efforts to slash its public deficits and rein in mushrooming sovereign debt.They are blamed for two-thirds of Spain's deficit slippage last year, when the country missed its target of keeping the deficit to 6.0 percent of economic output and instead let it slide to 8.9%.

Greece in "Great Depression", says PM

Greece is in a "Great Depression" similar to the American one in the 1930s, the country's Prime Minister Antonis Samaras told former US President Bill Clinton on Sunday.Samaras was speaking two days before a team of Greece's international lenders arrive in Athens to push for further cuts needed for the debt-laden country to qualify for further rescue payments and avoid a chaotic default.Athens wants to soften the terms of a €130bn bailout agreed last March with the European Union and the International Monetary Fund, to soften their impact on an economy going through its worst post-war recession.By the end of this year Greek GDP is expected to have shrunk by about a fifth in five consecutive years of recession since 2008, hammered by tax hikes, spending cuts and wage reductions required by two EU/IMF bailouts. Unemployment climbed to a record 22.6% in the first quarter. "You had the Great Depression in the United States," Samaras told Clinton, who was visiting Greece as part of a delegation of Greek-American businessmen. "This is exactly what we're going through in Greece - it's our version of the Great Depression."Athens must reduce its budget deficit below 3% of GDP by the end of 2014, from 9.3% of GDP in 2011 - requiring almost another €12bn in cuts and higher taxes on top of the €17bn successive governments have cut from the budget shortfall.Greece wants its lenders to give it two more years to achieve the budget goal to avoid an even deeper economic slump but its lenders have opposed the idea because it would imply even more financial aid. Highlighting growing frustration with Athens, German magazine "Der Spiegel" reported on Sunday, citing high-ranking representatives in Brussels, that the IMF may not take part in any additional financing for Greece.The German and Greek finance ministries declined to comment on the report, which suggested additional support required for Athens could range from €10bn-€50bn. Officials have already indicated there would be a shortfall on the current bailout. How much is likely to depend on the extent by much Greece continues to miss its fiscal targets and the extent of support needed to keep its major banks afloat.German economy minister Philipp Roesler told ARD public television he did not expect Greece could fulfill its requirements and that that would mean no more money to Athens."I am more than sceptical," Roesler, who is the head of the junior party in Germany's ruling coalition and often outspoken on euro zone issues, said in an interview."If Greece does not fulfill its requirements, there cannot be any more payments to Greece," added Roesler, whose views often do not reflect those of Chancellor Angela Merkel or Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble.The inspection team of the international "troika" of the EU Commission, the IMF and the ECB will focus on the €11.7bn of spending cuts Athens needs to take in 2013 and 2014.Clinton criticised Greece's lenders for focusing excessively on austerity, saying Athens will be more likely to repay its debt if its manages economic recovery first."(It) is self-defeating... if every day people are saying this may or may not work to give us back 100 cents on the dollar, so give us more austerity today," he told Samaras."People need something to look forward to when they get up in the morning - young Greeks need something to believe in so they can stake their future out here," Clinton said.

NEWS,29.02.2012.

North Korea agreed to stop nuclear testing

North Korea agreed today to stop nuclear tests, uranium enrichment and long-range missile launches, and to allow checks by nuclear inspectors, in an apparent policy shift that paves the way for resuming long-stalled disarmament talks. The surprise breakthrough, announced simultaneously by the United States State Department and North Korea's official news agency, makes possible the resumption of six-nation nuclear negotiations with Pyongyang. It followed talks between US and North Korean diplomats in Beijing last week. While analysts cautioned that Pyongyang has backtracked repeatedly on past deals, the moves by North Korea mark a sharp change in course, at least outwardly, by North Korea's reclusive leadership following the death in December of veteran leader Kim Jong-il.The State Department said that in return, the US was ready to go ahead with a proposed 240,000 metric-tonne food aid package requested by North Korea and that more aid could be agreed to based on continued need. Along with halting weapons activities, North Korea said it would allow nuclear inspectors from the United Nation's International Atomic Energy Agency to visit its Yongbyon nuclear complex to verify the moratorium on uranium enrichment has been enforced."The DPRK, upon request by the US and with a view to maintaining positive atmosphere for the DPRK-US high-level talks, agreed to a moratorium on nuclear tests, long-range missile launches, and uranium enrichment activity at Yongbyon and allow the IAEA to monitor the moratorium on uranium enrichment while productive dialogues continue," North Korea's official KCNA news agency said. North Korea is known formally as the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK)."Today's announcement represents a modest first step in the right direction," Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told a Congressional panel, noting that Washington continued to have profound concerns over a range of North Korean activities. The IAEA, which withdrew its inspectors from North Korea in 2009, said it was ready to return, calling the moratorium deal "an important step forward.” South Korea and Japan both welcomed the announcement, with the Foreign Ministry in Seoul saying it could form the basis for a broader agreement on North Korea's nuclear program.” It is our assessment that the basis has been set for moving forward on our efforts to resolve the North Korean nuclear issue in a comprehensive and fundamental manner," Foreign Ministry spokesman Cho Buyung-jae said in a statement. .As part of the deal, Washington reaffirmed that it did not have hostile intentions toward North Korea and was prepared to take steps to improve bilateral ties and increase people-to-people exchanges. The US decision to resume food aid was a gesture toward Pyongyang, which has sought international help to cope with chronic food shortages. The United States halted food aid to North Korea in 2009 amid a dispute over transparency and monitoring, compounding problems that have followed a crippling famine in the 1990s that killed an estimated one million people The surprise announcement was a step forward for Washington's campaign to rein in renegade nuclear programs around the world and comes as the Obama administration steps up pressure on Iran over its nuclear ambitions, which western governments fear are aimed at producing nuclear weapons. Analysts called the deal an important preliminary step and said the return of IAEA inspectors would give the international community an important window into North Korea's nuclear work.” This puts an element of control back on the North Koreans' nuclear development program as well as their existing capabilities that we have not had for almost four years," said Jack Pritchard, a former U.S. negotiator with North Korea who heads the Korea Economic Institute.

But Pritchard said he believed it was unlikely that Pyongyang's young and untested new leader Kim Jong-un was ready to comply with demands that he scrap the entire nuclear program.” How does a 28-year-old give up the only legitimate piece of leverage that he has in dealing with the superpowers to preserve the survivability of his regime? He's not going to do that," Pritchard said. The announcement followed talks between the US and with North Korea last week in Beijing, the first such meeting since Kim Jong-un succeeded his father as leader of the communist state two months ago. Bruce Klingner, a Korea analyst at the Heritage Foundation, said the move did not necessarily represent any fundamental changes in Pyongyang, noting that the deal tracked a draft agreement that US diplomats were nearing at the time of Kim Jong-il's death.” This is the first step in a very long road," he said, saying it may simply provide the framework for additional meetings between the United States and North Korea to haggle over an agenda for any broader nuclear talks. North Korea agreed to curtail its nuclear activities under a an aid-for-denuclearization agreement reached in September 2005 by six-party talks bringing together North and South Korea, China, Japan, Russia and the United States.