OBIOKU, Nigeria – At first glance, it is hard to imagine anyone fighting over this place.

Approached by a creek, the only way to get here, a day’s journey by dugout canoe from the nearest town, it presents itself as a collection of battered shacks teetering on a steadily eroding beach.

On Sunday morning, the village children shimmy out of their best clothes after church and head to a muddy puddle to collect water. Their mothers use the murky liquid to cook whatever soup they can muster from the meager catch of the day.

Yet for months a pitched battle has been fought between communities that claim authority over this village and the right to control what lies beneath its watery ground: a potentially vast field of crude oil that has caught the attention of a major energy company.

The conflict has left dozens dead and wounded, sent hundreds fleeing their homes and roiled this once quiet part of the Niger Delta. It has also laid bare the desperate struggle of impoverished communities to reap crumbs from the lavish banquet the oil boom has laid in this oil-rich yet grindingly poor corner of the globe.
nytimes.com

Democracy Now: Catalogue of Chevron Crimes in Nigeria

Chevron’s Angola project recognized
The Offshore Energy Association has named Chevron Corp.’s Benguela Belize drilling and production platform in Angola as “Project of the Year,” the company said Friday.

The Benguela Belize-Lobito Tomboco (BBLT) project is one of the San Ramon oil company’s “Big 5” major capital projects and is scheduled to begin production in the first quarter of 2006. The project is expected to have a production capacity of 220,000 barrels per day.

The Benguela Belize structure, a tower with topsides weighing more than 40,000 tons, is situated in 1,300 feet of water and is one of the largest structures in the world.

Cabinda Angola:The Holocaust of a Nation Sponsored by a company Chevron Oil
– Boycott Chevron Oil Stations
– Embargo to the Marxist Regime of Angola.
– Write to your Congressman, Senator, MP, MEP, MSP, MLA.
– End to the Occupation of Cabinda by the MPLA Army.
– End to the theft of the Cabindan oil by Chevron Co.
(Chevron Organized Crime)
– Payment of all oil stolen so far by Chevron oil co $260 Billion USD.
– End to the Murder in Cabinda.
– End to the Rape of women in Cabinda.
– End of the Mercenaries in the payroll of Chevron oil co, in Cabinda.
– End of the Holocaust of the people of Cabinda.
– End to the greed of Chevron oil co. (MF, SB)
– End to the atrocities of the MPLA sponsored by Chevron oil co.
– Please help us. Tell a friend, call your congressman do some thing, they are killing us. (Chevron and the marxist MPLA)

Chevron congratulates itself on its good works

12/29/05 “ICH” — — The Bush administration has sent troops into Paraguay. They are there ostensibly for humanitarian and counterterrorism purposes. The action coincides with growing left unity in South America, military buildup in the region and burgeoning independent trade relationships.

In a speech on July 26 in Havana, Fidel Castro took note of the incursion and called upon North American activists to oppose it. In that vein, an inquiry is in order as to why the US government has inserted Paraguay into its strategic plan for South America. In addition, we should look at factors that favor Bush administration schemes for the region and others that work against US plans.

In December 2004, the Bush administration canceled $330 million in economic and military aid to 10 South American countries. They were being penalized for turning down a US request for granting its soldiers immunity from prosecution for crimes they commit within the countries’ borders.

On May 5, however, the government of Paraguay took the bait. It signed an agreement authorizing an 18-month stay, automatically extended, for US soldiers and civilian employees. The previous limit had been set at six months. On May 26, in a secret session, Paraguay’s Congress passed legislation protecting US soldiers from prosecution for criminal activity, both within Paraguay and by the International Criminal Court.

Reportedly, 400 or 500 US troops – estimates vary – arrived in Paraguay on July 1, with planes, weapons, equipment and ammunition. They are billeted at a base near Mariscal Estigarribia, a small city located 200 kilometers from the Bolivian border in the arid, sparsely populated Chaco area of Paraguay. That facility, built by US contractors in the waning years of the Stroessner dictatorship (1954-1989), offers a runway long enough to accommodate large military transport planes and bombers. It provides barrack space for 16,000 troops.

Journalist and human rights activist Alfredo Boccia Paz, stated in Asuncion that immunity from prosecution for US soldiers, extension of their stay, and joint military exercises all provide the groundwork for the eventual installation of a US base in Paraguay. He quoted Argentine Nobel Peace laureate Adolfo Pérez Esquivel: “Once the United States arrives, it takes it a long time to leave. And that really frightens me.”
informationclearinghouse.info

LA PAZ, Bolivia — The winner of Bolivia’s presidential elections has repeated his vow to nationalize oil and gas and said he will void at least some contracts held by foreign companies “looting” the poor Andean nation’s natural resources.

Indian coca farmer Evo Morales said he will not confiscate refineries or infrastructure owned by multinational corporations. Instead, his government would renegotiate contracts so that the companies are partners, but not owners, in developing Bolivia’s resources, he said.

“We will nationalize (Bolivia’s) natural resources,” Morales said at a news conference Tuesday in La Paz.

“Many of these contracts signed by various governments are illegal and unconstitutional. It is not possible that our natural resources continue to be looted, exploited illegally, and as the lawyers say, these contracts are legally void and must be adjusted,” Morales said.

Bolivia’s proven and potential reserves total 48.7 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, second only to Venezuela in South America, according to the U.S. Department of Energy’s Energy Information Administration.
thedailyjournal.com

The Good Neighbor Policy and Other Political Amusements Bolivian Democracy and the US: a History Lesson
…Such routine pronouncements on US-Latin America policy presume that a policy exists, something beyond Washington demanding Latin American obedience to its dictates, so that US companies can continue their looting. Throughout, the last century, the United States has provided different labels for its domination. By the early 20th Century, the Monroe Doctrine took the form of “Gunboat Diplomacy.” The Navy would routinely intervene to protect US investments and ensure “stable”–read obedient — governments.

New Bolivian President Vows to Take Action Against US
It didn’t take long for the newly elected Bolivian President to intensify his verbal attacks against the United States. But the new Bolivian leader, an avowed Socialist and friend of President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela and Fidel Castro of Cuba, is going even further than rhetoric. He’s threatening to take action against the US.
President Evo Morales, according to a news story in the Washington Times, leveled allegations at the United States that its advisors secretly removed Chinese-made anti-aircraft missiles from Bolivia. US military and law enforcement personnel serve as advisors to the Bolivians in their drug control activities and counterterrorism training.

Morales, an Indian and former coca farmer, has pledged to end United States drug eradication programs in the country. The US had been invited to help Bolivian authorities by the previous administration which was more centrist than the incoming neo-Marxists. A Morales campaign promise to legalize coca plant cultivation is expected to increase cocaine production in the region.
a neo-Marxist AND ‘an Indian’ AND a coca farmer to boot…

Cuba, Bolivia Make Literacy, Health Plans
Fidel Castro and Bolivian President-elect Evo Morales say cooperation between their countries will bloom despite U.S. worries about more nations allying with communist Cuba and a growing leftward tilt in Latin American politics.

The two men late Friday announced a 30-month plan to erase illiteracy in Bolivia, the latest move by left-leaning South American leaders calling for increased cooperation among nations in the region without U.S. influence.

Cuba also agreed to offer free eye operations to up to 50,000 needy Bolivians as well as 5,000 full scholarships for young Bolivians to study medicine on the island.

“Could it be that the government of the United States feels hurt that Cuba cooperates with a brother nation?” Castro said. “Does that offend the U.S. government … is it antidemocratic, is it a crime?”

Bolivian leader to cut own salary
The socialist president-elect of Bolivia, Evo Morales, has said he will cut his salary by half when he takes office next month.
Mr Morales said his cabinet would follow suit and that members of Bolivia’s parliament would be expected to cut their allowances.

“Economic Brief: Venezuela’s Pipeline Deals”
The recent gas pipeline agreement between Venezuela and Colombia is the latest step in an effort by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to integrate South America better. The pipeline deal was signed by Chavez and Colombian President Alvaro Uribe on November 24, 2005. The agreement puts onto paper the decision to construct a two-way gas pipeline between Colombia and Venezuela.

The pipeline agreement is the beginning of a larger project that will bring crude oil from Venezuela to the Pacific Ocean, where it will then be transported to Asia. It also comes after Chavez and Argentine President Nestor Kirchner discussed building a natural gas pipeline connecting the two countries. Both the Venezuelan and Argentine leaders also expressed their optimism that the proposed pipeline will be part of a larger project involving Peru, Bolivia, Chile and Ecuador.

Huge new oil discovery in Brazil
Brazil’s state-owned oil company, Petrobras, says it has discovered a huge new offshore oil field off the coast of Rio de Janeiro state.
The Papa-Terra field was found in the Campos Basin, which is already Brazil’s most important oil-producing region.

Petrobras estimates it contains at least 700 million barrels of crude – about 10% of Brazil’s current reserves.

The field, which is jointly operated with the US company Chevron, should start producing oil by the end of 2011.

Ex-army officer seeks presidency in Peru
LIMA, Peru — A former army officer whose nationalistic stance has made him a contender in Peru’s April 9 presidential race paraded with hundreds of supporters Friday to election offices to register as a candidate.

Retired Lt. Col. Ollanta Humala told reporters he was taking “with humility” recent polls showing him in a statistical dead heat with former Congresswoman Lourdes Flores, considered by many to be the front-runner.

In a national survey of 1,144 people Dec. 16-19 by polling firm Datum Internacional, Flores was favored by 26 percent of respondents, and Humala by 23 percent. The poll had a margin of error of 3 percentage points, putting the two in a statistical tie.

Flores was a congresswoman for the centrist Popular Christian Party throughout the 1990s and a strong opponent of former President Alberto Fujimori. Flores ran for president in 2001 on a pro-business platform but was eliminated in the first round of voting.

Analysts say Humala seems to have some of the same appeal as President Hugo Chavez in Venezuela and President-elect Evo Morales in neighboring Bolivia, both political outsiders who won wide support among the poor and working classes for pledging to protect the country from intrusive foreign interests.

Mining Conflict in Ecuador Heats Up
Dozens of Ecuadorians recently burnt down a building owned by Ascendant Copper Corporation to protest its mining activities in the area. The Canadian mining company claimed in a press release (1) that the structure burnt down was a community health clinic located on an experimental farm, that supplies were stolen and that company employees were physically and verbally assaulted.

“The company is outraged by this assault against company personnel and assets that were dedicated to the assistance of the local community,” stated Gary Davis, Ascendant’s President and CEO.

But Defensa y Conservacion Ecologica de Intag (DECOIN) (2), a local environmental group, rejected the company’s claims in a statement on its website.

“Somebody’s making something up,” said Jamie Kneen, a spokesperson for MiningWatch Canada.

The Canadian mining industry’s atrocious track record regarding honesty, transparency, and legality with its ventures in Latin America, suggests Ascendant is at fault. According to Kneen, who has been monitoring the mining conflict in Ecuador, this was the first that he has heard of Ascendant’s “health clinic.” In fact, this is the first time the company has mentioned its alleged clinic.

Ahmad Chalabi, Iraq’s deputy prime minister, has assumed direct control of the powerful Oil Ministry amid growing panic over an anticipated fuel shortage.

Chalabi, who has been improving his relations with Washington after falling out with the US administration, was appointed acting oil minister after the incumbent Ibrahim Bahr al-Uloum was given leave, officials said on Friday.

His takeover coincided with long lines forming at petrol stations in Baghdad, as words spread that Iraq’s largest oil refinery had shut down and a crippling petrol shortage was inevitable.

Chalabi, who supported Uloum for the post when a US-backed government was formed earlier this year, is already the head of the Oil Council, a cabinet-level board, and his influence on Iraq’s economic and commodities policy is massive.
aljazeera.net

Talk about the fox guarding the henhouse…Iraq will splinter apart, but who will be profitting from the oil?

…people are beginning to die from the cold. Young children and babies are particularly vulnerable. Almost three months after the earthquake that killed 73,000 people in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, half of them children, a second tragedy is unfolding in the mountains. The winter disaster that the relief agencies had feared is now a reality.

According to Ishfaq Ahmed of the Kashmir International Relief Fund, 100 children have died of the cold in the past month in the towns of Muzaffarabad and Bagh alone, and the death toll in more remote regions must be higher.

Three and a half million earthquake victims are still homeless, many of them surviving in makeshift tent cities. Relief workers, who are already speaking of a lost generation, fear the death toll from the winter – temperatures dip to minus 10C at night – could exceed that of the quake. “The winter will be a bigger killer,” said Mr Ahmed.
independent.co.uk

In the recent War on Christmas hullabaloo, the question asked, “Is there nothing sacred anymore?” My answer: Yes, there is something sacred. Most sacred is our innate curiosity, our ability to reason, and a determination to know truth. Any attempt to hinder human thought processes is great sacrilege.

Last century a student of mythology, Lord Raglan studied all the myths and legends that influenced western civilization in his 1936 book entitled The Hero. His basic premise is that the mythical hero’s life is a remnant of ancient ritual drama enacted at the coronation of priest-kings.

According to Raglan, rituals involved specific acts performed for magical purposes. Ritual dramas required participants play specific roles. A quasi-boiler-plate plot always determined the character’s role. Eventually, myths of priest-kings outlived the ritual and became many myths and folktales from which we derive many legendary heroes such as Hercules, or Moses, or Robin Hood.

Luke Skywalker and Harry Potter continued this archetypal tradition of mythical characters. They affirm inherited patterns of thought derived from past collective experiences of humanity. Freud believed these archetypes to be present in our subconscious psyches. Thus, their popularity, as well as opposition from adherents of competing myths, continues today.

Raglan concludes there are at least twenty-two standard archetypal characteristics of this duplicated singular myth. The closer the legendary character fits these characteristics the less likely the hero is a historical personage. Historical persons dramatically differ from Raglan’s twenty-two characteristics are as follows:

1. He is born of a virgin mother.
2. His father is a King.
3. The father has a unique relationship with the mother.
4. The circumstances of the child’s conception are unusual, often humble.
5. He is reputed to be the son of a god.
6. There is an attempt to kill the child/god shortly after birth.
7. He is spirited away, escaping a premature death.
8. The child is raised by foster parents in a far country.
9. We are told virtually nothing of his childhood years.
10. On reaching manhood, usually at age 30, he commences his mission in life.
11. He successfully overcomes the most severe trials and tests.
12. He marries a princess.
13. He is acknowledged as a king.
14. He rules.
15. He prescribes laws.
16. He loses favor with the Gods or his subjects.
17. He is forcibly driven from authority.
18. He meets with a violent death.
19. His death occurs on the top of a hill.
20. His children, if any, do not succeed him.
21. His body is not buried conventionally.
22. He has one or more holy resting places.
axisoflogic.com

The U.S. government reportedly plans to spend $500 million over five years to make the Sahara Desert a vast new front in its war on terrorism.

The operation is called the Trans-Sahara Counter-Terrorism Initiative, begun in June to provide military expertise, equipment and development aid to nine Saharan countries. This is an area where lawless swaths of desert are considered fertile ground for militant Muslim groups, the San Francisco Chronicle said.

Algeria, Chad, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Senegal, Morocco, Nigeria and Tunisia were listed as participants in the initiative.

During the first phase of the program, dubbed Operation Flintlock, 700 U.S. Special Forces troops and 2,100 soldiers from nine North and West African nations led 3,000 ill-equipped Saharan troops in tactical exercises designed to better coordinate security along porous borders and beef up patrols in ungoverned territories.
axisoflogic.com

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) – North Korea on Sunday issued a New Year’s message demanding the withdrawal of U.S. troops from South Korea.

The New Year’s message didn’t mention a word about the nuclear standoff with the United States.

“The entire nation should firmly defend peace and security on the Korean Peninsula by turning out in the Struggle to resolutely foil the U.S. attempt to launch another war. We must remove the root cause of war completely from this land by launching a nationwide campaign for driving out the U.S. troops,” said a joint editorial by North Korea’s Rodong Sinmun and two other major state-run newspapers.
guardian.co.uk

THE Pope has used his inaugural new year message to launch a veiled attack on Iran’s hardline leadership.

Pope Benedict’s comments follow calls by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for Israel to be “wiped off” the global map and his recent dismissal of the Holocaust.

The Pope said: “Authorities who incite their citizens to hostility to other countries bear a heavy responsibility and make the future of humanity more uncertain and ominous.”
timesonline.co.uk

Doesn’t sound like Iran to me…

‘US planning strike against Iran’

The United States government reportedly began coordinating with NATO its plans for a possible military attack against Iran.

The German newspaper Der Tagesspiegel collected various reports from the German media indicating that the North Atlantic Treaty Organization are examining the prospects of such a strike.

According to the report, CIA Director Porter Goss, in his last visit to Turkey on December 12, requested Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan to provide military bases to the United States in 2006 from where they would be able to launch an assault.

The German news agency DDP also noted that countries neighboring Iran, such as Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Oman, and Pakistan were also updated regarding the supposed plan. American sources sent to those countries apparently mentioned an aerial attack as a possibility, but did not provide a time frame for the operation.

Der Spiegel article:Is Washington Planning a Military Strike?

The beatings and insults to the sub-Saharan nationals in Melilla are something slightly more radical and fearsome than racism; they are the manifestation of a belligerent and potentially homicidal anti-humanism.

We Spaniards should have reserved a bit of naiveté for this occasion. During the last years we have been exposed to such a digest of horrors that our conscience got jammed. Spain trembled with the destruction of the Twin Towers and its 3,000 dead; it trembled with the bombing of the Atocha Station and its 200 victims torn to pieces; it also trembled with the missiles over Baghdad and with Abu-Ghraib’s tortures and trembled again with the scenes of a New Orleans turned upside down by the water and abandoned by its government. Nevertheless, much more impressive than all that –both as a question and as an image– is the zoological treatment accorded by the Spanish State to the African nationals at the iron curtain of the Melilla border with Morocco.

The gunfire, deportation and caging of thousands of persons who were asking for help–that strategy they call “migratory policy,” just as Hitler used to call “demographic policy” the transfer to Auschwitz of the European Jews–de facto challenges before the eyes of the world the legitimacy, viability and justice of the political and economic order in place.

At the same time, the reaction of our politicians, our mass media and our public opinion challenges our right to the wealth, to democratic institutions and, especially, our present and future right to feel we are good. After all, the pain caused by both the 11-S and 11-M can be attributed to “wicked terrorists” just the same that the pain of Baghdad’s children can be attributed to “wicked imperialists.” But in Melilla there is no doubt: we have photographed the system, we have fixed forever the image of an order that has to shoot the people who ask for help, that cannot stop treating as animals the people who are hungry, which cannot even allow hospitality.

The very fact that the African nationals are asking for help from the same people who rob them demonstrates their desperation; the very fact that those who rob them answer with bullets and clubs their demand for help demonstrates the irrevocable ignominy of capitalism. We can fight distant wars, impose programs of structural adjustment, sign in an office a commercial agreement and destroy ten countries without violating in appearance any commandment. But if a few men and women who are hungry and thirsty knock to our door then we have no option but to breach their heads, shoot them and abandon them in the desert. Whether one believes or not in God, this is a sin, a shameful, dirty, abject, despicable sin, and it is not strange that we make so big an effort to conceal it, to forget it or to justify it.
peacepalestine.blogspot.com

Nothing like a little imperial crisis to expose the true nature of a European ‘leftist’ government