china confidential
Monday, November 24, 2008
Iran Making Big Inroads in Latin America
Foreign Confidential....
Iran is courting Latin America‘s leftist bloc with active diplomacy, joint business projects and aid while gathering support for its suspect nuclear program.
Nicaragua has received Iranian aid pledges for a dam and milk-processing plants, and is playing down U.S. concerns about Iran‘s nuclear-weapon ambitions.
Iran has also promised Bolivia $1 billion in aid and investment, including plans to build a cement plant, dairies and two public health clinics.
Some of Iran‘s ambitions may be dampened by falling oil prices, but its checkbook diplomacy is likely to continue.
Venezuela could also give Iran breathing space as it tries to weather the financial pressure of U.N. and U.S. sanctions over its nuclear program. Venezuela could end up being an outlet for Iran to move money, obtain high-tech equipment and access the world financial system.
Venezuela has already become Iran‘s gateway for travel to the region, with a flight between Tehran and Caracas every other Tuesday. Chavez says Venezuela‘s state airline bought an Airbus jet especially for the route, which includes a stop in Damascus, Syria. Venezuela has a large Arab community of Syrian and Lebanese immigrants, many of whom arrived decades ago.
U.S. officials say they are worried about the possibility of terrorists and Iranian intelligence agents arriving on the flights. The U.S. State Department charged in an April terrorism report that "passengers on these flights were not subject to immigration and customs controls."
One of the biggest worries for U.S. and Israeli officials is Iran‘s long history of funding and aiding Islamic militant groups like Lebanon‘s Hezbollah. They point to accusations by Argentine authorities that Iran backed Hezbollah in carrying out the 1992 bombing of the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires which killed 29 people, and also the 1994 attack which leveled the Jewish community center there and killed 85. Iran and Hezbollah have denied involvement.
The U.S. Treasury Department announced in June that it found Hezbollah was receiving support from a Venezuelan diplomat and a Lebanese-born businessman living in Caracas. The diplomat, Ghazi Nasr al Din, is assigned to the Venezuelan Embassy in Syria, and the U.S. said he used his position to provide financial support to the Lebanese militant group and "counseled Hezbollah donors on fundraising efforts." The diplomat is also accused of arranging travel for Hezbollah members to and from Venezuela, and to attend a training course in Iran.
Opinion: Obama Should Form a National Oil Company to Develop North Dakota's Huge Bakken Formation
Dateline USA....
Here's an energy independence/economic stimulus idea: President-elect Obama should commit to creating a government-owned, national oil company to develop domestic oil reserves, including the massive Bakken formation of western North Dakota, heavy crude oil, and conventional crude that can be produced from old fields using enhanced oil recovery methords (similar to heavy crude recovery methods).
The Bakken Formation is an amazing story. During the Presidential campaign, Obama expressed support for drilling the formation, which, according to the U.S. Geological Survey, contains over 4 billions barrels of recoverable oil--enough oil to run 5 million cars for 30 years. Many geologists and scientists believe the reserves, which lie two miles below the surface, could be closer to 200 billion barrels--more than 20 times the controversial Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR).Sunday, November 23, 2008
Report: US Begging Gulf States for Foreign Aid
Foreign Confidential....
Now hear this: Kuwait's daily newspaper got the story right. The United States is begging Persian Gulf countries for foreign aid--nearly $300 billion--to help stem the global financial collapse.
Quoting "highly informed sources," Al-Seyassah reported last Thursday that the Bush administration has asked Saudi Arabia for $120 billion, the United Arab Emirates for $70 billion, Qatar for $60 billion, and Kuwait for $40 billion.
The money is reportedly being sought to help the automobile and banking industries and other companies in danger of going out of business.
The four countries, which together produce 14 million barrels of oil per day, are estimated to have amassed close to $1.5 trillion in surplus during the past six years due to record-high oil prices, which have since rapidly declined.Case Closed: Hitler Had Only One Ball
Foreign Confidential....
Turns out, the WW II song was accurate: the Nazi monster was monorchic (medical term for having one testicle).
Click here to read the report.
Iran's wannabe Hitler, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, is believed to have two testicles. But Tehran is rife with rumors of bizarre gay sex and AIDS. This reporter's reaction: if it's not true, it should be.US Ready to Bail Out Citigroup; Saudi Prince Tipped
Foreign Confidential....
This reporter has learned that a novel--actually, unprecedented--U.S. government bailout of ultra-distressed Citigroup (NYSE: C) is a certainty, and that this is the reason Saudi mutli-billionaire Prince Al-Walid bin Talal increased his investment in the company last week from 4% to 5%. He was tipped off by a senior official in the Bush administration.
Insider trading? It would seem so.
Which again raises the question: why wasn't Lehman Brothers saved? Who benefitted from allowing the venerable investment bank to fail?The Case for the Coming Explosion in Gold Prices
Must reading.
James West argues convincingly that the dollar is headed south and gold is set to explode. Click here to read West's analysis.A Bull Market in Gold Shares?
Peter Cooper predicts a bull market in gold mining stocks is coming, thanks to Saudi buying, and argues that the best values are in junior-sized companies. Click here to read Cooper's forecast and analysis.Russia Plans to Drill for Offshore Cuban Oil
Foreign Confidential....
While America inexplicably neglects and discourages domestic oil drilling, Russia is making moves to tap hydrocarbon resources in America's backyard. AP reports:Russian oil companies could soon begin searching for oil in deep Gulf of Mexico waters off Cuba, a top diplomat said just days before Russian President Dmitry Medvedev visits the island.
Russian oil companies have "concrete projects" for drilling in Cuba's part of the gulf, said Mijail Kamynin, Russia's ambassador to Cuba, to the state-run business magazine Opciones.
Kamynin also said Russian companies would like to help build storage tanks for crude oil and to modernize Cuban pipelines, as well as play a role in Venezuelan efforts to refurbish a Soviet-era refinery in the port city of Cienfuegos, according the article published this weekend.
Medvedev comes to former Cold War ally Cuba on Thursday, part of a tour of Latin America to strengthen his country's economic and political ties in the region. Kamynin said trade between Russia and the island would top $400 million this year.
Washington's nearly 50-year-old trade embargo prohibits U.S. companies from investing on the island. But Cuba's state-run oil concern has signed joint operating agreements with companies from several countries to explore waters that Cuban scientists claim could contain reserves of up to 20 billion barrels of oil.
Click here to continue.
Monday, 24 November 2008
Foreign Confidential....
Foreign Confidential....
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