Whose oil? Part 2

(You can read 'Whose Oil? part one" here...)

First, it was Venezuela.. . Now it's Bolivia. Something is definitely happening with this new leftist movement happening in South America, and the global capitalist fatcats aren't pleased.
The recently elected president, Evo Morales, is nationalizing the nations petroleum and natural gas supplies. A recent bold move is calling for the payment of 40 million dollars in back taxes from the oil corporations. From the South American Merco Press news agency:

"Bolivia is claiming 40 million US dollars in back taxes from oil corporations, a sum which could jump to 200 million US dollars if fines and administrative costs are included, said Wednesday an official source from the Bolivian government...

Meantime a government spokesman advanced that “very soon” President Evo Morales will reveal a national development plan with the purpose of dismantling “colonialism and neo-liberalism” which will include nationalization of hydrocarbons and a “drastic” reform of the mining regime.

Planning minister Carlos Villegas said that “on the one hand we want to dismantle all the structure mounted since the arrival of the Spaniards in Bolivia (five centuries ago) and which consolidated in the republic, a true expression of colonialism. Furthermore we want to dismantle the neo liberal (economic) architecture built over the last twenty years”.

On May 1st, Morales ordered the army to take control of the nation's oil fields. The Bolivian laws clearly state that the nation owns the gas and oil, and basically Morales is having it so the majority of the profit goes to Bolivians, not the oil companies. It's funny, though how the American press treats this as some kind of immoral concept. In taking on a recent Wall Street Journal hit piece on Morales, Op-Ed News' Stephen Lendman, in his "Evo Morales Now Joins Hugo Chavez as a US Target", states it quite clearly:

"Evo Morales has made it clear that foreign investors will not lose the rights to their investments. What they will lose once Morales' plan is implemented (he's giving them six months to comply) is their unfair share of the profits and benefits they never had a right to have in the first place. Under the Morales plan, a new contract will be made between the government and foreign investors guaranteeing that the people of Bolivia will receive the majority of benefits from its own resources while at the same time foreign investors will receive their fare share but no more than that. It also means the government alone now will decide the terms of revenue sharing and tax obligations due rather than Big Oil dictating them with the long shadow of the US looming in the background, which is still the case, of course."

Radical, yes. Unreasonable, not at all, unless you're the one making all of the money at the expense of the Bolivians. It just challenges the status quo. What is the bigger picture here? A candidate for the upcoming Peruvian election, Ollanta Humala, has said that he will do the same. And Morales has also indicated he eventually plans to nationalize the mines and forest resources, too. With two, and potentially three nations going this way, can a U.S. covert intervention be far behind? Yes, it's been done before, but it's a different world now, and with three major nations going that way, how reallistic or feasible is that? I'm wondering if we're really seeing the beginning of a HUGE paradigm shift here, one that could very well have a positive domino effect of other nations recaliming their sovereignty over thier resources.

Now, I do feel that if the big multinational corporations have invested time and money into their operations, they are entitled to some sort of compensation for their investments. Bolivia is using the number of 18 percent, not the windfall they recieved before. And I am not turning a blind eye to the possiblilty of human rights violations, corruption, or any of the other things this area has historically struggled with. I'm not some typical leftie forever captivated by revolutionaries of all sorts. I am just focusing on the nationalization concept here. I can't help but to be very inspired by this.

There is something major happening in South America, and I hope that the U.S. doesn't screw it up. It's going to be difficult to demonize these people, especially with the fact that our current government has almost no credibility anymore on the world stage, and very little left at home. Plus, we do have real enemies out there. Is it a matter of time before the U.S. tries to cook up 'Al-Quaeda in Bolivia' or something like that?

A Bolivian perspective:

"The sheer value of the oil and gas is important to the future of the Bolivian economy. The 52.3 trillion cubic feet of gas reserves in Bolivia-reserves presently in the hands of foreign capitalists-are minimally worth $120 billion.1 This means that financial resources exist in Bolivia for improving the living conditions of the whole population. The resources exist for job creation, better salaries, and expanding free services.

One hundred twenty billion dollars is an extraordinary amount of money. Such funds can enable the creation of a new productive base that could halt the country's decline and rescue it from industrial and commercial insignificance. The resources exist to modify the structure of national production by broadening its industrial base, improving the transportation system, and diversifying the economy. Better yet, it could build the economy without the foreign loans or favors that always end up submerging us in greater dependency.

But as long as this wealth belongs to foreign businessmen who have appropriated resources that belong to others, these dreams remain unfulfilled. Foreign capitalists are getting rich, and intend to go on getting rich, from these resources. They restrict the possibilities that this wealth, which should belong to us, might be used to benefit the lives of all Bolivians. The capitalists, whether local or foreign, puts profits and her or his own personal benefit above the collective and national interest. The transfer of wealth to private and foreign hands is the fate that has befallen the collective national patrimony."

That's from Oscar Olivera's "Recovering Bolivia's Oil and Gas", over at Counterpunch, worth a read. When we talk of globalization, too often I see that as the multinats claim to 'resources without borders'. Hopefully the tide is turning.