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Subscribe to RSSSyrian forces focused on the place the revolution against President Bashar al-Assad began. NBC's Bill Neely reports from Daraa.
The government of Venezuela's Hugo Chavez is emerging as a rare supplier of diesel to Syria, potentially undermining Western sanctions and helping the Syrian government fuel its military in the middle of a bloody crackdown on civilian protests.
A cargo of diesel, which can be used to fuel army tanks or as heating fuel, was expected to arrive at Syria's Mediterranean port of Banias this week, according to two traders and shipping data reported by Reuters. The cargo could be worth up to $50 million.
Chavez is a vociferous advocate of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who face pressure from Western sanctions. Few leaders on the world stage have polarised opinion as sharply as the Venezuelan president.
Chavez, who still defends the late Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, has repeatedly backed Arab leaders who have faced a year-long wave of popular protests, which have already toppled four governments.
UN sees possible crimes against humanity in Syria
Venezuelan state oil firm PDVSA shipped the cargo aboard the Negra Hipolita vessel, according to AIS tracking data on the Reuters Freight Fundamentals Database and to trade sources. The same tanker carried the first such shipment in November, the sources said.
PDVSA could not immediately be reached for comment.
"The aggressions against Syria are continuing," Chavez said in an address last month. "It's the same formula they (the West) used against Libya - inject violence, inject terrorism from abroad and later invoke the United Nations to intervene."
The South American OPEC member nation has also tried to aid Iran with fuel supplies amid sanctions over its nuclear programme.
Rights groups say close to 6,000 people have been killed in attacks by Syrian security forces against civilian demonstrators and an increasingly powerful rebel insurgency.
The United States and Europe are pressuring Assad to leave power. Russia and China this month vetoed a United Nations resolution calling on Assad to step aside.
EU threatens new sanctions on Syria
The Venezuelan tanker was last seen off the coast of Cyprus with a destination of Banias and the estimated arrival date of Wednesday, AIS ship tracking on Reuters showed. The satellite tracking has been switched off since Wednesday.
The shipment comes at a critical time for Syria, which has faced worsening energy shortages this winter after Western sanctions all but halted imports, which are needed to meet half the country's diesel demand.
Syria's oil minister spoke about a possibility of Venezuelan imports in January, and traders said the Negra Hipolita diesel shipment to Syria was the second delivery in the past three months.
The vessel can carry 47,000 tonnes, which if fully loaded would be worth around $50 million. It was not clear how much diesel the ship was carrying.
While there is no blanket embargo on supplying fuel to Syria, its state-owned oil firm Sytrol, responsible for organising fuel imports and exports, was placed on a U.S. blacklist last summer, and the EU followed suit in December.
The European Union has stopped short of banning product deliveries for humanitarian reasons, but oil traders said most deliveries have stopped anyway as traditional suppliers are increasingly reluctant to do business with Syria.
Normally an exporter of crude oil even in peacetime, Syria has relied on imports for more than half of its annual consumption of 5 million tonnes diesel because of a shortage of domestic refining capacity. International sanctions have stopped Syrian oil exports since September last year, drastically stretching government budget revenues.
Reuters and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
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So, how about some sanctions against Venezuela??
Chavez is actively working against the US in his oil activities (nationalizing/taking oil fields away from US companies), dealing with China, Iran, Syria, Cuba, and North Korea in oil and weapons, using the UN against the US as much as possible. He's talked about staging weapons in the region for use against the US.
I'm not surprised that he's doing this with Syria. I think he'll have to be dealt with some day.
Sanctions ? Never happen while Mr. Obama is in office. Notice Mr. Obama did nothing when 11 oil rigs were "seized" by Chavez:
How about sanctions against China and Russia for supporting every evil government on the planet.
Venezuela has the right to sell it's oil to anyone it likes. The US needs to butt out and stop trying to impose its will on every country in the world!
So, Venezuela has just declare war against the people of Syria. Good. Let's see how this one plays out.
Hello folks, we have major issues in our country that need immediate attention .When are we going to leave other countries alone? Our country is broke and we are interfering with other countries when we have plenty of problems we need to fix and take care of in America first! If we don’t recognize and categorize our problems, how are we going to know what it is that needs fixing? I hope we can come together as a nation and figure out the solutions to our problems.
We allow a foreign entity (Federal Reserve, neither federal nor a reserve, a group of mostly European banksters) to control our currency! This system is why you, I, economies and nations are debt slaves!
We let Wall Street run our government! Wall Street is Washington and Washington is Wall Street! We have a two headed one party system serving their masters Wall Street and the Federal Reserve!
Our presidential politicians in both parties are going to spend approximately 1 billion dollars each on their campaigns this year, yet we are laying off fire fighters, teachers and policemen. Two billion dollars on presidential campaigns, is that insane or what? Then, we allow the Super Pac’s with little regulation and full anonymity to influence our American elections through the sheer volume of money that will most likely be used for negative advertising!
Our congress is bought and paid for by lobbyists and are involved with insider trading, doing the bidding for those who put the most money in their pockets! They get rich while we the “freeloaders” get cuts to Medicare and Social Security all the while they receive a tax payer salary and health benefits for life for themselves and their family compliments of the “freeloaders”.
We've legalized Corporations (Citizen's United) as people! They can now buy any election they want to, from sheriff to president! They don't even have to be American corporations! Corporations have severed their moral contract with America. It used to be you worked hard and helped them gain success and you shared in their success through better wages and benefits, all you get now is a pink slip.
The BP Corporation will likely not be charged with any criminal malfeasance in the largest natural disaster in history. The oil leak continues to flow and there are reports Corexit is still being used without any oversight by the U.S.. Many scientists claim the gulf loop current has been broken as a result of the leak. If you want evidence of the leak just talk to the residents and oil spill workers living along the gulf from Texas to Florida.
We invade a different country every year! Killing and displacing millions of people and spending trillions of dollars to enrich the Oil, Banking, and Corporate cartels!
The Census Department of the American Federal Government recently reported that “50% of the nation’s population were living below the poverty line”.
50 million people can't go to a doctor because they don't have health care!
47 million people need food stamps just to feed themselves!
25 million people are unemployed or underemployed!
15 million people's mortgages are worth more than their homes!
Our national debt is going on 17 trillion dollars! We pay off our debt with more debt! That is like putting gas on the fire! They tell the U.S. citizens it is their fault because they don't live within their means! They fail to mention it has everything to do with corrupt business and political leaders and the Federal Reserve and their fractional reserve banking system!
The worlds GDP is 65 trillion and the derivatives market is estimated at 1.4 quadrillion. If Greece defaults at 100% and If the ISDA (International Swaps and Derivative Association) labels this credit event a default, our 5 largest banks who own 97% of world’s derivatives will crash. They can’t pay on the credit default swaps owed associated with Greece! But that’s ok, we’ll bail them out again! You know their motto, privatize profits and socialize losses! QE3 has already started with the currency swaps.
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac the flagships of our housing bubble that has burst! The housing market used to be what was fueling the middle class as manufacturing was being outsourced to foreign countries, it got over leveraged like our banks and stock markets and there is no resolution in site! The mortgage settlement just signed is just another small fine and in reality a bailout for the banks for what they are truly liable for.
They tell us social safety nets, Medicare and, Social Security that you and I paid into is Socialism when the largest recipients of social welfare in the history of the world are our “Capitalist, Free Market” banking and financial institutions! Remember the bailouts? We keep bailing out the banks to the tune of tens of trillions and we're told it's because they are too big to fail and all the while we allow them to get bigger! We are witnessing the biggest bank robbery in history and the banks and financial institutions are doing the robbing!
Our media (presstitutes) are bought and paid for by corporations and treat us like mushrooms! Reuters and the Associated Press try to tell us what to believe and think, such as unemployment is at 8.3% and falling, war is peace, they hate us for our freedom, the terrorists are out to get you, the economy is great, borrow and spend! etc…
Our constitution, our most sacred document as a country is meaningless!
We have lost most of our civil liberties through the passage of the Patriot Act and National Defense and Authorization Act! They have authorized the use of spy drones in American skies! You can be surveilled by any number of Federal agencies, have your phone and computer tapped, bank, medical, and private records accessed! You can be arrested without gaining access to an attorney or a trial. We are molested at the airports or radiated for “security” etc…!
NYPD’s aggressive street policing program, called “stop-and-frisk,” which predominantly targets low-income minority neighborhoods. In 2011, the program stopped and searched more than 500,000 New Yorkers, 85 percent of them black or Latino. This program is moving to a city near you!
We have created another cartel the “Prison Industrial Complex”! We have outsourced our incarceration of United States citizens which consists of over 6 million prisoners! This exceeds the number of prisoners held in the gulags of the former Soviet Union at any point in history! All objectivity of prison reform has flown out the window in exchange for profits! No prisoners no profits! Are there prison lobbyists? You bet and loaded with cash compliments of you and me!
The Military Industrial Complex is King, our defense budget is larger than the rest of the world’s combined! We are the enforcement arm of all the world’s cartels! The policeman of the world! In our countries short history we have bombed over 60 different countries! The outsourcing of our security to private military companies like XE (formerly Blackwater) is increasing dramatically!
The phony war on drugs! While our military protect the poppy seed fields in Afghanistan, Wells Fargo has been caught laundering money for the Mexican drug cartel in the United States (look it up). The use of drugs in the health care industry is over a 100 billion dollar a year scam. There's no profit in the cure only in the treatment. You are not allowed to buy the same manufactured prescription drugs from other countries at a cheaper price because the drug lobby has had congress pass laws against it to protect their profits.
We let the elite divide us so that they can keep us in fear, distracted, and divided to the theft going on right in front of our eyes each and every second of the day! The theft of our civil liberties, money and property!
What is wrong with this picture and what does it say about us that we allow this to take place? We have lost our moral compass and our priorities as a country and need to get them back! We have plenty to take care of here, let’s concentrate on fixing America for awhile!
Holy Crap TrustVerify, write a friggin book already and stop wasting everyone's time. Nobody's reading your crazy diatribe!!
Hey Marlen- Do you have any stocks? Pension plan? Mutual funds?? If you do you might own an evil oil stock. They pay dividends and have value. When Chavez decided he'd rather control the oil fields he kicked out US companies and took over their assets- that cost the oil companies billions in equipment, oil contracts, and sales. Your stocks took a hit for the losses. BTW, those US oil companies were not able to deal with those losses by building new rigs and drilling in the Gulf because the President banned new exploration and then gave the first (and only) new contract to BRAZIL! Guess who's running into the Gulf of Mexico now- Brazil, China, Venezuela, etc. just not us. So they are drilling and we are going to pay for it, not profit from it.
Leave poor Venezuela alone. Yeah, I'd like to. I don't shop at Citgo (eventhough those are individual franchise owners selling Chavez oil) and I'd just assume they take a hike on any other exported product to the US. I don't use illegal drugs, so I guess that's another one I'm not supporting.
I was liking the tone of your post until I read that our national debt is going on 17 trillion. Huh? Not even in the ballpark. Unless you are referring to what our debt will be if we continue to give tax breaks to the undeserving (oil companies and the richest 1%).
TrustVerify has that post saved somewhere because it seems like everytime a discussion like this comes up so does that post
Trust, you were off by about 40 trillion on the total U.S. debt. For those of you inclined to look it up, there is a nice website that lists all U.S. debt. It's called USdebtclock.org. The next debt increase is estimated to take what most of know as the "National Debt" to approximately 16.5 trillion.
Ventscott, you are what's wrong with America and why the powers that be are allowed to get away with the raping of America. If you don't get your information in a sound bite, your ADD kicks in. There truly was one child left behind.
TrustVerify, the view from left field to home plate must not be very good, because you certainly are way out there on this one!
Hello readbetween the lines, you are right the national debt isn't at 17 trillion yet, but soon will be. I rounded the number up from a post I read on Bloomberg. Here it is:
From Bloomberg:
President Barack Obama formally notified Congress today that that the government needs more borrowing authority.
The written certification to raise the debt ceiling to $16.894 trillion starts a 15-day clock for Congress to consider and vote on a joint resolution disapproving of the increase.
Under legislation passed Aug. 2 after months of wrangling between the
administration and Republican lawmakers, the president is given the
power to veto any disapproval resolution that clears both chambers of
Congress.
The law calls for Obama to notify Congress when the debt came within $100 billion of the current $15.194 trillion limit.
The diatribe I wrote above I have used it before in the hopes of helping to quantify some of the problems our country faces. When I blog I try to exchange knowledge with people not try to prove who's the bigger a$$#ole. If the comment is to long to read for some, bypass it.
Why is it always the "USA" should but out of other peoples affairs? It's UN sanctions not USA sanctions. The USA is only one member of the UN. Even the the leaders of the Arab Nations have imposed restriction on trade with Syria this week. Chavez is supporting a government set on oppressing it's own people to settle for the type of government they do not want, by killing them in the streets. That should be a message to the people of Venezuela when it comes time to vote him out from power.
TrustVerify...some people like to comment on other peoples comments without people like you posting a diatribe in between. We may not all agree with each other but you disrupt the flow of the column. You're whats known as a troll. I think you proved who the bigger ahole is without trying!
Tiger's the man that couldn't hit the water if he was in a boat!
I think it’s heelarious that Chavez has all the teabagger’s panties in a bunch. Venezuela is a sovereign country that only has to answer to its people! The petro dollar is in big trouble because other countries are using their own currencies to buy oil and are no longer worried about the U.S. because we are broke! We are morally and monetarily bankrupt and the whole world knows it. We won’t go into Syria, Iran or much less Venezuela because the world has called our bluff. Feel those panties getting a little tighter boys! If we left other countries alone they would leave us alone, it’s that simple. You don’t see other countries surrounding the U.S. like we surround them. I was wondering how long it would take the world to smack the big bully in the mouth and it finally has happened. And guess what, there is not thing one we can do about it. Karma is a b!#$#!
Busted, I have to disagree...Tigers been finding the water no problem lately!
Funny how we were talking about sanctions against Syria's government for failing their own people, until you and Trust came along with all this other BS.
Can't western ships block access of the Venezuelan ship? just saying.
The only thing Tiger has been hitting with consistency lately walks down Las Vegas Blvd late at night.
I'll be here all week!
P.S. Leave Chavez alone, he has done nothing to anyone nor has he invaded or surrounded any sovereign countries lately!
Busted or TrustVerify, TrustVerify=Busted, How about proposing some solutions? Is Obama the solution to all the societal problems you mention? It's easy to catalog the problems, much harder to propose solutions. Any ideas? It's an election year . . good time to discuss new ideas, Yes??
Hello Poor too but not living on Govt Assistance. The biggest solution we could implement that would make a dramatic change would be to change our currency from Federal Reserve Notes to United States Notes.
The second is to quit believing that a president or a political party is going to save you. Obama like Bush has made all these promises and has broken most of them. I'm a political atheist, I really don't care what political religion one wants to follow. I do know that who ever gets put into office is just a puppet to the people who have the real power, the banksters/Federal Reserve and WallStreet.
I say let's control our own currency and let's legalize our constitution!
U.S. notes serve no function that is not already served by Federal Reserve notes. Just what the US needs, more money printed with no guaranteed value. Just set your limit and print.
TV; I get the political atheist part, however, if we don't believe in people (thought leaders, like you, or the people we elect) then how can we have discussions on these matters and proceed to solve them?? I simply don't like the things that Obama says AND how he says them (monotonous ranting on the same things looking inward to raising taxes rather than taking some tough trade action etc.). Your comments on the other hand, are always fun...
Since you've mentioned it before, I'm not quite getting the difference you imply between US Notes (dollars, doesn't the Federal Reserve issue these) and Federal Reserve Notes (treasury bills, these simply back the dollars that the Federal Reserve issues and also allow parties to buy U.S. debt). You propose the solution of doing away with US bonds? (The ones my parents have been buying to put kids, grandkids through college, and the Chinese used to like?) . . . like the Gulf Coast Recovery bonds, etc. I have boxes full of several flavors. How does this help??
Also TrustVerify, I see in the news this morning that the ECB is making sure to swap our all of their Greek bonds for Full Value on the new issuances. Two weeks ago there was speculation they would take their losses just like the other creditors. Apparently that changed?? Was to be expected?? You have any thoughts on that?
The sooner Chavez is gone the better the world will be. He is just a pig, who cannot back up anything. He steals and represses his people and calls the west disgraceful.
Chavez your day in hell is coming along with the little troll from Iran.
And that butt-ugly bastard from Cuba.
I wonder where all you "human rights" supporters were, when our good friends the military dictators were in control of Venezuela.Then when corrupt Presidents there,and our oil companies, were sucking Venezuela dry of wealth.As long as they side with us,you guys are happy.That's why we have no standing talking about human rights in the world.
Impose a blockade around Syrian ports, seize the ships coming in and let the rebels have what is on board. Send the empty ships back to their home ports! Then watch Hugo turn purple with apoplexy throwing a fit! That would be a wonderful sight! Win win situation.
Hell Ed, that will never happen! We have abused the world for far too long and they have had enough. The entire world has lost all they are willing to give up, that's why the new slogan that is emerging in the global protests is "One planet, one revolution".
We are 310 million people out of 7 billion. How long did you think it would take before people stood up against economic and social injustice? Spin it any way you want to and as a fellow blogger so eloquently stated: "America, land of the free, dictator to the rest of the world". We are no better or no worse than anyone else in the world and should be treated as such!
You are entitled to your opinion. I'll keep mine. Have a nice evening.
I would tend to hope the people of Libya will remember that we helped them topple Frizzhead, and I also hope the people of Syria remember who voted agaist them at the UN, and who sent their opressors oil for their tanks. The more technology is able to spread images and words to every corner of the Earth, the more people will begin to understand that there are better ways to live.
not surprised.
....chavez wants to invade the falklands and force the citizens to take an oath to argentina or leave the islands.
so is this what Chavez sees as an opportunity to find allies,when he starts slaughtering his people in the near future,because people will disagree with the way he runs his country?He can't be so blind to all the reports of Assad using force to quell discontent and the outright slaughter of people?Maybe the cancer treatments have effected his thinking?Or does he still think the USA can remotely give him cancer?The only credit that I can give Chavez is that he uses the oil in his country to keep gas prices down for his people unlike some money grubbing people we know.
all the war mongers are out today ... how do you people ever look into a mirror and not feel pure revulsions ... why is it that you want so much war? Little sniffer dogs running around smelling butts to see if anyone is not smelling right? Grow up and learn to read something besides your TV news will ya!
Jughead - Those ships should be torpedoed, and just how do you read TV news? Closed captioned?
USnret you are talking to a retired army vietnam vet and if you don't want to be torpedoed just keep the name-calling up son.
this is the problem with totalitarians or totalitarians in training. they really don't support the people. they are like Castro. they offer something and in return the people become slaves. there is nothing wrong with helping the people but the price is always the loss of freedom. this is why people like Chavez support other totalitarians. and this is why people like Chavez should be resisted.
Except instead of resisting the totalitarian government that has been created in your country you choose to be a slave and at the same time make yourself feel better by denying your slavery and pointing the finger at the nations who are resisting this slavery being implemented on all of us. Maybe you should go visit some of these countires you speak about and maybe you will awaken to the propaganda you've been faced with. So much ignorance in La La Land.
So crazy Chavez is shipping oil to Syria, country with UN sactions, the response is a simple: Seize the ship and it's oil. And ask Mr. Chavez to "Go ahead and make our Day"!!
Because O'Bama does not have the ba!!s to do it!!!!!
The sanctions are imposed by the U.N., so you mean the U.N. doesn't have the balls?
No, the UN doesn't have the balls, because the UN charter gives Russia and China the power of a Veto, and they want to ensure the world's policy will let them get away with brutalizing their own people as well.
Ah,you right-wingers,haha.The days went Latin America was dominated are coming to an end.Little by little,they are getting their sovereignty back.Argentina,Brazil,Chile,Bolivia,Venezuela,Cuba,Uruguay,Ecuador,Nicaragua,have,or are,throwing off neo-colonialism.The others will follow suit as time goes by.
With dictators? Sovereignty with dictators? Are you drunk? None of these countries have been a colony recently.
@squid:
Why is it that any world leader you right wingers disagree with is a dictator? Chavez was democratically elected twice with over 61% of the vote. How does that make him a "dictator"? And don't say the elections were rigged because they were certified by international observers.
Now, are you drunk?
Do you know the meaning of neo-colonialism dude.If you don't remember our support for dictators there,you are either not a student of history,or too young to be commenting with the older boys.
Oh, here he goes again! Yes Marlen, you can be democratically elected and be a dictator as you have been told on numerous occasions already. Once again, Hitler and Mussolini were democratically elected with great majorities of the popular vote and look what happened! I concede that Chavez may have been fairly elected the first time around. Second time around, he already had control of the media and the armed forces. His cronies had been appointed to positions of power. He had already stifled dissent and most opposition. Fear and intimidation does indeed get one votes. Chavez has a very effective and brutal secret police force. To potential voters, it is always intimidating to know that during election rallies, if one does not show the the proper revolutionary spirit, you and/or members of your family can disappear without a trace! It happens down there. To me and many others, those are fairly good indicators of dictatorial style rule!
Obama must be so proud.
Chavez will do anything to tweak the U.S., and to get media coverage for his wacko rants.
The best strategy is to ignore him, and take over any ships he sends to Syria or Iran.
"The best strategy is to ignore him, and take over any ships he sends to Syria or Iran."
Not sure how your first comment,squares with your second comment,lol. You do know they used to hang pirates right.
Piracy? With U.N. sanctions?
What sanctions on oil?
"The South American OPEC member nation has also tried to aid Iran with fuel supplies amid sanctions over its nuclear programme."
I don't get this. Iran has oil and oil refineries. Are they talking about refinery equipment or supplies?
Iran still has to export oil because they do not have enough refineries to do it all themselves.
Chavez is an idiot. He will do anything to hurt the USA. He already agreed to let Iran build missile sites in his country. One thing regular US citizens can do, is stop buying fuel at all Citgo gas stations. All these stations benefit Chavez. Or better yet, Obama should just kick out all of Venezuela's gas stations.
I hope it is the Concordia Captain running the ship :)
this guy.... what does it say to a man's character when he openly, fragrantly, and happily supports known dictators who willingly butcher their own populations?
Well if/when Assad falls, next will be Iran, then who will he have to bash the USA with him publicly and outloud?
I dunno ask pretty much any US President from the past. You do know we support brutal dictators all over the world correct? We have also installed most of them. Once again so much ignorance in La La Land
Hello countingbodieslike sheep, you are absolutely right, like in Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, etc.. You would think we would learn, and then we act surprised when once we arm them that they rebel against us.
That's a much better question asked about our character.We are notorious around the world for supporting dictators.
It would be a damned shame if those tankers lost their rudders or their propellers. I do believe that navy special forces could disable the ships without torpedoes or sinking them... over and over again if need be. Short of Russia sending a naval escort who is going to save them in the middle of the Atlantic?
Chavez is an oaf. The biggest disappointment in modern Venezuelan politics. As sharp as a cinder block. Morbidly obsessed with Simon Bolivar and seeing conspiracies against him around every corner. Venezuela's version of a paranoid second-term Nixon. When Chavez gets old, he can roam around Caracas in Addidas sweats just like his hero Fidel and try to stop the CIA from stealing Simon Bolivar's remains and taking them to Hangar 18.
Americans are for free trade, open sea lanes blah, blah, blah, except when they're against it for their own political gain. lol.
Barry is going to stop sending Hugo birthday cards and little valentines day candies.
Is Chavez any more in the wrong by sending the fuel than Russia is for sending guns, missiles and tanks or Iran is for sending arms, supplies and other support? The Syrian civil is just part of the bigger Sunni - Shia confrontation going on in Iraq, Lebanon, Bahrain and several other spots in the world. Does it look like the World is picking sides?
what a moron! he chooses to be sidekick to a butcher! guilty as a war crimes helper.
It's funny that about half the people on here want to have another war but prob most of them have never been in one nor even in the military.It's so easy to sit at home and say someone should be torpedoed or blown up or siezed.It's just that most other countries are tired of the USA trying to tell them what they can or can't do.Our country can not continue to try and boss everyone around.That time is over..Make America strong and leave the rest alone.
Chavez needs to go. We should have taken him out a long time ago. Time to stop playing around with these dictators.