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Subscribe to RSSA Venezuelan oil refinery will be restarted within a few days after a blast Saturday killed at least 26 and injured 80 others. NBC's Lester Holt reports.
Updated at 10:10 p.m. ET: A huge explosion rocked Venezuela's biggest oil refinery and unleashed a ferocious fire on Saturday, killing at least 39 people and injuring more than 80 others in one of the deadliest disasters ever to hit the country's key oil industry.
Balls of fire rose over the Amuay refinery, among the largest in the world, in video posted on the Internet by people who were nearby at the time. Government officials pledged to restart the refinery within two days and said the country has plenty of fuel supplies on hand to meet domestic needs as well as its export commitments.
The explosion shattered walls of nearby shops, ripped out windows from homes and left the surrounding streets covered with rubble and twisted scraps of metal.
President Hugo Chavez declared three days of mourning and ordered an investigation to determine the cause of the explosion. "This affects all of us," Chavez said by phone on state television. "It's very sad, very painful."
Vice President Elias Jaua, who traveled to the area in western Venezuela, said on state television late Saturday that at least 39 people were killed by the explosion, up from the earlier death toll of 26. He said that the dead included 18 National Guard troops and that six of the bodies had not yet been identified. Other officials said earlier that the dead included a 10-year-old boy.
In a neighborhood next to the refinery, shopkeeper Yolimar Romero said she was at her computer when a shock wave swept over the area shortly after 1 a.m.
"At that instant, the whole house shook as if it were an earthquake," she said. "The windows went flying off with their frames and everything."
Electricity was knocked out, leaving Romero in the dark and her house filled with smoke. She found a flashlight and started looking for her husband and three children.
Outside on the street, the family saw scattered hunks of brick walls and ruins of a National Guard post and about 20 other homes. Bodies were being pulled from buildings down the street.
At least 86 people were injured, nine of them seriously, Health Minister Eugenia Sader said at a hospital where the wounded were taken. She said 77 people suffered light injuries and were released.
Officials said firefighters had largely controlled the fire at the refinery on the Paraguana Peninsula, where flames were still visible on Saturday night after billowing dark smoke all day.
The blast occurred about 1:15 a.m. when a natural gas leak created a cloud that ignited, Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez said.
"That gas generated a cloud that later exploded and has caused fires in at least two tanks of the refinery and surrounding areas," Ramirez said.
Images shortly after the explosion showed the flames casting an orange glow against the night sky, and injured survivors on a stretcher and in a wheelchair. The bloodied bodies of victims were loaded onto pickup trucks.
Ramirez said a panel of investigators was being formed to determine the cause of the gas leak. A prosecutor was appointed to lead the investigation and troops were deployed to the area.
While the cause of the disaster remains unclear, some oil workers and critics of Chavez's government have recently pointed to increasing numbers of smaller accidents and spills as an indication of problems within the state-run company.
"We warned that something was going to happen, a catastrophic event," said Ivan Freites, secretary general of a 1,200-member union of oil and natural gas industry workers in Falcon state where the refinery is located. He spoke in a telephone interview from an area near the refinery, where he could see the flames raging in the distance.
Daniela Primera / AP
An explosion at a Venezuelan oil refinery triggered the fire seen at right early Saturday.
The refinery complex's general manager, Jesus Luongo, denied that a lack of maintenance was to blame, saying in the past three years more than $6 billion has been invested in maintaining the country's refineries.
Ramirez said the explosion hit an area of storage tanks, damaging nine tanks.
"All of the events happened very quickly," Ramirez said. "When we got here in the middle of the night, at 3 or 3:30 in the morning, the fire was at its peak."
The oil minister said that supplies of fuel had been cut off to part of the refinery and that firefighters were using foam to extinguish the flames in one of the remaining tanks.
"This regrettable and sad event is controlled, is under control," Ramirez said on television, while plumes of smoke continued to billow.
Amuay is part of the Paraguana Refinery Complex, which also includes the adjacent Cardon refinery. Together, the two refineries process about 900,000 barrels of crude per day and 200,000 barrels of gasoline. Venezuela is a major supplier of oil to the U.S. and a member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries.
Ramirez said the state oil company Petroleos de Venezuela SA should be able to "restart operations in a maximum of two days."
"We want to tell the country that we have sufficient inventories of fuel. We have 10 days of inventory of fuel," Ramirez said. He said the country's other refineries were operating at full capacity and would be able to "deal with any situation in our domestic market."
An official of the state oil company, known as PDVSA, said the country also has enough supplies on hand to guarantee its international supply commitments. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to speak publicly about the matter.
In terms of international oil markets, the disaster is not likely to cause much of a ripple, said Jason Schenker, an energy analyst and president of Austin, Texas-based Prestige Economics LLC. Noting that other refinery accidents and shutdowns regularly occur around the world, he said: "There's likely to be relatively limited impact on global crude or product pricing."
"The real tragedy," he said, "is that these events continue to happen, not just in Venezuela but everywhere. It is a dangerous business."
Gustavo Coronel, an energy consultant and former PDVSA executive, called the tragedy "probably the worst one the oil industry has had in many years."
"Accidents happen, of course, although the problem with PDVSA is the inordinate amount of accidents that have taken place during the last years," Coronel said. Considering the overall record, "we are not talking about bad luck but about lack of maintenance and inept management," he said.
The labor leader Freites, who has worked at the refinery for 29 years, said workers had repeatedly alerted state oil company officials to problems that they feared could lead to an accident. "We've been complaining about problems and risks, including fires, broken pipes and a lack of spare parts," Freites said.
One opposition group comprised of former PDVSA employees, Gente del Petroleo, or Oil People, said it could not yet pass judgment on the cause of the explosion. But it but noted there had been ample concerns about lack of maintenance and poor management.
The group said in a statement that since 2003, 79 other serious accidents have been reported at the Paraguana Refinery Complex, collectively killing a total of 19 workers and injuring 67 others.
Opposition leader Henrique Capriles, who is challenging Chavez in the country's Oct. 7 presidential election, expressed condolences to the victims and their families.
"We Venezuelans are one, and we grow in the face of this type of situations," Capriles said.
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....... 4th refinery explosion in 6 months? Gee.... gas prices starting to rise.......... this couldn't possibly be a coincidence could it? Terrorist activities? yea! thats the ticket .... time to spend more $$ on the military, and blame XXX political group because it has to be their fault. Oh well, no time to dwell on that, gotta worry about being a good lil' robot, wouldn't want to run afoul of the Patriot Act, or NDAA, and just yesterday i plowed under my entire home garden.... would hate to be a naughty citizen and not comply with S510. And I'll be staying home next week to, stocked up on groceries and water. Good thing hurricane ? Isaac is headed our way, maybe if the weathers bad all those politicians and secret service people will go home, and no citizens of Tampa will go to Federal Prison over a misunderstanding, compliments of HR347. Good Luck out there fellow americans.
Sure is a good thing that Hugo Chavez took over the refineries, otherwise they would be operated by people that knew what they were doing.
For crying out loud, what possible job could a 10 year old boy have at the refinery, Comrade Chavez?
Yep taking over the oil infrastructure was a good idea Huie. Kinda like NASA using high school students for space flight. Never works out too well.
He was the safety inspector in charge of dealing with a gas leak. They gave him a disposable cigarette lighter and told him to check the leak. I wonder if this is another one of Romney's foreign tax havens and a Bain investment? After all he started Bain in El Salvador financing drug lords and gun runners, oops I meant to say a revolutionary army engulfed with overthrowing the government so they could run it properly (profitably).
They should have signed up for Obama's Green energy plan, I wonder if Van Allen is over there?
Obama's Green plan never blew up a neighborhood. Unlike the oil companies want you to believe there are some wind farms an companies like Tesla built in the Ford plant, that are doing great.
This is the testing Obama wants to fix. This is the testing and regulations Romney wants to throw out. They create jobs (more testers and proper maintenance) and stifle profit, why do you think Big Oil is paying Millions in to his Super Pac. Last tested in 1956? For more information watch Erin Brockavich.
sfgate.com/bayarea/article/PG-E-says-1956-pipe-test-led-to-San-Bruno-disaster-3665019.php
Yep, another excuse to raise gas prices....and why are we not building more refineries in the good ol U.S.A.....because they won't permit them at the federal level....this is the skunks way of trying to wean us off oil....hopefully we can vote the bastard out in 3 mos.....
Step right up ... Place your bets! How soon will it take for Chavez to blame the U.S.?
I say 12 hrs. ... anybody?
Refineries are dangerous places and explosions have happened during every administration- cannot blame one side or the other. However, we can call for diversification of energies. There is so much out there that can be converted to power. Fossil fuel is not and should not be the end all.
Nothing but love for you Hugo!
Burn baby, burn! ;)
Refineries are very dangerous. In Richmond, California there was a horrific explosion of a Chevron Refinery, just a few weeks ago. A toxic cloud is now heading towards the SF area and into central Ca. Surely you heard about it. It was just described as the reason gas prices would rise this month.
Coyote - do you know your father? people who live in glass houses should not throw stones.
If you think Obama is bad, wait until romney/ryan get the white house. what are you going to do when the country is f**ked up beyond repair? right now, there are prominent republicans that aer distancing themselves from f**ked up and more f**ked up, did you know that?
I told you to put out that cigarette !!
But, NO, you wouldn't listen.
.
Have a windmill on your car , do ya lad ? Maybe you liberals are full of wind.
The 10yo died in the houses, built immediately across the road from the refinery. In a land where most people walk to work; living close is important, if dangerous. In the US, a much larger buffer zone would be required.
The reason no new refineries have been built is more financial than regualtory. Refineries of scale, require millions of dollars of land and billions of dollars worth of equipment. While seemingly attractive as employers, their capability to cause disaster and pollution, often creates a NIMBY (not in my backyard) reaction. Especially as local governments see their "enhanced revenues" eaten up by new requirements for pipeline easements, roads, water mains, and expanded fire departments with sophisticated training and equipment. And like coal-fired generating plants, old refineries get a lot of passes on new safety and environmental regulations. Check the big Houston refinery's record. But they just keep patching it up, until the next "go boom."
The USA gets less than 2% of it's oil from Venzuela. Chill out people.
Thank God for the explosion. The oil companies were runing out of excuses for raising the prices of oil and gas.
Curious.... even if the usa gets only 2%, doesn't Venezuela sell on the world market.... and if so, only xxx barrels are produced worldwide daily...... so if you suddenly lose 645,000 more barrels a day output. That means someone somewhere is being shorted....last i read, simple supply and demand would apply... if u take some of the supply away, and still have the same demand, prices rise.
hello...i got a big ego...i drive a ugo...get my gas from hugo...ya better let go..of my eggo...oh no...O-o...
Further research shows the explosion was located in a storage facility near the refinery. The refinery itself did not suffer the major damage and will be back in operation soon.
My prayers go out to the deceased and injured.
apparently mr.marvell has never been to marcus hook or trainor pa.the houses sit across the st from both refineries,take a ride take a look.
This should add a lot more to the price of gasoline and diesel, unfortunately.
The Amuaya oil refinery plant is Venezuela's biggest- on daily basis it produces 645,000 barrels of oil. Not only the dead (19)the injured (53) but the facilities and nearby buildings were also damaged. Gas leaks are dangerous- it seems this refinery is not upto snuff in detecting gas leaks before they ignite and explode. Price of gas and diesel will skyrocket-since there was also a pipeline blast in Iraq.
Why may I asked?,the only place they ship gasoline is to Iran.
Good point ron1234.
Very good point...
Venezuela provides most of Cubas gasoline. They trade services like doctors for much of it.
Mules and wagons may make a comeback.
I'm sure they will.....but only for the middle class and the poor. Meanwhile the rich are doing just fine.
Actually no just for certain rich.
"Effective execution of Agenda 21 will require a profound reorientation of all human society, unlike anything the world has ever experienced a major shift in the priorities of both governments and individuals and an unprecedented redeployment of human and financial resources. This shift will demand that a concern for the environmental consequences of every human action be integrated into individual and collective decision-making at every level."
- excerpt, UN Agenda 21
Agenda 21 – The UN Blueprint for the 21st Century
I agree
Agenda 21.....What better reason to get rid of the u.n.
Ka-ching! Gas Prices Going Up!
Chavez has been saying for years that these incidents and all others gone wrong in Venezuela, are due to "sabotage" and has consistently blamed the opposition. That's a nice way to cover the fact that maintenance is not part of the government's modus operandi in Venezuela. Also, when Chavez pink-slipped approx. 20,000 workers from the oil industry for rioting, the people that replaced them were simply not qualified, nor did they have the know-how. How short-sighted can that be?
If I were a betting man, I'd bet we will hear Chavez in a sound bite within a week blaming it on someone he doesn't like. It might be the opposition or "colonialist interference".
I gave you a thumbs up because you used the phrase modus operandi
My father worked over 40 years supplying equipment to Venezuela's refineries. HE PREDICTED THIS WOULD HAPPEN!!! The last time he went to do a review in Amuay 10 years ago he advised Chavez's peers that the equipment needed replacement and maintance and the employees that the goverment had assigned for the maintance had NO CLUE on what to do! But, they were "chavistas" and got the jobs although they knew NOTHING about maintance! SAD that people have to die for the goverment ineficiency!!!
And how do you explain the biggest Chevron Refinery explosion in California a few weeks ago?
modus operandi...modus operandi... modus operandi...
Plain bob:
It needs to be stated correctly within a sentence. No thumbs for you.
dang it...LOL
Chaves also nationalised many fields operated by the majors. I doubt Chaves has many capable of the expertise of major oil companies in any of his operations. Major oil companies should learn better than to invest in countries with dictators like him.
This kinda makes you wonder if maybe Hugo might have been a little hasty in nationalizing the oil industry and kicking all the hated gringoes out. They may have learned everything the former owners taught them, but that doesn't mean the previous owners taught them everything they ( the owners) knew.
The Venezuelan Oil Industry was NOT nationalized by Chavez. It was nationalized under Pres. Carlos Andres Perez in the 1970s. Chavez only got rid of 20,000 plus Venezuelan workers while boasting that "now the oil belonged to the country and its people." Guess where most of the oil goes? China, and below market price.
EMNH54: You are wrong:
@ Larry: I WAS there, in Venezuela, working for a major oil corporation, when Pres. CA Perez NATIONALIZED the Oil Industry. That is how PDVSA and its subsidiaries, LAGOVEN, MARAVEN, MENEVEN, LLANOVEN et all were created. I worked in the Venezuelan oil industry for almost 20 years, pre and post nationalization era, together with many other ex-oil workers who can vouch for what I am describing here.
Chavez's "nationalization" was but a charade and a political strategy to take over one of the best and most productive industries of the country. Those workers he got rid of were Venezuelan, those contractors he stopped paying were mostly Venezuelan. He simply wanted the money-making machine for himself. under the guise of "Now it belongs to all Venezuelans..." He simply "Re-nationalized" the oil industry. Period.
A "significant" explosion... That must be Spanish for BIG.
Remember, Hugo Chavez nationalized (stole) all Venezuela's oil companies from foreign interests because he claimed he could run them better in person. It seems things are normal in Paraguana, since even 10 year old children are allowed to be on the refinery grounds while it is producing. Chavez seems to really have things under control. Uh huh...
Mathuin, I'm copying you with the same posting I sent above: The Venezuelan Oil Industry was NOT nationalized by Chavez. It was nationalized under Pres. Carlos Andres Perez in the 1970s. Chavez only got rid of 20,000 plus Venezuelan workers while boasting that "now the oil belonged to the country and its people."
i guess the price of CITGO is going up !!!
Or , out of gas.
I only buy American gas like from Valero Stations. There gas is from Texas.
Yippee yahoo , there commercials says there like a whole nutter country .
My prayers for the dead and injured.
I grew up in Texas at camps located at the gas plants. I used to roller-skate on the sidewalks through the process area. Yes, plants are dangerous when not maintained. When properly maintained, they are as safe as flying in a plane. I went on to operations, foreman and manager in natural gas plants.
However, plants that are not maintained are the most dangerous places on the planet. A lot of the chemicals in the oil are just plain corrosive to almost any metal unless properly treated with the correct chemicals. They are also deadly to human life. There actually should be more corrosion prevention testing done in the United States in my opinion. I hope this is the last explosion for a long time.
Gas was going to go up anyway...Didnt you hear what Obama said when he was running for his 1st election? I wouldnt mind the price of gas to be $7 a gallon...
http://news.investors.com/article/602761/201202291845/obama-is-not-fighting-to-lower-gas-prices-.htm
Gasoline: As pump prices hit $4 a gallon, Energy Secretary Steven Chu admits the administration has no interest in bringing them down. Is it any wonder Democrats are growing increasingly agitated with this White House?
At a hearing this week, Rep. Alan Nunnelee, R-Miss., specifically asked Chu if "the overall goal" of the administration is to "get our price down." Chu's answer was no.
In fact, he said that "somehow we have to figure out how to boost the price of gasoline to the levels in Europe," which are in the neighborhood of $8 a gallon.
Chavez is such as piece of crap. This idiot couldn't run a public toilet with out screwing it up!
perhaps he is just misunderstood, after all obama thinks he's great, and certainly HE couldn't be wrong......:)
Actually, Scooter, as far as I can see, the President said that Chavez was not a serious threat ... which is not to say he is not a threat and surely not to say he is "great".
We are all aware that Chavez, for his part, has said he "warmly supports" President Obama, or words to that affect (I have not looked up the original words to see if they were English or Spanish ...) ... but then as to what goes on in Chavez mind .... who knows?
Like Allende in Chile, Chavez was elected, then decided no more elections were necessary ... and so, elected originally or not, he no longer is, and is simply another two bit dictator, whose only importance to the rest of the world lies beneath the ground of Venezuela, in the form of its considerable petroleum reserves.
As we can clearly see ... with him in charge, those may not last long. The real threat posed by Chavez is to the people and the future of Venezuela.
Maybe Sean Penn will go down there to give his buddy (Hugo) a hand.
Prisons, well put.
Take note what Socialist bring even more chaos, corruption and most of all decay.
The decay of peoples living conditions and civil rights.
Chavez is turning Venezuela into a fourth world crap hole while he lives in opulence.
Take note Obama and the DNC looks up to Chavez and has THEIR own grand designs on how everyone should be living their lives and the decay of America is shifting into overdrive.
Rip to the poor people who died in this tragedy.
RIP to America the greatest nation ever the last thirty years has seen a steady decline in most peoples living standards if Obama gets another 4 it will only accelerate the decline.
http://www.naturalnews.com/020930.html
Benr-3287919,
I would have to agree.
I am from Venezuela and I left that hell hole 12 years ago. I still visit and every time I go there, I thank God every day for the opportunity of living in the United States. Many Americans all they do is complain about every little thing, when the U.S. is still the strongest and most powerful nation in the world. If Americans could see how life is in Venezuela they would never complain so much.
Yes, I have to say, the U.S. has its problems and I am not an Obama supporter because his ideals resemble Socialism. Trust me, I know how it is to live in a Socialist nation and it's sad that Americans can't even recognize the difference between democracy and socialism.
Thanks for the comment.
The more the people rely on the goverment,the more the goverment is in control of the people. The goverment doesn't give you anything without taking it from somebody else.
We shall agree here .. we spent several months in Caracas in the mid 1990's. The people are wonderful, but they have no interest in economic affairs ... they know that the need not bother as they have never been allowed to. Even then most everything was an old, unmaintained version of an item that was new in the 1970's. Cars ... industry ... buildings ... infrastructure.
Even before Chavez, the largest industry in the nation was theft ... and that does not even count the fact that the vast majority of funds for petroleum production never go anywhere near Venezuela (they never did) ... Caracas itself is surrounded by enormous slums of millions of undocumented, illegal Colombian immigrants ... these people have no money, no jobs, no passports ... no country ...no future ...
We would not visit now ... we hear from good sources on the ground that it is simply a very dangerous place ...
no wonder Obama is always crying about being broke bet that explosion cost him a petty penny
I hear a lot of hypothetical reasoning and political finger pointing and posturing in the article and in the posts but the real answer is much more simple and a lot less dramatic. Corruption and greed. The reason why Venezuela does not have everything under control is 600 years of a mentality that still exists today in most of Latin America.
Me, me, me & now, now, now is the rule being used by everyone thats anyone in Latin America. These Latinos put on a good show and they seem like that they are part of some kind of modern progressive movement in Latin America but it is all a show. They are as corrupt as their predecessors and maybe even more.
PDVSA has bosses on top of bosses on top of bosses and the list goes on and on and on and that is how a state owned oil company works. Chavez removes anyone with experience years ago because the people with experience at PDVSA (Corpoven, Maraven & Lagoven) were the opposition and he could not have that. Then employee contracts had to be signed by everyone that stated that you, the employee, were faithful to Chavez and not any other person or entity. Sounds groovy huh? Chavez then placed his friends in positions of power and they knew nothing about running a 300 mbpd oil company.
When these ape's found out that this could really blow up in their faces they looked inside and outside of the country for experience that wouldn't give them trouble or expose them for the idiots they are. They also re-hired experienced employees that were fired because of their opposition to Chavez and placed them in lower positions but they were never to make a public decision and would receive no credit for their efforts.
Now with this kind of system in place and the biggest task of the day for these ape's is how to steal money from the company or the thousands of contractors that are employed by PDVSA. They are constantly worried about the next guy and what he is getting or how did he start some type of corruption that is netting him millions. It's easy to lose sight of any honest goals that make a company run smooth when all you are concerned about is ripping everyone off that you can and stepping on anyone or anything that gets in your way.
So, one leaky, inferior valve that was sold to PDVSA because the manufacturer was willing to kick back some cash to PDVSA official at some level was installed in a plant that failed and killed 19 people and injured 53 others........ well you gotta break a few eggs to make a cake.
You hit that nail right on the head corruption destroys countries, the average persons wealth and the peoples lives!!!
America is now going the way of Venezuela and Argentina with our own tin pot dictator legislating through executive order.
benr ... you are right on the first part ... and while I have a good opinion of our current opinion, my opinion of the Democratic party to which he belongs is ... much lower ... I grew up watching a corrupt Democratic machine in action ... the difference between that and a Venezuela or Peru is one of degree, only.
That said, I am greatly saddened by the fact that, rather than address these problems ... the Republican party seems hell bent on participating in them ... while at the same time, they try to legislate (selected portions of) Leviticus ...
Robert, you are absolutely correct, here.
This is, regrettably, a way of thinking inherited properly from their original Spanish (and Portuguese in certain nations, all a part of the same sad scenario) conquerors ... from whom they learned to build a civilization ... the remains of the Rome dominated 'holy' Roman Empire ... the very essence of corruption and greed.
Sorry for the typing mistake. It should read 3.00 mbpd not 300 mbpd. I'm sure most of you guys got that and thanks for not kicking me in the nuts for it. Also its 24 dead now at this point.
Respectfully submitted.
Robert ... oh yes, and yours was much less obvious than my fat fingered sentence, which should have read
"... and while I have a good opinion of our current President, my opinion of the Democratic party to which he belongs is ... much lower ..."
so basicly it blew the @!$%# out of everything..............:)
i know, lets send em some people to help them rebuild, anybody know where we can get a bus full of folks that have nothing else to do?..............:)
When one out of many many oil refineries has a problem the gas prices jump, why is it? It's not like this one refinery supplies all the worlds oil. This is clear blatant price gouging just like the price goes up on Thurs. down on Tues. they know nothing will be done not when so many politicians get back pocket money for voting for the oil companies interests. Better get ready anyways there is a tropical storm coming, whether it does any harm doesn't matter raise those prices just in case.
... it is called futures trading ... and it has as much to do with psychology as with any tangible reality ... but there .. perception becomes reality ... our reality
Voice,
Great point.
About two months ago, a pipeline failed, for the second time, in Wisconsin and three small refineries in Indiana and southern Illinois went off-line. Gasoline prices acros the eastern MidWest shot up over $0.40/gal. The three refineries were all small and together amounted to far less than 3% of national capacity. But the perception was that gasoline couldn't be transported to Indiana or Kentucky. I don't know what they did when all the refineries were in Pennsylvania.
Too bad Hugo isn't one of the dead.
This a perfect example of Romney's energy plan and his overwhelming (overpaid) desire to get rid of all regulations on the oil industry. When you don't have laws and requirements for maintenance and safety practices and constant testing this is what you get. BP Oil did a wonderful job of self regulation that killed 11 people and destroyed the gulf for years to come. With the Romney plan we can at things like this being common and possibly everyday somewhere in the country. Ask the people in San Bruno, California how well self regulation worked with PGE after blowing up literately the entire neighborhood with falsified test records and non-existent maintenance. This is even dumber than the birther claim, the GOP grabs when they can't come up with anything intelligent.
We all know that government is never corrupt! Pure as the wind driven snow! By the way Venezuela's oil industry is government owned, Einstein.
And you could never call them or Chavez corrupt. They would never take outside money under the table. Romney does not ever, ever do anything out side of the law.'
This was supposed to be below that.
gawker.com/5936394
Sounds like sabotage to me and then this appears in US MSM right after the anti Syrian propaganda. Then psych ops trolls come on the blogs to manfacture consent when the general population couldn't care less. SOP for genning up conflict in those countries and bring about regime change by the US Kleptocracy.
Sounds like a cool job,and with buffoons like you two it would be an easy one as well.
I would have to agree with most comments here!
I am a Venezuelan who left Venezuela for this reason. Chavez keeps blaming everyone else for the 'bad' things that are happening in the country. Also, most people working for PDVSA aren't qualified. In order for you to be guaranteed a job in any of Venezuela's government operated businesses, you must sign a document stating that you are a 'chavista'.
Basically, you have to agree and sign the paper stating that you support the government, no matter what. I have family members who hate Chavez and they signed the document in order to get a job. Now many of them are being summoned to help with the presidential campaign and raise funds, and they have to do it.
Most people in Venezuela don't qualify for those jobs and they are only working there because they agreed to support the government in order to provide for their families. It won't surprise me if Chavez blames the opposition for this incident, since it seems that's all he does.
The Blame Game of which you speak reminds me of the current Occupier of The White House.
Hurricane in the gulf, blown up refineries. Crude barrels will go up 50 bucks by end of Sept. R U ready.
gas and oil...ladies an gentlemen ...do ya' want it...do ya need it...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ewKTA0mm6n4
Thanks bob , theres 3 minutes of my life i can not get back.
RAY 2211901
PLEASE PUT MONEY ON IT
I'll short the other side. it always good to take money from some
one who has not read history.
How short. Nyc-texan. 15 minutes, one day. End of September , I'll give you a full apology.
i apologize, but something unnatural is suppressing all these #'s.
Too bad the midget dictator of the country was not there and blown to pieces. This moron does not know what he is doing to the country bringing it down to lower standards if possible. Someone this guy will blame this on the US or Israel.
I hope the hot babes from Venezuela were not near the explosion.