US, Venezuela are reportedly seeking post-Chávez thaw

While Venezuela's announcement that President Hugo Chávez's bout with cancer has taken a turn for the worse is making big headlines, there is another development in the Venezuelan drama that has gone almost unnoticed: high-level US-Venezuelan talks preparing for a post-Chávez future may have already started, according to US officials.

Roberta S. Jacobson, the top US State Department official in charge of Latin American affairs, held a long telephone conversation with Venezuela's Vice-President and Chávez-designated heir Nicolás Maduro on November 21, where the two discussed, among other things, the possibility of restoring ambassadors, the sources said.

The talks, which were encouraged by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, started with a US diplomatic approach to Maduro's office asking whether the vice-president would take a call from Jacobson, the sources added. The answer was positive, and the telephone conversation took place shortly thereafter.

Asked whether she had talked with Maduro, Jacobson replied, "Yes. We are always interested in having a more productive relationship with Venezuela, starting with counternarcotics, and in order to have a more productive relationship you have to talk to people."

Read more: US, Venezuela are reportedly seeking post-Chávez thaw - Daily News - EL UNIVERSAL

Venezuela: Hugo Chávez's revelation: Fighting cancer after surgery in Cuba - by Frances Robles

Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez acknowledged Thursday night that a cancerous tumor caused his three-week hospital stay in Cuba — his first public admission that the illness that has kept him away so long is serious.

He revealed the diagnosis in a 15-minute evening speech, his first since falling ill 21 days ago. He stood thinner and stone-faced at a lectern, dressed in a long-sleeve black shirt with a red T-shirt underneath. From the start of his address, it was obvious that the normally jovial leader was about to reveal something bleak.

Chávez said he had not been feeling well for weeks but made the serious mistake of ignoring his health and the symptoms. It was Fidel Castro who, during a meeting on June 8, noticed that his friend was unwell, Chávez said.

For more: President Hugo Chávez's revelation: Fighting cancer after surgery in Cuba - Venezuela - MiamiHerald.com

EPP-ED Group in the EU Parliament: Venezuelan Expulsion of EU MEP Luis Herrero unacceptable says Joseph Daul, Chairman

For the complete report from the EPP-ED Group in the EU-Parliament click on this link

Venezuelan Expulsion of EU MEP Luis Herrero unacceptable says Joseph Daul EPP-ED Group Chairman

The Chairman of the European People's Party and European Democrats in the European Parliament (EPP-ED, centre-right), Joseph Daul, condemned the expulsion from Venezuela of MEP Luis Herrero, who was part of a delegation of five MEPs of the EPP-ED, guests in this country of the Conservative opposition forces as observers of the referendum on constitutional reform.

"This expulsion by force, because of statements critical of the authorities and without explanation, is an attack on freedom of expression, which confirms that the regime of Hugo Chavez departs every day a little more from the freedoms that must be the norm in any democracy, "said Joseph Daul, who also denounced the unacceptable treatment that Venezuelan security forces have inflicted on the Spanish MEP.

PSE News - The Socialist Group in The European Parliament: "Venezuela must strengthen dialogue, inclusion and consensus"

For the complete report from the PSE News click on this link

The Socialist Group in The European Parliament: "Venezuela must strengthen dialogue, inclusion and consensus"

The Socialist Group in the European Parliament’s coordinator for the "EuroLat" Latin-American Assembly, Luis Yáñez-Barnuevo, has delivered a positive assessment on the outcome of the referendum that took place last weekend in Venezuela with a view to reforming the country’s constitution and removing the limitation on the number of presidential terms of office. "The victory for the ‘yes’ camp, with 54% of the votes in this referendum, demonstrates on the one hand that Venezuela has respected the democratic process; President Hugo Chávez therefore deserves to be congratulated on his triumph," said Luis Yáñez.

However, in the view of the PSE Group coordinator, "these results demonstrate that Venezuela is a country almost split in two and therefore also point to the need to foster dialogue, inclusion and consensus in order to build Venezuela’s future."

WW4 report: Venezuela - Chávez, Exxon play oil-price brinkmanship - Chávez on the short end of the stick

For the complete report from WW4 Report click on this link

Venezuela - Chávez, Exxon play oil-price brinkmanship - Chávez on the short end of the stick

Just two weeks after saying he hoped oil prices would "stabilize" at under $100 a barrel, Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez this week threatened to send them soaring to $200 a barrel in response to his growing dispute with Exxon. Chávez called Exxon's threat to freeze the assets of Venezuela's state oil company PDVSA part of Washington's "economic war" against his government, and vowed that Venezuela would not be intimidated. "They will never rob us again, those bandits of ExxonMobil, they are imperialist bandits, white collar criminals, corruptors of governments, over-throwers of governments, who supported the invasion and bombing of Iraq and continue supporting the genocide in Iraq," he said on his weekly TV show "Aló Presidente" Feb. 11. Last week, Exxon won temporary court orders in the UK, Netherlands, and Dutch Antilles to freeze PDVSA assets worth up to $12 billion, in a dispute over compensation for a 41.7% stake (worth $750 million) in Venezuela's Cerro Negro exploration project, which was nationalized last May. Other companies, including Chevron, BP, Total and Norway's Statoil, negotiated deals with Venezuela to remain on as minority partners in the Orinoco oil belt projects. But ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips rejected the changed terms and have been in compensation talks with PDVSA. Venezuela is the USA's fourth largest oil supplier after Canada, Saudi Arabia and Mexico. According to the latest figures from the US Energy Department, Venezuela accounted for 12% of crude imports in November, supplying some 1.23 million barrels a day.

Note EU-Digest: "Mr.Chávez might have picked on a bone which is too big to chew. Exxon's financial reserves are several times larger than that of the entire budget of Venezuela. There are also many signs that the once-mighty Venezuela Oil Industry PDVSA may be running short of cash. Since January 8th, for instance, its customers have been required to settle their bills eight days after shipment, rather than 30 days after receipt, as is customary. By the end of the month it was offering eight super-tanker loads of fuel oil at below market price for cash. PDVSA is also no longer is just an oil producer. Mr Chávez has made it into what Elie Habalian, a former Venezuelan governor of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), calls a “parallel state”. The company has transferred billions of dollars to funds controlled by the president, and directly finances and runs a range of social projects. “There's a ministry of education—but PDVSA educates too,” says Mr Habalian. “There's a housing ministry, but PDVSA builds houses, and so on.” In response to shortages of basic foodstuffs, last month, Mr Chávez ordered PDVSA to create a new subsidiary to distribute food, most of it imported. At the same time, PDVSA's investment spending has been slashed, leading to a decline in oil output, the motor of the economy, for ten consecutive quarters, according to José Guerra, a former Central Bank director. The only major weapon left in Mr. Chávez his arsenal is to cut off all the supplies of oil to the US, that is if he has another customer to pick up the slack, and one who is willing to defy the wrath of "Uncle Sam"."