Iranian and Venezuelan Presidents Up To No Good  
Sunday, November 25th, 2007

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the President of Iran, and Hugo Chavez, the President of Venezuela, are partnering in economics and double-teaming in badmouthing the U.S. in the media.  Chavez made his fourth visit to Tehran in just two years last week, signing more economic agreements.  The unlikely friendship between Socialist President Chavez and the Islamic Republic is making people nervous, myself included.

Ahmadinejad calls Chavez "the champion, the leader of the struggle against imperialism."  Chavez refers to Ahmadinejad as his "brother," and said, "Here are two brother countries, united like a single fist."

At the OPEC (Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries) summit last weekend in Saudi Arabia, they both attempted to discourage the OPEC from trading in the US dollar.

Chavez said, "The fall of the [U.S.] dollar is not the fall of the dollar - it's the fall of the American empire."  Ahmadinejad said that oil producers were delivering their vital goods, and in return, were getting only "a worthless piece of paper."

Photo from Nikahang, a cartoonist and blogger

"God willing, with the fall of the dollar, the deviant US imperialism will fall as soon as possible, too," Chavez said.  After his meeting with Ahmadinejad, Chavez attacked the dollar again, saying "The empire of the dollar is collapsing...Soon we'll stop talking about the dollar because the US currency is rapidly being devaluated; the empire of the dollar is collapsing, and with it, obviously, also the United States will collapse."

The not-so-dynamic duo failed to convice the OPEC, however, who decided to continue to supply the West with the oil as usual, and not steer away from pricing its oil in dollars.

Saudi Arabia King Abdullah said, "Those who want OPEC to take advantage of its position are forgetting that OPEC has always acted moderately and wisely...Oil shouldn't be a tool for conflict, it should be a tool for development."

Not everyone agrees with the notion that Chavez could affect the price of oil enough to negatively impact the U.S. economy.  "Between those two countries, Venezuela is way more dependent on the US than the US is on Venezuela," said Roger Tissot, director for Latin America country strategies at PFC Energy consulting group.

"If they send less oil to the US," he says, "the more irrelevant they become."  He cites the Venezuela oil strike in 2002 - 2003,  and says that Venezuela's economy was devastated while the US remained stable.

Many analysts disagree on the possible outcome of action by Chavez.  Writers for the Los Angeles Times said that Chavez could "tip the world into a recession" if Venezuelans pass constitutional amendments on the ballot December 2nd.  "The day easily could deteriorate into one of violence, martial law and suspension of oil production, the latter calculated to inflict maximum damage on the U.S. economy."

Chavez told news reporters in Paris after his trip to Iran, "The dollar has lost 40 percent of its value in three years, so we could use the Euro."

"We are going reinforce our currency and in future we are going to have a South American currency.  That is one of the projects we have in mind...We agree with the Iranian proposal...to have a different base for oil transactions."

Both Hugo Chavez and Saudi oil minister Ahmed Zaki Yamani have warned that oil could surge as high as $200 if the United States attacks Iran over their disputed nuclear activity.

According to a Venezuelan state TV report, said The Australian, when a reporter asked about the aims of Chavez's visits to Tehran, Chavez joked about the serious situation the U.S. is involved in:  "As the imperialist press says, I came to look for an atomic bomb, and I've got it here.  If anyone should cross me, I'll fire it."

These guys are really starting to tick me off.

   

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