Many themes run through the WikiLeaks diplomatic cables released thus far, but only one runs through the heart of all of them. Underneath diplomacy and protocol, the US Chamber of Commerce and its clients around the world have a thumbprint on every single economy, even in countries like Venezuela, where Hugo Chavez is in full control of his own country and remains busy destabilizing others.

In a cable dated October 15, 2009, Ambassador Patrick Duddy relays a basketful of concerns expressed to him by Chevron, Baker/Hughes and the Venezuelan/American Chamber of Commerce.

Baker Hughes, XXXXXXXXXXXX shared that doing business in Venezuela is increasingly difficult, noting that where there used to be seven steps required to export a container from Venezuela, there are now over thirty steps imposed by GBRV agencies. XXXXXXXXXXXX confirmed that BHI has removed higher-technology assets from Venezuela.

That complaint sounds familiar, doesn't it? They all hate bureaucracy.

Chevron, on the other hand, has figured out a way to pull out the profit without investing anything in the country. Guess they're using the lessons they've learned here at home.

ChevronXXXXXXXXXXXX told the Ambassador XXXXXXXXXXXX that the company’s two Maracaibo joint ventures (JV ) Petroboscan and Petroindependiente) with PDVSA are profitable especially since Chevron is not investing new funds. He confided that although the JVs owe over $100 million to various service companies, Chevron is withdrawing profits through a deal to take crude oil shipments from Petroboscan to its Pascagoula refinery in Alabama.

Enter the US Chamber of Commerce with their list of complaints:

The Ambassador also attended a dinner hosted by the Zulia chapter of the Venezuelan-American Chamber of Commerce. The Chamber participants echoed well-known concerns regarding the difficulties with the CADIVI foreign exchange controls and voiced caution regarding the use of the parallel permuta rate because they do not want to be seen as possibly operating on the margins of Venezuelan law. A XXXXXXXXXXXX manufacturer mentioned that he is no longer able to import material from Europe using CADIVI. He fears his production costs will significantly erode his company’s competitiveness if he imports the fabric using the permuta exchange market.

To which I show him the world's tiniest flea playing the world's tiniest violin. Let's back up and remember why these US companies are in Venezuela. Here's the answer, in the Ambassador's conclusion:

The two perspectives on doing business in Venezuela presented by Chevron and BHI underline the private sector’s difficult situation -- faced with increased risk, companies are not investing in operations but are seeking ways to maintain a market presence given the tremendous opportunities that may yet exist in Venezuela,s oil sector.

It's all about the oil, baby. And the US Chamber. And commerce. Human rights? Meh. Chavez destabilizing Honduras, other countries? Meh. Oil trumps all.

If you don't believe that, check out this cable from 2007 written under the Bush administration.

As Chavez seeks to take on the mantle of this generation',s Castro, he starts with built-in advantages, not the least of which is a whole lot of money. Add to that the bluster of his anti-imperial, anti-U.S. rhetoric, and a certain squirrelly charisma, both of which continue to find a sympathetic audience in much of Latin America, and he presents a formidable foe. But he certainly can be taken. Washington policy-makers have already hit on one sure-fire tactic: Don,t fire back at every provocation, especially when it,s clear that Chavez,s mouth has opened before his brain has engaged. His recent dust-ups with both the Brazilian and Chilean senates over the RCTV closure are examples where Chavez,s ranting lost him points with ostensible friends without our having to lift a finger.

Is it any wonder the Ambassador was expelled because Chavez suspected an overthrow effort?

Way back in March 1979, there was this little incident at Three Mile Island that shook up the nuclear technology business in the United States. After a dry spell of nearly 40 years, we may see the start of nuclear reactor construction in the United States. However, the lack of any real discussions on nuclear energy policy and the ever-present fearmongering over (other country's) nuclear weapons has combined to create a myopic "for me but not for thee" drill for the US government. I submit these two stories for your review.

The first one is about Russia's keen interest in generating some foreign currency by helping other countries build nuclear power plants. Now when the customer in mind is Europe, that's okay, but Venezuela's desire to buy nuclear technology from Russia is just hitting a sore spot. Who really cared about Chernobyl, anyway? That was old tech.

“I don’t know who will shudder at this,” Mr. Medvedev said at a meeting with Mr. Chávez, coyly noting the possibility of American concerns about transferring nuclear technology to Mr. Chávez’s government, which has long been at odds with the United States. Venezuela, like Iran, is brimming with energy from oil and natural gas, possibly raising concerns about its motives.

“The president said there will be countries in which this will provoke different emotions, but I want to say specially that our intentions are absolutely pure and open,” Mr. Medvedev said.
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Mr. Medvedev said Friday that Russia would help Venezuela build “an entire range of energy opportunities.” He added that “even such an oil- and gas-rich country as Venezuela needs new sources of energy.”

And meanwhile, our good friend China is busy traveling to Iran to make some deals on missile technology and centrifuges. What economic sanctions? Iran's just another customer in need of goods.

The U.S. official did not name any of the Chinese companies or say how many were on the list. But he told the Post that U.S. intelligence believes several Chinese companies and banks were involved in providing restricted technology to Iran, mostly for its missile program.

A second official, also speaking anonymously, told the Post that Chinese companies had been discovered selling Iran material that could be used to make better centrifuges. Those are used to enrich uranium that could be used in a nuclear device.

I've watched some chatter among the defense community, and it's not surprising to see that the opinion that seems to dominate is "well, we need to build more Navy ships and long-range strike aircraft, because we just can't afford to have Venezuela and Iran with nuclear weapons. The US government role as the pre-eminent superpower will be over unless we do something, and anyone who disagrees is an isolationist. Or commie-sympathizer."

Okay, maybe I made up the "commie-sympathizer" part. But it strikes me that our defense community in particular, and the US government in general (even with a Democratic administration) has been unable to develop any effective policy regarding nuclear technology. The previous administration's bone-headed agreement to provide nuclear technology and equipment to the Indian government, despite its failure to sign on to the Nuclear Non-proliferation Agreement, has really set a bad precedent. Now, there are numerous nations who want nuclear technology for whatever reason (rising fossil fuel costs, climate change, whatever), and the United States is unable to articulate a policy other than "but Teh Terrorists will get nukes!!"

This is not a good thing. We need sane discussions on the development of nuclear energy in emerging nations, and simultaneously we have to come to grips that the other major powers - Russia and China in particular, but also France, England, Germany, India, and Brazil - are hungry for foreign investments and will use their advanced technology to generate business. The US government's record over the past ten years has pretty much shattered the idea of its being an impartial leader of the free world, and now we have to deal with that new reality.

A global economy, shrinking resources, and continued growth of the world population will result in a more complex and dangerous world. If the US government can't figure out how to advance its international agenda without a military solution as the only option, then it's going to lose out to other nations' desire to make deals and sell goods to whomever is buying. It's just business, nothing personal.

On the one hand, it's admirable that the Foreign Policy website offers views from both the right and the left on controversial public policy issues. On the other hand, it would be nice if they added some kind of warning label. I don't know, something like "actual reality may differ from author's perspective." I have this in mind as Roger Noriega (former Bush political appointee, current AEI fellow) warns us of Hugo Chavez's supposed plans to develop nuclear weapons with Iran's help.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez admitted last week that his government is "carrying out the first studies" of a nuclear program. He attempted to portray it as an innocuous program designed solely for peaceful purposes.
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Chávez's suggestion that he is merely studying the idea of a nuclear energy program is misleading. In fact, in November 2008, Iranian and Venezuelan officials signed a secret "science and technology" agreement formalizing cooperation "in the field of nuclear technology." (The text of the agreement, available in Farsi and Spanish, is available here.) The week after the agreement was signed, Venezuela's Ministry of Energy and Petroleum prepared a presentation for the International Atomic Energy Agency documenting the establishment of a "nuclear power programme" in Venezuela. That presentation, obtained from sources within the Venezuelan government, reveals that an "Atomic Energy Committee" has been managing the nuclear program since 2007.

All countries have the right to a peaceful nuclear energy program under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, of which Venezuela is a signatory. However, Chávez's decision to rely on one of the world's worst proliferators to help develop his country's capabilities in this sensitive technology sets alarm bells ringing. And his recent public declarations understating the nature of his nuclear program raise more questions than they answer.

Just for the sake of accuracy, I'd note that China, Pakistan, and North Korea are far more busy in weapons proliferation than Iran, particularly with high-tech equipment and materials. But this kind of language isn't new for Noriega. He is a particular hard-liner against Cuba and Venezuela, with a long history of alarmist speeches and attacks against those governments. So it's not surprising to see this language, and it's easier to shoot holes into his argument.

First, it may be that Chavez is interested in nuclear weapons, but it's not a crime for him to invest in nuclear energy, even if his country is awash in oil. The more oil that goes to exports, the more money comes into the country. Both Brazil and Argentina have nuclear power reactors. So does Iran. If Iran wants to sell its expertise on nuclear energy technology, hey, it's a global economy. That's what happens.

Second, there's nothing that Noriega can point to that demonstrates either Iran receiving "yellowcake" from Venezuela or Venezuella receiving nuclear weapons technology or material from Iran. He can make a lot of noise about front companies and point to tangential evidence to suggest that something may wrong, but there's no smoking gun here.

Third, since Iran has no working nuclear weapon, it's a bit credulous to suggest that Venezuela may get a nuke from Iran. Similar to Burma, Venezuela doesn't have the infrastructure, expertise, or material to support such an effort, nor would its military be particularly more effective if it had a nuke. Quite to the contrary, there would be an increased focus on his armed forces by quite a few neighbors and the United States.

I personally hope that Venezuela and Burma continue to pour millions into nuclear weapons research. That will mean much less money will be invested in more effective and useful conventional military weapons as they waste time and money into a capability that they will never be able to develop. This FP article is just a scare piece by a man with a particular hard-right political agenda. It's nothing to be concerned about in the development of a more stable Western hemisphere.

From Coalition of the Obvious, via Avedon, this useful "compare and contrast" on national health care systems. It especially means something to me because a few years back, after my unemployment ran out and I was working an hourly job, I developed pneumonia and couldn't afford to pay for a chest x-ray. I'm glad I'm still alive to tell the tale:

During my time in Venezuela, I developed a cough that went on for three weeks and progressively worsened. Finally, after I had become incredibly congested and developed a fever, I decided to attend a Barrio Adentro clinic. The closest one available was a Barrio Adentro II Centro de Diagonostico Integral (CDI) and I headed in without my medical records or calling to make an appointment. Immediately, I was ushered into a small room where Carmen, a friendly Cuban doctor, began questioning me about my symptoms. She listened to my lungs and walked me over to another examination room where, again without waiting, I had x-rays taken.

Afterwards, the technician walked me to a chair and apologized profusely that I had to wait for the x-rays to be developed, promising that it would take no more than five minutes. Sure enough, five minutes later he returned with both x-rays developed. Carmen studied the x-rays and informed me that I had pneumonia, showing me the telltale shadows. She sent me away with my x-rays, three medications to treat my pneumonia, congestion, and fever, and made me promise to come back if my conditioned failed to improve or worsened within three days.

I walked out of the clinic with a diagnosis and treatment within twenty-five minutes of entering, without paying a dime. There was no wait, no paperwork, and no questions about my ability to pay, my nationality, or whether, as a foreigner, I was entitled to free comprehensive health care. There was no monetary value connected with my physical well-being; the care I received was not contingent upon my ability to pay. I was treated with dignity, respect, and compassion, my illness was cured and I was able to continue with my journey in Venezuela.

This past year, a family friend was not so lucky. At the age of 56, she was going back to school and was uninsured. She came down with what she thought was a severe case of the flu, and as her condition worsened she decided not to see a doctor because of the cost. She died at home in bed, losing her life to a system that did not respect her basic human right to survive.

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Good morning. I'm Lance Mannion and I can get it for you wholesale. Just show up at the back of the warehouse Saturday afternoon. Bring cash. And remember, we don't know each other. I'm Mr Clements and if the guy at the desk asks, you're a friend of Pete's.

Sorry. I shouldn't goof around like that. I'm just the guest host for this week's blog round up, after all. I don't goof around like that on my own blog. At my place we're very serious, my commenters and I. It's all high-minded discussions about Art, and Film, and the Meaning of Life.

The gang at Crooked Timber comes to my blog to have their questions answered and they go home, bewildered and ashamed of their own ignorance, to tear up their diplomas and return their Ph.D.'s.

Speaking of Crooked Timber, John Quiggin is saying over there that it's time to dive back down the memory hole and remember that the looting of Iraq was a part of the original plan.

The New York Times scoops the world on this one: A lot of Republicans don't plan to vote for Hillary Clinton! That comes via Oliver Willis. Also Oliver admits that when forced to choose between a real science guy and a well-known conservative idiot, he reflexively sides with the real science guy. Go figure.

Avedon Carol says that Venezuela is looking a lot more like a democracy than some other countries she could name.

The Armchair Generalist follows up on a story that I missed the first go-round, about a couple of characters who got caught trying to smuggle a pound of uranium through Hungary. Story had the makings of a great thriller, says the Generalist, except for one thing. The uranium turns out not to have been weapons grade material.

Ben Cohen of the Daily Banter reports that Karl Rove is offering campaign advice to Barack Obama and it turns out, says Ben, that advice is not half-bad.

And mystery writer Laura Lippman has been at work copy editing her latest novel and reports on the quotidian details of the process, except that she can't use the word, quotidian, because one of the things she found out while reading her own work is that she overuses it and it has to go, along with via and literally and the extra e that does not belong in acknowledgment.

Done for today. Send tips and suggestions to lance AT lancemannion DOT com. And remember. The loading dock. Saturday. Act casual. And wear a necktie so I'll know you.

Remember the story of the three Muslim men who were arrested because they bought cell phones? How many days of coverage did that non-story rate? Now how much airtime has this story gotten?:

Birmingham (AL) News:

Simultaneous raids carried out in four Alabama counties Thursday turned up truckloads of explosives and weapons, including 130 grenades, an improvised rocket launcher and 2,500 rounds of ammunition belonging to the small, but mightily armed, Alabama Free Militia.

Six alleged members of the Free Militia also were arrested by federal authorities and are being held without bond.

Investigators said the DeKalb County-based group had not made any specific threats or devised any plots, but was targeted for swift dismantling because of its heavy firepower. The militia, which called itself the Naval Militia at one point, had enough armament to outfit a small army.

"We classify these groups as violent and anti-government," said Jim Cavanaugh, who supervises the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives operations in portions of the South. "They stockpile things and live off a fear, a paranoia they're going to need weapons and explosives because some event is going to happen when they will need them."

Um, how about we classify them as Domestic Terrorists? I don't know about you but violent, paranoid and heavily armed people near me would be terrifying. As Barbara at Mahablog says, it's a real relief to find out these guys aren't Muslims, huh? Otherwise they might be dangerous or something.

Just to muddy the waters even further as to who is and who isn't a terrorist, the US released suspected Cuban airline bomber Luis Posada Carriles and refused to extradite him as requested to Cuba or Venezuela where he is to stand trial for the deaths of the 73 people on board because....wait for it...the 79 year old will certainly be executed for his role in terrorist acts.

NY Times (reg. req.)

The year 2006 was the deadliest for journalists and news media workers worldwide, with at least 155 killings and unexplained deaths, the International Federation of Journalists said Sunday.

The group, which represents half a million journalists in more than 100 countries, said in its annual report that Iraq continued to be the most dangerous place to work; 68 media staff members were killed there in 2006, bringing the total since the war began in March 2003 to 170.

The federation also pointed to continuing attacks on journalists in Latin America, where 37 media staff members were killed. Mexico, Colombia and Venezuela stood out.

Thirteen journalists died in the Philippines, pushing the total of such deaths in Asia up to 34, the federation said.

"2006 was the worst year on record, a year of targeting, brutality and continued impunity in the killing of journalists," said the federation's general secretary, Aidan White. Read on...