The weight of 'world public opinion' may be key in keeping the neocons

[cal04]

The weight of 'world public opinion' may be key in keeping the neocons at bay

VHeadline commentarist Carlos Herrera writes: I read with great interest the letter from Edmundo Roa ... but, even though I can agree with parts of his letter, I feel obliged to clarify some misconceptions or misunderstandings on Mr. Roa's part. First of all his misconception about "cheap oil" being sent to the poor in the US. To understand why this oil is "cheap" you have to understand the mechanism by which it is being supplied. In the United States of America, the 100%-owned Venezuelan oil company CITGO will provide heating oil and sell it direct to poor communities, thus cutting out the middle men or distributors. If heating oil costs around US$3/gallon right now, these communities will be able to buy it direct from CITGO at around US2.10/gallon ... that is the price normally paid by the local distributors to CITGO. This is not costing Venezuela anything and 10% of CITGO production of 800,000/barrels a day will be dedicated to this social program ... it simply means less profit for the distributors.

Some heating oil will be donated to old people's homes and hospitals, but these donations have been accounted for in CITGO's charity budget and hence there is no extraordinary cost. No freebies here, Mr. Roa. I can understand why Mr. Roa says: "Why send cheap oil to the US poor ... they have their own government, screw them," since there is a deep-rooted anti-US feeling in Canada and, living in Ottawa, Mr. Roa expresses these prejudices as he is most probably a victim of cultural bias against US citizens. In fact, my fellow columnist Oscar Heck has explained these prejudices to me in great detail as he lives in Canada.

Petrocaribe is a first step to integrate the Caricom block, and Venezuela simply offers financing to these small countries over a 25-year period for oil shipments. Nothing is being "given away" in terms of foreign policy which could prejudice the changes taking place at home. However, it frees up cash flow for the Caribbean nations and allows them to implement social programs for their populations ... a "win - win" situation.

In a recent 'Alo Presidente,' Chavez held up the latest work of Noam Chomsky in which the author maintains that there are two superpowers in the world. Military might and … world public opinion.
The weight of 'world public opinion' may be key in keeping the neocons at bay.
Chavez has built on this not by giving anything away ... but, rather, by constructing well thought out strategic humanitarian projects.
The US$ is not the be-all and end-all of life ... there are other aspects and values inherent in human beings which far transcend the rampant materialism currently ruling western minds and societies.

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http://www.vheadline.com/readnews.asp?id=46189

[henslee]

1. This admin. care about world opinion? No way. Never. They

are all about shooting now, worrying later. And if things get bad, a lip service, a little spin and a little brifcase of money spread around to the right folks will always make things right.

[getmeouttahere]

2. I've always believed that, ultimately, world public opinion....

would have some strength. If nothing else, various regions of the world are forming alliances (like Latin America) and rejecting BushCo. It is their collective strength that will keep the neocons "at bay", after all, the U.S. will never have the troop strength to pick fights all over the world, especially if the rest of the world bands together to oppose BushCo.