Venezuelan oil minister back from China and Russia with financial support

Venezuelan Vice-President for Economic Affairs and President of state-run oil holding Pdvsa, Rafael Ramírez, arrived in Venezuela on Monday after a tour of Russia and China which gave new financial and political support to the government of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.

Ramírez informed that he visited Beijing and Moscow in search of financial support and in order to review new energy projects.

"With the Vice-President of China, Li Yuanchao, we agreed on new borrowing facilities for our country and reviewed energy projects," the Pdvsa president twitted.

"China has expressed every support to the Bolivarian government of President Maduro and all the Venezuelan people. We will win! We also visited Moscow for a meeting with President (Vladimir) Putin, where the maximum support to our government and people was expressed," he added, DPA cited.

On Monday evening, President Maduro had claimed that nationwide demonstrations, taking a toll of 18 fatalities and more than 250 injured people, seek to destabilize the country and overthrow his government.

Source: El Universal

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Production under Eni's gas project in Venezuela starts at the end of 2014

Italian Eni and Spanish Repsol will start early production in their offshore natural gas project in Gulf of Venezuela in tandem with state-run oil holding Pdvsa at the end of 2014, Eni's CEO said.

After finding more than 15 trillion cubic meters of gas, Perla, a project of the consortium, would lift a stagnated gas production in Venezuela and reduce dependency on other fuels that have been used since 2010 for power generation during an intermittent energy crisis.

"We expect to have an initial output in Perla project at the end of 2014," Eni's CEO Paolo Scaroni told reporters during the HIS CeraWeek energy conference, Reuters cited.

Previously, Pdvsa had set the project early production by the end of 2013; however, private partners warned that having the production ready would take its time, as well as negotiating a sale price in US dollars with the state-owned company.

Scaroni informed that Eni and Pdvsa are producing "some thousand barrels" of crude oil at the Orinoco Oil Belt, the largest oil reserve of a Member State of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), after the initial production last year.

Production will keep on growing to near 50,000 barrels per day (bpd) in the upcoming years, he added.

Source: El Universal

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Congress Speaker: Protests in 14 municipalities not the whole country

The speaker of the Venezuelan Parliament confirmed the death on Thursday afternoon in east Caracas of a biker and an officer of the National Guard, who were trying to remove barricades in the area, but were unexpectedly shot by snipers. He claimed a coup was in motion

The speaker of the Venezuelan Parliament, Diosdado Cabello, called on dissenters on Thursday to refrain from making "any political calculation" in the wake of protests in Venezuela. Cabello stressed that neither President Nicolás Maduro would submit his resignation nor military forces would take the streets.

Cabello, also a top leader of ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV), commented that the wave of protests in the country in the last three weeks has hardly taken place in 14 municipalities rather than in the "whole country."

The official claimed a coup is currently in motion.

Cabello seized the opportunity to confirm the death on Thursday afternoon in east Caracas of a biker and an officer of the National Guard, who were trying to remove barricades in the area, and were allegedly shot by snipers.

Source: El Universal

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Maduro accuses Panama of promoting "foreign intervention" in Venezuela

According to President Nicolás Maduro, members of the opposition alliance Unified Democratic Panel (MUD) are trying to "justify an intervention in (Venezuelan) internal affairs by a foreign government"

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro on Thursday said that Panama President Ricardo Alberto Martinelli "is plotting to bring about an intervention in Venezuela."

"I told him several times: Only Venezuela speaks for Venezuela. Nobody will take our voice, and less so for seeking foreign intervention in our beautiful homeland," he said.

According to Maduro, members of the opposition alliance Unified Democratic Panel (MUD) are trying to "justify an intervention in (Venezuelan) internal affairs by a foreign government."

He insisted that the MUD does not defend Venezuela. "Are you with Venezuela or against Venezuela?" he asked.

Source: El Universal

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Ukrainian Military Units Side With Pro-Russian Forces, Crimean Authorities Say

The head of the Ukrainian navy has sworn allegiance to the Crimea region, with the majority of Ukrainian military units on the peninsula expressing support for pro-Russian forces, local authorities have said.

Rear Admiral Denys Berezovsky, who was only appointed head of the navy on Saturday, swore allegiance to the Crimea's pro-Russian leaders on Sunday, in the presence of new Prime Minister Sergei Aksenov.

Following his defection, Ukraine has opened a criminal case of treason against Berezovsky and has placed Admiral Serhiy Hayduk in charge of the navy, said Viktoria Syumar, deputy secretary of Ukrainian Security Council, Reuters reported Sunday.

Meanwhile, Crimean authorities said Sunday that most of Ukraine's military units on the peninsula had sided with pro-Russian forces "without a single shot fired," and warned the commanders of a few units that remain loyal to Kiev that they would face criminal action if refused to surrender.

"I would like to warn commanders who force their subordinates to commit illegal actions that they will be punished according to existing laws," Crimea's Prime Minister Sergei Aksenov said in a statement.

The Crimean government said earlier that some 10 warships from the Ukrainian navy left their naval base in Sevastopol apparently on orders from Kiev.

Crimea is now at the center of the ongoing crisis in the country as pro-Russia groups move to distance themselves from a reformed national parliament that ousted President Viktor Yanukovych a week ago.

The current developments come shortly after Russia's upper house of parliament unanimously approved a request from President Vladimir Putin on Saturday to deploy military forces in Ukraine's mainly ethnic Russian-populated region of Crimea.

Putin issued his request in response to what he said was a threat to the lives of Russian citizens and military forces located in naval bases around the Crimean peninsula.

Putin, who is the Supreme Commander of the Russian Armed Forces, has not yet ordered the deployment of a "limited military contingent" in Ukraine, but said in telephone conversations with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and U.S. President Barack Obama early on Sunday that Moscow reserved the right to protect its own interests and those of Russian speakers in the event of violence breaking out in eastern Ukraine and Crimea.

Source:The Moscow Times
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Capriles condemns Maduro's call for confrontation among Venezuelans

Governor of Miranda state and opposition leader Henrique Capriles on Thursday condemned President Nicolás Maduro calls intended to fuel confrontation among Venezuelans, and rejected violence.

"We reject violence and strongly condemn Nicolás' call for a confrontation of the people versus the people! Enough!", he wrote on his Twitter account.

Capriles referred to the street protests taking place nationwide in Venezuela in the last three weeks. He said burning garbage and blocking streets was "not right," because "a country cannot live like this every day, with repression every day, with students arrested every day."

"You cannot stop a fire with gasoline. Here there is intent to smother social unrest with repression and bombs, with pellets. Problems will not be solved this way," he said.

Capriles urged his followers "not to fall into the trap laid down by the government."

"Let nobody give in or kneel down because I'm sure you all will have the strength to change what is happening today. The worst thing that can happen to a community is resigning (...) People have the power to choose the government. I call upon people to embrace reconciliation," he remarked.

Source: El Universal

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