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| Europe |
| EU Parliament Asked to Investigate Spain's Sale of Weapons to Venezuela |
| 2005-04-12 |
Editorial | El Universal 12.04.05 | France | Karl von Wogau, Chairman of the European Parliament Subcommittee on Security and Defence, today urged the EU's plenary session gathered in Strasbourg to ascertain whether or not the sale of weapons by Spain to Venezuela violates the Code of Conduct on Arms Exports of the European Union. During the opening of the plenary session of the European Parliament at its seat in the French city, the German member of the EU parliament warned that the exportation of arms to Venezuela may very well go against the Code of Conduct on Arms Exports, agreed to by countries of the EU and in force since 1998. Von Wogau urged the president of the European Parliament, Josep Borrell, a Spanish member of the EUP, to "verify to what extent these actions infringe upon the resolutions" of the code in question, so reported AFP. According to the German member of the parliament, the contract may very well violate the fourth point of the aforementioned code, which establishes that member States are to refrain from exporting arms to third countries if it entails a threat against the peace, security and stability of the region. During his address, von Wogau also raised the question as to whether the aforementioned sale is in compliance with the "Principle of Prudence" to which the European Union and its member States must adhere anytime they export arms to third countries. Last Wednesday, US Secretary of Defence Ronald Rumsfeld openly criticised Spain for the sale of weapons to Venezuela, affirming that it had been an "error" on the part of the Spanish government. Today, Monday, the Spanish ministry of defence assured that is in communication with its Colombian counterpart concerning the eventual sale of military equipment similar to that recently acquired by Venezuela, which was stated also by the Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs himself, Miguel Ãngel Moratinos. Speaking before the Foreign Affairs Commission of the Spanish Congress of Deputies, Moratinos affirmed that Spain "has no problem" in providing Colombia with matériel such as the aircraft and patrol boats sold to Venezuela. Translation by W.K. |
| Posted by:TMH |
| #12 one for one, oil price-for-transport price increase? news to me. I don't know of any other industry where this applies. |
| Posted by: thibaud (aka lex) 2005-04-12 9:45:47 PM |
| #11 Oil transport costs have no ceiling either, if oil is 1000 dollars a barrel the cost of transport will rise in relation. You don't mail gold bulk rate. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2005-04-12 5:52:59 PM |
| #10 The threat part comes from AQ's keenness on striking us at home and the nuttiness of Chavez. He has motive, and the wave of illegal latin immigrants offers means and opportunity galore to do serious harm to us via AQ or other jihadist proxies. Plenty that Chavez or a leftist Mexican caudillo can do to help the jihadists-- see how much pain the current right-leaning Mexican president is causing us. Also, re oil transport costs, those have a ceiling. Market prices for oil do not. Per-barrel oil transport costs are the same whether oil's at $60/bbl or $70/bbl or $80/bbl. Chavez will be sitting pretty in any of the above scenarios, even if he ships his oil to Europe.. or China |
| Posted by: thibaud (aka lex) 2005-04-12 2:55:54 PM |
| #9 venezuela is sovereign, and we have no right to intervene militarily due to either a domestic crackdown or an oil embargo. However a domestic crackdown would be an opening for largescale and open support to anti-Chavez insurgents, who would undoubtedly be supported by the govt of Colombia. I think an open crackdown is very dangerous for Chavez, and a slow tightening is more likely. Cutting off oil to the US is very costly - yes there are other markets, but transport costs MATTER in the oil industry, and every dollar of transport cost to send the oil to Euro or Asian markets is one less dollar going to Venezuala, that Chavez needs to stay in power. This is even more true for Mexico, whose oil exports are largely by pipeline and would need to new infrastructure to send it out by ship (this is an even greater issue for natural gas) and Mexico has less economic slack than Venezuala - they rely on the US economically in many more ways than oil exports. Latin lefties are an annoyance, not a threat. Theyre closer, and therefore easier to deal with. |
| Posted by: Liberalhawk 2005-04-12 2:18:32 PM |
| #8 So what is the EU going to do about this sale to Hugo if it violates the so-called "Principle of Prudence?" Answer (with deference to Master of the Obvious): Nothing but the occasional wringing of hands. As long as Zappie or one of his pals is sticking it to the US, then everything is ok. These people with this kind of mentality are not allies---they are enemies. Maybe not shootin' enemies, but they are certainly not our friends. I would like to see someone in the Administration like Rumsfeld publicly state what Spain is doing and bring this duplicity to the light of day. The more it is brought to light, the quicker it is to stop. BTW, Frank: great and timely link. |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2005-04-12 11:09:08 AM |
| #7 Seems like a perfect time for Chavez to have a little "accident". |
| Posted by: mmurray821 2005-04-12 10:52:28 AM |
| #6 Spain, since Franco's time, has been a wee bit "no questions asked" in its arms sales. As long as the funds are available, there is a 'legitimate end user', and the paperwork is in order, it'll happen. Venezuela easily meets all three criteria. That Chavez and Zapatero are buds likely made it easier and expanded the available product range. |
| Posted by: Pappy 2005-04-12 10:47:01 AM |
| #5 OK, so when are we going to get serious about Phase II? Chavez is already subverting Colombia and has announced his desire for a Gran Bolivia (?), a "revolutionary" state comprising all of Bolivar's Andean legacy nations. He's imported 150,000 AK-47s and is distributing them to his civilian followers in preparation for civil war against his opponents. He's working with Fidel and almost certainly is in contact with Al Qaeda, and seeks to use oil exports as a weapon against us. Were the leftist candidate to come to power in Mexico in the future, a Chavez-Fidel-Cuba-Mexico leftist alliance could hit us with an oil embargo and cause serious inflationary and interest rate pressure. This is serious, and it's time to shift our attention to our backyard, immediately, before the storm gathers even more. |
| Posted by: thibaud (aka lex) 2005-04-12 9:42:16 AM |
| #4 here's Barcepundit's take |
| Posted by: Frank G 2005-04-12 9:40:49 AM |
| #3 yesterday's news said they were chemical weapons (possibly riot control?) and they took place after Zappy came to power |
| Posted by: Frank G 2005-04-12 9:34:03 AM |
| #2 Don't forget that the Veneuelans have admitted they have little control over how their passports are issued ... or stolen. I'm collecting the various links here, if anyone is interested. |
| Posted by: Robin Burk 2005-04-12 8:50:41 AM |
| #1 I don't see what the problem is. It's not like they are selling something to Israel. |
| Posted by: Kos 2005-04-12 8:33:52 AM |