Venezuela: A Threat to Washington?

By Eva Golinger - Postcards from the Revolution:


From the first time Hugo Chavez was elected President of Venezuela in 1998, Washington and its allies have been trying to undermine his government. When Chavez was just a presidential candidate, the US State Department denied his visa to participate in television interviews in Miami. Later, when he won the presidential elections, Ambassador John Maisto called him personally to congratulate him and offer him a visa. The following months were filled with attempts to “buy” the newly elected President of Venezuela. Businessmen, politicians and heads of state from Washington and Spain pressured him to submit to their agendas. “Come with us”, urged Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar, trying to seduce him with offers of wealth and luxury in turn for obeying orders.

When Chavez refused to be bought, he was ousted in a coup d’etat April 11, 2002, funded and planned by Washington. When the coup failed and Chavez’s supporters rescued their democracy and president in less than 48 hours, attempts to destabilize his government continued. “We must make it difficult for him to govern”, said former US State Department chief Lawrence Eagleberger.

Soon, Venezuela was overrun with economic sabotage, oil industry strikes, chaos in the streets and a brutal media war that distorted the reality of the country on a national and international level. A plan to assassinate Chavez with Colombian paramilitaries in May 2004 was impeded by state security forces. Months later, the US-backed opposition tried to revoke his mandate in a recall referendum, but again, the people saved him in a 60-40 landslide victory.

The more popular Chavez became, the more millions of dollars flowed from US agencies to anti-Chavez groups to destabilize, descredit, delegitimize, overthrow, assassinate or remove him from power by any means possible. In December 2006, Chavez was reelected president with 64% of the vote. His approval rating grew in Venezuela and throughout Latin America. New governments in Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Ecuador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Uruguay and several Caribbean nations joined regional initiatives of integration, cooperation, sovereignty and unity, encouraged by Caracas. Washington began to lose its influence and control over its former “backyard”.

The Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our Americas (ALBA), the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR), PetroCaribe, PetroSur, TeleSUR, Bank of ALBA, Bank of the South and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) were created. Washington isn’t included in any of these organizations, nor is the elite that previously dominated the region.

In January 2005, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Chavez was a “negative force” in the region. In March, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) placed Venezuela on their list of “Top 5 Hot Spots”. A few months later, Reverend Pat Robertson publicly called for the assassination of Chavez, claiming it would cost less than “a $2 billion war”. That same year, when Venezuela suspended cooperation with the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) because it was found committing acts of espionage and sabotage, Washington classified Venezuela as a nation “not cooperating with counter-narcotics” efforts. No evidence was presented to show alleged Venezuelan government ties to drug trafficking.

In February 2006, Director of National Intelligence John Negroponte referred to Venezuela as a “dangerous threat” to the US. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfled compared Chavez to Hitler. That same year, Washington created a special intelligence mission dedicated to Venezuela and Cuba, increasing resources for operations against them. In June 2006, the White House placed Venezuela on a list of countries “not cooperating sufficiently with the war on terror”. The classification included a sanction prohibiting the sale of military and defense equipment from the US and US companies or those using US technology to Venezuela. No evidence was ever shown to back such serious claims.

In 2008, the Pentagon reactivated its Fourth Fleet, the regional command in charge of Latin America and the Caribbean. It had been deactivated in 1950 and hadn’t functioned since then, until Washington decided it was necessary to increase its presence and “force” in the region. In 2010, the US established an agreement with Colombia to set up 7 military bases in its territory. An official US Air Force document justified the budget increase for these bases in order to counter the “threat from anti-American governments in the region”.

International media call Chavez a dictator, tyrant, authoritarian, narco, anti-American, terrorist, but they never present proof for such dangerous titles. They have converted the image of Venezuela into violence, insecurity, crime, corruption and chaos, failing to mention the incredible achievements and social advances during the last decade, or the causes of the social inequalities left behind from previous governments.

For years, a group of US congress members - democrats and republicans - have tried to place Venezuela on their list of “state sponors of terrorism”. They claim the relationships between Venezuela and Iran, Venezuela and Cuba, and even Venezuela and China evidence the “grave threat” represented by the South American nation to Washington.

They say again and again that Venezuela and Chavez are threats to the US. “He must be stopped”, they say, before he “launches Iranian bombs against us”.

In an interview a few days ago, President Barack Obama said Chavez was not a threat to US security. Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney said he was. The ire of the Miami Cuban-Venezuelan community came down upon Obama. But they shouldn’t worry, because Obama increased funding to anti-Chavez groups this year. More than $20 million in US taxpayer dollars have been channelled from US agencies to help fund the opposition’s campaign in Venezuela.

Is Venezuela a threat to Washington? In Venezuela, the only “terrorists” are the groups trying to destabilize the country, the majority with political and financial support from the US. The drug traffickers are in Colombia, where the production and transit of drugs has increased during the US invasion disguised as Plan Colombia. Relations with Iran, Cuba, China, Russia and the rest of the world are normal bilateral – and multilateral – ties between countries. There are no bombs, no attack plans, no sinister secrets.

No, Venezuela is not that kind of threat to Washington.

Poverty has been reduced by more than 50% since Chavez came to power in 1998. The inclusionary policies of his government have created a society with mass participation in economic, political and social decisions. His social programs – called missions – have guaranteed free medical care and education, from basic to advanced levels, and provided basic food items at affordable costs, along with tools to create and maintain cooperatives, small and medium businesses, community organizations and communes. Venezuelan culture has been rescued and treasured, recovering national pride and identity, and creating a sentiment of dignity instead of inferiority. Communication media have proliferated during the last decade, assuring spaces for the expression of all.

The oil industry, nationalized in 1976 but operating as a private company, has been recuperated for the benefit of the country, and not for multinationals and the elite. Over 60% of the annual budget is dedicated to social programs in the country, with the principal focus on eradicating poverty.

Caracas, the capital, has been beautified. Parks and plazas have turned into spaces for gatherings, enjoyment and safety for visitors. There’s music in the streets, art on the walls and a rich debate of ideas amongst inhabitants. The new communal police works with neighborhoods to battle crime and violence, addressing problems from the root cause.

The awakening in Venezuela has expanded throughout the continent and northward into the Caribbean. The sensation of sovereignty, independence and union in the region has buried the shadow of subdevelopment and subordination imposed by colonial powers during centuries past.

No, Venezuela is not a threat to US security. Venezuela is an example of how a rising people, facing the most difficult obstacles and the brutal force of empire, can build a model where social justice reigns, and human prosperity is cherished above economic wealth. Venezuela is a country where millions once invisible are today, visible. Today they have a voice and the power to decide the future of their country, without being strangled by foreign hands. Today, thanks to the revolution led by President Chavez, Venezuela is one of the happiest countries in the world.

That is the threat Chavez and Venezuela represent to Washington: The threat of a good example.

 

Source: Postcards from the Revolution

 

July 21, 2012

 

Venezuelanalysis 

 

Bahamas Blog International

...We are looking to amend laws to make harbouring illegal migrants a serious offence with serious penalties... says Bahamas Minister of Foreign Affairs and Immigration Fred Mitchell

Laws May Be Brought In To Stop Harbouring Of Immigrants

By DANA SMITH
Tribune Staff Reporter
dsmith@tribunemedia.net

Nassau, The Bahamas



IN AN effort to curb illegal migration, members of Parliament will be looking at amending laws concerning the harbouring of illegal immigrants, possibly as early as next week, according to Minister of Foreign Affairs and Immigration Fred Mitchell.

Mr Mitchell said he met with Haitian officials to discuss how to stem illegal migration, and that they also discussed trade potential between the two countries.

He said: “We are looking to amend laws to make harbouring illegal migrants a serious offence with serious penalties. That should be coming perhaps as early as next week when the House resumes. Debate will take place on the floor because we want some public discussion about the matter.”

The Bahamas is also hoping to engage the Haitian government in discussions on allowing “intelligence officers” to operate in Haiti in an effort to combat human trafficking, he said.

“They’ve expressed an interest in pursuing it,” Mr Mitchell said. “We would like to do so because we believe that if we are allowed to have intelligence officers in Haiti, we can probably stop the smuggling or put a big dent in it from the north.”

However, the minister said Haitian officials are more interested in talking about trade between the two countries.

Mr Mitchell said Haiti wants current protocols which prevent agricultural goods from being imported from Haiti to the Bahamas, to be changed.

They argued it would help spur their economy and thus potentially reduce illegal migration.

Mr Mitchell said the two governments have been trying resolved the protocol issue “for a long time”.

“In fact, a memorandum of understanding was signed between the two countries I believe back in 2007,” he said.

“The last minister of agriculture had announced that he was dedicated to removing it. There was even an announcement that customs officers would be stationed in Haiti to help with the inspection of the goods.

“Because Haiti now exports mangos to the United States, we can only get them by getting them through the States and it’s believed that if we get them directly, it’ll be cheaper.

“Their argument is that would help them in trying to improve the economy of the north of Haiti and that’s the area from which migrants come to this country illegally. We repatriated 200 of them this week – 100 went out this morning (and) 100 went out the day before yesterday. So this is a really serious problem for us. We are committed to seeing how we can get that resolved.”

July 19, 2012

Tribune242 

Bahamas Blog International

Venezuela is not Syria, Venezuela is not Libya

By James Petras

Axis of logic note: The following excerpt from a discussion about the 2012 elections in Venezuela was taken from an interview of James Petras at CX36 Radio Centenario based in Montevideo, Uruguay. Translated from Spanish by Axis of Logic.

"The Syrian people perhaps have [legitimate] criticisms of Assad and perhaps want changes, but not from imperialist intervention. They want to decide for themselves their democratic, peaceful and independent future. They do not want to pass from the government of Assad to one controlled by foreign imperialists. That much is very clear and we should respect it and put a lot of distance between ourselves and the trotskyist bands that have supported this imperialist intervention, calling it a democratic revolution. Again we have an example of this failure of the Trotskyists who confuse their illusions with the realities in the world"

ChI: Continuing in the region, how do you see the Venezuelan electoral campaign?

James Petras: The U.S. politics in this are very clear: when the candidates of their choosing win elections, the elections are free and honest. If United States or their candidates lose the elections, then those elections are corrupt, illegitimate. They do not want to accept a rout. This is the case in Venezuela and also in other cases where there are popular candidates and nationalists with socialist tendencies. In the case of Venezuela we have received information that United States continues channeling money toward NGO's –non-governmental organizations - that are always a facade for the opposition that exists in Venezuela. They are full agents, organized, directed by the United States toward several tactics. And it is the political arm of the opposition that is directed to campaign where the right does not have force, that is to say in the popular neighborhoods, the lower middle class and other sectors where their may be some dissidence.

Now, their practice is not to present an alternative because they do not have alternatives with popular resonance. Their tactic is to take advantage of some negative conditions that exist, for example, in some places the trash is not collected, or a mayor does not fulfill a promise or the problem of the delinquency; that is to say that they enter and exploit that situation, any theme of a popular complaint, without offering any solution, beyond the same old clichés of the right. Now, this work from below is complemented by some mass communication media campaigns, where the right continues controlling the main electronic media and particularly the television. In addition, there are groups that are more secret, the aggressive groups, those who are going to promote some disorder if they lose the elections which is more probable than ever. So there are functions of U.S. politics on three levels: One is that of the NGO's; the second is the mass communication media and third are the hard line aggressive groups, which I have already mentioned in other contexts.

Currently and up to the final weeks prior to the elections, we are going to see groups one and two operating, the media and the politics of agitation to promote conflicts. But those in the third group exist and are expanding their networks, maintaining their threat to the democracy, even beyond the elections - seeking to introduce a similar situation to that which they created in Syria and in Libya. The key problem [in Venezuela] is that they do not have a critical mass that could rise up. In this sense the democracy under the government of Hugo Chávez and the massive influence that it has in all sectors of the country and above all in the popular sectors, makes it very difficult to repeat in Venezuela what they mounted in Syria and other places, i.e. one based on giving armed support to dissident groups to cause violent conflicts. In that sense, I believe that Mrs. Hillary Clinton, Mr. Barak Obama and their minister of Defense, Leon Panetta, have calculated badly: Venezuela is not Syria, Venezuela is not Libya; Venezuela is a democratic country with an extensive popular base organized freely and they are willing to face any violent challenge from below.

Therefore, Venezuela has a democratic vaccine that neutralizes those efforts. But that does not mean that there may be not adventurers in that violent sector of the opposition. They can think – and this must be noted - that they can cause a detonation with a small specific and violent group; a conflict, a confrontation, in which there are injured or dead, using that small motor to start a greater motor. A type of 'foquistas' of the right. But they are wrong because that type of pyrotechnics will fail like a dud.

 

Source: Axis of Logic

 

July 15, 2012

 

Venezuelanalysis

 

Bahamas Blog International

 

More brilliant moves for the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB)

By Dr Isaac Newton

Since its inception in July 5, 1983, the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB) has used its resources impressively. It has met its obligation in monitoring monetary policy and assisted governments in managing risks.

Without exhausting its possibilities, the ECCB displayed acumen in raising consciousness about fiscal efficiency. By providing qualitative and qualitative tools to facilitate economic forecasting, the Bank’s yearly review of the economic performance of the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) has nudged citizens to think about various approaches to socio-economic development of the sub-region.

Today, the Bank continues to help finance ministers manage debt. It still provides tools for governments to navigate capital markets. And it pilots helpful public education and awareness programs.

In fact, the effectiveness of its community outreach initiatives is credible. Above all, the Bank has protected the international value and kept confidence in the EC Dollar pegged to the US dollar at a parity of EC 2.70.

Despite the ECCB’s direct and indirect investments in the social success of the sub-region, some view it as a refuge that conceals political underdevelopment. Whereas the Bank has advocated for productive investments behind closed doors, one has not yet heard its voice condemning unproductive investments by regional governments with short-term bread and butter needs.

Perhaps it is because the OECS has a high tolerance for quick solutions. What’s even more worrisome is that we haven’t moved beyond our addiction to a culture of dependency, which constitutes the very foundation of our inability to advance ourselves.

At the 72nd meeting of Monetary Council held in February, leaders committed to fresh insights and new pragmatics. These are likely to unlock the financial bowels of our people to produce balanced growth.

As the Bank seeks to help the leaders overcome the shattering changes confronting the union, here are five critical things it can do in these recession times:

• Provide immediate short-term financialhelp to various priority sectors—agriculture, export, and small business to help them circumvent the crisis. The Bank presence should be flexible to the economic growth and political stability of the union.

• Reach out to the talent pool of the diasporas via long-distance or in person consultancies, and invite our brightest and best minds to become more engaged in regional advancement through sweat equity and exchange of intellectual capital.

• Devise a comprehensive model for finding synergy with transnational corporations. Assist governments to see beyond jobs creation to value proposal. Help public official and entrepreneurs exploit sustained industries that can be linked to tourism, research, green energy, and financial services in order to harness national resources, and increase revenue generation along the way.

• Inspire thought leaders and grassroots intelligentsias to delve into the potency of our resources (brilliant people, food feeding land, unexplored medically induced plant life, sun, sea, and natural beauty) to make long-term investments that can create capital.

• Design internships for finance ministers to tease out the best macroeconomic approach to sustainable development of the union, and provide operational frameworks of accountability, transparency and inclusiveness to identify the best talent required to achieve fiscal flexibility and economic goals.

The only way to create new momentum is for the ECCB to take governments and people on a development action plan. This requires a specific process that will induce political will and collective energies, and it will take personal meditation and institutional boldness to lead us to brighter days.

Perhaps the answer to the logic of politics is in harnessing the logic of economics. According to Winston Dookeran, former finance minister of Trinidad and Tobago, power, politics and performance in the Caribbean is about leaders finding durable solutions.

Dookeran argues that Small Island States can take advantage of a knowledge based world, by drawing on effective regionalism, financial structures and inspirational leadership.

I could see the ECCB focusing more on optimal development, on building safer regional alignment, and on executing follow-though success in the twenty-first century. Perhaps this undertaking will instill in each one of us a mind-set to achieve greater things.

July 12, 2012

Caribbeannewsnow

Maurice Smith, the fringe political party - Democratic National Alliance (DNA) spokesman for the Ministry of Financial Services says: ...he agrees with The Bahamas government’s stance to explore the implementation of value added taxes as an alternative means of revenue

DNA: Gov’t Should Implement VATs

By Kendea Smith
The Bahama Journal

Nassau, The Bahamas

Democratic National Alliance (DNA) spokesman for the Ministry of Financial Services Maurice Smith said he agrees with the government’s stance to explore the implementation of value added taxes as an alternative means of revenue.

Recently, Prime Minister Perry Christie said he was preparing to share several recommendations with cabinet on how valued added taxes should be implemented.

Mr. Smith, who spoke to the Journal recently, said this is something that should have been done years ago.

“I think this country needs to go in a different direction in terms of taxes and the value added tax has been tossed about for quite a bit and one of the things I think needs to be done first is [people need to be educated],” he said.

“I think that it would be a good thing for The Bahamas and it has to be regulated properly and it is has to be implemented with the intention that everyone knows what it means and how it is going to affect The Bahamas. I think that is one of the goals of the financial services providers in this country.”

Mr. Smith said he will also look into helping the government disseminate information on value added taxes.

“To the average Bahamian, they know nothing of it and that is why it is up to us to make sure that they do. Too often we have been introducing these aspects to the Bahamian people but not making information easily accessible,” he said.

Prime Minister Christie also recently told reporters that The Bahamas is one of the very few countries that don’t have some form of value added taxes.

“When we look at the revenue of our country, we realise that we are running out of sources for additional revenue and so we are at the maximum of what I think we can get from the Customs duties,” Prime Minister Christie said.

“What we have not been able to do is have an effective collection of real property tax and so we have had some consultants help us determine a pathway to be more effective with collecting real property taxes.”
      
Mr. Christie recently explained that the government would have more revenue to assist the poor if the country implemented value added taxes.

“I indicated that we will have a white paper in short order. I have the basis of the white paper in my hands now. I will present it to my government in short order to look at and then it will be published publically for public comment and for the public to weigh in on the way forward. It is a major shift and if it were to happen, I would want it to happen quickly,” he said.

“A lot of training will be needed in order to implement any kind of change of that kind.”

July 12, 2012

Jones Bahamas

...we examine the experience of Barbados in its transition to value added tax (VAT) ...and look at how we can apply those lessons to The Bahamas ...Finally, we present an argument for why the tax discussion should ultimately be extended to include modest corporate taxes

Value added tax, part 2

CFAL Economic View

Nassau, The Bahamas

Last week we examined the need for a new tax system in The Bahamas and gave an example of how value added tax, or VAT, would be calculated in practice. In this article we examine the experience of Barbados in its transition to VAT and look at how we can apply those lessons to The Bahamas. Finally, we present an argument for why the tax discussion should ultimately be extended to include modest corporate taxes.

In an excellent article recently published in The Tribune titled “Barbados’s Lessons for The Bahamas over VAT”, Dr. Nikolaos Karagiannis of Winston-Salem State University presented a detailed overview of the process that took our southern Caribbean neighbor to its new tax system.

VAT was introduced in Barbados at the beginning of 1997 at a standard rate of 15 percent (it has since been raised to 17.5 percent). Among the reasons cited for its choosing to implement VAT was to reduce the complexity of the country’s indirect tax system and to reduce the high level of duties and taxes on imported goods.

Serious discussions on tax reform began in earnest when Barbados underwent stabilization and structural adjustment under the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in 1991. In order to coordinate the extensive work of implementing a VAT, Barbados established a VAT Implementation Unit (VIU) in 1993. In January 1994, it entered a technical cooperation agreement with the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). Under the agreement, loans were allocated for the design of the VAT system and to bolster the Customs and Excise Department.

When the Owen Arthur administration came to office in 1994, the implementation of VAT was postponed to mid-1996 while research continued on estimating the impact of the tax on revenues, prices and the productive sectors.

The VIU started public relations outreach programs in May 1995, including the release of pamphlets and booklets, targeting four main target audiences: the private sector (retailers, manufacturers, importers and managers); the government sector agencies involved in the administration of the system; members of the general public (consumers) and finally the school system. The VIU presented at workshops, seminars, as well as via television and radio to further educate the public and business community. The major features of the new act were passed by the Barbados House of Assembly in September 1996 with effect on January 1, 1997.

The Bahamian context

Will Bahamians comply with a new and seemingly complicated tax? Many are skeptical that we can effectively get companies and individuals to forward the correct amount of tax to the government when we struggle to collect existing property taxes. As reported numerous times before, our government is owed some $400 million in past due property taxes according to the auditor general; much of that amount will probably never be recovered.

However, the reality may prove to be less problematic: only persons/businesses of the size and capability to adhere to good record-keeping (as measured by annual gross sales) will be included in the VAT system. Around the Caribbean region, this minimum threshold is TT$200,000 in Trinidad and Tobago (approx. US$30,000), JM$144,000 in Jamaica (approx. US$2,000) and BD$80,000 in Barbados (US$40,000). Given the higher average per capital GDP of The Bahamas, one can reasonably anticipate that our exemption threshold will be much higher than the rest of the Caribbean.

The Barbadian government was equally concerned with tax avoidance and evasion. Only those traders who were registered, and who displayed a certificate of registration, were legally authorized to charge VAT on the taxable goods and services they were selling. On the other hand, those traders who were not registered were paying VAT on the goods they were buying, but were not legally authorized to charge VAT on the goods they were selling, thereby squeezing their profits.

No doubt Bahamian business culture will need to be transformed. Compared to Barbados, which already had a strong tax framework and a history of paying taxes, this nation is starting from the opposite spectrum in terms of tax familiarity and compliance. The principle challenge for the business community will be record keeping; many companies will need to hire book-keepers or accountants while upgrading their point of sales or POS systems. Ultimately we will need to force compliance by tying it to the renewal of business licenses, alongside rigorous and impartial execution of the law by the newly created tax authority.

The move forward

As the Bahamian economy is a predominantly services-driven one, the real challenge for our policymakers is to introduce a VAT system that can achieve economic, fiscal, social and developmental objectives, while avoiding any adverse effects on tourism and financial services. As one example, VAT in Barbados was applied at a concessionary rate of 7.5 percent (now 8.75 percent) on accommodation in hotels, inns and guest houses. The government will need to decide very carefully which goods and services would be zero-rated and therefore exempted to make sure that VAT is neither regressive, nor penalizing those who are at the lowest levels of income.

Beyond VAT, how do we get the greatest mileage out of the many tax information exchange agreements, or TIEAs, that our jurisdiction has signed? One of the stated goals of the Bahamian financial services industry is to see companies locate their head and subsidiary offices within our shores.

Would that be an easier sell if we had a tax regime that allowed foreign companies to offset taxes paid in our jurisdiction when repatriating income? For example, Barbados has a number of double taxation agreements, or DTAs, that are extremely favorable for certain types of investors. These agreements promote cross border trade, avoid double taxation and prevent tax evasion.

As a result of its 2000 DTA treaty with China, Barbados has emerged as the leading jurisdiction for offshore wholly foreign owned enterprise (WFOE) holding companies in China. Under existing law, payments of dividends by a WFOE to its foreign owners are free of Chinese withholding tax. Payments of interest to foreign lenders are subject to withholding at 20 percent, typically reduced to 10 percent under applicable tax treaties. However, where a taxpayer qualifies for benefits under the Barbados-China treaty, the tax rates are reduced to five percent for dividends and 10 percent for interest.

The Bahamas should be able to compete in this space with the proper tax structure. The current tax debate is an ideal time to examine the merits of corporate tax as a boost to our competitive advantage in an era where being a zero-tax country is now a liability. This would allow the Bahamas to obtain tax income from foreign companies operating here at modest rates of 1.5 percent to 2.5 percent without increasing their overall tax burden since, by the DTA, the tax would be shared by our treasury and that of the home country.

Even as we move to a new tax system, we stress that the government will still need to be vigilant in controlling its spending and getting its fiscal house in order. This is one reason why the so-called Tea Party in the United States is so adamantly against any form of tax increases, including any overhaul of the tax code which increases efficiency and as a consequence increases collection. Instead, it feels the need to “starve the beast”, as governments’ natural inclination is to spend more than whatever revenue it takes in.

Referring to Barbados one last time, that country has a 17.5 percent VAT, 20 percent to 35 percent personal income taxes, 12.5 percent withholding on income and dividends, 15 percent to 25 percent local corporate taxes and import taxes on vehicles, spirits, tobacco and petroleum products. Nevertheless, they still had a 2010/2011 central government deficit of 8.5 percent of GDP and total government debt over 110 percent of GDP. Clearly, getting the tax policy right is still only one side of the government’s fiscal equation.

CFAL is a sister company of The Nassau Guardian under the AF Holdings Ltd. umbrella. CFAL provides investment management, research, brokerage and pension services. For comments, please contact CFAL at: column@cfal.com

Jul 11, 2012

Value added tax, part 1

thenassauguardian

Bahamas Blog International

Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva to Hugo Chavez: "Your Victory Will be our Victory"

Lula to Chavez: "Your Victory Will be our Victory"


By AVN:

Below is the complete message that Brazilian leader, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, sent to the Sao Paulo Forum in Caracas.

Comrades,

In 1990, when we created the Sao Paulo Forum, none of us thought that in just two decades we would get to be where we are now. At that time, the Left was governing only in Cuba. Today, we govern a large number of countries and even where we are in opposition, parties belonging the Forum are gaining an increasing influence in political and social life.

Progressive governments are changing the face of Latin America. Thanks to them, our continent is developing rapidly, with economic growth, job creation, distribution of wealth and social inclusion. Today, we are an international reference point for a successful alternative to neoliberalism.

Of course, we still have more work to do. Events which have taken place, in Honduras and Paraguay for instance, show why we have to keep struggling, so that democracy prevails in our region. The existence of colonies in our continent, as in the case of the Malvinas, which evidently belong to Argentina, remind us how much we have to fight to maintain national and regional sovereignty and for that we require more Latin American and Caribbean integration.

Our countries are still marked by poverty and inequality. We require more economic growth, social policies and structural reforms to build the developed, fair and fraternal society we long for. In everything that we have done up until now, which is a lot, the Forum and parties of the Forum have played a significant role, which could be even more important if we maintain our main characteristic: unity in the face of adversity.

I would like to say good bye adding that I would really like to be there. Not only to be part of the delegation, the Workers' Party delegation, but also to give a warm embrace to comrade Hugo Chavez. With Chavez's leadership, the venezuelan people has made extraordinary gains. The popular classes have never ever been treated with such respect, love and dignity. Those conquests must be preserved and strengthened.

Chavez, count on me, count on the PT (Brazilian Workers' Party), count on the solidarity and support of each left-wing militant, each democrat and each Latin American. Your victory will be ours. A strong embrace, a fraternal embrace and thanks comrade for everything you have done for Latin America.

Source: AVN

July 09, 2012

Venezuelanalysis

Bahamas Blog International