Super-Chavez Me!

BRASILIA -- For the past few decades, Venezuela has been South America's main and only significant outpost of socialism and obstacle to free trade. However, with its biggest supporters in the area being only the separatists in neighbouring Colombia and the misled Native American president of Bolivia, Chavez's centrally-planned Venezuela has largely been ignored.

Yet the World Trade Foundation (WTF) regrets to hear that Brazil may soon join its ranks. The country's president, Luis Inacio Lula Da Silva, has revealed plans for the government to take a larger stake in Brazil's oil resources. Under the new regulations, Brazil's national oil firm, Petrobras, would automatically be entitled to a 30% stake in all ventures into Brazil's oil resources. Additionally, it would be the sole operator in all such ventures.

President Da Silva claims the additional revenue would be used towards helping fight poverty and towards promoting development in the country. This is an unfair distribution of wealth, as foreign oil venturers with more money should be fully entitled to Brazil's resources, no matter what the underlying excuse may be.

Noting the obvious impediment to its primary pillar, free trade, the WTF has already issued calls for restraint and reconsideration. However, it is evident that Da Silva is following the greed and egotism of his Venezuelan counterpart, Chavez, and the WTF may have to resort to adding Brazil to its list of outposts of socialism and obstacles to free trade.

Related reading: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8230774.stm