Exposing a nice face of Iran to the US -- Two thumbs up for John Stewart

Watching the Daily Show and the Colbert Report for you news is not the way to go about getting your daily dose of worldly news.

However, there are quite a few occasions when, the underlying message of their respective shows do carry weight and do indeed shed some light on a greater issue at hand-- albeit, in a cynical and sarcastic way).

Here is one, of the four "special reports" the Daily Show did this week from Iran.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Jason Jones: Behind the Veil - Ayatollah You So
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Jason Jones in Iran

The Daily Show lucked out more than their producers could have ever dreamed. Sending on of the shows "correspondent," Jason Jones to Iran was probably planned in reaction to Colbert's shows last week from Iraq, in order to give both hit shows a "piece of the pie."

Venezuela and Iran seal the deal

Hugo Chavez and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

China_South America: News and Analysis has been following the development of this new "10-year strategic alliance" between Venezuela and Iran. For an old post on this topic click here.

My personally derived conclusion...It is all talk.

Economically speaking Chavez knows the people of Venezuela would be far better off buying tractors (among the many things it needs) from China, Japan or even the United States than they will be from Iran.

Second, both countries are endowed with very healthy supplies of crude oil so there's no need for one another on the energy front.

Politically, Chavez and Ahmadinejad succeed in aggravating the US.

The two, also make a point that developing countries, even ones which make the US mad can and should be allowed to cooperate with one another in achieving sustainable development.

Hugo Chavez and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

The bi-national bank being created with the initial funding of $1.6 billion sounds nice, and might actually help the two considering international lenders are increasingly scared of Venezuela and are banned from doing business with Iran.

However, whether this "10-year strategic alliance" will actually help either country in their path toward development is probably unlikely.

Bloomberg News Wire -- International Relations, G20, Asia, Latin America, Commodoties, Emerging Markets, Equities and the crazy lady in Argentina

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G-20 Shapes New World Order With Lesser Role for U.S., Markets

April 3 (Bloomberg) -- Global leaders took their biggest steps yet toward a new world order that’s less U.S.-centric with a more heavily regulated financial industry and a greater role for international institutions and emerging markets.

At the end of a summit in London, policy makers from the Group of 20 yesterday delivered a regulatory blueprint that French President Nicholas Sarkozy said turned the page on the Anglo-Saxon model of free markets by placing stricter limits on hedge funds and other financiers. The leaders also pledged to triple the resources of the International Monetary Fund and to hand China and other developing economies a greater say in the management of the world economy.

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Emerging-Market Bond Sales Surge to Two-Year High (Update1)

April 3 (Bloomberg) -- Emerging-market governments and companies borrowed more in international bond markets this week than at any time in the past two years as interest costs plunged on optimism the worst of the global recession may be over.

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China GDP Growth May Quicken to 10% by Year End, Nomura Says

April 3 (Bloomberg) -- China’s economy may grow as much as 10 percent by the final quarter of this year as the government’s 4 trillion yuan stimulus package ($585 billion) takes effect, Nomura Holdings Inc. said.

“An investment boom led by the government’s stimulus package and a very low growth rate in the fourth quarter of 2008 may push growth to rebound to around 10 percent” by the fourth quarter of 2009, Sun Mingchun, an economist at Nomura in Hong Kong, said yesterday. The economy grew 6.8 percent in the fourth quarter of 2008.

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Chavez Says Trip to Japan, China for Financing for Oil Projects

April 2 (Bloomberg) -- Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said he’ll seek investment agreements this week during a trip to Japan and China to secure financing for oil projects in the South American country.

Chavez is making stops in Asia and the Middle East to deepen economic ties after a plunge in oil prices forced him to cut government spending last month. He met yesterday with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to inaugurate a joint development bank

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Kirchner Restates Argentina’s Claim to Falklands, AFP Reports

April 3 (Bloomberg) -- Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner reiterated her country’s claim to the Falkland Islands and called on the U.K. to renew talks on their sovereignty, Agence France-Presse rep

... is this woman smoking crack? Didn't Argentina learn that you do not mess with the British, they ruled the friggin world for nearly two centuries.

WHAT ON EARTH DO YOU WANT WITH SOME ISLAND IN THE MIDDLE OF THE ATLANTIC OCEAN, WHERE THE PEOPLE FEEL BRITISH...

Venezuela and Iran meet to discuss joint projects

The higher-ups of Venezuela and Iran's respective governments met in Caracas to go over a handful of planned joint-projects. The meeting was headed by the foreign ministers of Iran and Venezuela, Manouchehr Mottaki and Nicolás Maduro according to this report from the Latin American Herald.




Another issue which was discussed was the potential of the creation of a Venezuelan-Iranian Investment Fund. The ultimate goal of a such would be to promote the exchange of raw material for technology, technology projects, the construction of a cement factory, projects in the energy sphere and the construction of machinery plants which would produce tractor and other auto parts."

Chavez went one step further and explained “I’m going to Iran to continue fortifying relations with Iran, because among other things we’re installing the Iranian-Venezuelan bank."

For a country like Iran this sounds like a pretty sweet deal. After years of relative isolation from the global community and market place Iran has become pretty good at producing a variety of goods domestically. Exchanging the skills Iran developed over the years for economic and technological benefits from Venezuela is a great way to exploit your skills and services that are otherwise unwanted anywhere in the world outside of lawless Iraq.

For Venezuela on the other hand, increasing levels of economic, technological or political cooperation with a country like Iran can yield no net benefit. The world will only further ostracize Venezuela and demonize Hugo Chavez for this.

I feel for the innocent Venezuelans who where simply fun loving, baseball playing, oil exporting Latino's a few years back... Now Venezuelan friends of mine are canceling weddings and family reunions here in New York City because of either

a) their families have suddenly been denied visas or,

b) the new rules which limit the amount of cash Venezuelan's can take out of the country just SLIGHTLY hinder a expensive life event like a wedding.

For Venezuelan's this must hurt, especially considering until a decade ago securing a U.S visa for a Venezuelan was far easier than for a Peruvian, Ecuadorian Mexican or Salvadorian.

Enap, Chile's state oil company declares $958 mil net loss in 2008

Chile's state oil company, Enap, the second largest company in the country after copper giant Codelco (according to this FT article) declared a $958 million net loss in 2008 yesterday.

Enap produces 230,000 barrels of oil per day and 13m cubic meters of fuel a year. The company also has interests in Argentina, Ecuador, Egypt and Iran and . It supplies about 85 per cent of Chile’s fuel needs and exports to Central and South America.

Sadly, Enap is what will go down in history as a classic victim from the volatile markets of the world economy during the global economic crisis of 2008-2009.

Record high commodity prices reached in 2007-2008 forced Enap to purchase a great deal of the crude it refined for use in the domestic economy for around $140 a barrel. When oil prices dropped to $34 a barrel in December, the company was forced sell its refined crude products for the lower market price. In all, this macro swing in the global economy cost the company around $650 million.

Two other factors also contributed to the loss. Drought in northern Chile forced Enap to shut down some hydroelectric plants. Second internal problems in Argentina lead the government to implement subsidies on petrol products, igniting demand in Argentina. When push came to shove and Argentina realized there wasn't enough gas to go around, the country diverted some of its supplies meant for Chile to the domestic economy. Thus forcing Chile in both instances to import energy from new and more expensive sources.

All in all a bad year for Enap in the global economy.

According to this FT article, Enap has pinned its hopes on hydrocarbons exploration in the Magallanes region in the far south of Chile, but the state auditor has raised questions about the viability of the project, and Enap has yet to announce whether it will go ahead.

South-South Cooperation -- Ecuador seeks $280 million credit line from Iran

Ecuador is reaching out to its new buddy, Iran for a credit line of $280 million usd to finance pipeline and other oil-sector related projects according to what Mining and Oil Minister Derlis Palacios told the Dow Jones Newswires yesterday (click here for the article, provided via Rigzone).

Senor Palacios seems confident Ecuador will get the money too. Stating in a telephone interview "We are asking for a credit line of $280 million, especially to invest in our pipelines. We are sure that this money will come."

This is all very intriguing. I must admit Correa has done some good for Ecuador and my opinions on him have personally evolved over the years, and in a positive way. However, messing around with Iran on the heels of months of intense fighting with foreign companies and THEN causing hysteria with the country's bonds will definitely reverberate for years to come in the international community.

Yes, it is true Ecuador probably would probably have a hard time securing a loan from any normal western financial institution and that it has all the right in the world to look elsewhere. I just question the path Correa and the political big whigs in Ecuador think is best for the future of Ecuador.

If the political situation changes and new leadership seeks to pursue a different path, one less antagonistic of the international community perhaps, it will be a hard process of re-affirming confidence after all of it.

However, if the world was fair I think Ecuador should be able to go ask Iran for a loan if it wants. They are in the end both developing countries that could probably benefit from cooperating with one another. Sadly we don't live in a fair world, and considering the degree to which Ecuador is connected to the international financial system, I think it should have thought a bit more carefully about its foreign policy in the last year or so.