Today the direct, straight lie, like Chavez feeling offended by having MCM calling him a “thief”, which he is, comes from the Minister of Energy and Oil, Rafael Ramirez:
With a straight face, only a Bible missing from the scene, Ramirez tells us:
“In the new projects of PDVSA with foreign companies, in none of them we will never establish that we will renounce our sovereignty. International arbitration does not exist in any of these new projects”
Funny, that he only mentions “companies”, because when it comes to countries, Chavez and Ramirez seem to have no problem in selling the heart, the soul and that same sovereignty of the country, as shown by the Devil himself a while back.
Indeed, in the contract between Bandes, the Chinese Oil Company, PDVSA (yes, the company Ramirez happens to be President of) and the China Development Bank whereby China lends Venezuela a gizillion dollars, guaranteed by barrels of oil sent by PDVSA. (Ramirez does not sign the contract, Asdrubal Chavez does it)
In page 6, it clearly states in point 10:
“10.
DISPUTE RESOLUTION
All disputes, controversies or claims arising out of or in relation to this Agreement,including the validity, invalidity, breach or termination thereof, shall be settled exclusively by arbitration in accordance with the UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules (“Rules”) in effect atthe time of the arbitration, except as such Rules may be modified herein or by mutualagreement of the parties:
10.1.1
the arbitration shall be administered by the Singapore International ArbitrationCentre (“SIAC”) in accordance with its practice rules and regulations;
10.1.2
the place of arbitration shall be Singapore;
10.1.3
the language of the arbitration shall be English;
10.1.4
the number of arbitrators shall be three (3) to be appointed as follows;
(A)
the claimant shall appoint one (1) arbitrator in the request for arbitration.If there is more than one (1) claimant, all claimants shall jointly appointone (1) arbitrator in their request for arbitration. If they cannot agree ontheir choice of arbitrator, any claimant may request the SIAC in writingto appoint the arbitrator for them and the SIAC shall appoint thearbitrator for them as soon as practicable following receipt of suchrequest;(B)
the respondent shall appoint one (1) arbitrator within thirty (30) days following the service of the request for arbitration upon the respondent.If there is more than one respondent, all respondents shall jointly appoint one (1) arbitrator within thirty (30) days following the service of the request for arbitration upon the respondents. If at the end of the 30-day period the second arbitrator has not been appointed, the Chairman or Deputy Chairman of the SIAC shall appoint the second arbitrator as soon as practicable.
10.1.5
the two (2) arbitrators thus appointed shall choose the third arbitrator who will act
as the presiding arbitrator of the tribunal. If within thirty (30) days of theappointment of the second arbitrator, the two (2) appointed arbitrators fail toappoint the presiding arbitrator, the Chairman or Deputy Chairman of the SIACshall appoint the presiding arbitrator.10.1.6
the arbitral award shall be in writing and shall be final and binding on the Parties.The award may include an award of costs, including reasonable attorney’s feesand disbursements. Judgment upon the award may be entered by any court having jurisdiction thereof or having jurisdiction over party against which the award is entered or its assets;
10.1.7
during arbitration, all the Parties shall continue to fulfill their respectiveobligations under this Agreement and the other Transaction Documents; and
10.1.8
the Parties agree to waive, for purposes of arbitration pursuant to this Clause 10(Dispute Resolution), any right of application to determine a preliminary point of law or appeal to any court of law on a point of law which may be available to it under any applicable law.
So much for “sovereignty”, so much for “never again”, it is the usual gray line, these guys give away sovereignty, the Republic and whatever is needed for their political means, whenever it is needed. They are cynics, they are liars and they do it all with a straight face.
Or, is Singapore in Venezuela? Not that I know of.
That is how cynical and liars these guys are. Just like their boss.
The Devil's Excrement 