Chávez + Cornyn

choi

(1) Jose de Cordoba, China-Oil Deal Gives Chávez a Leg Up; Venezuela's leader uses massive loans from Beijing to fund popular programs. Wall Street Journal, Nov 9, 2011.

Quote:

"Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez has a potent weapon in his tough 2012 re-election campaign against a united opposition: a multibillion dollar oil-for-credit deal with China.

"Beginning in 2007, Venezuela signed a series of overlapping deals in which China agreed to lend the Andean nation up to $32 billion at low interest rates in exchange for a steady supply of future oil shipments, according to Venezuelan government documents reviewed by The Wall Street Journal.

"It has been widely known that Mr Chávez had an oil-for-loans arrangement with China. But neither government has disclosed the details. Moreover, many Venezuela opposition members believed China got a sweetheart deal. But the documents show that China appears to be paying roughly market prices for the oil.

My comment:
(a) That leads to the conclusion that the transactions "gives Mr Chávez a source of funds that he can use to fund politically popular programs and onethatis feree from oversight, says his political opponents"--thus giving him a leg up in the 2012 election.
(b) There is no need to read the rest of the report.

(2) Jen Dimascio, Power Play; Bill to force F-16 sale to Taiwan could set a precedent in global market. Aviation Week, Oct 24, 2011 (title in print)
http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/j ... 2011_p97-383149.xml
("And an initial defeat in the Senate by a 48-48 vote won’t deter [Senator John] Cornyn [R-Texas] from pressing ahead with his quest to force the hand of the executive branch. 'We’re not going to give that up,' he says")

Note: The print edition has "48-51 vote," which my web research showed was incorrect.