I was kinda taken aback at the way Petras lashed out at Lula and Vasquez. Seems excessive to me. Not sure where that’s coming from. Lula’s holding up a LOT of sky.

Yeah Lula is between a rock and a hard place (poverty and international monopoly capital) but the only book I’ve read that dealt with him was even harsher…it pretty much branded him a hardcore neoliberal sellout. His balancing act appears somewhat similar to Chavez’ until you consider that ethanol and petroleum are entirely different animals.

My dear fellow, you can’t just say “a book” and c’est fini. What book?

In the Art of War, it is customary to keep your friends close and your enemies closer. I do not see why that should not also be the methodology for the Art of Revolution.

Ethanol from corn and ethanol from a by-product of sugar cane are maybe not an entirely different animal but they’re not the same animal either.

OPEN QUOTE

Bush’s visit to Brazil, which will be reciprocated with a trip by Lula to Camp David at the end of the month, is expected to put the seal on a plan for a gigantic expansion in the world production of ethanol fuel, based on sugarcane, a technology that is clearly dominated by Brazil. Bush’s visit, thus, could be the beginning of a true revolution in the production of renewable biofuel. Biofuel production has been developing for some time in a number of countries, utilizing wood, animal fat, soybeans, corn and other raw materials.

END OF QUOTE

But of course it gets juicier. Voila. The main investor US side is a co-founder of Sun Microsystems. He is expecting Ethanol as a fuel expander to become a commodity and create a Trillion USD in profits over the next 25 years.

The guy who heads the Ethanol in Brazil is a “gentleman” farmer (Big Agro) and he co-chairs the Interamerican Ethanol Commission — with our little friend

Jeb Bush

G. Dubya.‘s Brotha.

Furthermore, OPEN QUOTE

The development of biofuel production is presented by both the businessmen and the politicians involved as the grand solution to profound ecological problems posed by the continued polluting consumption of petroleum. However, as the specialists also warn, the millions upon millions of acres that will be dedicated to the production of biofuel will devastate rural areas, aggravating even more the ecological destruction of the planet.

In addition, as we already indicated above, the massive production of biofuel will increase the cost of food products and deepen hunger and misery on the planet. In the case of Brazil alone, it is estimated that more than 20 million hectares of land will be used to plant sugarcane destined for ethanol production. This will inevitably affect the price of corn, soybeans and other foodstuffs, whose producers will face scarcer areas for cultivation and higher costs. It will likewise raise the cost of feed grain, provoking further increases in the price of meat.

END OF QUOTE

The real problem is this : hyper-developed countries need to reduce their consumption patterns. Caso cerrado. Silly Rabbits. The spigot is the relationship between land use and food security. If the neoliberal economies want to pay a trillion dollars over the next quarter century for ethanol — let them. But the supply should be limited by the demands of local markets — as they support food security for the majority — and the demands of reforestation. Obviously. We would need to make sure that happens.

Were you planning to sleep through the revolution?

No reason why Brazil shouldn’t get a chunk of that trillion. Along with Venezuela and Cuba.

What do you guys think? In the above linked and quoted piece, Brazil’s ex-minister of Agriculture and the Brazil-side Business Momentum behind this deal — using the respective fronts of Bush and Lula — is quoted as saying the following :

“While the past century was marked by food security, bioenergy will be the paradigm of development of this century”

Could that be a misquote? Can he have reason to believe, in Brazil especially — a major colossal victim of IMF austerity measures — that people will just nod their heads and say food security, yes, we achieved that in the past century and now it is time for the next great move on our part.

????

POS.

Maybe his command of Portuguese is approximately equivalent to George’s command of English. Pero. There’s no question. Roberto Rodriguez is clearly an enemy of the people and must be watched. Very closely.

While the past century was marked by food security, bioenergy will be the paradigm of development of this century.

I must admit that one made me blink. What a twat.

While we’re on the subject : what happened to the price of the tortilla in Mexico (or just exactly how much of a PENDEJO is FeCal)?

Straight from the Wikie

The international price of corn had been rising dramatically throughout 2006, leading to the inflation of tortilla prices in the first month of Calderón’s term. Because tortilla is the main food product consumed by the country’s poorest, national concern over the rising prices immediately generated political pressures for Calderón’s administration.

The President opted for using price ceilings for tortillas that protect local producers of corn. This price control came in the form of a Tortilla Price Stabilization Pact between the government and many of the main tortilla producing companies, including Grupo Maseca and Bimbo, to put a price ceiling at $8.50 pesos per kilogram of tortilla. The idea of the agreement is that having these producers ceiling their prices would incentive the market to lower the prices nationally.

The Pact has been heavily criticized by both the right and the left. Critics argue that the Pact was both non-binding and a DE FACTO ACCEPTANCE OF A 30% INCREASE in the price of that product (from $5.95 pesos per kilogram to $8.50 pesos per kilogram).

Many tortillerias ignored the agreement, leading to price increases in well in excess of the $8.50. Government opposition see this as an indication of the failure to protect the economy of poor consumers. In response to this, PROFECO, a consumer protection government organization, has also threatened with jail those tortilla producers who charge “excessive” prices.

However, some major supermarkets such as Soriana, or Comercial Mexicana sell the tortillas at a lower price than the one in the agreement, and even 14% lower than the ORIGINAL price, reaching even $5.10 pesos per kilogram. Which is interpreted by liberals as evidence that price controls, and the Tortilla Price Stabilization Pact, were unnecessary.

Do not miss the last paragraph of above quoted and linked piece.

OPEN QUOTE

In this sense, it should be pointed out that even the Brazilian occupation troops in Haiti appear to be part of the Lula-Bush plan. There are rumors that Brazil could spearhead the creation of bioenergy plants based on sugarcane in that impoverished country.

FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUK

It costs $55 USD to produce a barrel in the US — due to the cost of labor. In Brazil, because hyper-exploitation of the worker is the NORM (thank you IMF) — it only costs $25 USD. Can you imagine what they’re planning in terms of salaries for the Haitian pueblo?

salaries?

I know. How naive of moi. I have been bummed about Brazil’s involvement in the occupation of Haiti. I don’t know how to explain that to myself.