Honduras temporarily grabs Exxon, Chevron terminals

[donsu]

http://www.boston.com/news/world/latinamerica/articles/2007/01/14/honduras_temporarily_grabs_exxon_chevron_terminals/


Honduras will take temporary control of foreign-owned oil storage terminals as part of a government import program meant to drive down fuel prices, President Manuel Zelaya said late on Saturday.

Zelaya ordered the move after failing to reach a deal with big oil companies Exxon Mobil <XOM.N> and Chevron <CVX.N>, as well as local company DIPPSA, to rent the terminals.

"It is not a nationalization, it's a temporary use of the storage tanks through a lease and payment of a reasonable price," he said.

Honduras produces no crude of its own and no longer has a refinery. Its fuel market, like that of most Central American countries, is dominated by Shell <RDSa.L>, Exxon Mobil and Chevron.

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A congressional commission set up to study the new system has said it could save Honduras -- one of the poorest countries in the Western Hemisphere -- about $66 million a year.
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more power to them

[RB TexLa]

1. And governments do things in a temporary manner

temporary? Right? This is out and out theft.

[donsu]

2. as if the oil company barons are not thieves

nt

[TahitiNut]

3. If they're paying fair compensation, I'd call it National Security.

Since when is having a foreign corporation in total control of a nation's most critical import a 'reasonable' policy? Since entitlements (contracts and title to property) exist solely through the enforcement of the state, it seems there's some balance that might be achieved in regarding the prudent actions of the state in defending national (people, after all) interests.

The history of U.S. military intevention in the affairs of Latin American countries, ALWAYS on the side of corporate interests and against liberal interests in those countries, goes back over a century.