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Venezuela submits to no one, says Chavez in Libya

French police break down oil strike
Paris (UPI) Oct 22, 2010 - French police, determined to avoid further fuel shortages in the country, broke through barricades Friday to free access to a major French oil terminal. President Nicolas Sarkozy gave the order to end the blockade at the Grandpuits refinery east of Paris, one of 12 refineries affected by the ongoing strikes against the government's planned pension reform. Around 100 riot police moved in overnight Thursday and opened access to Grandpuits. Authorities, per decree, ordered workers to resume refining operations or face criminal prosecution. At least two protesters were hurt, the BBC reports.

One-in-five gas stations in France is still out of fuel, down from 40 percent earlier this week, Environment Minister Jean-Louis Borloo revealed Friday. Grandpuits, operated by French oil giant Total, is critical to the fuel supply of the capital and its airports, observers say. However, fuel will remain scarce over the coming days, government officials have warned. A strike at the Fos-Lavera terminal, France's largest, was in its in its 26th day Friday, with dozens of oil tankers stranded off the French coast. Over the past weeks, several million people took the streets in France to protest the government's pension reform. It's aimed at gradually raising the minimum retirement age from 60 to 62 by 2018 and full retirement from 65 to 67 by 2023. The bill is currently being debated in the Senate. A final vote is expected next week.

Sarkozy, who is battling record-low popularity ratings, vowed to stick to his pension overhaul plans. They are aimed at securing a system as people are getting older and fitter, while there are fewer young people born to pay for the pensions of their parents and grandparents, Sarkozy argues. The nationwide strikes against his plans have paralyzed transport, sparked fuel shortages and disrupted school life. While the large majority of demonstrations were peaceful, some saw youths clashing with police, cars torched and shops looted, with violence continuing in Lyon Thursday. Sarkozy vowed that violent protesters would be dealt with. "They will be stopped, tracked down and punished, in Lyon and anywhere else, with no weakness," Sarkozy was quoted as saying by The New York Times. "Because in our democracy, there are many ways to express yourself. But violence is the most cowardly, the most gratuitous, and that is not acceptable."
by Staff Writers
Tripoli (AFP) Oct 23, 2010
Visiting President Hugo Chavez said Saturday Venezuela would not submit to any outside supervision after warnings from the United States over Caracas's decision to build its first nuclear power plant.

"We will not accept being supervised by anyone," Chavez said in Libya after being awarded an honorary degree at Tripoli's Academy of Higher Education.

The firebrand president said Venezuela's October 15 agreement with Russia to build and operate the Latin American country's first nuclear power station was "a sovereign choice."

"Venezuela is not afraid of American imperialism," he said.

On Tuesday US President Barack Obama backed Venezuela's efforts to develop nuclear power for civilian energy purposes, but also said Caracas had "obligations."

"Our attitude is that Venezuela has rights to peacefully develop nuclear power," he said, adding that as a signatory to the nuclear non-proliferation treaty it must also meet its obligations not to weaponise those systems.

Chavez on Wednesday signed 11 deals with Tehran focused on energy cooperation between the two major oil producers and US foes.

The next day the US State Department said Washington would monitor such cooperation closely.

"We will watch to see if any of these deals amount to anything and if they do, whether they constitute a violation of the (UN) Security Council resolutions and sanctions against Iran," spokesman Philip Crowley said.

Western powers suspect Iran is seeking to manufacture nuclear weapons through its programme of uranium enrichment, a charge Tehran denies.

In Damascus on Thursday, Chavez accused Obama of deliberately sowing "doubt" about Venezuela's nuclear plant deal with Moscow for political ends.

"President Obama has started a war by spreading doubt with his words. He asked that we do not use the plant to produce nuclear arms," he said at a joint news conference in Damascus with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

"Of course we will conform, but Obama has sowed doubt," he said.

Chavez was in Libya on Saturday on an international tour that has already taken him to Belarus, Iran, Russia, Syria and Ukraine. He was due to leave Tripoli later on Saturday for Portugal.

On arrival in Tripoli late on Friday, Chavez went straight into a meeting with ally Moamer Kadhafi at the Libyan leader's Bab al-Azizia residence.

The official Libyan JANA news agency said the pair discussed "reinforcing the complimentarity" between Africa and Latin America.

"We talked for hours," Chavez said on Saturday ahead of a second meeting with Kadhafi.

The Venezuelan leader said the two countries were preparing to sign joint accords in several fields including energy and transport.



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