Ecuador Transfers Half Its Gold Reserves To Goldman Sachs In Exchange For ‘Liquidity’

You can’t make this stuff up!

Related info:

THE BLAZE: What Really Happened To The German Gold Housed In The United States? (Video)

Gold_being_melted


Ecuador to Transfer More Than Half its Gold Reserves to Goldman Sachs in Exchange for “Liquidity” (Liberty Blitzkrieg, June 2, 2014):

This is a great example of how the game works. In a world in which every government on earth needs “liquidity” to survive, and the primary goal of every government is and always has been survival (the retention of arbitrary power at all costs), the provider of liquidity is king. So what is liquidity and who provides it?

In the current financial system (post Bretton Woods), the primary engine of global liquidity is the U.S. dollar and dollar based assets generally as a result of  its reserve currency status. Ever since Nixon defaulted on the U.S. dollar’s gold backing in 1971, the creation of this “liquidity” has zero restrictions whatsoever and is merely based on the whims and desires of the central planners in chief, i.e., the Federal Reserve. As the primary creator of the liquidity that every government on earth needs to survive, the Federal Reserve is thus the most powerful player globally in not only economic, but also geopolitical affairs.

The example of the so-called sovereign nation of Ecuador relinquishing its gold reserves to Goldman Sachs for “liquidity” which can be conjured up by the Fed on a whim and at zero cost tells you all you need to know about how the world works (read my post: Why Fiat Money is Immoral).

Now from Bloomberg:

Read moreEcuador Transfers Half Its Gold Reserves To Goldman Sachs In Exchange For ‘Liquidity’

Economic Hitman John Perkins Outraged After Ecuador Government Shuts Down Pachamama Alliance

Flashback:

The Extended Confessions Of Economic Hit Man John Perkins (Video)

Libya: John Perkins: It’s Not About Oil, It’s About Currency and Loans – Rothschilds Finish Off Gaddafi – ‘The Price of Freedom’, Highest Standard of Living in Africa


 

Economic Hitman John Perkins Outraged After Ecuador Government Shuts Down Pachamama Alliance (Waking Times, Dec 5, 2013):

Respected author, public speaker and spokesperson for indigenous rights John Perkins expressed outrage today that the government of Ecuador has violently closed down the rainforest protection activist group, Pachama Alliance, which Perkins helped to create in 1995. Strongly condemning the government’s actions as illegal

“This is an outrage! The Pachamama Alliance organization, that I co-founded in 1995, has been brutally and violently attacked by the Ecuadorian government because of pressure from international oil companies and the corporatocracy. What has been done is blatantly illegal. It must be addressed immediately.” – John Perkins from a Facebook post

Perkins has a unique perspective on the struggle between indigenous people and the international corporate/government siege of the Amazon and it’s land and resources. He personally played a major role in economic takeover of Ecuador, as detailed in his must read novel, Confessions of an Economic Hitman:

Read moreEconomic Hitman John Perkins Outraged After Ecuador Government Shuts Down Pachamama Alliance

Dr. Paul Craig Roberts: Washington Is Driving The World To The Final War

Dr. Paul Craig Roberts was Assistant Secretary of the Treasury during President Reagan’s first term. He was Associate Editor of the Wall Street Journal. He has held numerous academic appointments, including the William E. Simon Chair, Center for Strategic and International Studies, Georgetown University, and Senior Research Fellow, Hoover Institution, Stanford University.

Washington Is Driving The World To The Final War — Paul Craig Roberts (June 28, 2013):

By Dr. Paul Craig Roberts

“V For Vendetta,” a film that portrays evil in a futuristic England as a proxy for the evil that exists today in America, ends with the defeat of evil. But this is a movie in which the hero has super powers. If you have not seen this film, you should watch it. It might wake you up and give you courage. The excerpts below show that, at least among some filmmakers, the desire for liberty still exists.

Whether the desire for liberty exists in America remains to be seen. If Americans can overcome their gullibility, their lifelong brainwashing, their propensity to believe every lie that “their” government tells them, and if Americans can escape the Matrix in which they live, they can reestablish the morality, justice, peace, freedom, and liberty that “their” government has taken from them. It is not impossible for Americans to again stand with uplifted heads. They only have to recognize that “their” government is the enemy of truth, justice, human rights and life itself.

Can mere ordinary Americans triumph over the evil that is “their” government without the aid of a superhero? If ideas are strong enough and Americans can comprehend them, good can prevail over the evil that is concentrated in Washington. What stands between the American people and their comprehension of evil is their gullibility.

If good fails in its battle with Washington’s evil, our future is a boot stamping on the human face forever.

Read moreDr. Paul Craig Roberts: Washington Is Driving The World To The Final War

Airplane Of Bolivian President Denied Passage Over French, Portuguese Airspace Due To Snowden Suspicions

Airplane Of Bolivian President Denied Passage Over French, Portuguese Airspace Due To Snowden Suspicions (ZeroHedge, July 2, 2013):

Moments ago a rather surreal episode of international diplomacy, or rather lack thereof, took place when the airplane of Bolivian President Evo Morales was forced to land in Austria over suspicions that NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden was on board, a claim Bolivian authorities denied. The reason: France and Portugal reportedly refused to allow the flight to cross their airspace due to concerns that Snowden may have been aboard the plane. It is what international law allows countries to deny their airspace to presidents of sovereign countries, when the only transgression is unproven speculation of harboring a whistleblower. Of course, with both insolvent countries bent over and in dire need of some all too precious Uncle Sam liquidity, we can see how they would do anything and everything to gain some favor with Obama.Per RT, David Choquehuanca, the Bolivian Foregin Minister, refuted the idea Snowden was on the plane, saying “we don’t know who invited this lie, but we want to denounce to the international community this injustice with the plane of President Evo Morales.”

Others in South America are also angry, with Ecuador foreign affairs minister Ricardo Patino taking the lead:

Read moreAirplane Of Bolivian President Denied Passage Over French, Portuguese Airspace Due To Snowden Suspicions

Edward Snowden Will Not Be Safe In Ecuador

And there is certainly no safe place left on this planet.


Ed Snowden beware: U.S. State Dept. has confirmed history of running covert abductions of Americans in Ecuador (Natural News, June 24, 2013):

As reported by the Associated Press, Edward Snowden managed to evade U.S. authorities and fly to Ecuador where he is apparently being granted political asylum.

As AP reports:

The former National Security Agency contractor and CIA technician fled Hong Kong and arrived at the Moscow airport, where he planned to spend the night before boarding an Aeroflot flight to Cuba. Ecuador’s Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino said his government received an asylum request from Snowden, and the anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks said it would help him.

What AP doesn’t know — and neither do most Americans — is that the U.S. government has a well-established track record of running covert kidnapping and abduction operations in Ecuador to capture anyone they want.

And the reason I know this is because I am the journalist who used to live in Ecuador and who broke the bombshell story of herbalist Greg Caton being kidnapped by U.S. authorities in Ecuador in 2009. He was then stuffed onto a U.S.-bound jet at the airport in Guayaquil and flown to Miami. That full story is published here on Natural News:

www.naturalnews.com/027750_Greg_Caton_FDA.html

U.S. State Dept. runs abduction operation in Ecuador

What’s fascinating is that at the time, in 2009, nobody believed this story was true. But today, in light of all the revelations that have surfaced about illegal, covert, rogue government groups doing whatever they want, this story on the abduction and kidnapping of a U.S. citizen living in Ecuador sounds astonishingly feasible. In fact, it is true.

As I wrote in 2009, the FDA’s Office of Criminal Investigations (OCI) managed to twist the arm of the State Department to have Greg Caton — an herbalist — added to Interpol’s “red list.” This list is normally reserved for extreme war criminals and international murderers, but because Greg Caton was selling anti-cancer salves made with Amazon rainforest herbs that really do eliminate many types of topical cancers, the U.S. government designated him as an enemy of the state (to protect the lucrative cancer industry, obviously).

Keep in mind that Greg Caton’s activities were not illegal in Ecuador. The U.S. government, however, wanted to destroy this man’s business and cut off the supply of anti-cancer salves to U.S. customers. So they dispatched a covert team of government operatives to Ecuador who proceeded to bribe all the right people to have Caton arrested at gunpoint as he was driving down his own driveway.

Read moreEdward Snowden Will Not Be Safe In Ecuador

Edward Snowden Flees Hong Kong, Arrives In Moscow – WikiLeaks: Snowden Going To Ecuador To Seek Asylum

He obviously doesn’t want to end up like Bradley Manning.


Update: NSA Leaker Seeks Asylum in Ecuador (ABC News, June 23, 2013):

Former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden, who faces espionage charges for disclosing secret U.S. government anti-terrorism programs, has requested asylum in Ecuador, according to the country’s foreign minister.

“The Government of Ecuador has received an asylum request from Edward J. #Snowden,” Ecuadoran Foreign Minister Ricardo Patiño Aroca tweeted today hours after a plane believed to be carrying Snowden landed in Moscow from Hong Kong, where Snowden had been hiding. ??

WikiLeaks: Snowden going to Ecuador to seek asylum (The Seattle Times, June 23, 2013):

MOSCOW — Anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks says a former National Security Agency contractor wanted by the United States for revealing highly classified surveillance programs is going to Ecuador to seek asylum. The group said in a statement Sunday that Edward Snowden is “bound for the Republic of Ecuador via a safe route for the purposes of asylum, and is being escorted by diplomats and legal advisors from WikiLeaks.”

Snowden on the run, seeks asylum in Ecuador (CNN, June 23, 2013)

Edward Snowden, NSA leaker, reportedly lands in Moscow (Washington Post, June 23, 2013)

Ecuador Says NSA Leaker Has Asked For Asylum (NPR, June 23, 2013)

Snowden examined by Ecuadorian embassy doctor at Moscow airport upon arrival – RT source (RT, June 23, 2013):

The plane carrying whistleblower Edward Snowden has landed at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport. The former CIA contractor, who left Hong Kong in a bid to elude US extradition on espionage charges, is on his way to a ‘third country’ via Russia.

RT’s source reported a doctor from the Ecuadorian embassy in Moscow has examined Snowden on his arrival.

Earlier on Sunday, a spokesperson from the Hong Kong government confirmed that Edward Snowden had “legally and voluntarily” left the country.

“Mr. Edward Snowden left Hong Kong today (June 23) on his own accord for a third country through a lawful and normal channel,” said the Hong Kong government in a press release. The statement also said the documents for Snowden’s extradition submitted by Washington “did not fully comply with the legal requirements under Hong Kong law.”

“As the HKSAR Government has yet to have sufficient information to process the request for a provisional warrant of arrest, there is no legal basis to restrict Mr. Snowden from leaving Hong Kong.”

WikiLeaks legal aidWhistleblowing organization WikiLeaks has rallied behind Snowden and said they are assisting him in his bid for political asylum in a “democratic country.” The group announced on Twitter that they helped obtain “travel documents” and ensured his safe exit from Hong Kong. Diplomats and legal advisors from WikiLeaks legal team were also accompanying the NSA leaker on his flight to Moscow, WikiLeaks said in a statement.

Snowden exit: Hong Kong revels in its rule of law (AFP, June 23, 2013)

UPDATE 1-US lawmakers slam Russia for abetting Snowden flight (Reuters, June 23, 2013):

HONG KONG — Hong Kong has risked the threat of US reprisals in allowing Edward Snowden to leave. But its government insists that the rule of law took primacy for a territory that jealously guards its separateness from mainland China.

Ecuador To Sell A Third Of Its Amazon Rainforest To Chinese Oil Companies

And I have no doubt that the Chinese will turn Ecuador’s pristine Amazonian rainforest into ‘China’ in no time:

Flashback:

China Admits Pollution Has Caused ‘Cancer Villages’

Nigeria’s agony dwarfs the Gulf oil spill; The US and Europe totally ignore it:

One report, compiled by WWF UK, the World Conservation Union and representatives from the Nigerian federal government and the Nigerian Conservation Foundation, calculated in 2006 that up to 1.5m tons of oil – 50 times the pollution unleashed in the Exxon Valdez tanker disaster in Alaska – has been spilled in the delta over the past half century. Last year Amnesty calculated that the equivalent of at least 9m barrels of oil was spilled and accused the oil companies of a human rights outrage.



Oil and gas blocks in Ecuador “Oil and Gas Projects in the Western Amazon”

– ??Ecuador To Sell A Third Of Its Amazon Rainforest To Chinese Oil Companies (Business Insider, March 28, 2013):

Ecuador is planning to auction off three million of the country’s 8.1 million hectares of pristine Amazonian rainforest to Chinese oil companies, Jonathan Kaiman of The Guardian reports.

The report comes as oil pollution forced neighboring Peru to declare an environmental state of emergency in its northern Amazon rainforest.Ecuador owed China more than $7 billion — more than a tenth of its GDP — as of last summer.

In 2009 China began loaning Ecuador billions of dollars in exchange for oil shipments. It also helped fund two of the country’s biggest hydroelectric infrastructure projects, and China National Petroleum Corp may soon have a 30 percent stake in a $10 billion oil refinery in Ecuador.

Read moreEcuador To Sell A Third Of Its Amazon Rainforest To Chinese Oil Companies

Ecuador: President Rafael Correa Says CIA May Try To Kill Him Before Elections

Ecuadorian president warns of possible ‘CIA attack’ before elections (RT, Jan 7, 2013):

Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa has said the CIA may try to kill him prior to upcoming elections. Citing reports of a plot to “destabilize the region,” Correa said the threats were “credible,” given the history of US involvement in Latin America.

Correa alluded to reports by Chilean journalist Patricio Mery Bell, who allegedly passed on information to the Ecuadorian government that President Correa’s life was “under threat” by a CIA plot.

“There are many cases of [the CIA] interfering” in Latin American affairs, Correa said during a campaign tour in the coastal province of Guayas. “These are credible [reports] because this has happened before in Latin America.”

Read moreEcuador: President Rafael Correa Says CIA May Try To Kill Him Before Elections

Ecuador Implements ‘World’s First’ Countrywide Facial- And Voice-Recognition System

Surveillance State: Ecuador Implements “World’s First” Countrywide Facial- and Voice-Recognition System (StratRisks, Dec 18, 2012):

The United States is often considered a world leader when it comes to deploying the latest biometric security and surveillance technologies. But it could have an unlikely new competitor: Ecuador.

According to Russian company the Speech Technology Center, the small Latin American country has successfully completed installation of “the world’s first biometric identification platform, at a nation-wide level, that combines voice and face identification capabilities.”

And So It Begins: Ecuador Demands Repatriation Of One Third Of Its Gold Holdings

It Begins: Ecuador Demands Repatriation Of One Third Of Its Gold Holdings (ZeroHedge, Oct 31, 2012):

One week ago, when we reported the news that the Bundesbank had secretly pulled two thirds of its gold from London years ago, we said the following:

… Germany has done nothing wrong! It simply demanded a reclamation of what is rightfully Germany’s to demand.

Read moreAnd So It Begins: Ecuador Demands Repatriation Of One Third Of Its Gold Holdings

Ecuador To File Appeal To ICJ If UK Refuses Assange Safe Passage

Ecuador may file appeal to ICJ if UK refuses Assange safe passage (RT, Aug 17, 2012):

Ecuador has said it may appeal to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) if the UK refuses to grant Julian Assange safe passage out of the country.

Eciadorian presidential staff adviser Alexis Mera said his government would pursue every legal means to bring Assange to Ecuador.

“We are open to discuss with Britain the solution to this problem, and if there is no diplomatic solution, we may resort to the International Court of Justice,” Ecuadorian daily EL Commercio quoted Mera as saying.

“It would be terrible and an attack on all international rights” if British police were to enter the Ecuadorian embassy, he said.

Read moreEcuador To File Appeal To ICJ If UK Refuses Assange Safe Passage

Ecuadoreans Back Rafael Correa’s Decision To Offer Julian Assange Asylum

Ecuadoreans back Rafael Correa’s decision to offer Julian Assange asylum (Guardian, August 16, 2012):

While Ecuador might be surprised by the UK’s reaction over the Ecuadorean embassy situation in London, it is one that is likely to be used politically by president Rafael Correa, who is likely to run for election again next February.

Earlier this year, Correa boycotted the Summit of the Americas, a meeting of heads of state from across the Americas, because of the refusal by the United States and Canada to allow a declaration of support for Argentina’s claim to the Falkland Islands. He called the United Kingdom a colonial power and also suggested imposing sanctions against the country for not wanting to negotiate with Argentina over the islands.

Read moreEcuadoreans Back Rafael Correa’s Decision To Offer Julian Assange Asylum

Assange Ecuador Asylum Request Coverage (Video)

FYI.



YouTube

Description:

06/21/2012

Ecuador is considering the possibility of granting Julian Assange asylum, says President Rafael Correa.

The President of Ecuador, Rafael Correa, has said that his country will have to examine whether Julian Assange’s life is in danger, when deciding whether to grant him asylum.

Kristinn Hrafnsson, friend of Mr Assange, journalist and spokesperson for the WikiLeaks organisation, told the BBC that as far as they were aware, his application was still being considered, and the 40-year-old was “in good spirits”.

It is understood he is preparing to spend a third night in the embassy while inquiries by Ecuadorian diplomats continue.

Powerful Eruptions Occurring At Ecuador’s Tungurahua Volcano

Powerful eruptions occurring at Ecuador volcano (The Raw Story/AFP, Dec. 4, 2011):

QUITO — There was no sign Sunday that eruptions at Ecuador’s Tungurahua volcano would cease any time soon, geologists monitoring the activity said.

Experts with the Geophysical Institute (IG) said that since dawn “powerful roars and explosions sounding like cannon blasts” coming from the volcano could be heard in the area, rattling windows and shaking the ground in nearby towns.

Geologists also reported a columns “with a moderate to high load of ash” rising four kilometers (2.5 miles) above the crater. Ash was reported to have spread to a dozen nearby villages.

On Saturday, and again on Sunday, there were two eruptions in which the volcano spewed gas, ash and red-hot rock, with lava pouring some 1,000 meters (3,300 feet) below the crater.

The 5,029-meter (16,500-foot) volcano is located about 135 kilometers (84 miles) south of the capital Quito. The volcano has been active since 1999 but its thermal activity has steadily increased since November 27.

Read morePowerful Eruptions Occurring At Ecuador’s Tungurahua Volcano

Ecuador: Heavy Storms Cause Deadly Floods

Huge rainfall has caused lethal mudslides and floods in Ecuador, destroying homes and killing at least two people.

Winter storms on Modayhave caused rivers to flood and sent mud to cascading down mountainsides.

The town of Sigchos in the in the Cotopaxi Province has been devastated by the floods, where they have caused the death of two workers, while another is still missing.

11:14AM GMT 16 Feb 2011

Source: The Telegraph

Chevron Fined $8 Billion in Ecuador For Oil Contamination

Update:

Chevron’s dirty fight in Ecuador (Independent)

The giant oil corporation has been fined $8.6bn for an environmental disaster that has been called ‘the Amazon’s Chernobyl’. But guess what? It may end up paying nothing.


Associated Press= QUITO, Ecuador (AP) — An Ecuadorean judge ruled Monday that Chevron Corp. was responsible for oil contamination in a wide swath of Ecuador’s northern jungle. The plaintiffs’ attorney says the company was fined $8 billion.

Chevron confirmed the ruling but not the amount of the fine. The company said in a news release that it would appeal, and called the judge’s decision “illegitimate and unenforceable.”

The high-profile case, fraught with intrigue, corporate espionage and geopolitics, had been winding its way through U.S. and Ecuadorean courts for 17 years.

Read moreChevron Fined $8 Billion in Ecuador For Oil Contamination

Ecuador Becomes 5th Latin American Country to Recognize Palestinian State

Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Bolivia have announced this month that they recognize Palestine as state within 1967 borders.


Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas waves at the Palestinian Presidential compound in the West Bank city of Ramallah, Thursday, Oct. 14, 2010.

Ecuador President Rafael Correa formally recognized Palestine as an independent state on Friday, following its neighboring countries Bolivia, Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay earlier this month, French news agency AFP reported.

According to AFP, Correa signed “the Ecuadoran government’s official recognition of Palestine as a free and independent state with 1967 borders.”

Ecuador’s foreign ministry issued a statement explaining that the country’s decision “vindicates the valid and legitimate desire of the Palestinian people for a free and independent state,” AFP reported.

Read moreEcuador Becomes 5th Latin American Country to Recognize Palestinian State

Failed Washington-Sponsored Ecuadorean Coup Attempt

Failed Washington-Sponsored Ecuadorean Coup Attempt – by Stephen Lendman


Rafael Correa

Post-9/11, Washington sponsored four coup d’etats. Two succeeded – mostly recently in Honduras in 2009 against Manuel Zelaya, and in Haiti in 2004 deposing Jean-Bertrand Aristide. Two others failed – in Venezuela in 2002 against Hugo Chavez, and on September 30 in Ecuador against Rafael Correa – so far. Two by Bush, two by Obama with plenty of time for more mischief before November 2012.

From his record so far, expect it. He continues imperial Iraq and Afghanistan wars and occupations. In addition, Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia, Palestine, Lebanon, North Korea, and other countries are targeted, besides deploying CIA and Special Forces armies into at least 75 countries worldwide for targeted assassinations, drone attacks, and other disruptive missions.

More than ever under Bush and Obama, America rampages globally, Ecuador’s Raphael Correa lucky to survive a plot to oust (or perhaps kill) him. September world headlines explained, including by New York Times writer Simon Romero headlining, “Standoff in Ecuador Ends With Leader’s Rescue,” saying:

“Ecuadorean soldiers stormed a police hospital Thursday night in Quito where President Rafael Correa was held by rebellious elements of the police forces, and rescued him amid an exchange of gunfire….”

Read moreFailed Washington-Sponsored Ecuadorean Coup Attempt

Ecuador: Soldiers Open Fire on Police to Rescue President Correa

Ecuador army frees President Correa from hospital siege


Soldiers opened fire on police to rescue President Correa

Ecuador’s President Rafael Correa has been rescued from a hospital in the capital, Quito, where he had been trapped for several hours in an uprising by disaffected police.

Widespread gunfire was heard as the army moved in to free the president, who was there for treatment after being attacked by police with tear gas.

Mr Correa went on to address supporters outside the presidential palace.

Two people died and dozens were injured in the unrest, officials said.

The president and his supporters said the police revolt over a new law cutting benefits for public servants amounted to an an attempted coup.

Mr Correa, a 47-year-old US-trained economist, took power in 2007 and was elected for a second term in 2009, despite a decision to default on $3.2bn of global bonds causing widespread fiscal problems for the government.
‘Kill the president’

Mr Correa had been holed up in the police hospital, where he was treated after being hit by tear gas in a confrontation.

Hundreds of police, angry over a law that would cut their benefits, appeared to have prevented him from leaving the clinic.

Read moreEcuador: Soldiers Open Fire on Police to Rescue President Correa

FDA gets Interpol to illegally kidnap and deport herbal formulator Greg Caton

interpol

(NaturalNews) The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today stands accused of taking part in the kidnapping and illegal extradition of a permanent resident of Ecuador, in violation of both international law and Ecuadorian law.

Greg Caton, owner and operator of Alpha Omega Labs (www.AltCancer.com), an herbal products company that sells anti-cancer herbal remedies made with Ecuadorian medicinal herbs, was arrested at gunpoint at a road checkpoint in Ecuador, then transported to an Ecuadorian holding facility to await a hearing on December 14, 2009. Caton was expected to be set free by the Ecuadorian judge at that hearing based on the facts of the case which indicated Caton’s permanent residency in Ecuador is legal and valid.

Three days before the hearing could take place, Caton was taken from his holding facility and, with the help of U.S. State Department employees, involuntarily placed on an American Airlines plane headed for Miami. An Ecuadorian judge rushed to the airport in Guayaquil and demanded that Caton be released from the plane, stating that the attempted deportation was illegal, but American Airlines employees reportedly refused to allow Caton to leave the plane, stating that the plane was “U.S. territory” and that Ecuadorian law did not apply there (even though the plane was still on the tarmac in Guayaquil and under the direction of the air traffic control tower there).

The plane then departed Guayaquil and continued its flight to Miami where Greg Caton was held in a federal detention facility to await trial in the U.S.

His crimes? Selling herbal medicine and daring to tell the truth about those medicines on his website.

By the way, you can listen to my exclusive interview with Cathryn Caton, who details these events in a downloadable MP3 audio file. Find the file here: http://www.naturalnews.com/Index-Po…

FDA vs. Greg Caton

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has, for many years, pursued Caton, accusing him of selling “unapproved drugs” — herbal medicines that have never been, and will never be, approved by the FDA to treat anything. He was convicted of these crimes in 2003 and served 33 months in federal prison.

Read moreFDA gets Interpol to illegally kidnap and deport herbal formulator Greg Caton

Latin American leaders agree on new currency, sanction Honduras

crash-dollar


alba-members-are-venezuela-bolivia-cuba-nicaragua-honduras-dominica-saint-vincent-and-antigua-and-barbuda
ALBA members are Venezuela, Bolivia, Cuba, Ecuador, Nicaragua, Honduras, Dominica, Saint Vincent and Antigua and Barbuda

COCHABAMBA, Bolivia — Leftist Latin American leaders have agreed on the creation of a regional currency to scale back on the use of the US dollar as well as economic sanctions against Honduran coup leaders.

Nine countries of ALBA, a leftist bloc conceived by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, met Friday in Bolivia where they vowed to press ahead with a new currency for intra-regional trade to replace the US dollar.

“The document is approved,” said Bolivia’s President Evo Morales, who is hosting the summit.

The new currency, named the Sucre after Jose Antonio de Sucre, who fought for independence from Spain alongside Venezuelan hero Simon Bolivar in the early 19th century, will be rolled out beginning in 2010 in a non-paper form.

That move echoes the European Union’s introduction of the euro precursor, the ECU, an account unit designed to tie down stable exchange rates between member states before the national currencies were scraped.

ALBA’s member states are Venezuela, Bolivia, Cuba, Ecuador, Nicaragua, Honduras, Dominica, Saint Vincent and Antigua and Barbuda.

In a resolution on Honduras, members of the group agreed “to apply economic and commercial sanctions against the regime that came to power as a result of a coup.”

Read moreLatin American leaders agree on new currency, sanction Honduras

Global Economic Crisis Accelerating

Jim Rogers: ‘UK has nothing to sell’ (Financial Times):
“The City of London is finished, the financial centre of the world is moving east.”

Jim Rogers: Obama administration run by people who caused the latest financial problems (BBC News)

The Obama Stimulus Plan Won’t Work (Lew Rockwell)

SERIOUSLY ALARMED (Telegraph):
(Even Mr. Ambrose Evans-Pritchard is now alarmed!)

King paves way to start Bank print presses (Times Online)

Sterling hits 23-year low against dollar (Financial Times)

Geithner pledges ‘dramatic’ action (Financial Times)

Portugal says S&P downgrade due to global crisis (Reuters)

Singapore Economy May Post Biggest Decline on Record (Bloomberg)

Emerging markets face $180 bn investment decline (Business Standard)

French government to pump €6bn into ailing car industry (Guardian)

Japan’s ‘Severe’ Recession May Last Three Years, Yoshikawa Says (Bloomberg)

BHP Billiton to cut 6000 jobs and close mine (Times Online)

Eaton to Cut 5200 Jobs in a 2nd Wave of Reductions (Bloomberg)

Record redundancies push unemployment to 1.92 million (Times Online)

Ecuador to Cut $1.5 Billion in Imports to Defend Use of Dollar (Bloomberg)

Ex-Scots bankers could face Holyrood inquiry (Times Online)

Ireland’s Banks Sink With Decline of ‘Celtic Tiger’ (Bloomberg)

Patrick Rocca, ‘poster boy’ of Ireland’s Celtic Tiger, kills himself (Times Online)

Bankers accused in crisis could face trials in US (Guardian)

Hedge Fund Run by Ex-Car Salesman Is Scam, SEC Says (Bloomberg)

Federal Home Loan Banks may have to borrow from US (Los Angeles Times)

Merrill Clients Pulled $10 Billion in Fourth Quarter (Bloomberg)

Standard Life investors demand compensation after ‘cash’ fund invests in toxic debt (Telegraph)

Toyota Tops GM in Global Car Sales in 2008 (Washington Post)

Citigroup Makes Stock Incentive Awards to Executives (Bloomberg)