Venezuela makes a Communist their dictator

A Communist Power Grab

• Leftist Congress gives their Socialist President the power to pass laws without congressional approval.

The Socialist-Communist majority in the Venezuelan Congress granted President Nicolas Maduro yearlong decree powers on Tuesday that he says are essential to regulate the economy and stamp out corruption but adversaries view as a power grab.

Hundreds of supporters of the ruling Socialist Party cheered outside the National Assembly as the so-called Enabling Law was passed, while a recording of Maduro's late predecessor, Hugo Chavez, singing Venezuela's anthem rang out inside the hall reports Reuters News.

The power to pass laws without congressional approval gives Maduro a political victory in the run-up to December 8 municipal elections, although he still faces a severely distorted economy with embarrassing product shortages and inflation surging to nearly 55 percent.

"I want to thank the majority of patriotic and socialist lawmakers for approving this law that will let us advance, over the next 12 months, in defeating the economic war being waged against our people," Maduro said.

An Attack on Private Property

• The mouth-breathing Leftist masses empty the store shelves of the "evil" capitalists on the orders of their Socialist Dictator.  

Thousands of people have lined up in front of electronics stores and hardware stores that have been forced at gun point by Maduro to empty their inventories at cut-rate prices.

His party is hoping the moves will revive its chances in the upcoming elections for about 370 mayors and city council members.

"Don't leave anything on the shelves," Maduro said when he announced his campaign against what Socialists call "price gouging" and what the rest of the world calls free enterprise.

Maria Davila felt like a winner after emerging from the Traki department store with clothes for herself and her husband, as well as toys for their four children.

Davila spent 14 hours in line to make her purchases after the store reduced prices by up to 70% on merchandise to comply with Maduro's crusade against the country's "parasitical bourgeoisie," reports USA Today.

"It was well worth the wait," Davila, 42, says of her ordeal. "I saved so much money. I feel like I won the lottery."

"The opposition is going to do very well in the largest cities and state capitals,'' says Tarek Yorde, a Caracas-based political consultant. "I think they are going to win up to 25 of the country's 33 largest cities."

"They are destroying the Venezuelan economy,'' opposition leader Henrique Capriles Radonski said during a weekend campaign swing through the eastern state of Sucre. "People are waiting in line outside stores because they know that inventories are drying up."

Venezuela jails 100 "bourgeois" businessmen



Coming soon to the United States of Obama?

"They are barbaric, these capitalist parasites!"

Comrade President Nicolas Maduro

Venezuela's socialist government has arrested more than 100 "bourgeois" businessmen in a crackdown on alleged price-gouging at hundreds of shops and companies since the weekend, President Nicolas Maduro said on Thursday.

"They are barbaric, these capitalist parasites!" Maduro thundered in the latest of his lengthy daily speeches. "We have more than 100 of the bourgeoisie behind bars at the moment."

The successor to the late Hugo Chavez also said his government was preparing a law to limit Venezuelan businesses' profits to between 15 percent and 30 percent.

Officials say "unscrupulous" companies have been hiking prices of electronics and other goods more than 1,000 percent. Critics say failed socialist economic policies and restricted access to foreign currency are behind Venezuela's runaway inflation reports Reuters News.

"Goodyear has to lower its prices even more, 15 percent is not enough, the inspectors have go there straightaway," Maduro said in his evening address, sending officials to check local operations of the U.S.-based tire manufacturer.

Since the weekend, soldiers and inspectors have gone into 1,400 shops, taken over operations at an electronics firm and a battery-making company, and rounded up a handful of looters.

The inspections have shaken Venezuela three weeks before local elections that his opponents are casting as a referendum on the 50-year-old former bus driver. Maduro has made preserving Chavez's legacy the mainstay of his government and has been matching his former mentor's anti-capitalist rhetoric.

"It's time to deepen the offensive, go to the bone in this economic war," he said.

Only a few of the hundreds of shops targeted with surprise inspections had been found to be offering "fair prices," officials say. Some businesses are voluntarily lowering prices - or staying closed - in case the inspectors come.

"We've reduced everything by 10 to 15 percent, but it's not fair. I can't make a profit now," said the owner of one small electronics store, who asked not to be identified.

Socialist Inflation
A $34.99 toaster in the US costs
$175 in Venezuela.

Venezuela's official inflation, 54 percent annually, is the highest in the Americas.

The government has ordered local telecom companies to block various websites showing the bolivar at 10 times the official rate of 6.3 to the greenback on the illegal market.

Prominent pro-opposition columnist Nelson Bocaranda said Maduro's economic policies were "chillingly similar" to those of Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe. The African leader also used security forces to enforce a price crackdown in 2007.

Opposition party Justice First accused the state of hypocrisy, saying its stores were also hiking prices unjustifiably.

An imported sandwich toaster, for example, that costs $34.99 in the United States, was selling at a fivefold markup of 1,100 bolivars ($175 at the official exchange rate) in state supermarket chain Bicentenario, it said.

"This shows the economic chaos Maduro has got us in where prices have no logic. The government created this monster and now tries to pretend it will control it, but Venezuelans cannot be deceived by this electoral show," Justice First said.

Like Chavez on several occasions, Maduro is seeking decree powers from Congress, which granted preliminary approval on Thursday. He says he needs the Enabling Law to fix the economy, but critics accuse Maduro of simply amassing power.

Anti-Communist Demonstrations in April

Demonstrators, one holding a poster of opposition presidential candidate Henrique Capriles, shout slogans against the government and the official election results in the Altamira neighborhood in Caracas, Venezuela, Monday, April 15, 2013. National Guard troops fired tear gas and plastic bullets to disperse demonstrators protesting the official results in Venezuela's disputed presidential election.

An opposition supporter confronts riot police along a highway in the Altamira neighborhood of Caracas, Venezuela, Monday, April 15, 2013. National Guard troops fired tear gas and plastic bullets to disperse students protesting the official results in Venezuela's disputed presidential election.
(AP Photo/Fernando Llano)

Opposition supporters and students run away from tear gas after they clashed with riot police as they tried to block a highway in the Altamira neighborhood in Caracas, Venezuela, Monday, April 15, 2013.

Opposition supporters burn garbage during clashes with riot police in Caracas, Venezuela, Monday, April 15, 2013. National Guard troops dispersed students protesting the official results of Venezuela's disputed presidential election.

Demonstrators, one holding a poster of opposition presidential candidate Henrique Capriles, confront riot police from behind a burning barricade in the Altamira neighborhood in Caracas, Venezuela, Monday, April 15, 2013. National Guard troops fired tear gas and plastic bullets to disperse demonstrators protesting the official results in Venezuela's disputed presidential election.
(AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

See more at the Huffington Post.com

Communists Seize Private Property in Venezuela



Government re-distribution of the wealth just in time for election day.

 

Communism - Stealing Private Property

"This is more like government-sanctioned looting."

Welcome to Communism and Poverty  -  Thousands of Venezuelans lined up outside the country's equivalent of Best Buy, a chain of electronics stores known as Daka, hoping for a bargain after the socialist government forced the company to charge customers "fair" prices.

President Nicolás Maduro ordered a military "occupation" of the company's five stores as he continues the government's crackdown on an "economic war" it says is being waged against the country, with the help of Washington.

Members of Venezuela's National Guard, some of whom carried assault rifles, kept order at the stores as bargain hunters rushed to get inside reports USA Today.

"I want a Sony plasma television for the house," said Amanda Lisboa, 34, a business administrator, who had waited seven hours already outside one Caracas store. "It's going to be so cheap!"

Televisions were the most in-demand item in the line outside one Caracas store, though people waited more than eight hours for fridges, washing machines, sewing machines and other imported appliances.

The Communist Party of Venezuela is a partner of the late Hugo Chavez
and his United Socialist Party of Venezuela

Water and snacks were being sold outside the store by savvy Venezuelans keen to profit from the commotion. Happy customers weaved giant television screens and other items back to their cars through the crowds.

Images circulating online as well as reports by local media appeared to show one Daka store in the country's central city of Valencia being looted.

"I have no love for this government," said Gabriela Campo, 33, a businesswoman, hoping to take home a cut-price television and fridge. "They're doing this for nothing but political reasons, in time for December's elections."

Maduro faces municipal elections on Dec. 8. His popularity has dropped significantly in recent months, with shortages of basic items such as chicken, milk and toilet paper as well as soaring inflation, at 54.3% over the past 12 months.

Economists are expecting a devaluation soon after the election, likely leading to even higher inflation.

The opposition, which has long struggled to gain ground against the country's socialist government, is hoping that the elections will be seen as a referendum against Maduro

"This is more like government-sanctioned looting," said 42-year-old Caracas-based engineer Carlos Rivero. "What stops them going into pharmacies, supermarkets and shopping malls?"

"I have always said, heard, that it would not be strange that there had been
civilization on Mars, but maybe capitalism arrived there, imperialism
arrived and finished off the planet."
Hugo Chavez (2011)

Brazil - Communists riot on Bara da Tijuca Beach

Most Brazilians have a more relaxed view of demonstrations.

Communists try to block development of Brazil's oil

• The anti-oil Communists in Brazil appear to have received their talking points directly from America's anti-oil, pipeline blocking, Dear Leader Obama.
• The Leftists try to take advantage of legitimate concerns of Brazilians over the the degree of foreign ownership of the nation's resources.

Brazilian protesters clashed with police on Rio de Janeiro's beachfront during a multi-billion dollar oil rights auction that was held in a nearby luxury beachfront hotel.

In the last of a series of violent demonstrations fuelled by black-clad "Black Bloc" anarchists to hit Brazil in recent months, stone-hurling protesters overturned the car of one local TV channel and set it ablaze before being dispersed by police that fired rubber bullets and tear gas.

About 300 demonstrators had gathered to protest against the involvement of foreign companies in Brazil's oil production reports the International Business Times.

Somehow I think Brazilians have
more interesting things to think about
than Marxist attacks on "evil" oil.

They were met by some 1,100 security personnel who had been deployed to protect premises of Hotel Windsor, in the upmarket district of Barra de Tijuca, where government official and oil companies' representative were taking part in the auction for Libra, an offshore field that could hold up to 12 billion barrels of oil.

Sunbathers and tourists watched the chaotic scenes, in which several protesters were injured. Demonstrators later moved in central Rio to demonstrate in fort of the headquarters of state-run oil giant Petrobras.

Rights to right to develop the site were won by the sole bidder: a consortium led by Petrobras and backed Shell, Total, two Chinese firms.

Under a recently approved legal framework Petrobras has been designated as the sole operator of new found oil deposits has to hold a minimum 30% stake in oil blocks.

The company added a 10% stake on top of what it was already entitled. The remaining shares were divided between Shell and Total, each accounting for 20% and Chinese firms CNOOC and CNPC with 10% each.

The auction was described as a success by of the government's National Petroleum Agency.

"It is hard to imagine a more successful outcome. These companies are among the world's 10 most valuable in the energy branch," the agency president, Magda Chambriard told the BBC.

Also see RT News - Brazil

Creating Jobs and Wealth
What a contrast of nations.
.
Brazil - President Dilma Rousseff (a former radical leftist) is doing everything in her power to develop oil fields and create jobs and wealth. 
.
USA - Comrade President Obama is doing everything in his power to prevent the development of oil and coal fields and stop the creation of jobs and wealth.

Brazilian Communists line up to take advantage of social unrest.

Commies in their Che Guevara shirts protesting oil.

  

While Communists were protesting in Rio de Janeiro against auction of the drilling rights to one of the world's largest offshore oil discoveries, Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff hailed the auction's outcome, promising that it would bring a "small revolution" for Brazil.

A demonstrator from the group called Black Bloc runs outside the City Hall.

A Brazil's Forca Nacional member fires a rubber bullet from shotgun at activists protesting auctioning off oil deposit drilling rights, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.  'Libra' Atlantic oilfield has brought Brazil's proven oil reserves to 15.3 billion barrels, making country's reserves second-largest in South America after Venezuela.

After all, it is Brazil.
If you are a Leftist loon with a screw loose you can parade around in your Che Guevara shirt demanding a Worker's Paradise or you can head to the beach like normal people do.

Police protecting the beach entrance to the hotel oil gathering.

 

.
Democracy in Brazil
Some food for thought.  The Brazilian Chamber of Deputies consists of 21 political parties representing every possible faction of society.
.
While back in the USA the same two corrupt political parties "magically" win 100% of all elections to Congress.  Call me "crazy" but it looks like we need election reform in the U.S.
.
For more see  Chamber of Deputies (Brazil)

 

Greenwald to publish Snowden leaks on France, Spain

Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff to slammed Obama for spying on her country.

 

Greenwald:

'Brazil should offer Snowden asylum.'

• Greenwald accused Washington and its allies of waging a "war against journalism and the process of transparency."

Brazil-based US reporter Glenn Greenwald said Wednesday he would publish documents from intelligence leaker Edward Snowden focused on France and Spain.

Greenwald, a Rio-based correspondent for Britain's Guardian newspaper, also said that if Brazil wanted more data on alleged US snooping into its affairs it should offer Snowden asylum.

Snowden, a former US spy agency contractor wanted by Washington, is currently at an unknown location in Russia after Moscow granted him temporary asylum reports Agence France-Presse News.

Brazil did not respond to a Snowden request for asylum as he sought refuge following his first explosive disclosures detailing the US government's digital dragnet.

Brazilian lawmakers call for police protection
Lawmakers in Brazil have asked that American journalist Glenn Greenwald and his partner David Miranda receive protection from federal police, due to the importance of their testimony regarding an ongoing investigation of US spying practices.
.
On Tuesday, the Brazilian Senate began an official investigation into allegations that the National Security Agency (NSA) had been surveilling the country and even intercepted personal emails sent by President Dilma Rousseff.
(RT.com/news/Brazil)

Testifying before a Brazilian congressional panel, Greenwald accused Washington and its allies of waging a "war against journalism and the process of transparency."

"I am learning now that the United States is using this surveillance system to punish the journalistic process," said Greenwald, who, without elaborating, added he was working on material relating to France and Spain.

"We are undertaking high-risk journalism. We shall continue doing so until we publish the last document I have," Greenwald told senators investigating allegations that Washington spied on Brasilia.

"I am not holding onto relevant documents nor hiding information. All that I had regarding surveillance against Brazil, and now France -- I am working with French and Spanish newspapers -- I publish. I don't hold onto it," he said in Portuguese.

Greenwald said governments, including Brazil's, appeared to be grateful for the disclosure of alleged US spying on them "but they are not disposed to protect the person who passes on the data."

"If the government wants information it should protect him so he is at liberty to work," Greenwald said.

"He has very limited scope to speak and runs the risk of the United States capturing him."

When he testified before the Brazilian Senate's foreign relations committee in August, Greenwald said he had personally received thousands of documents from Snowden while in Hong Kong with the fugitive.

On Wednesday, as Brazil announced it would host an Internet governance summit next year, Greenwald said: "Every time I found a document I thought ought to be published I immediately started working on it as quickly as possible to inform the public."

He added he was in almost daily contact with Snowden.

The documents released so far appear to show that the US National Security Agency intercepted Brazilian government communications, those of state-run energy giant Petrobras, as well as phone calls and emails of millions of Brazilians.

The disclosures led Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff to slam the United States in an address to the United Nations last month and scrap a planned state visit to Washington.

Citing evidence that even messages from her own office were monitored, Rousseff called the alleged spying a violation of international law.

The row deepened with allegations Sunday that Canada, a very close US ally, also spied on Brazil's energy ministry.

Canada has mining interests in this huge, resource-rich Latin American country.

Obama spies on the terrorist hotbed of Brazil

Brazil - A Terrorist Hotbed?

Obama's National Security Agency has been spying on the telephone and e-mail activity of Brazilian companies and individuals.

Police State  -  Now Dear Leader Comrade Obama has managed to piss off Brazil. 

It appears Obama has targeted Brazil for massive amounts of American spying on phone calls and the Internet.  Is perhaps Brazil some hotbed of terrorism?  No.  But it would be wrong to think our Dear Leader is drunk on power.

Brazil will demand an explanation from the United States over report its citizens' electronic communications have been under surveillance by U.S. spy agencies for at least a decade, foreign minister Antonio Patriota said on Sunday.

Patriota's remarks were in response to a report in the Globo daily newspaper on Sunday saying that the U.S. National Security Agency has been spying the telephone and e-mail activity of Brazilian companies and individuals as part of U.S. espionage activities.


The report cited documents obtained from U.S. fugitive Edward Snowden, a former NSA intelligence contractor reports Reuters News.

Patriota also said his government plans to propose changes to international communications rules administered by the Geneva-based International Telecommunications Union to improve communications secrecy, the statement said. Brazil also plans to present proposals to the United Nations to protect the privacy of electronic communication.

"The Brazilian government is gravely concerned by the news that electronic and telephone communications of Brazilian citizens are the objective of espionage efforts by U.S. intelligence agencies," a foreign ministry statement said.

The Globo report did not say how much traffic was monitored by NSA computers and intelligence officials. But the article pointed out that in the Americas, Brazil was second only to the United States in the number of transmissions intercepted.

Brazil was a priority nation for the NSA communications surveillance alongside China, Russia, Iran and Pakistan, Globo said.

Access to Brazilian communications was obtained through American companies that were partners with Brazilian telecommunications companies.

A Potential Brazilian Terrorist
There is no doubt that that those sneaky Brazilians are planning some horror that
requires our Dear Leader Comrade Obama to spy on them. 

Bolivia offers Snowden asylum - Obama still defends unconstitutional Spying

Obama Insults the President of Bolivia

Our Dear Leader even ordered the Bolivian President's plane to be forced down in a search for Snowden.

Imagine Air Force One being forced to land by some African nation so it could be searched by their police.

Any rational person can see how America looks to the world: 

• Our Dear Leader thinks he can spy on anyone on earth at will.
• Our Dear Leader thinks he can search heads of state at will.
• Our Dear Leader thinks he can drop drone bombs at will killing people anywhere on earth without a vote by Congress. 

And the Democrats and GOP circle the wagons to defend an Imperial, Surveillance State Presidency.

Having been insulted, Bolivia has joined a growing number of Latin American countries offering asylum to NSA leaker Edward Snowden.

Bolivian President Evo Morales said Saturday that Snowden is welcome in his country. He did not say whether he had received a formal petition.

The decision comes after Morales' plane was abruptly rerouted to Vienna last week after being denied permission to fly over France on suspicion Snowden was on board. Morales said he is making the asylum offer as a protest against the U.S. and European nations he blames for the incident reports USA Today.

On Friday, President Daniel Ortega of Nicaragua and President Nicolas Maduro of Venezuela said they were willing to grant asylum to Snowden.

"We have decided to offer humanitarian asylum to the American Edward Snowden to protect him from the persecution being unleashed by the world's most powerful empire,'' Maduro said at the start of a military parade in the Venezuelan capital celebrating the 202nd anniversary of the South American country's declaration of independence.

Maduro has repeatedly said that the fugitive leaker was being unfairly attacked by the U.S. government.

In Nicaragua, Ortega said Friday he was willing to make the same offer as Maduro, "if circumstances allow it." Ortega didn't say what the right circumstances would be during a speech in Managua.

He said the Nicaraguan embassy in Moscow received Snowden's application for asylum and that it is studying the request.

"We have the sovereign right to help a person who felt remorse after finding out how the United States was using technology to spy on the whole world, and especially its European allies," Ortega said.

 

Snowden looks to Venezuela and Bolivia for asylum

"Why is he being pursued? What kind of crime has he committed? Has he launched a missile and killed anyone? Has he planted a bomb and killed anyone? No, he hasn’t."

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro

A world gone mad  -  Who would have thought it possible just 10 years ago?  People fleeing to Russia to escape oppressive Western governments.

NSA leaker Edward Snowden has reportedly sought asylum in 21 countries, aiming to gain protection against US prosecutors. But nine nations have already rejected the whistleblower's requests, leaving him trapped in Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport.
.
According to Wikileaks, Snowden has received outright rejections from four countries: Finland, Brazil, Poland, and India. New Dehli said on Tuesday that it has “no reason” to accede the whistleblower’s request. In his application to Poland, Snowden said that he risks facing the death penalty if he is returned to the US.
.
Spain, Norway, Italy, Ecuador, and Austria have also rejected Snowden’s applications, stating that asylum requests cannot be granted unless the applicant is already inside the country. Italy also stated that Snowden’s application was made via fax, which is not allowed, ITAR-TASS reported, citing a source in the Italian Foreign Ministry reports RT News.

Snowden drops Russia's asylum bid as whistleblower saga continues 

Other nations have yet to respond to Snowden’s asylum requests. Those countries include Bolivia, China, Cuba, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Netherlands, Nicaragua, and Switzerland. Despite Wikileaks' claim that Snowden has, in fact, sought asylum in China, Beijing said on Tuesday that it is not aware of the request. France has also denied receiving a request. 
.
Snowden previously asked for asylum in Russia, but withdrew the request after President Putin urged him to “cease anti-American activity,” the president’s spokesperson said in a statement. Putin has stated that Moscow will not extradite the whistleblower to the US.
.

At a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Brunei, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said he had raised Snowden "from our point of view" despite the affair not being in their domain, Reuters reported.

But it seems the whistleblower shouldn’t give up hope just yet. In an exclusive interview with RT on Tuesday, Bolivian President Evo Morales said that his government had not yet received a request from Snowden, but would consider it once it was received.
.
“Bolivia is ready to give political asylum to people who expose spying activities, so to speak...if we receive a request, we are willing to consider it,” Morales said.
.
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro expressed a similar sentiment, stating that Caracas is also willing to consider an asylum request from Snowden.
.
“This young man must be protected in terms of international and humanitarian law. He has a right to be protected, because he is being pursued be the US. By its president, vice president, and secretary of state. Why is he being pursued? What kind of crime has he committed? Has he launched a missile and killed anyone? Has he planted a bomb and killed anyone? No, he hasn’t. On the contrary, he is doing everything to prevent wars, to prevent any kind of illegal action against the whole world. Venezuela hasn't so far received an asylum request from Snowden - when we get it we are ready to consider it,” Maduro told journalists in Moscow.
.
The US has voided Snowden’s passport, making it impossible to leave the transit zone of Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport. The whistleblower has reportedly filed his asylum applications through a legal representative.

A World Turned Upside Down
In the olden days of the Cold War people would flee from Russia to the U.S. and Western Europe to escape from from Socialism and oppressive Police States.
.
Today people like actor Gérard Depardieu, Julian Assange and Edward Snowden flee from the U.S. and Western Europe to Russia and Leftist nations in order to escape from Western Socialism and oppressive Police States.
.
Snowden's crime?  Daring to tell the public that both Democrats and Republicans are eagerly working together to create and fund an unconstitutional 1984 Police Surveillance State.

Obama Snub - Ecuador to pay for Human Rights training in US

Ed Snowden Alert

Ecuador offers U.S. $23 million a year

for Human Rights education

And God knows we need it considering the Big Brother Surveillance laws passed by Congress.

Ecuador's government thumbed its nose at Washington on Thursday by renouncing U.S. trade benefits and offering to pay for human rights training in America in response to pressure over asylum for former intelligence contractor Edward Snowden.

The angry response threatens a showdown between the two nations over Snowden, and may burnish President Rafael Correa's credentials to be the continent's principal challenger of U.S. power after the death of Venezuelan socialist leader Hugo Chavez.

"Ecuador will not accept pressures or threats from anyone, and it does not traffic in its values or allow them to be subjugated to mercantile interests," government spokesman Fernando Alvarado said at a news conference reports Reuters News.

In a cheeky jab at the U.S. spying program that Snowden unveiled through leaks to the media, the South American nation offered $23 million per year to finance human rights training.

The funding would be destined to help "avoid violations of privacy, torture and other actions that are denigrating to humanity," Alvarado said. He said the amount was the equivalent of what Ecuador gained each year from the trade benefits.

"Ecuador gives up, unilaterally and irrevocably, the said customs benefits," he said.

An influential U.S. Senator on Wednesday said he would seek to end those benefits if Ecuador gave Snowden asylum.

Snowden, 30, is believed to be at Moscow's international airport and seeking safe passage to Ecuador.

The government has not been able to process his asylum request because he is not on Ecuadorean territory, another government official said.

COMBATIVE CORREA

Never shy of taking on the West, the pugnacious Correa last year granted asylum to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to help him avoid extradition from Great Britain to Sweden, where he is wanted for questioning over sexual assault accusations.

The 50-year-old U.S.-trained economist won a landslide re-election in February on generous state spending to improve infrastructure and health services, and his Alianza Pais party holds a majority in the legislature.

Ecuadorean officials said Washington was unfairly using the Andean Trade Promotion and Drug Eradication Act, which provides customs benefits in exchange for efforts to fight the drug trade, as a political weapon.

The program was set to expire at the end of this month.

An OPEC nation of 15 million people, Ecuador exported $5.4 billion worth of oil, $166 million of cut flowers, $122 million of fruits and vegetables and $80 million of tuna to the United States under the Andean trade program in 2012.

Termination of the benefits could hurt the cut flower industry, which has blossomed under the program and employs more than 100,000 workers, many of them women.