[Marxism] More on Imperial Brazil and Petrobras

[Carlos Petroni <cepetroni@xxxxxxxxx>]

  When we started to denounce the imperial thrust of the Brazilian bourgeoisie 
? which had been pretty well served by the Lula and Collor governments ? we 
used as one of the examples Petrobrás (just one of them).  Then some fictional 
argument developed saying that ?really Petrobras was not Brazilian? but it was 
an enterprise ?with minoritarian participation of the Brazilian government.?  
Same argument arose when talking about pure financial capital and some argued 
that Brazilian financial capital was ?no significant? in the world of financial 
domination and export.
   
  The latter argument was put to rest when it was disclosed that Brazilian 
capital dominates the internal financial markets ? the most powerful of Latin  
America and one of the 10 highest profit markets in the world ? through state 
and ?national? banks. Moreover, Brazilian financial capital is the largest 
exporter of capital in the MERCOSUR, rapidly expanding in other areas of the 
world.
   
  Returning to the question of Petrobras for a moment, we should stress that 
the political ?squeezing? of Bolivia, where Petrobras is the largest operator 
in the gas-oil industry (as it is in several other countries) is not a unique 
situation as Petrobras is now partnering with Venezuela in the exploitation of 
reserves in the Orinoco, operating in Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay and a dozen 
other countries as well as pressuring Mexico and some African countries to 
reach deals for exploration and extraction as well as refining and 
commercialization.
   
  Furthermore, the myth that Petrobras was ?under the finger? of foreign 
capital is just that, a myth. Evidence:
   
  The Brazilian government, through its Federal Government and BNDES (Banco de 
Desarrollo Economico y Social 100% owned by the Brazilian government) controls 
57.6% of the common shares of Petrobras, 30% of the preferred shares (15% 
through BNDES) 44% of the capital stock (40.8% thorough the Federal Government 
and BNDES) an possibly more, and the Brazilian government presides over every 
vote through absolute and undisputed majority as most other investors, 
foreigners and some of the partly owned by foreigners investment firms) are 
non-voting shares.
   
  Some of this info could be found at:
  
http://www2.petrobras.com.br/portal/ingles/frame_ri.asp?pagina=/ri/ing/InformacoesAcionistas/ComposicaoCapitalSocial.asp
   
  For those interested in the banking side of the story, just go to Google and 
make a search for the 500 top banking operations in Brazil.
   
  

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