Substantial changes proposed for East Timor鈥檚 Petroleum Fund law will expose the nation鈥檚 finances to high risk and open the door to corruption.
Just a few years ago the fund was widely praised as a model of prudential and sustainable management, and a means of possibly escaping the 鈥渞esource curse鈥 of waste and corruption.
That is all about to change.
East Timor's AMP government, led by Xanana Gusmao, has a bill before parliament that removes most of the prudential controls on the fund.
petroleum
The statement below was released on May 28 by the Australia-Venezuela Solidarity Network. For more information on the AVSN, visit www.venezuelasolidarity.org .
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On May 24, the United States鈥 State Department unilaterally imposed sanctions against Venezuela鈥檚 state-owned oil company, Petroleos de Venezuela, S.A. (PDVSA). The State Department accused PDVSA of undermining the US sanctions against Iran by sending two cargo ships delivering US$50 million worth of reformate 鈥 a gasoline blending component used to improve the quality of gasoline.