UPDATED BRIC MATERIAL (archived here)

Lula after contracts from oil rich Venezuela.
Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva arrives Sunday for a state visit to Venezuela when he will be signing with his counterpart Hugo Chavez a strategic cooperation agreement encompassing several fields.

Condi Desperate to Stop EU-China-Iran Chain Reaction
Her most publicized objective was to sabotage the ongoing European-Iranian negotiations, which, if successful, could lead to Iran being provided firm guarantees of European "nuclear, technological and economic cooperation" as well as firm European "commitments on security issues."

G7 Meets with BRIC and S. Africa for First Time
Finance ministers from the Group of Seven (G7) industrialized nations met Saturday with their counterparts from Brazil, China, India and South Africa to discuss the world economy and ways to boost economic cooperation between the G7 and the four countries.

G7-Brazil says to join G7 by right, not invitation
In the past Brazil lacked the economic and industrial power to make such claims, but it now ranks among the so-called BRIC emerging powers -- Brazil, Russia, China and India.

Russia and China announce strategic partnership in a bid to counter expanding Western military and fiscal influences
Tang Jiaxuan, a member of China's State Council, said Russia and China have similar positions on regional and global issues. Tang said Moscow is Beijing's key ally in its effort to maintain a strategic partnership.

Iran-India Energy Agreement
I often touch upon "energy politics" in my articles because I believe that it will be one of the most significant global dynamics of the upcoming years. Of most significance are the agreements signed and developing relations between the big global powers on this issue.

'Time ripe for India-Russia-China cooperation'
External Affairs Minister K. Natwar Singh Monday renewed his
suggestion for "trilateral economic cooperation" between India, Russia and China, saying the industry could give a direction to the concept.

"The time has come to consider economic cooperation at a trilateral level, instead of the traditional bilateral level between these countries," he said, inaugurating a seminar here.

India And China: Oil-Patch Partners?
It's one of Asia's most intense rivalries. With their fast-growing economies and soaring demand for energy, both India and China have been desperate to lock in long-term oil supplies in recent years. The oil majors of the two nations have spent billions bidding to invest in oil fields in places as far-flung as Angola, Burma, and Russia. "India and China are competing in the same sandbox. It creates a lot of tension," says Gal Luft, executive director of the Institute for the Analysis of
Global Security in Washington.

Putin raises stakes in Asia
When Putin broke the agreement that the Russian oil company Yukos had made with the Chinese to build an oil pipeline from Siberia to Daqing in China's Heilongjiang province, it seemed like a slap in the face of the Chinese. The sense of outrage grew when Russia announced a deal with Japan to route the pipeline to Nakkhoda, a port north of Vladivostok on the Sea of Japan.

This was, however, a masterstroke for Putin. He gained favor with the Japanese, and billions of dollars to help build the pipeline -- dollars that the Chinese had not offered. After the deal with the Japanese was signed, he then pointed out that it would be easy to build a short spur pipeline into China from the new long-distance line. He also promised to triple the delivery of oil by rail to China from 10 million tons a year to 30 million tons.

Putin has also offered to talk about selling the Chinese 20 percent of Yuganskneftgas, which had been the main production unit of Gazprom. Another Russian proposal on the table is to help build a pipeline from Kazakstan's oil fields into China and to share with China access to the Kazaks' Kurmangazy oil field. The Chinese could finish up better off for oil than they had been with the Yukos deal -- and the Japanese are happy too.

Shrewd Japanese financial diplomacy: sidestep Americans and the G7 and focus on emerging BRIC Alliance (Brazil, Russia, India, China)
"Japan cannot ignore the growing influence of the BRICs to the world economy," said Vice Finance Minister for International Affairs Hiroshi Watanabe, Tanigaki's deputy at G-7 meetings, calling for closer tie-ups with the emerging economies as a way of diversifying Japan's economic diplomacy.

Sobering forecast of change in balance of world power
"The likely emergence of China and India, as well as others, as new major global players -- similar to the advent of a united Germany in the 19th century and a powerful US in the early 20th century -- will transform the geopolitical landscape," the CIA report concludes.

Taking lesson from Iraq, Venezuela prepares for military confrontation with America after solving differences with Colombia
According to Venezuelan army Gen. Melvin Lopez Hidalgo, secretary of the National Defense Council, the armed forces (FAN) military doctrine is changing rapidly to prepare for asymmetrical war with America.

VENEZUELA: FROM CURRENT PROXY WARS TO SUPERPOWER CONFRONTATION
Although as a result of globalization, as the social realization of the French and Industrial Revolutions, as Marx (and Engels) already predicted in the Communist Manifesto and in Capital, late economics ... mainly as production by "intellectual labor forces", accompanied by machines and computers, by social labor ... has moved into the realm of the current global, social superstructure, into politics, and vice versa, yet very few of our analyses, our commentaries, have a sound politico-economic or economico-political approach to the current precarious situation of Venezuela in particular, and of the whole globe in general.

India shifts regional geopolitical cards
India's tsunami assistance rendered to its immediate neighbors can
also be viewed as going beyond the humanitarian dimension. "India's
willingness to help Sri Lanka and the Maldives clearly indicates that
New Delhi takes an active interest in the region," Betram
Bastiampillai, former professor of history and political science at
Colombo University, said in an interview. From the geopolitical
front, New Delhi's helping hand also virtually put a stop to possible
challenges from other contenders for power and influence in the
region, such as China and the United States, at a time of crisis.

Venezuela finding its place in the sun ... in the big league playing ball with China
There soon will be a clash between the US and China over oil reserves and Venezuela could be right in the middle of that confrontation.

While all eyes are on Iran and Syria, US action may be in Venezuela with a start of Venezuela-Colombia war from war of words
While all eyes are on possible American actions in Iran and Syria, the real ball game this time is happening in Venezuela-Colombia area.

Good news for Cuba – the Chinese are coming!
Two socialist nations intent upon expanding their productive capacities recently reached agreements for expanding trade relationships and cooperation over a range of mutually beneficial endeavors. Cuba is seeking alternatives to dependency on the capitalist global economy and ways to lessen the impact of the U.S. economic blockade. China fills the bill.

America rethinks Iran and Syria adventure as Putin makes Russia and BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, China) alliance ready for military confrontation
Neo-conservatives in America are eager to move into Syria and Iran to complete their “mission”. Every day that theme is reiterated in conservative American talk radio. The plan was to complete “Iraq” fast and then ask Iraqis to complain about insurgency support from Iran and Syria and then use that logic to enter those two nations.

India president highly assesses results of Putin visit
Indian President Abdul Kalam highly assesses the results of the visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin to India in December last. He said this again at the ceremony of the presentation of credentials by Russia’s new ambassador to India, Vyacheslav Trubnikov, on Tuesday.

Research and Markets: Real Growth Potential in Market for Medical Devices & Equipment in Brazil, Russia, India & China
For years the huge markets of Brazil, Russia, India and China (the BRIC economies) have promised much and delivered little. Ongoing political and economic issues have held them back from realising their true potential in the global market. But is all that set to change. These markets have endless potential, considering that in less than 40 years time, the BRIC economies together could be larger than the G6 in US dollar terms, China could overtake Germany in the next four years, Japan by 2015 and the US by 2039!