Switch to euro may lead to global insecurity

malaysiakini.comYamin Zakaria 5:51pm Wed Jun 18th, 2003

The recent move by the Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez to replace the US dollar with the euro has generated as much anger as when former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein chose to exchange oil for the Euro last November, thereby sealing his fate.

Current resentment is caused by Venezuela’s decision to barter its oil with thirteen other Latin American countries, denting the ongoing ‘Dollarisation’ of South America.

Unlike Iraq, Venezuela cannot be invaded, as the political pretext would require time to build up. Instead, CIA has been engaged in various covert operations including the recent failed military-led coup in April last year.

As the US dollar has already been devaluing against the euro, other significant countries like Russia, China, North Korea, Malaysia have started to hold euro as part of their foreign exchange reserves.

Under such climate, a move by the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) to switch to the euro would cause massive devaluation, and consequently initiate a domino effect.

Other wealthy rich Arab businesses would follow, and push other investors to do the same, leading to the unthinkable - a run on the dollar. The US cannot afford further devaluation due to its massive budget deficit. More significantly, this would incapacitate her ability to wage further illegal wars (state-sponsored terrorism) around the world.

Therefore, we can expect a prolonged US occupation of Iraq under various pretexts until the oil revenues are switched back to the dollar - preferably by taking it out of Opec. So no surprise over the ‘absence’ of Iraq at the recent Opec meeting.

Iran is also contemplating switching to the euro and is, naturally, receiving covert threats. We may witness future ‘liberation’ wars and destabilisation, leading to the dismantling of the Opec cartel - not in the name democracy or freedom but to maintain the dollar as a global transaction currency.