US Approves Resumption of Operations in Venezuela For US, European Oil Companies
The United States has allowed US and European oil companies to resume work in Venezuela, Delcy Rodriguez, the vice president of Venezuela, said on Tuesday.
"The Bolivarian government of Venezuela has verified and confirmed the published news that the United States of America has authorized American and European oil companies to negotiate and resume operations in Venezuela," Rodriguez tweeted.
US officials told reporters that if progress is made, there may be an opportunity for US engagement with the government of Nicolás Maduro.
It has also been said that the government of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and the opposition will soon resume a political dialogue and, depending on the results, Washington could adjust its sanction policy in order to increase or decrease pressure.
Earlier, it was reported that the US had decided to resume negotiations with Venezuela amid the strict sanctions imposed on Russian energy suppliers. In March, both sides discussed the possibility of easing oil sanctions against Caracas but failed to make significant progress.
Washington introduced the first package of restrictions against Venezuela in 2015, citing “human rights violations.” The sanctions were extended after the presidential elections that took place in 2019. The US, along with a number of other Western countries, didn’t recognize the reelection of President Nicolás Maduro and endorsed Juan Guaido, head of the opposition-controlled National Assembly, as "interim head of state."
JetBlue makes hostile bid for Spirit. Flight attendants’ union favors Spirit-Frontier merger
Updated May 17, 2022 5:04 PM
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JetBlue made a second unsolicited bid to acquire South Florida-based Spirit Airlines on Monday, May 16, 2022, in an attempt to stop Spirit’s merger with Frontier Airlines. GERMÁN GUERRA EL NUEVO HERALD
JetBlue Airways is not taking no for an answer from Spirit Airlines, now making a hostile tender offer directly to Spirit’s shareholders.
New York-based JetBlue on Monday made its second unsolicited bid to acquire Spirit and thwart its planned merger with rival ultra-low fare carrier Frontier Airlines of Denver. Spirit said in a statement it would review JetBlue’s new offer, which is required by its fiduciary responsibility to shareholders.
Miramar-based Spirit employs 3,400 people in South Florida and is the largest carrier at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport.
JetBlue’s latest move is a hostile attempt to get Spirit’s stockholders to sell their stock for $30 a share in cash (a little more than $3.2 billion), and that would increase to its original offer of $33 a share if Spirit’s management and board cooperates.
The bid comes two weeks after Spirit announced its board rejected JetBlue’s offer and intended to go ahead to combine with Frontier to create the nation’s fifth-largest airline. In February, Spirit and Frontier announced they would merge, seeking to bring their cheap passenger fares from coast to coast.
Spirit has set a June 10 shareholder vote on its merger with Frontier and urged shareholders to approve the deal. JetBlue filed a proxy statement Monday to urge Spirit shareholders to “vote no” against the Spirit-Frontier union, calling the $2.9 billion cash-and-stock deal, “inferior, high risk and low value.”
“Given the Spirit Board of Directors’ complete unwillingness to share the same necessary diligence information that was shared with Frontier, JetBlue is now offering to acquire Spirit for $30 per share in cash through a fully financed tender offer,” JetBlue said in a statement, noting that its offer is a 60% higher premium than Frontier’s. “JetBlue is fully prepared to negotiate in good faith a consensual transaction at $33, subject to receiving necessary diligence.”
The Association of Flight Attendants, a national union which represents flight attendants from Spirit and Frontier, on Tuesday voiced support for the combination and said the union had reached a merger transition agreement with Frontier Holdings. Frontier would be the majority shareholder if the marriage with Spirit is completed.
Pilot and flight attendants’ unions play key roles in the aviation workforce. Airline industry analysts say that union negotiations and merging staffs with their seniority lists are among the most arduous parts of airline mergers and acquisitions.
“We are thrilled to announce our support for the merger of Spirit and Frontier Airlines after reaching a transition agreement that protects flight attendant jobs, assists with the AFA-CWA seniority integration that protects the bidding seniority each flight attendant has accrued prior to the merger, and paves the way for efficient contract bargaining that allows flight attendants to experience the benefits of the merger as soon as possible,” Sara Nelson, the president of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, said in a statement.
Early this month, JetBlue said it also was offering Spirit a $200 million break-up fee, if federal regulators would block its acquisition of the Broward County airline due to antitrust reasons. Ultimately, federal regulators would have to approve any deal Spirit and an airline partner agreed on. That evaluation would take at least 18 to 24 months.
Spirit and Frontier share a similar deep discount business model and have had overlapping executives and investors. Indigo Partners, a private equity group, first owned a controlling share of Spirit from 2006 to 2013, before selling its interest and buying the majority of Frontier. Last year, Indigo took Frontier public, selling shares to investors.
Frontier CEO Barry Biffle was Spirit’s chief marketing officer from 2008 to 2016. The co-founder of Indigo is chairman of Frontier’s board of directors, and some of Spirit’s directors have ties to Indigo. In a letter to Spirit’s shareholders, JetBlue claimed the “longstanding relationships” between Spirit and Indigo are why Spirit won’t engage in talks about a deal with JetBlue.
Airline industry analysts have said Spirit and Frontier have long been likely candidates for a merger, while JetBlue’s original bid in April for Spirit was a surprise.
Spirit’s stock jumped $2.31 a share Monday on takeover speculation, closing at $19.27. Frontier’s stock added $.51, closing at $9.23, while JetBlue shares fell $.61 to $9.45.
This story was originally published May 16, 2022 5:43 PM.
From The Weekly Bulletin of The National Center of The Haitian Apostolate
22 Mai , 2022
REFLECTIONS ON THE READINGS OF THE 6TH SUNDAY OF EASTER - May 22, 2022
Acts 15, 1-2 + 22-29; Psalm 67; Revelations 21, 10-14 + 22-23; John 14, 23-29
Msgr. Pierre André Pierre
From time to time we hear that an old woman or an old man, aware that death is not far away, gives advice to his sons and daughters: “When I am gone, do this or that for your own good and happiness. Jesus' parting words are also addressed to us; they are like a kind of last will and testament. Jesus is telling us that if we want find that elusive true peace that only he can give, we have to love him and the Father, and also love one another. We have to keep listening to the Holy Spirit who reminds us of his works and teachings.
This Sunday announces two great feasts that we shall be celebrating shortly: that of the glorious Ascension of the Lord next Thursday and that of Pentecost in two weeks. Both of these feasts cast tremendous lights on the Mystery of Christ.
First Jesus having laid the foundation of his Church and having performed on Calvary his mission of reconciling us to the Father tells his apostles: “I am going away and will come back to you.” Yes, he can go now for He has equipped the Church with the ability to know and preserve the truth and to dispense his grace. He vested the Apostles with authority telling them: “He who listens to you listens to me.” The glorious feast of the Ascension marks a turning point in the history of Salvation, the day when Jesus turns over his mission to the Apostles and when Peter assumes the power of the keys. “And I will be with you always until the end of time.”
Ten days later, we will celebrate the incredible feast of the Gift that is the feast of Pentecost. Love remains the first commandment…that special love that has its primary source in God himself. It is that supreme power of Love that will be poured out upon all who keep Jesus’ Word. All who receive the gift remain linked between themselves to prepare that day still in the future as described in the second reading of the day when the Church is described as it will be at the end of time. It will be like a Holy City gleaming with the radiance of God and will have at its foundation the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.
Then there will be no sun and no light for The City’s lamp will be the Lamb. These great feasts awaken us to the great future of mankind if only we learn to “Keep the Word” and be faithful members of One Body!Dropping anchor
My aunt called me the other day to urge me to repent, for the world seems to be coming to an end. “The Rapture is upon us,” she said with a tint of apprehension in her voice. With everything going on in the world, “moun domi ak on je fèmen, on je louvri,” she continued. It had been a while since I saw my aunt so worried. She is usually unfazed by the comings and goings of people and things. She is a believer of God whom she thinks is the master of all things. Therefore, all she must do is surrender. Long before the mindfulness craze swept across the Western world, my aunt created her version of dropping anchor which consists of singing hymns, kneeling, and praying steadfastly when difficult situations arise and unleash feelings of anxiety and hopelessness. And there have been quite a few of those senseless situations that uncork overwhelming grief and powerlessness. She likes to think of herself as a mother of eight (5 living, 2 deceased, 1 adopted), a wife, a Christian, a businesswoman, and a die-hard Haitian. I always smile when she says with conviction “lakay se lakay, peyi blan pa peyi w.”
I do agree with my dear aunt that the times we live in are daunting. As we speak, Covid is still a thing, and a new Monkey virus that is usually endemic in West Africa is now spreading to other countries in Europe, the United States, and Canada. When the breaking news are not about the war in Ukraine, they are about hate crime, bigotry, inflation, extreme weather, or celebrities throwing tantrums. I wish there were a lakay I could return to, but unfortunately the lakay I fantasize about no longer exists. Haitians are escaping in droves. I like to think of home/lakay as the vertical time and space I inhabit where the simple things in life are readily available: fresh air, trees, laughter, incandescent sunsets, bike trails, books, coffee, and my old couch. Home is also immaterial. It is the cultural makeup from which stem my longing for true connections and my love of simple pleasures, art, and beauty. I was listening to Paul Beaubrun and Anie Alerte’s interpretation of Ayizan, and I was brought home. In my body. My senses. The Here and the Now. This is all there is.
This reminds me of Derek Walcott’s Love After Love
The time will come
when, with elation,
you will greet yourself arriving
at your own door, in your own mirror,
and each will smile at the other’s welcome,
and say, sit here. Eat.
You will love again the stranger who was your self.
Give wine. Give bread. Give back your heart
to itself, to the stranger who has loved you
all your life, whom you ignored
for another, who knows you by heart.
Take down the love letters from the bookshelf,
the photographs, the desperate notes,
peel your own image from the mirror.
Sit. Feast on your life.
D.W
Pascale Doresca
5/21/2022