Monthly Archives: August 2012

Aug
2
2012
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Venezuela’s opposition wants to scrap preferential oil deals

Reuters
August 1, 2012
By Marianna Parraga

Capriles in Anzoategui state Venezuelas opposition wants to scrap preferential oil deals

Courtesy of: Reuters / Carlos Garcia Rawlins

Venezuelan opposition leader Henrique Capriles said on Wednesday he would scrap preferential oil deals with foreign allies if he defeats socialist President Hugo Chavez in an October election to lead the South American OPEC member.

Chavez has sought to boost his influence abroad by offering crude deals to nations in Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean — Venezuela’s state oil company PDVSA was not paid directly for almost half the crude it pumped last year.

In Capriles’ first major speech on his future oil policy, the 40-year-old said stopping Chavez’s deals for crude on credit or in exchange for other goods would save $6.7 billion annually, which would be invested in new social programs.

“To have a friend, you don’t need to buy him,” Capriles said during a campaign stop a few kilometers from the Puerto La Cruz refinery. “From … 2013, not a single free barrel of oil will leave to other countries.”

The youthful former state governor named Belarus, Cuba, Jamaica, Dominican Republic, Uruguay and Argentina as countries that would stop receiving oil on preferential terms.

In 2011, PDVSA — the fiscal motor of Chavez’s socialist policies — was not paid directly for 43 percent of its barrels of crude and oil products, rising from 36.5 percent in 2010 and 32 percent in 2009.

Many of the agreements are criticized by his opponents, especially those signed over the last decade with China, Cuba, Argentina, Uruguay, and the more than a dozen countries that are members of Venezuela’s Petrocaribe supply program.

Chavez — who underwent three operations for cancer over the last year — is seeking re-election for a third term on October 7 to extend his self-styled socialist “revolution” and is spending heavily to beat Capriles.

Most opinion polls give him a double-digit lead.

‘NO LEGAL CHANGES PLANNED’

Capriles is seeking to tap into pent-up frustration among many voters weary of high crime, inefficient public services and high prices. He has been on a months-long “house-by-house tour” through Venezuela meant to win over Chavez supporters and draw a comparison with the recovering president.

Capriles — who frequently cites Norway as an example of a nation that has used its oil wealth properly to diversify the economy — said he planned no legal changes to the oil industry, although there would be more supervision of the activities of public and private companies that are partners of PDVSA.

Chavez ordered the nationalization of dozens of crude projects in 2006 and 2007, but Venezuela has still managed to attract partners from Russia, Vietnam, Belarus and Malaysia to join PDVSA-led projects.

Companies including U.S. major Chevron, Spain’s Repsol and Italy’s ENI have also been drawn by the world’s biggest crude reserves, which are mostly located in the Andean country’s Orinoco Belt.

Oil accounts for more than 90 percent of Venezuela’s exports.

Capriles promised to use the extra resources from stopping preferential deals, plus money from a planned doubling of production between 2013 and 2020, to fund programs such as raising benefits for pensioners, scholarships for mothers of handicapped children, and education.

“Where will all these resources go? Not to tanks, not to a hospital in Nicaragua, not as donations,” Capriles said.

(Writing by Jack Kimball; Editing by Daniel Wallis and M.D. Golan)

To read this article on Reuters, please click here.

 
Aug
1
2012
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Who’s Next Venezuela: Another Potential Successor

Adán Chávez, The President’s Brother

adanchavez0707 Who’s Next Venezuela: Another Potential Successor

Courtesy of: Jesús Contreras

An important influence on his younger brother’s politics and close confidant of the president, many believe that Adán Chávez may be Hugo Chávez’s choice to replace him as president.

Although Hugo receives most of the credit, the elder Adán has already had a considerable impact on the policies and ideology of his brother’s “Bolivarian Revolution.” Trained as a physicist and a former university professor, it was Adán who introduced Hugo to the political thought that has underpinned his government.

Hugo has not mentioned his brother as a possible successor, but Adán would be a logical choice, and one that would follow in the footsteps of Hugo’s mentor Fidel Castro, who passed the reins of communist Cuba to his brother Raúl in 2008 when he became too sick to run the country.

Adan also has the support of the Castros because of his staunch socialist ideology, which is often even further to the left of his brother. But he is seen as an outsider by Venezuela’s military, which continues to wield considerable influence in the country.

Like Elías Jaua, Nicolas Maduro, and Diosdado Cabello, Adán has become more prominent as his brother receded from the spotlight due to his cancer. In fact, as Hugo Chávez quietly recovered in Cuba after his initial surgery in 2011, it was Adán who occupied the political void created by his brother’s absence. But Adán has not demonstrated any presidential ambitions, at least not publically. With statements such as “we have Chávez for the long run” and “our people are telling the President that we are with you forever,” he has both shown support for his brother and attempted to squelch rumors about a plan for succession. He even appeared next to Hugo during his official registration as a candidate in June of 2012.

Adán does have experience in government, both in his current position as the governor of Barinas, and in his brother’s cabinet as the Minister of Education. This could provide for a more stable transition in the event of Chávez’s death, as Governor Chávez could likely readily take charge of the government’s various bureaucracies.

Hugo may, for obvious reasons, want a trusted member of his family to replace him, and in that case Adán is the most likely candidate (he has another brother, Aníbal José, who lacks Adán’s prominence). Although there are none more loyal to the socialist cause than Adán, he lacks the charisma and ability to connect with Venezuela’s people that is one of Hugo’s greatest strengths. Indeed, his public appearances are noted for being especially dry. Perhaps it is unsurprising, then, that polls show he is one of the least popular candidates to replace Hugo.