Venezuela’s populist authoritarian President continues to battle a slumping economy, high inflation and faltering popular approval ratings. With the national oil company (PDVSA) the chief lifeline of his regime, Chavez will literally beg, borrow or steal to keep pumping oil.
Chavez’s nationalization mania took off in earnest in 2007. Last year, facing $40 billion in debt, many properties of foreign oil and service companies were nationalized. This week the Chavez’s continued his war of attrition against foreign operators, commandeering 11 U.S.-owned oil drilling rigs belonging to Helmerich and Payne of Oklahoma.
Chavez promises all will be compensated at market value, hence theft with compensation. One has a feeling the growing line of international claimants for compensation in Venezuela has begun to resemble a visa line outside an American embassy. As for Chavez, he seems to enjoy terrorizing investors just as he favors terrorists in general.
It is also strange that for all Chavez’s many agreements with Belarus, China, Russia, Iran, etc. for joint investments and oil production, he can’t stop going after American and other western companies.
This latest round of legalized plundering comes amidst continued outcry over the regime’s own ineptitude that allowed thousands of tons of food to rot in government warehouses and news filtering out regarding a substantial oil spill in Lake Maracaibo. Overall, Venezuelans are paying the price for Chavez’s throttling of economic freedom.
No wonder, the State Department’s point man on Latin America Arturo Valenzuela called Venezuela the toughest problem for the U.S. in Latin America. Unfortunately, his bosses have yet to devise a serious Venezuela strategy.
Very poor standards of journalism in this article. Hugo Chavez has been popularly elected several times; won a referendum on his presidency and with the aid of the Venezuelan people; retired oil workers and engineering tradespeople overcame an oil lock-out which crippled the country for three months.
Venezuela has been plundered for hundreds of years by colonial powers; and particularly by the U.S. The failed coup attempt in 2002 that was backed by the CIA shows how desperate U.S neo-liberal interests are for that oil
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kindly i want to ask his excellency president Hugo Chavez to grant me the honour by sending me his head cup (berret).
i will be much greatful and honoured and promiss to preserve the berret and leave it for my chidren.
i don't know if this site is the right place to ask his excellency for this request but please redirect me to reach my aim
thank you
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