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Venezuela as the Success of Defiance |
| Section: CURRENT ISSUES / COMMENTARY |
| Author: Jephraim P. Gundzik |
| Publication:
The World & I Online |
| Issue Date: 1/1/2006 |
| Size: 2,146 Words, 14,988 Characters |
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Defiance has characterized the foreign and domestic policies of the Chavez government since its first days in power. Rather than provoking the collapse of Venezuela's political and economic systems, defiance of convention has greatly strengthened governance and the economy. Venezuela's future looks brighter now than at any other time in the past 25 years.
Defying the culture of over-production
Immediately after taking office as president of Venezuela in 1999, Hugo Chavez began work to shore up international oil prices. At that time, weak production discipline within the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) led to excessive production quota violations, sharply increasing global crude oil supply. The resultant weakness of international oil prices had a strong negative impact on Venezuela's economy.
Chavez appointed Ali Rodriguez, a former communist guerrilla, as head of Venezuela's Ministry of Energy and Mines (now the Ministry of Energy and Petroleum). Immediately, Rodriguez embarked on a tour of OPEC and non-OPEC oil producing countries. Rodriguez was charged with instilling greater production discipline within the cartel and convincing non-OPEC producers to reduce oil production.
In 2000 Chavez repeated Rodriguez's tour of OPEC and non-OPEC oil producing countries, consolidating commitments to restrain oil production. In addition, Chavez invited OPEC leaders to Caracas for a summit, which was held in September 2000. Chavez used this sum...
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...lowed this windfall into a myriad of social programs and socially-related infrastructure investment. Though such policies are anathema to the Washington Consensus, Chavez is proving that another, more socially oriented, way of promoting economic growth is possible. Strong economic growth and improving social indicators are becoming entrenched in Venezuela.
© 2005 United Press International
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Publication Details
(The World & I Online) |
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The World & I Online is a
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Originally published monthly in print as The World & I, our site
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