Rodriguez sorry to leave OPEC, but helping Venezuela a higher call CARACAS - Only after being heavily pressured by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez was Ali Rodriguez prepared to step down as Secretary General of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and return to Caracas to preside over state-owned oil monopoly Petroleos de Venezuela SA…………. Although the removal of Parra and the previous board is seen as crucial to appease dissident staff, PdVSA's strategy under Rodriguez's presidency won't differ much from Parra's. Rodriguez's mantra also will be to increase government revenues through hefty taxes, reduce operating and labor costs and comply strictly to oil output policy set by his now former colleagues at OPEC.
"The guidelines are set by the government and the company is owned by the government," Rodriguez said. "It's crucial that the role of the state and of the company should be made absolutely clear to everyone. PdVSA should extract, produce and export oil and the ministry should set policy," said Rodriguez, who will become the fifth company president in just over three years. Rodriguez, who's expected to head back to Vienna Tuesday or Wednesday, will begin consultations with ministers on who will be his interim replacement at OPEC headquarters.
Rodriguez suggested that his deputy OPEC's head of research Adnan Shihab-eldin could take over as secretary general for an interim period. "The president has authorized me to keep the Vienna post as long there is no replacement. But it's better to have one as soon as possible and Shihab-eldin could do it," Rodriguez said. OPEC has an extraordinary ministers meeting June 26. Rodriguez has served 16 months of his three-year term of office. OPEC sources said finding a replacement for Rodriguez could prove difficult. The choice of secretary general must be unanimous and has in the past been fraught with political maneuvering.***
Pentagon to Investigate Its Role in Venezuela*** WASHINGTON, April 22 - The Pentagon has ordered a review of its actions during the 48-hour ouster of President Hugo Chávez of Venezuela earlier this month to ensure that American military officials did not encourage a coup, a senior Defense Department official said today. The official stressed that the Pentagon has no evidence, nor even a suspicion, of American involvement in the brief removal of Mr. Chávez by a coalition of Venezuelan business leaders and dissident military officers. But he added that a review has been ordered to ensure no American officers were encouraging or supporting a coup on their own. "We are conducting our own review, just to make sure there were no freelancers here," said the official, who asked not to be identified.***