Rafael Ramirez said no Iraqi official would be allowed to attend any OPEC meeting until an "internationally recognized" government is in place. "They can't attend the OPEC meeting," he said. "Perhaps some Arab states might meet with them informally." Venezuela is the world's No. 5 oil producer. President Hugo Chavez's government condemned the U.S. invasion against Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.
"There will be no official contact between Venezuela and Iraq," Ramirez said. Representatives from OPEC nations were to discuss global oil markets at the Vienna meeting and consider possible adjustments to current production levels of 25.4 million barrels per day. Ramirez said that world oil supply and demand are balanced. "We are in equilibrium," he said. [End]
He or she must also have a fair sense of what is wrong with Venezuela beyond the current squabble. Ever since oil was discovered in the early part of the 20th century, Venezuelan military leaders and democratic politicians have promised citizens a socialist caretaker state without ever promoting individual enterprise or broad public participation in governance.
Former President Carter, who often found good things to say about some of the world's worst dictators, is not be the best person to sniff out the truth. His own willingness to excuse leftist governments that try to guarantee citizens economic privileges in place of political rights may also blind him to the wreckage that populism has left in this oil-rich but poverty-stricken nation.***