Posted on 04/19/2002 12:35:29 PM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
LONDON - OPEC's senior executive was close to accepting an offer to head Venezuela's national oil monopoly, a cartel source said - a switch that could make it easier for Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to impose his will on one of Latin America's most professional companies.
Ali Rodriguez, secretary-general of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, has spent the week in Caracas, Venezuela, mulling Chavez's invitation to take the top job at Petroleos de Venezuela SA. Rodriguez had served earlier as energy minister under Chavez, and an OPEC source said there was a 70 percent likelihood that he would accept the president's offer.
Venezuela is the third-largest supplier of oil to the United States and a leading member of OPEC. Petroleos de Venezuela was at the center of a dispute that sparked last week's failed coup against Chavez.
As boss at OPEC, Rodriguez has shared Chavez's interest in trying to keep oil prices high by sharply limiting crude production by the group's 11 member countries. But Jan Stuart, head of research for global energy futures at ABN AMRO in New York, said Rodriguez would be more than just a Chavez puppet if he took the job at PdVSA.
"Rodriguez is respected in Venezuela, with a lot of experience in the oil industry, and cannot be accused of being a stooge," Stuart said.
Chavez's oil policy has yielded mixed results for Venezuela, which in the mid-1990s pumped as much as 40 percent more crude than it was allowed under its OPEC output quota.
As Chavez pushed for PdVSA to reduce its production capacity in the late 1990s, employees at the country's many labor-intensive oil fields started to lose their jobs. Investment in Venezuela, particularly from foreigners, declined, and resentment against Chavez began to grow.
Chavez tried to assert control over PdVSA by appointing supporters to key positions in the company. Many PdVSA managers, who prided themselves on their independence and professionalism, perceived these steps as crude political interference.
The dispute boiled over this month when dissident executives and oil workers protested against PdVSA directors who had been appointed by Chavez. Venezuela's largest business and labor groups called a general strike to support them, and a storm of opposition swept Chavez from office last Friday.
The coup collapsed, and Chavez was back in office by Sunday. Rodriguez immediately flew to Caracas, and Chavez offered him the job of president at PdVSA.
Rodriguez is a genial ex-guerrilla, but he might have trouble fitting in at PdVSA. He'd be seen as a Chavez crony and a supporter of the populist leader's oil policy, said Leo Drollas, chief economist at the Center for Global Energy Studies in London.
"Chavez would like him to be acquiescent," Drollas said.
Chavez wants to transform PdVSA. Analysts said it's too early to know his specific plans, although Stuart suggested Chavez aims to "hollow out" the company and make it a more willing tool for his own political purposes.
Such a prospect would surely make Rodriguez think hard before accepting Chavez's offer.
"If you're going to be a captain on a sinking ship, do you really want to be that captain?" said Stuart.
Rodriguez was expected to return this weekend to Vienna, Austria, where OPEC is headquartered, and consult with the group's oil ministers before announcing his decision. The OPEC source, who spoke from Vienna on condition of anonymity, said Rodriguez was feeling intense pressure, as a Venezuelan and a Chavez loyalist, to accept.
If he does, OPEC may struggle to replace him. All 11 OPEC members must agree on the choice of secretary-general. The group official next in line to succeed Rodriguez is the head of OPEC's research division, Adnan Shihab-Eldin, a Kuwaiti whose candidacy would almost certainly be blocked by Iraq.
The next most likely candidate would be Saudi Arabia's governor to OPEC, Suleiman al-Herbish, the source said. OPEC's board of governors runs the group's administrative affairs, and al-Herbish is effectively a deputy to the powerful Saudi oil minister, Ali Naimi.
Al-Herbish has worked for 40 years in the Saudi oil ministry and holds a master's degree in economics from Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas. He was a leading candidate for the secretary-general's job in 2000, until Iraq fielded its own candidate and the contest erupted into a diplomatic spat.
Rodriguez came forward as a compromise candidate at that time, and took office last January.
(bs-acw)
July 2001- More Cuban trainers in Venezuela***But the former army officer who led a failed coup in 1992 has touched an especially raw nerve by insisting that the reforms in the education sector should be aimed at ensuring the ``irreversibility'' of his revolution. parents and teachers' unions complain that Chávez is not merely fixing problems, but rather trying to establish a Cuba-like system of political indoctrination for young minds. Among the controversial actions:
A new constitution written by Chávez supporters requires all schools to teach ``Bolivarian principles'' ---- a code phrase for Chávez's brand of leftist populism ---- and the pro-Chávez majority in the legislative National Assembly is preparing a bill laying out the exact curriculum. Last month, the president issued Decree 1011, creating a corps of ``itinerant inspectors'' empowered to close schools and fire teachers that don't follow government-set procedures and standards.
``Political commissars,'' Agudo called them. Jaime Manzo, head of the national teachers' union, called it ``a sword hanging over the head of any teacher who refuses to sing Chávez's praises in the classroom.'' Parents' groups and the teachers' union have appealed to the Supreme Court to block the decree and submitted to the assembly an alternate education reform plan that guarantees a ``pluralist education'' and bans ``partisan politics'' from the classroom.
New history texts for fourth- and sixth-graders published in 1999 praised Chávez's coup attempt and branded as ``corrupt oligarchies'' the two parties that ruled Venezuela since the late 1950s, Democratic Action and COPEI. Chávez has also greatly expanded a system of paramilitary classes in public high schools that had long been on the books but were seldom held, portraying them as ``the founding stones of the new Venezuelan man.''
``He is promoting militarism, infecting texts with viruses that foster class hatreds ... and speak against globalization and privatization,'' Raffalli said in an interview. Chávez recently signed a deal with Cuba under which Havana will train Venezuelan teachers and provide educational materials, and Education Minister Hector Navarro last year approved a nationwide essay competition on the life of Argentine-born Cuban revolutionary Ernesto ``Ché'' Guevara.***
Hugo Chavez Is Huge*** Given that the actual coup plotters proved as inept and feckless as anyone since Aleksandr Kerensky, it was easy for the left to take it from there and write, as Paul Krugman did, that "there we were, reminding everyone of the bad old days when any would-be right-wing dictator could count on U.S. backing." With next to nothing to go on, and knowing next to nothing about Hugo Chavez, the left was unleashed to go after Bush as if he were Nixon attempting to overthrow Allende or Ronald Reagan's National Security Council setting Iran-contra in motion. As if made to order, the figure of Otto Reich, a Cuban-born anti-Communist who became undersecretary of state for Latin America as a recess appointment after his nomination was blocked by anti-Communist loathing Sen. Christopher Dodd, now stands as the symbol of what the Bush haters think is their target. Everyone from the loonies at Media Whores Online to Joshua Marshall to Paul Begala smells a rat and the next scandal that this time could bring the administration down.
No doubt it will survive this brouhaha, and maybe even chalk it up to business as usual. But in fact it could have spared itself considerable grief had it not been so busy in the Middle East muddying signals about what its commitments in the War on Terrorism amount to. What seems to have escaped notice is that Hugo Chavez's survival and the huge embarrassment it has caused the administration mark an important setback in this war, particularly to U.S. credibility in dividing the post-9/11 world into those who choose to be with us, and those who risk annihilation if they choose not to be.***
Oh, BS. The left is simultaneously criticizing us for being behind the coup, and for letting it be undone by the Chavez forces.
They want it both ways, when in fact we were not behind the coup, and the coup leaders were not the type of people we would support in any event.
But the Left will highlight the allegation we were. Nice Chavez has withdrawn the controverial board he'd put in at the oil compay and is working to install another controversial person to head it. But he's "sheathed his sword."
The next time, the coup leaders won't pussyfoot around.
B.S.... It's about keeping the price of oil for Iran higher.
There was a sentiment in oil circles there to go for market share (like Russian's strategy), rather than OPEC restricted levels. Rodriguez has been an OPEC hawk, running around the world to demand restrictions, ask Russia to join OPEC, etc.
These restrictions benefit the Arab countries, since more Venez' oil would lower the price of their own, and Venezuela is closer to the U.S.
Castro has been cozying up to Iran over the years. He also provides infrastructure and guidance to Chavez' block committes and goon squads.
Castro may have a new paymaster - Iran - and his obligation is to depress Venezuelan oil production. And Colombian production too, under the guise of helping the poor via "Marxist" terrorist organizations, which are more like warlords.
Chavez relies on Castro's help in creating "popular support", and any "compromise" is negated if he appoints Rodriguez as oil company head - the real demand of Chavez' allies.
Otherwise, why is it so important to put in Rodriguez except to circumvent the plan to increase market share?
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) - Cuban President Fidel Castro ended a three-day visit to Iran Thursday, saying he had found new friends and was optimistic about future relations between the two nations.
Dressed in his usual olive-green military fatigues, which he had swapped for suits during two days of meetings with Iranian officials, Castro received an official farewell at Tehran's Saadabad Palace from President Mohammad Khatami.
``I had friends in Iran, but with this visit I have found new friends,'' Castro said at the farewell ceremony. ``This was a memorable visit for me. ... I leave with optimism about future ties.'' ....
***In Iran, Castro is admired for his 40-year struggle against the United States. Both countries are under U.S. sanctions and, year after year, both appear on Washington's list of countries that sponsor terrorism.
In a joint statement Thursday, the two countries condemned terrorism as well as the sanctions. They also called for establishment of an independent Palestinian state and the return of all Palestinian refugees to their homeland. The statement called for cooperation at the United Nations as well as in the Group of 77 countries and the Non-Aligned Movement. Iran currently heads the G-77, an association of developing countries. They agreed also to continue cooperation in pharmaceuticals and medical training.
Before departing Iran, Castro stopped off at the north Tehran home of the late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, father of the Iranian revolution. He was shown a short film on Khomeini's life and visited his library before heading on to the airport. Earlier in his visit, Castro had laid a wreath at Khomeini's grave.
U.S. sanctions have been in place against Iran since the revolution. Washington severed ties and imposed sanctions after Muslim militants stormed the U.S. embassy in Tehran and held 52 Americans hostage for 444 days.
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Cuba's Castro Says Venezuelan Chavez Speaks for Him *** Hailing the Venezuelan leader's "spirit and enthusiasm", the veteran Cuban president said Chavez would address the U.N. conference in Mexico as president of the Group of 77, which represents more than 130 developing countries. "No other voice could be better than yours to defend the interests of the (Group of) 77. ... You will have the possibility of putting forward the point of view of the progressive people of the world," Castro added.
Chavez, hosting a special 100th edition of his "Hello President" show lasting nearly seven hours, also received calls of congratulation from Guatemalan President Alfonso Portillo and the Dominican Republic's president, Hipolito Mejia. The Cuban leader's public praise for Chavez was certain to infuriate political opponents of the Venezuelan leader and his self-proclaimed "Bolivarian Revolution". ***
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