May 19, 2005
Jens Erik Gould Daily Journal Staff This is part of a series of re-published articles I wrote in 2005 for the Daily Journal in Caracas. Rene Arreaza, director of the space commission, said Wednesday that Venezuela will put a satellite in orbit with the help of China. The satellite, which Arreaza hopes to launch within 2 to 3 years, will provide telecommunications technology, help integrate the nation's communications network, and could give advance warning of natural disasters, reported AP. "After studying other alternatives with Russia, Ukraine, France, India, Argentina and Brazil, we concluded that China is the best option-not necessarily commercial, but in terms of human resources training and the effective transfer of technology," said Arreaza. The Chinese embassy also donated basic necessities to residents of the El Onoto neighborhood and to seniors at the Dr. JoaquÌn Quintero Quintero geriatric clinic in Caricuao, the Bolivarian News Agency (ABN) reported. Donated items included chairs, sowing machines, beds and stoves. 43 residents of El Onoto and 335 seniors received the aid. The initiative was sparked by a recent trip to El Onoto by William Izarra, the foreign ministry's deputy for Asia and the Middle East and Zhan Bolun, the second political secretary for the Chinese embassy in Venezuela. Izarra said that Venezuela had also helped Asia after the recent tsunami. He added that President Hugo Chavez would soon launch a project called "A Bolivar for Asia," which would aid Sri Lanka and Indonesia. "For us, Asia is the region where strategic links for an multi-polar world alliance can be established," said Izarra.
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This is part of a series of re-published articles I wrote in 2005 for the Daily Journal in Caracas.
By Jens Erik Gould Daily Journal May 17, 2005 Tuesday was to be the day that Rafael Ramirez appeared before the National Assembly (NA). But he was a no-show. Instead, Rodrigo Cabezas, president of the special AN commission on Operating Agreements, proposed on Tuesday that Ramirez, president of Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) and Minister of Energy and Oil, be questioned in a special parliamentary session next Wednesday, May 25. He asked deputies to meet on May 24 to set the agenda of the special session with Ramirez, Union Radio reported. Alberto Quiros Corradi, a former president of Shell-Venezuela and oil industry consultant, told The Daily Journal in a telephone interview that it was up to Ramirez to report PDVSA's current production "because he has the information." "He hasn't given any explanation about any of the things that are being reported everywhere," said Quiros Corradi. "It appears to me that he didn't want to inform about what is going on." Opposition deputies have repeatedly called on Ramirez to appear before the AN to address the current situation at PDVSA, which has been accused of irregularities and corruption. According to AN President Nichol·s Maduro, Ramirez did not appear at the AN Tuesday because Cabezas called him to a Special Commission to investigate accusations of fraud in the signing of the 32 oil operating agreements in the 1990s. The head of the comptroller committee at the Assembly, Deputy Cesar Rincones of Accion Democr·tica objected to what he called giving "preference" to the investigation of transnational companies while postponing the investigation of present irregularities at PDVSA, Union Radio reported. Rincones demanded Tuesday that Ramirez appear at the AN to clarify the orders he has given as president of PDVSA, and also reveal the company's daily expenses. Rincones added that it was a "Venezuelan right" to know the status of the state oil company. Rincones also said that some deputies might not endorse the interpellation of the PDVSA president because they could be implicated in the oil companies' irregularities. "The interests go beyond the [Energy and Oil] ministry. The interests go beyond the functionaries at PDVSA," said Rincones. "Here there are other public powers that participate in measures of corruption. We are continuing the investigations in that direction." Rincones did not reveal any deputies' names, saying he was still in the "investigation phase," reported Union Radio. Oil expert Humberto CalderÛn Berti assured on Tuesday that oil production had fallen by a greater amount than Ramirez has claimed, reported Union Radio. QuirÛs Corradi said that the International Energy Agency and external observers have estimated production at between 2.5 and 2.6 million barrels per day (bpd). President Ch·vez has said production is at 3.1 bpd. The most recent allegation against PDVSA came on Monday when Julio Montoya, Vice President of the AN's Energy and Mines Commission, presented documents at the District Attorney's office in Zulia State which supposedly detailed irregularities at PDVSA. "The L.A. what?" Ask people on the streets of Los Angeles about the city's river, and you'll see strange looks. Tell them you kayaked the L.A. river and those looks get ever stranger. But kayak I did, and here's a flashback to the piece I did for time.com about the experience:
Yes, a River Runs Through It: Kayaking the Forgotten Waterway of Los Angeles This is part of a series of re-published articles I wrote in 2005 for the Daily Journal in Caracas.
Daily Journal May 16, 2005 Venezuela signed an agreement with Spain on Monday that allows Venezuelans to use their driver's licenses in Spain. Spaniards will also be able to use their licenses in Venezuela. "This agreement is dedicated to improving the lives of citizens," said Spanish Minister of Labor and Social Affairs, Jesus Caldera Sanchez-Capitan. "It will make [their lives] easier." Sanchez-Capitan signed the agreement with Venezuela's Foreign Minister Ali Rodriguez Araque at the Foreign Ministry in Caracas. Rodriguez Araque said the agreement helped facilitate the free movement of human beings, rather than just free movement of capital. He said it would also help people from Southern countries who seek a better quality of life in Europe. Rodriguez Araque added that when masses of South Americans want to go to the United States, or when many Eastern Europeans or North Africans want to live in Europe, they find many barriers. He cited the Berlin Wall and the Mexican-American border as examples. Sanchez-Capitan added that the agreement will deepen relations between the Venezuelan and Spanish people. "This was a necessity for the Venezuelan and Spanish people," said Sanchez-Capitan, emphasizing that many Venezuelans in Spain need to drive to work. "I want to thank the Venezuelan government for this solution." Sanchez-Capitan said the Spanish government will establish a procedure to legalize the "thousands of people" who are working illegally in the country without social protection or legitimate work contracts. The labor minister, who belongs to Spain's ruling socialist party (PSOE), said the opposing populist party (PP) has criticized the current government's efforts to give foreign workers legal status. "The Partido Popular likes people to work illegally," he said. "They like to have cheap labor. But the social democrat government cannot allow that." Rodriguez Araque said that while approximately 65,000 Venezuelans were registered as residents of Spain, many more lived there illegally. Sanchez-Capitan said approximately 10,000 Venezuelans working without papers in Spain are currently applying for legal status. "We think that the whole Venezuelan community in Spain is going to be legal," Sanchez-Capitan told reporters after signed the agreement. "We don't want people to work illegally in the economy. Venezuelans in Spain are working, contributing to the property of Spain. Therefore, their rights should be recognized." This is part of a series of re-published articles I wrote in 2005 for the Daily Journal in Caracas.
Russian wants to supervise PDVSA By Jens Gould Daily Journal May 16, 2005 The general comptroller of Venezuela, Clodosvaldo Russian, wants state oil company Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) under his supervision. Until this happens, the company may remain a punching bag for many officials fed up with supposed corruption. "The prevailing culture at PDVSA for many years-without saying that this has been erased, because the culture still remains-in PDVSA it was assumed that public control over the company was not a given," said Russian on Monday, according to El Universal's website. Russian met with Vice President Jose Vicente Rangel on Monday to discuss the Organic Law of the Comptroller’s Office and the National System of Fiscal Control, said a press release from the Vice President's office. Within four weeks, the comptroller will put new measures into place to ensure more consistent auditing of public entities such as PDVSA, he said. Russian said that because PDVSA was owned by the Venezuelan State and it belonged to "all Venezuelans," it was subject to fiscal oversight by the General Comptroller's office. He added that the company was "perfectly controllable" by his office. National Assembly (AN) Deputy Julio Montoya - of the opposition's Movimiento al Socialismo (MAS) party - called on Monday for an investigation of supposed irregularities at the Western division of PDVSA in front of the Attorney General's office in Zulia state, reported El Universal. Montoya, the vice president of the AN's Energy and Mines Commission, presented documents that he says indicate corruption at PDVSA, reported Union Radio. According to Montoya, PDVSA-West's production is 500,000 barrels below levels indicated by the government. Deputy Rafael Simon Jimenez accused President Hugo Chavez' ruling Fifth Republic Movement (MVR) party on Monday of skirting the issue of decreased production at PDVSA by calling for an evaluation of operating agreements with transnational companies, reported El Universal. "Concentrate on saying how it is that you have plundered PDVSA, how you have humiliated the industry, how it is that you are responsible for the drop in production," said JimÈnez who belongs to the opposition's Accion Democratica. A Bloomberg report stated that a drop in Venezuela production could jeopardize global oil supply as demand rises this coming winter. Oil expert Alberto Quiros Corradi said on Monday that unruliness at PDVSA was a recent phenomenon. He said that management before the national strikes of 2002-03 maintained a comptroller's office within the company and that the Energy and Mines Ministry also released an annual statistical report, the "Pode," reported Union Radio. But the last "Pode" the Ministry released was for the 2002 fiscal year. Since then, information has been sketchy at best. "Here there hasn't been a palpable demonstration of what the production is, there hasn't been a demonstration of questioning about how many profits are handed over to the Venezuelan Central Bank," said Quiros Corradi. Chavez said Sunday that members of the opposition as well as United States' "imperialism" were trying to "create chaos" at PDVSA, as well as in the Armed Forces. Quiros Corradi called such explanations "ridiculous" and "childish," demanding that PDVSA reveal audits from the past two years, detail its royalty payments, and prove that it has not sold oil at a discount or through middle men. Carlos Carreno and Luis Martins, former PDVSA mechanics, said earlier this month that problems with management, labor and corruption had plagued the company, Bloomberg reported. "We're all backers of the president, we're all Chavistas," Martins told Bloomberg last week. "But Ramirez and the board aren't letting the president know what's really happening here." "There's a lot of corruption inside the company," said Martins to a crowd of workers at La Salina oil terminal on Lake Maracaibo. 40 managers and more than 8,000 contract workers have been let go by the company so far this year, reported Bloomberg. Chavez has also accused transnational companies operating in Venezuela of tax evasion. Montoya pointed out that despite such accusations, Chavez has continued signing agreements with them. "If these companies were robbing us, the ethic should be to stop doing business with them," he said. Jose Toro Hardy told The Daily Journal in a telephone interview last week that the International Energy Agency reported Venezuela's daily oil production at 2.6 barrels per day (bpd) while the government announced levels of 3.3 bpd. PDVSA hopes to raise its production to over 5 million bpd by 2009. But unconfirmed reports circulating within the industry claim that PDVSA has closed hundreds of wells due to technical difficulties arising after the national strikes. Venezuela's moves to seize oil fields from private companies more than a decade ago have particular relevance today. Here's a piece I wrote in 2005 for the Christian Science Monitor:
"Tense relations between private firms and Mr. Chávez's government escalated last week when the government seized fields operated by two European oil giants - France's Total and Italy's ENI - after the two companies snubbed government demands to convert their contracts to joint ventures with the state by April 1." Read the entire story here: Venezuela tightens oil grip |
JENS ERIK GOULDJens Erik Gould is the Founder & CEO of Amalga Group, a pioneering Texas-based nearshore outsourcing firm specializing in IT, software engineering, and contact center staffing. Archives
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