Venezuela's Chavez courts OPEC chief for the top job at PDVSA

LONDON -- OPEC's secretary-general has, at least for now, turned down an offer from Venezuela's newly reinstated President Hugo Chavez to lead that country's state-run oil monopoly.

But Ali Rodriguez, who also is Venezuela's former energy minister, left open the possibility that he might reconsider. Rodriguez said although he wasn't inclined to accept the job he would put his country's interests above his own, an OPEC source said Wednesday.

Rodriguez has extended a visit to Caracas, Venezuela, by several days, suggesting that Chavez might be putting pressure on him to accept the position at Petroleos de Venezuela SA, said the source, speaking on condition of anonymity from OPEC headquarters in Vienna, Austria.

Venezuela is the third-largest supplier of oil to the United States and a leading member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries.

Rodriguez became OPEC's secretary-general in January 2001. A former leftist guerrilla, he has a long record of service in Venezuelan politics but has no obvious experience in running a commercial enterprise.

Rodriguez is seen as a politically neutral candidate for the top job at PDVSA, the company at the center of a dispute that sparked last week's botched coup against Chavez.

If Rodriguez were to reconsider and accept Chavez's offer, OPEC would likely face a prolonged struggle to replace him. All 11 OPEC members must agree on the choice of secretary-general. The 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.

Chavez has rallied for greater unity among OPEC's 11 member nations. Under his leadership, Venezuela has evolved into one of the group's most hawkish members, advocating restraint in crude output with the aim of keeping oil prices high.

Chavez has exploited Venezuela's membership in OPEC to try to enhance his own image as statesman, hosting a meeting of the group's heads of state in Caracas in September 2000.

Sept. 30, 2001- Petroleum World - Chavez's New Situation ****Intelligence services warned the President military circles were demanding a stronger expression of solidarity with the American people. Ignacio Arcaya, our Ambassador in Washington, in permanent contact with the President, insists that Venezuelan oil gains a new dimension with a declaration of war in the Middle East as a posible scenario. In the Ambassador's opinion there will important changes in Bush's Latin American policy, but whichever these changes may be, Venezuela must be a secure supplier. "I guarantee supplies" was the respoinse from Chávez. * The weekly broadcasts by the President on national radio and TV.

This message appeared not to answer the expectations at the U. S. Embassy. Donna Hrinak had a long meeting with Foreign Minister Dávila. Coming out of this meeting reporters asked her if the U. S. Government, has considered, within the present context, Venezuela's relations with Arab countries. "We're still examining the situation. countries have to decide which side they take, whether they're with the terrorists or whether they side with freedom and peace. Each country must decide now."

For President Chávez, the decision is awfully difficult. He is of the conviction that he is one of the main political players of the world. That he's recognized as a leader called upon to promote the universal struggle against globalization and neoliberalism.

No one ignores that his efforts helped in the rebuilding of OPEC, whose head, Alí Rodríguez, -a man of his trust- was his choice for the position. To bring OPEC back to life he went to Baghdad to talk to Saddan Hussein andto condemn the embargo against Irak. He went to Libya to meet with Gaddafi at the residential ruins because of U. S. missiles in 1989 and to offer his fraternal solidarity. He brought Mohammed Khatami to Caracas and later visited him in Teheran, in the process of reaching concrete and strong agreements with Iran. The most important was the making of the axis of a powerful alliance to turn oil into a strategic element against globalization.

A momentous choice is before him. As President he has journeyed the entire planet blaming globalization and neoliberalism as the root of the pain of peoples. In all scenarios he has said that savage capitalism breeds on the power of an empire who practices it and imposes it on others. A new balance in world power is indispensable to humanize globalization and slow down neoliberalism. He believes to have conquered universal admiration in the frontal, daily battle against unipolarity. Does the empire hope to have us bring down the flags?

In the 48 hours following the terrorist attack he vanishes from sight. He would later say that he was in meditation. How can he forget that Fidel has delivered to him the relay symbols, ushering him as the rising leader in the battle against the empire? How can it be forgotten that Ghadaffi has pointed to him as the head of a new movement to conquer the dignity of imperialism's oppressed peoples? How not to recall that wondrous day in Malaysia, when rulers of 77 countries asked him to lead Southern nations in their renewed efforts towards justice and equity? Or the mail exchange with famous fellow Venezuelan Carlos Ilich Ramírez -"EL Chacal"- for whose extradiction so much has been done by the Ambassador to Paris? In his lonely reflection he turns his sight onto a magazine on his desk: The New Yorker with the 22 page report written by Jon Lee Anderson. The President has read it several times. He reads again the final paragraphs.

"Chávez acknowledged that there is still misunderstanding and confusion in the U. S. over his policies. On this he said: "Until recently, what was under discussion, here and abroad, was to appease Chávez." Let's be nice to him to see if we can tame him" easily.

But it seems this beast is not too easy to tame." He lowered his voice and, this time, he did not smile. "This is an ideological conviction of mine and nothing will change that."***

November 2001- Chavez Approves Economy Laws [Full text] CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) - President Hugo Chavez announced the completion of a package of laws aimed at jump-starting the economy - laws he was granted special authority to enact without parliamentary debate.

Chavez spoke Tuesday on national television, less than two hours before the fast-track, yearlong legislative powers expired at midnight. The government completed at least 15 of the 48 laws in the last two weeks, defying critics who predicted the Cabinet would be too disorganized to finish the task.

A land reform law determines how the government can usurp idle, private land. On Monday in downtown Caracas, hundreds of farmers protested the government's failure to publicly discuss the content of that law.

But Chavez insisted Tuesday that all the laws had been widely discussed among ``lawyers, economists, social activists, peasants and farmers.''

In a new hydrocarbons law, the government sought to mollify private foreign oil executives who wanted flexible royalties rates for companies that operate the state-owned oil fields. The government originally proposed a fixed rate of 30 percent, up from the current 16.6 percent, but decided to allow rates as low as 20 percent for high-risk projects.

The pro-government Congress granted Chavez the fast-track powers last year despite opposition complaints that some laws were too sensitive to exclude from parliamentary debate. [End]

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.